Ambition Technology recently hosted an applications specific focus group session in which we identified what was important to our applications clients and candidates.
We were privileged to have a diverse range of specialists participate, from developers to senior managers, who provided us with invaluable information about their respective areas and the applications industry as a whole.
We addressed topics relating to; technology events, trends, projects, networking, social media and the recruitment industry.
The findings of the focus group have been very helpful in allowing us to better understand what drives our clients and candidates professionally and how we can continue to make a positive difference by providing a service our customers really want.
Utilising this information, Ambition Technology will be introducing a quarterly applications focused breakfast event, presented by ‘real people’ who work in the industry and understand the challenges that such specialists face each day.
Watch this space for more exciting updates and upcoming focus groups in other areas of the Technology Industry too.
The topic of a mandatory ISP level internet filter, which forms part of Labor’s policies, has been hotly contested over the past few months and in the last few days the Green Party have come out to side with the Coalition and state that a PC-based approach would be more effective. Labor devised such a plan to target refused classification material that shouldn’t be available online such as child sexual abuse imagery, bestiality, sexual violence, detailed instruction in crime, violence or drug use and/or material that advocates the doing of a terrorist act. This material is currently not available on Australian hosted websites however it can still be accessed on international websites and Labor plan to block these with an ISP web filter.
My question in this blog is this: Should we be against this? Is this being done purely for the safety of our homes and our children, or is this just censorship and a way to control what we see, think and do?
I personally believe that the aforementioned refused classification material should not be available on the internet. I would not want children or adults to view or be at all exposed to this, however, I do feel that an ISP filter isn’t the best option to combat this, particularly with simple ways around a filter, such as adding a question mark to the end of the web address thereby changing the address enough to make it different, as recently documented by Gizmodo, and the sheer volume of websites out there meaning that a filter could never block them all. In my opinion, I think that both the Greens and the Coalition are right in suggesting PC-based filtering which can offer a much broader filter and can be personalized depending upon the household. Read more…
With Apple Inc. recently becoming the second largest company on the S&P 500 in terms of market capitalisation, it’s no surprise to hear that Apple is opening another company –owned store in Sydney this week. Apple has announced they will be opening their fourth shop this Thursday which will be located in the Castle Towers Shopping Centre in Caste Hill.
So, what is Apple doing so right? Is it their products, service, tech savvy people, the fashionable statement or the whole kit and caboodle?
Recently visiting an Apply store, I can understand what all the hype is about. Apple people are passionate and alive with enthusiasm. You become part of the ‘apple’ community the second you step through their door which drives a sense of loyalty towards Apple products. You become hooked!
A recent blog called ‘Secrets of the biggest selling launch ever’ by Seth Godin, spills the beans on Apple’s success, highlighting the key tactics used. I quite like the following;
1. Don’t try to please everyone. There are countless people who don’t want one, haven’t heard of one or actively hate it. So what? (Please don’t gloss over this one just because it’s short. In fact, it’s the biggest challenge on this list).
2.Make a product worth talking about. Sounds obvious. If it’s so obvious, then why don’t the other big companies ship stuff like this? Most of them are paralyzed going to meetings where they sand off the rough edges.
3. Build a platform for others to play in. Not just your users, but for people who want to reach your users. Read more…
If you’ve been keeping up to date with the circus that’s been the 2010 election campaign thus far, you would’ve witnessed Mark Latham’s recent ambush of the PM, Julia Gillard becoming the new editor or Women’s Day and Tony Abbott’s gloating of a “united political party”.
You may have even heard one or two action plans and policies being flung about the place, from Abbott’s proposed lower income tax, overhaul of welfare payments as well as his bid to “stop the boats” to Julia Gillard’s cash rewards for high performing schools and likely focus on jobs.
