How many apps do you have on your smartphone? In the US, the average figure has been hovering around 27 for the last few years. We spend 85% of our phone-time using apps, but research suggests that we only use a handful of them regularly. Many are downloaded once and forgotten.

Continue reading “Are mobile apps dying a death in 2017?” →

When you’re running a small business, quality control is the most critical aspect of management. Often, it’s also the fastest skill you’ll learn. The risk of alienating a profitable customer is compounded by the risk of a bad review. But happy customers essentially do your marketing for you.

Continue reading “In customer service, can technology ever replace the personal touch?” →

We want plentiful, clean, carbon-free electricity, and we want it now. We need it now more than ever; the planet is at its hottest in 115,000 years, and a climate change-denier is about to become president of the world’s second biggest contributor to carbon dioxide emissions. It’s had the potential to became the human race’s saviour for decades, so exactly why are we still waiting for limitless and reliable energy from nuclear fusion?

Continue reading “Why is nuclear fusion taking so long?” →

With an endless supply of new technologies seemingly sprouting up year on year, the ability to record and store data that are crucial to, not only developers, but also businesses to target the right markets has never been more attainable. As consumers become more dependent on portable technologies (i.e. mobile devices), more data is collected that makes retailers’ marketing approaches efficient and effective. In fact, we previously discussed how businesses should make digital their primary sales channel.

Continue reading “Technology trends that will reshape businesses in 2017″ →

Digital is second nature to this generation, yet despite this there is a vast gap that is impacting businesses across the country. In fact, £63bn a year is being lost because of a lack of digital skills. But just how can this gap be filled?

Continue reading “Is the digital skill gap costing businesses?” →

Many businesses now use e-signatures to authenticate documents and sign contracts. Some of these e-signatures are relatively primitive, and involve a scrawled line on a tablet or phone screen. At the other end of the scale, digital cryptography allows sensitive data to be stored, transmitted and shared. Yet this bypasses the most human form of security: the written signature.

Continue reading “Could a Computer Mimic Your Signature?” →

In 1971, Albert Mehrabian published the findings of two of his research studies into the importance of verbal and non-verbal communication. From observing participants in a number of tasks Mehrabian concluded that 93% of what people communicate is non-verbal. This now famous statistic was calculated by Mehrabian documenting that participants in his studies absorbed 38% of information through tone of voice, 55% through body language and only 7% through words.

Continue reading “The power of non-verbal communication in the workplace” →

The truth is that artificial intelligence (AI) is already well cemented in our current world, and it is no longer a concept of the future. From driverless cars, to robots and voice recognition – the notion is evolving before our very eyes and is showing no signs of slowing down.

Continue reading “The transformation of businesses with AI” →

A digital battle of wits began last week reigniting a much debated topic: are ad blockers ethical? On the 9^th of August news broke that Facebook had begun circumventing Adblock Plus on its desktop website. For those paying attention this would come as no surprise given that advertising makes up 80% of the platform’s revenue. In fact, Facebook generated over $6bn from advertising in the last quarter alone.

Continue reading “Is online advertising too invasive?” →

With 16% of the world’s gold and 22% of the planet’s silver currently sitting inside discarded technology across Japan, and the Tokyo Olympic Games in just 4 years, just how can the country recycle this for future use? Well, within Olympic medals of course.

Continue reading “Could technology be the key to Tokyo 2020 medals?” →

From aluminium, copper and titanium to diamonds, gold and platinum, many of our planet’s natural resources are used by the technology industry to power the digital world and create the latest must-have smartphones and wearable devices. But the real jewel in the crown for the mining industry is the way it’s quickly embracing smart technology.

Continue reading “How the Mining industry got tech smart” →

Over the years, EU membership has provided citizens with robust data protection laws and enabled businesses across the UK to work in a safe and secure manner. Many have been able to retain their consumer data within a virtual boundary, by choosing Cloud storage with data sovereignty. But what about the Cookie Policy?

