What's in the box?

By Derek Watson, G2G3

In these days of environmental concerns regarding packaging, especially after the changes the UK Royal Mail has made with post being charged by size as well as weight, we received a very lightweight extra box with a courier delivery today and inside the box, way down at the bottom was… the delivery note!

We were a bit concerned that it was not protected by polystyrene chips or bubble wrap!

G2G3 - Making a difference

By Linda King, G2G3

The team have just returned from the itSMF UK Conference and Exhibition in Birmingham. It was a good event, though a little quieter than in previous years... not a great surprise really, given the current economic climate. As well as having one of the busiest (and definitely the noisiest!) exhibition stands, we ran 2 rounds of our new Polestar simulation on Wednesday morning. This was really well attended and highly energetic, despite the fact that most of the participants had been up very late at the itSMF Gala Dinner the night before!

One of the strongest themes to come out of the conference was that of 'Optimization'. Our current climate is necessitating IT organizations to look for ways to make the best of what they have - effectively delivering more with less. People and process are key to this challenge. G2G3 solutions do exactly this - energize people, create an practical understanding of process, and also help people realize how they contribute to the 'bigger picture'. I had a conversation with one of our clients at the exhibition who was telling me about the impact our simulations are having on the staff in her organization... she said “People are coming back from the simulation and actually asking to read the ITIL books to get more information. It all makes sense - they are excited and want to know what they can do next to make a difference”. It’s feedback like this that makes it all worthwhile. And it’s these organizations that will thrive and survive.

Lights, Camera... Action

By Derek Watson, G2G3

We were very recently on location in central Edinburgh, filming our latest corporate video of our updated ITIL simulation, Polestar ITSM. A great day was had by all, with an enthusiastic bunch of participants from a large Scottish Financial organization taking part. Although nervous of the cameras to start with, everyone soon relaxed and forgot the cameras were there. Thanks to the guys at Greenroom films for helping make the day a success. We're working on the final edits of the video now and it will be available for viewing on the G2G3 website very soon!

Scented laptops - whatever next!

By Linda King, G2G3

Apparently ASUS have launched a range of scented laptops. My first thought was that this had to be a joke, but apparently not. It is not April 1. This is real - a range of scented laptops - for him and her.

Apparently the female version will “conjure images of summer parties and inject a cheerful brightness”, whilst the male version “exudes feelings of power, energy and courage with its playful scent”.

Can you imagine these being used on a grand scale in a corporate environment? The air would be thick with ‘eau de laptop’, mixing with the normal office smells of BO, coffee, bacon rolls and cloying colognes. Despite their promises of power and playfulness, I am pretty sure these smells will do nothing but get up people’s noses! This is one technology upgrade I pray will not be rolled out across all laptops and PCs...

itSMF UK is fast approaching!

By Linda King, G2G3

Well, it's only a week now until the much anticipated itSMF UK Conference and Exhibition. It's being held in Birmingham this year, which is a shame, as everyone here at G2G3 much preferred the Brighton venue. However, onwards and upwards!

We're excited to be participating in the Experiential Learning stream this year, delivering 'Acceleration of the ISO/IEC 20000 standard and quality/governance attainment through simulation' on Wednesday 12 November (0900 to 1100). The only new simulation being presented at the conference in 2008, this unique, high-impact event can accelerate attainment of the ISO/IEC 20000 standard through creating a shared understanding and commitment to improve. Many of the other ITIL simulations being run on the Experiential Learning stream are also developed by G2G3, but this will be your only opportunity to see the real simulation masters in action!! Places are limited, so contact us to reserve your place in advance or visit stand P19 at the conference where you will also have the opportunity to claim your free SD Card Reader and enter our competition to win the latest Apple iPhone!!

We are also pleased to be unveiling our new and improved user interface for our ITSM/ITIL simulation, Polestar ITSM. The simulation has had a significant facelift, providing an improved reflection of today's enterprise environment. It is now the only simulation on the market to offer total flexibility with respect to the industry scenario in which it can be delivered, increasing the realism and immersion of the simulation experience. Furthermore, we will be unveiling our recently updated new MOF 4.0 simulation, McKinley IT Pro.

We look forward to seeing you in Birmingham!

Microsoft Azure... a cloudless sky?

By Derek Watson, G2G3

The sky at night is clear and bright, deep in the heart of… Redmond?
After the recent Seinfeld marketing er… campaign. Microsoft have launched their ‘cloud’ computing platform ‘Windows Azure’.
Shame their marketing department didn’t think to look at their dictionaries...

azure
adjective
bright blue in color, like a cloudless sky : white beaches surrounded by azure seas.
Heraldry blue : [ postpositive ] a saltire azure.

noun
1 a bright blue color.
poetic/literary the clear sky.
2 a small butterfly that is typically blue or purplish, with color differences between the sexes.
Celastrina and other genera, family Lycaenidae.

ORIGIN Middle English (denoting a blue dye): from Old French asur, azur, from medieval Latin azzurum, azolum, from Arabic al ‘the’ + lāzaward (from Persian lāžward ‘lapis lazuli’ ).

If the sky is clear, it doesn’t bode well for a good connection to the Windows Cloud. You couldn’t make this stuff up!

And we have lift off! (Well... nearly!)

By Donna Kudarenko, G2G3

As India celebrates the successful launch of it’s first unmanned mission to the moon, G2G3 is preparing for its own launch of a new, revolutionary product. The team is extremely excited about taking the product to market and will be unveiling it at the UK’s most prestigious ITSM event, the itSMF Annual Conference and Exhibition. Unfortunately I am not at liberty to reveal any more information at this stage but watch this space! Believe me, it will be worth the wait!

And as the events circuit comes to a close for yet another year, our sales team is due to return today from our last Project Management event of the year, the Project Management Institute Global Congress, in Denver. The team were demonstrating our latest Project Management simulation, Polestar PM, and despite the current economic state causing concern about delegate attendance, the event has been extremely successful with numbers actually being up on last year! Maybe things aren’t as bleak as they are being portrayed!