But how much have we heard from either of them regarding the future of Australian IT? Not too much. Well actually, we’ve heard a little from the PM, but it sounds more like a step backwards for the technology industry rather than “moving forward” as Ms. Gillard has been known to say once or twice before. Read more…
“Networking”- When considered in a commercial sense, has historically centered around introductions and conversations at Conferences, lunches, golfcourses?! It was a flurry of business cards and briefcases and strategic handshakes. Nowadays, while these things certainly haven’t become archaic they are certainly playing more of a supporting act role to the nouvelle- vague of social networking sites and on-line user groups.
In the past, the elevator pitch was often discussed to prepare jobseekers, recruiters, or anyone looking to advance themselves commercially through a relationship. “You get into a lift, the CIO, the whoever of whatever is there. You have 30 seconds before they get out on their floor and you have 30 seconds to sell yourself to them”.
This is the classic example of what networking used to be. Your goals were to get in front of influential people who can help you advance your career or indeed, widen your business relationship circles. Now it appears that the focus is more on how interesting your on-line profile is, what blogs you contribute to, how many connections or “friends” you have on a plethora of social networking sites we have on offer to assist us in “business” networking. The question is now not about what would be your “elevator pitch”, it is what are you doing to maximize your “on-line presence”. Read more…
Social media provides real time, interactive dissemination via personal social interaction utilising accessible and scalable publishing techniques. It has gripped society and evolved from a novelty phenomenon to a part of our everyday life. How many people do you know that don’t have a Facebook account these days? Or perhaps have at least a few hundred loyal Twitter followers?
Not surprisingly, social media has progressively become more embraced by businesses forging a new era in business transparency and engagement, creating both new challenges and opportunities. Companies (particularly technology enthusiasts) no longer rely on carefully rehearsed press releases or cheesy ad campaigns to communicate brand awareness to convince customers of product and services offerings. In this age of social media, rules of engagement have fundamentally changed and demand for honesty and direct relationship building have increased.
Just how has social media influenced business operation? Here are a few examples:
1. Relationship Management vs. Hard Selling
An ever-increasing number of organisations are moving away from the “sell, sell, sell” approach to a more relationship driven connection with customers via social mediums including LinkedIn, Facebook and Twitter. Popular brands utilising social media tend to post less about their products or services and more about the attributes that make up an organisation’s personality. The fundamental goal has become less about “sales” and more about “engagement” and as a result, people are more at ease and more open to connect with businesses whose preference is building opportunities through relationship management and interaction. Read more…
Recently celebrating ten years with the Ambition Group and over 16 in the Industry, Nardia Allison-Nichol has an enviable record of success across the Information and Communication Technology (ICT) market.
Nardia graduated with an Honours degree in Arts from Sydney University before gaining several years practical technology experience in a hands-on technology role. Joining a Technology recruitment firm, Computemp in August 1993, she started to build her career as a recruitment account manager. With a flexible approach to the Industry Nardia has worked within most of the sub-sectors; including government, commerce and industry and the banking and finance sectors.
In April 2000 Ambition acquired Computemp and Nardia continued her successful career under the new direction of the Ambition Group. Working as a team Manager, she built and developed internal teams who were skilled in client relationship development and first class recruitment delivery. Currently Nardia is focused on roles within Ambition Technology’s Business Information team, encompassing Business Intelligence, Business and Data Analysis, Data Warehouse and Architecture as well as Project and Program Managers, testers and technical writers.
Q & A session with Nardia:
What do you like about the technology recruitment industry?
The people. I really love understanding how businesses utilise technology and the way it is constantly changing. Read more…
I attended a well publicised event recently and was expecting to be informed, educated and somewhat entertained, it is technology after all and technology is constantly changing. So, I was disappointed to find I had wasted a trip in the pouring rain.
Drenched and annoyed I walked into the office and began to describe the stands; the lack of innovation and poor promotional merchandise. I was beaten; my colleagues were much smarter and had remained in the office dry and unscarred.
