Danny Kwok

There’s no box

Recent Posts

  • Oracle ODA Chatbot Development Intro

    My latest “hobby” is playing with Oracle Digital Assistant (ODA) Chatbot. However, this is taking me longer than usual to get used to it. I will think that ODA is a simple configuration of ask and response. Sadly, it is still very code driven. Today is my nearly 3/4 of immersion day struggling and dedicated to master ODA.

    Source: Oracle ODA
    More Templates Please

    I will love to have more templates to quick start my Chatbot beside ordering PizzaBot. By now, I am getting sick of looking at Pizza. Templates alway speed up development as we just need to change certain variables and tweak the flow. Oracle Help is not really very helpful too.

    YAML flow error

    Anyone playing with JS, NodeJs or PHP will be always expert in syntax troubleshooting? Seriously, I enjoy this loose coding too. For one moment, I and baffled by YAML flow error. YAML is suppose to be a human readable language. However, the error flagged is magician level. Guess what, the error is due to a missing close quote “. Level up!

    Takeaway from Intro

    In a way, it is a new paradigm way in trying code for a natural language. Somehow, I feel that the ODA environment is still seated in the old development model. I will prefer more drag and drop instead of mastering the syntax. It is definitely not for business or layman to configure. There is a sense of achievement to create the chat. I will get used with more days of development.

  • Book Review: Competing in a Flat World: Building Enterprises for a Borderless World

    The article on network orchestrators reminded me of my first book on this topic – Competing in a Flat World: Building Enterprises for a Borderless World. The networked economy and networked effect are research of topic then. This book focus heavily on a case study on the logistics company called Li & Fung. No spoilers below.

    Source: Amazon
    • This book provides a case study approach to network orchestration.
    • You can have a look on the complexity world of logistics.
    • Logistics involves a complex network and mesh of tacit and explicit knowledge and relationships.
    • You can see how competitors are no longer a single entities but a network of alliances and coopetitors.
    • Organisation are leaning towards affective factors like brand loyalty, trust and relationships.

    Overall, it is a smooth read and not so academic in nature. If you like case study, this is the book for you.

  • Network Orchestration 101

    Have you ever heard of network orchestration? The word is coined to describe network orchestrators who are

    … companies [that] create a network of peers in which the participants interact and share in the value creation. They may sell products or services, build relationships, share advice, give reviews, collaborate, co-create and more. Examples include eBay, Red Hat, Visa, Uber, Tripadvisor, and Alibaba.

    Harvard Business Review 2014

    With eCommerce, network orchestrators are so common that they compromise majority of online portals. Traditionally, logistics companies are also network orchestrators. This is simple 101 view on how network orchestrators worked and what they are.

    1. Organisations have strong networked relationships like consortium or alliances.
    2. Digitalisation is a key feature of network orchestrators.
    3. There is a heavy emphasis of knowledge creation and ownership for network orchestrators.
    4. Intangible assets are evaluated and contains many unquantifiable values like networked effects, trust and perceived value.
    5. Consumers are tightly coupled with interchangeable features and relationships with the network orchestrators.

    Are you able to identify network orchestration now?

  • IoT 101

    Internet of Things (IoT) is coming strong to the typical consumers. Those in manufacturing will know that this is not a new technology. The explosion of IoT adoption comes from two key factors, the ease of deployment with Cloud and the falling prices of sensors.

    What is IoT?

    Historically, manufacturing environment needs to be controlled to ensure the product is consistent e.g. temperature, humidity or lighting lumens. Sensors are placed through the manufacturing plant to know the product production, and size and control with full or semi automated processes. Data are fed to the main control room to track all the things in the production floor. What if this concept can be applied for consumer to keep track of devices, things or even temperature like a home?

    IoT is SMART

    Learning from manufacturing, data can be obtained from the devices as long the main control or console can interpret the information. For a while, this is achieved in decentralized manner using a variety of existing technology like WiFi or Bluetooth. With Cloud Technologies, providers are able to provide IoT consoles to connect various devices with API connectors. Now, layman can easily setup Smart Home with simple setup. Logistics providers can use GPS to track vehicles with SIM cards.

    If you think that the internet has changed your life, think again. The Internet of Things is about to change it all over again!

    Brendan O’Brien

    For more readings, you can check out these books on IoT.

  • Measuring Satisfaction

    The measurement of satisfaction have always been elusive. Many application system have not caught onto measuring satisfaction except for gaming. This is because gaming rely heavily on affective feeling. It is good to see your in-game character or account showing positive health or satisfaction. How should the mainstream adopt such format to measure satisfaction? These are some of ideas to get the product owner thinking.

    • Allow Satisfaction to be quantified and be calculated like Brand Value.
    • Make it simple to configure for satisfaction measurement.
    • Show clear display of satisfaction measures.
    • Consider satisfaction for cultural and localisation.
    • Let your CX (Customer Experience) team own the satisfaction index.
    • Benchmark against your country Satisfaction Index e.g. Customer Satisfaction Index of Singapore (CSISG).

  • Sustainable Value Creation

    With growing trend of Sustainability topics, I recently have an interesting read on Sustainable Value Creation (SVC). Value Creation is defined as benefit delivered to consumers from existing capital, in short Value = Benefits − Cost (cost includes economic risk). Borrowing from this definition, SVC refers to the value creation in a sustainable way.

