Dancing To That Old Nexpo Beat

By: Howard I. Finberg Digital Output Column from the June 24 issue of E&P

An ode to summertime: We have made it through the dreary first-quarter financial results. The capital-budget season has arrived. And our thoughts are turning to equipment purchases and technology investments.

As many of us, I hope, are now at the Newspaper Association of America's big equipment and technology event in Orlando, Fla., this is a good time for you to make a technology assessment, to appraise your newspaper's digital infrastructure for the present and the future. It is important that the CEO be directly involved in these discussions. The CEO needs to bring all departments into the discussions, not just the production or technical managers who made it to Nexpo this week. The CEO also could use the next few weeks to conduct a midyear technology review for the enterprise.

Assess: Use this time to check the technology status of each department. Each manager should prepare a brief report that looks at how well his or her systems serve the department. There are questions to ask for judging how well a system is working: Does the technology help employees do their jobs as effectively as possible? Does the technology work all the time (99.5% uptime)? Do that for each system -- and don't forget some of those smaller systems that just hum along in the background. The value of this kind of review is twofold: First, it brings problems that aren't "emergency critical" to the forefront. Second, it shares technology knowledge across the entire organization.

Another part of the assessment should involve how successfully employees use the technology. What kind of problems are they having? How many workarounds are there? Are the problems technical (old personal computers) or human (lack of training)?

Review: Go over the technology and equipment projects already under way for this year. For some, this may be a short list. However, the CEO might be surprised by the number of upgrades, tweaks, and enhancements that are going on in each department.

Despite the budgetary pressures of the last year and a half, technology marches on. Systems need maintenance, and vendors are still releasing updates and miniupgrades (i.e., the ones you get for "free").

This review session shouldn't be a finger-pointing exercise. Rather, it should be an assessment of each project's goals, and the expected impacts upon the departments. The information-technology director should lead this session, partnering with each department manager so that all issues get addressed.

Theorize: This is the hardest session. It is where you need to look beyond all your current projects and plans so you can start to think about the future of the newspaper. The time frame for the future is between two and five years. Among the areas to consider are:

* Revenue trends. What is the long-term outlook for advertising -- not only for the newspaper industry but also for broadcast, magazine, and online properties?
* Readership trends. What will your current and potential customers look like in five years? Readership trends should include trends for interactive products, such as your Web site.
* Demographic trends. How is your community changing and what impact will that have on your current technology? For example, how easy will it be to produce Spanish-language publications and bill advertisers and customers in Spanish?
* Technology trends. Will technology shift and have an impact upon how advertisers reach customers and how readers get news and information? Will broadband make a difference? What about high-definition TV? TabletPCs?

When asking these questions, look at how each trend might impact each department's technology infrastructure and purchasing needs. These needs can be anything from more integrated systems for managing content and customers to short-run presses for new sections.

Plan and Coordinate: Taking all of this information, categorize where the greatest technology needs will be for three time periods: 12 to 18 months, 18 to 24 months, and 36 to 60 months. In other words, identify your short-term, midterm, and long-term goals.

This sounds simple, but too often -- as we scout around Nexpo or other trade shows -- we forget to look for solutions that go beyond our immediate capital budget. While vendors would like a few more contract signings, some understand the long sales cycle.

Assuming more than one department is attending Nexpo, make a point of getting together during the show. Exchange information about what you have seen, new vendors you have talked with, and observations about what might be of interest to departments other than your own. Don't wait until you get back in the office. Better yet, drag your colleagues to booths that have the technology that is important to your department. Make Nexpo a company event.