As I reflected, I began to wonder how relevant technology exhibitions really are and how much ROI the exhibitor receives. Is it fair to say that exhibitions are becoming more and more like tradeshows? Who is their target market and what are their objectives?
The Shirtman – Ambition’s erstwhile football correspondent- is packing his bags for South Africa, ready to bring you his humorous World Cup diary and match predictions for Australia and England.
Sign up for the competition and you’ll receive the Shirtman’s diary and make your predictions (result/score/scorer) for 14 selected matches following the Socceroos and England through the group and knockout stages.
You can win some exciting prizes including soccer shirts, South African wine and the Ambition World Cup trophy
Since the release of the first magazine in 1731 in London, the magazine industry has grown significantly around the world. The contents of a magazine can vary though the main objectives remain the same. Magazines act to educate, entertain, inform, influence and communicate with a community of people who share similar likes and interests.
Australia publishes over 1500 magazines a year with 600 of those categorised as trade or specialised. As a nation we have access to a variety of niche magazines such as; fishing, gaming, technology, basketball, cooking and fashion and the list continues. Yet, over time information has become readily available online for free encouraging people to steer away from traditional print media and search for information online.
We are now seeing exciting examples of creative demonstrations of new digital magazines. Technology magazine Wired has provided a real example of what magazines of the future will look like. This video shows how the new iPad platform will drive innovation within traditional media channels.
Future magazines will be innovative and highly interactive, creating a new meaning to the magazine industry.
We are a leading IT recruiter based in Australia with specialist teams working in IT Infrastructure, Applications Development and Business Information.
![iStock_000011003850Large[1]](http://www.ambition.com.au/techblog/wp-content/uploads/iStock_000011003850Large1-150x150.jpg "iStock_000011003850Large[1]")
Ambition Technology recently hosted an applications specific focus group session in which we identified what was important to our applications clients and candidates.
The topic of a mandatory ISP level internet filter, which forms part of Labor’s policies, has been hotly contested over the past few months and in the last few days the Green Party have come out to side with the Coalition and state that a PC-based approach would be more effective. Labor devised such a plan to target refused classification material that shouldn’t be available online such as child sexual abuse imagery, bestiality, sexual violence, detailed instruction in crime, violence or drug use and/or material that advocates the doing of a terrorist act. This material is currently not available on Australian hosted websites however it can still be accessed on international websites and Labor plan to block these with an ISP web filter.
With Apple Inc. recently becoming the second largest company on the S&P 500 in terms of market capitalisation, it’s no surprise to hear that Apple is opening another company –owned store in Sydney this week. Apple has announced they will be opening their fourth shop this Thursday which will be located in the Castle Towers Shopping Centre in Caste Hill.
If you’ve been keeping up to date with the circus that’s been the 2010 election campaign thus far, you would’ve witnessed Mark Latham’s recent ambush of the PM, Julia Gillard becoming the new editor or Women’s Day and Tony Abbott’s gloating of a “united political party”.
“Networking”- When considered in a commercial sense, has historically centered around introductions and conversations at Conferences, lunches, golfcourses?! It was a flurry of business cards and briefcases and strategic handshakes. Nowadays, while these things certainly haven’t become archaic they are certainly playing more of a supporting act role to the nouvelle- vague of social networking sites and on-line user groups.
Social media provides real time, interactive dissemination via personal social interaction utilising accessible and scalable publishing techniques. It has gripped society and evolved from a novelty phenomenon to a part of our everyday life. How many people do you know that don’t have a Facebook account these days? Or perhaps have at least a few hundred loyal Twitter followers?
I attended a well publicised event recently and was expecting to be informed, educated and somewhat entertained, it is technology after all and technology is constantly changing. So, I was disappointed to find I had wasted a trip in the pouring rain.
The Shirtman – Ambition’s erstwhile football correspondent- is packing his bags for South Africa, ready to bring you his humorous World Cup diary and match predictions for Australia and England.
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