Every options analysis should start at Option 0: Do Nothing. It is the baseline that every other option is measured against, and it is the option most often left out. This is a bit of a longer article, because I have compiled a lot of my thinking to help with… Continue Reading Options analysis: why Do Nothing is always Option 0

Most people learn to use AI by trial and error, and a lot of them do it with whatever free tool they found first. That works, up to a point. A little structured learning will get you better results, faster, and help you avoid the mistakes that cause real harm,… Continue Reading How to learn AI skills: a free, self-paced guide for office workers

How do you choose which technology to invest in? If you lead a technology team, it is the platform and the vendor. If you write software, it is the language and framework. If you are building a career, it is the vendor training and certifications you will spend your evenings… Continue Reading Which technology to use? It’s a gamble

When an AI system is deployed and then quietly withdrawn, the headline says “AI failed”. I think that is almost always the wrong conclusion. In most cases the technology did what it was built to do. What failed was the design, and the expectations set around it. We have seen… Continue Reading When AI gets withdrawn: a design problem, not an AI problem

Ask most business leaders how to make AI responsible and the first answer is about technology: better models, better filters, better tools. In my experience the answer is closer to home. Responsible AI is mostly a governance job. It is about who is allowed to use AI for what, who… Continue Reading Responsible AI starts with governance: a practical guide for Adelaide businesses

Shadow IT is rarely rebellion. It is a signal that someone has a problem to solve, and the official route did not solve it. I described what Shadow IT is, and what it costs, in Shadow IT / Stealth IT. This article looks at the other side: how to stop… Continue Reading How to stop Shadow IT before it starts

“Click the Start button at the bottom left of the screen.” “There is no Start button.” “It will be on the taskbar, at the bottom.” “My taskbar is on the left. And I have hidden it.” Anyone who has worked on a service desk has had that call. The user… Continue Reading Does Personalisation and Customisation make support and training more difficult?

Every legacy system reaches a day when keeping it costs more than changing it. The skill is spotting that day before it arrives, and then choosing the right kind of change. Technical debt behaves like financial debt. A little, well managed, is a sensible trade-off. Left alone, the interest compounds:… Continue Reading Legacy modernisation: retire, retain, replace or evolve

When a business asks for an AI solution, the request almost always describes what it should do. Summarise our emails. Draft our reports. Answer staff questions about policy. What it rarely says is how well, how quickly, how safely and at what cost. That second half has a name: non-functional… Continue Reading Non-functional requirements explained: a new architect’s guide, with an AI project example

Here is an interesting perspective to apply to your employees’ acceptance of AI in their work – consider AI is a junior work colleague that every employee has at their disposal. With the roll-out of new AI capabilities and agents, there is often push-back from employees who fear that their… Continue Reading AI is a junior colleague

AI is massive right now, and many businesses have had direction from their Board, CEO or other executives demanding that the business makes use of AI. Unfortunately, some are jumping in with two feet and not really planning their AI journey. So, the question remains, how to get started in… Continue Reading How to get started in AI

This article outlines a strategic roadmap for organisations beginning on their digital transformation journey. It walks through the key phases – assessment, goal setting, pilot testing, scaling and covering cultural change and compliance – offering insights into aligning technology adoption with long-term business objectives. It emphasises change management and stakeholder… Continue Reading Digital Transformation Roadmap: From Legacy to Innovation

Even with the gradual increase in cybersecurity literacy amongst the masses, there are still some myths that people follow religiously, even Cybersecurity professionals. I will set out to bust some of those myths here. Many of the myths are because the world has changed and the advice is no longer… Continue Reading Cybersecurity myths – never write down your password

In the past few months, I have been sharing my views about cybersecurity myths – some of them held by the public, and some myths are still held (and propagated) by cybersecurity professionals and companies. One that may have been true at one time, but is no longer the case,… Continue Reading Cybersecurity Myths – the perimeter is the protection

In my recent theme of breaking common cybersecurity myths, I have been revealing some commonly held beliefs that even cybersecurity professionals will stand by. Today, I will look at the “most common passwords” and challenge whether they really are as common as we are told. Most common passwords A quick… Continue Reading Cybersecurity Myths – people use bad passwords

For anyone working in Cybersecurity, it can be hard to convince your board to understand the issues, and to invest money or focus on Cyber Security issues. I have presented Cyber issues to multiple Boards, and here is my advice on how to get Boards to understand Cybersecurity issues –… Continue Reading Cybersecurity for boards – analogy to Health & Safety