Phil Simon, Author of the New Small and Consultant

Phil Simon

Phil Simon is the author of the Why New Systems Fail (Cengage, 2010), The Next Wave of Technologies (John Wiley & Sons, 2010), and The New Small (Motion, 2010).

He consults companies on how to optimize their use of technology. While not consulting, Phil speaks about emerging trends and technologies. He also writes for a number of technology-oriented media outlets.

He received a BS in policy and management from Carnegie Mellon University and a master’s in industrial and labor relations from Cornell University.

Video

Phil Simon on One on One with Steve Adubato

Contact Info

Phil’s main site is Phil Simon Systems, and The New Small has a site at The New Small.

Phil Simon can be reached at phil@thenewsmall.com, on Twitter at @philsimon, and Facebook at The New Small Facebook page.

Also check out Phil’s new podcast, The Data Roundtable [iTunes link].

Interview questions:

• What are the five enablers that make “The New Small” possible?
• What is it about these companies that make them different from just traditional, industrial-style small businesses?
• All five of the five enablers have been around in some form or fashion for at least the last decade. So what’s so special now? In other words, how have better, faster, more of these five technologies become something apart, new, different?
• These New Small companies are managed very differently from either traditional small businesses or large enterprise corporations. Is it the technology that is changing the management style, the management style that is embracing the technology or something else entirely?
• One enabler is FOSS – free and open source software, for example the LAMP stack. Yet several proprietary software companies, for example SalesForce.com, are anything but free. What’s different?
• Is Microsoft in the way of the New Small company? If a small company sticks with Microsoft, can they really be considered “New Small”?
• So how does the New Small play out in the workplace? Aren’t New Small workplaces synonymous with over-connected, 27/7, never take a vacation digital hamster wheels where everyone is working harder and longer?
• One case study – of the 11 in the book – really caught my attention: DODOCases. What is it about this particular New Small company that has captured so much attention, and in the past meant that their customers would pay twice as much and maybe wait literally months for a iPod case?
• Why is converting the cost of technology to a variable cost instead of a capital cost so important?
• What is it about the coming together of these five enablers that changes the game for small companies?

(Interview set for Feb. 21st, 2011, Show date: TBD)

What would you like to ask Phil?