    The subject touches SVC from the perspective of CEO in major organisations. Not surprisingly, the top ranked SVC is brand, trust, reputation and revenue growth. Thus, I feel that it will be worthwhile to apply this concept using my perspective from an end consumer.

    Consumer SVC
    1. Organisation must provide adequate cost-benefits analysis of Sustainability vs Non-Sustainability to consumers.
    2. Organisation must give clear transparency on sustainable efforts and processes.
    3. Consumers must easily recognise Green Standards for Organisation e.g. ISO 14091, Adaptation to climate change – Guidelines on vulnerability, impacts and risk assessment.
    4. Consumers shall be given incentives to be Green instead of being penalized e.g. Carbon Rebates vs Carbon Taxes.
    What do you think should be your SVC?

  • Steps to Digital Transformation

    Digital Transformation have an unexpected push in the face of COVID-19 pandemic. Like all innovation, IT faces disruptions from these changes. These unexpected trends creates gaps in our approach of current IT strategy roadmap. This is a quick simple guide on the steps to digital transformation.

    1. Digital transformation is not just digital changes. Transform your mindset as well.
    2. Encourage organic growth of your resources with digital transformation knowledge instead of inorganic hiring.
    3. Digital transformation will lead to changes and the need for constant Business IT Alignment. Anticipate and be prepared for them.
    4. You cannot transform everything. Focus on your core strength and apply the digital transformation for them.
    5. Look for Digital Transformation Champions. They are passionate and will be the seed for your successful digital transformation.

    These are simple steps but do expect to face challenges and resistance. However, it is always never too late to start the transformation from within you.

  • CX Team

    Customer Experience (CX) teams and careers are sprouting here and there. One wonder on what exactly does CX really do? How do you really embark on a career that is dependent on Experience? Although CX aims to bridge all touchpoints for customer, we are still lacking in knowledge of what CX really encompasses. This is a brief understanding of the key points on CX.

    CX Lifecycle

    CX Lifecycle is a simple method to model an end to end relationship with the organisation. It is widely studied in CRM (Customer Relationship Management). CX system are touted to be an upgrade of CRM. However, it suffers from similar issue for CRM because many backend and vendor system are not integrated or networked to form a complete lifecycle. Without networked information, the lifecycle cannot be view in completeness.

    CX Indicators

    Like my study on overall consumer satisfaction, the satisfaction indicators seek to measure the entire CX lifecycle. The creation of these indicators often involve many puzzles to be addressed. CX team must take ownership to plug the gaps or get these measurements. Often, CX team only support the engagement and monitoring process of these indicators. The ownership of the indicators still remains with individual application owners. This reduce the CX effectiveness when the driver and ownership is not from CX team.

    It takes 20 years to build a reputation and five minutes to ruin it. If you think about that, you’ll do things differently.

    Warren Buffett
    (more…)

  • TMS and Sustainability

    Sustainability is the key objective of Green Logistics. With TMS, it is easier to obtain visibility to your transportation needs and move towards Green Logistics. However, this is complicated by the newness of sustainability and lack of resources in this area. So, how do you incorporate sustainability into your TMS?

    Sustainability Strategy

    Always start your sustainability step with a strategy.

    • Communicate a clear sustainability objective for TMS. If you aim for all, you may end up with none.
    • Sustainability is a team effort and cultural change. Conduct sustainability workshop and awareness for all levels involved with TMS.
    • Have a realistic checkpoint for each sustainability implementation in TMS. Get clear indicators and data for monitoring and improvement.
    Green TMS

    The switch from traditional TMS to a Green TMS will come with a significant investment. Do not be afraid to throw and reinvent new processes that encompasses sustainability. There could be old features that work well in the past and will be detrimental to Green efforts. Usually, it will take years to fully transformed into Green Logistics. However, you can never be late if you start your baby steps to Green TMS now.

  • Revenue vs Operational Efficiency

    Are you torn between increasing your revenue or improving operational efficiency for your IT budget? There is only a fixed budget size and these objectives are opposite of each other. Often, there is no clear quantitative figures on how much Return On Investment (ROI) can be achieved. Here are some guiding light to let you do a common sense evaluation.

    1 User Enhancement

    Doing an enhancement for 1 single user is clear indicator that it is not revenue generation worthy. It may not justify the objective of operational efficiency. This type of enhancement will often comes from customer, top management or even compliance. The correct question is “Can this be resolved with other means?”. Do conduct sound ROI evaluation with user base and impact before allocating your budget for such request. Do not be shocked that this is a common fact in many organisations.

    Enhancing for Future

    Business likes to demand their need on certain “ABCD” features for the future and potential revenue generation. You may be force to implement “ABCD” at such demand only to find the potential revenue generation never materialise. An approach to counteract such whimsical request is to go Agile and do Proof of Concept (POC). This mitigate your investment risk and increase your alignment of the business requirements.

    Consult your Data

    There is a chance that your data can tell you more than you expected. Flat or negative growth will point that you are in need of revenue generating initiatives. On the other hand, increased resources and continued customisation requests show signs that you may require operational efficiency review.