Continue reading “How will Brexit change the Cookie Policy?” →

A huge growth in recent years of freelance workers proves the want and need for people to become their own boss, forgo the corporate power struggle and embrace their own ideas. So, could this transition be mirrored in businesses across the country – could removing the boss mean that employees work harder, are more inspired and more innovative?

Continue reading “Could removing the ‘boss’ inspire innovation?” →

With Ericsson forecasting that by 2021 there will be 16 billion IoT connected devices it is clear that the world is more connected than ever. But do we forgo our privacy for the convenience of geo-location, diary management and social media engagement?

Continue reading “Are we choosing convenience over privacy?” →

Manufacturers of wearable tech are harvesting data continuously. And for many, the data is more valuable than the revenue from the hardware. Nike is a great example of a company that has learned about the way its shoes are used because of the real-time data generated from its wearables. For these brands, it’s not about selling watches any more.

Continue reading “Wearable tech at work – an insight too far?” →

You may well have noticed a change in recent years, particularly in the digital world. When you attempt to use a customer service platform, whether it be for your bank or an online store, you are met with an efficient, and quick to reply person on their chat program… that can’t comprehend anything outside of its programmed remit. Bots. Could they be the future of customer service and online communication?

Continue reading “The future is bright, the future is bot” →

The Electronic Entertainment Expo – more commonly known as E3 – has closed its doors for another year. The annual show based in Los Angeles runs from the 14^th to the 16^th of June and plays host to press conferences from industry leaders such as Microsoft, Sony and Nintendo – but this year it was augmented and virtual reality that stole the show…

Continue reading “Most anticipated tech of E3 2016″ →

Machines are becoming cheaper and more efficient every day, and as they do the pressure of a machine takeover is ever looming. But does the increasing use of technology in our daily life mean that intelligence is now becoming a utility, and isn’t something that humans can claim for their own any longer?

Continue reading “Is intelligence becoming a utility?” →

Your password must contain 8 characters: including 2 numbers, 1 uppercase and a symbol.

We’ve all been there, having to create a password on various different websites, all with varying stipulations of length and characters, and invariably create a password that we forget almost as soon as we type it in. So, with all the improvements in technology and security there has to be a way around it – right?

Continue reading “Google wants to kill the password” →

Ten years ago, I thought voice activation would only ever exist in sci-fi films. Today, we have Siri and Cortana on devices that we use daily. This is software built into our smartphones and laptops to improve ease of use and accessibility – your own virtual, personal assistant.

Continue reading “The Voice Recognition Take Over” →

The changes that are currently underway concerning the data privacy of European Union (EU) residents are nothing short of monumental, and they concern you.

If you’re in business, then you will be in some sort of control of your customers’ personal data to a certain extent. Whether this is email addresses, home addresses, business addresses or more ‘personal’ information such as medical information, it really doesn’t matter.

Continue reading “Are you ready for the EU’s GDPR Initiative?” →

People have avoided doing things since the beginning of time, and thanks to the increase of gadgets and technology in recent decades there are now more ways to procrastinate than there are reasons for doing so. It’s easy to blame social media and gaming for our habit, but maybe there is something deeper going on.

Continue reading “How to Curb Tech Induced Procrastination” →

There’s no denying it: video content is a powerful tool for marketing departments around the globe. This is great news for brands and content marketers wanting to make more sales and drive traffic to a website or social media platform.

Continue reading “The Importance of Video in Content Marketing” →

With B2C marketing, you can be as creative as you like, and the opportunities for triggering viral engagement are potentially massive. B2B is an altogether different beast. Some people dismiss it as boring, and something of an uphill struggle.

Continue reading “5 Successful B2B Marketing Campaigns” →

You may have noticed a slight change. Whether it’s to our website, social media accounts or email signatures. Exponential-e is transitioning to a new, brighter future and we are doing that through the power of our brand. A rainbow of colour now brightens our logo and we’re refreshing our digital estate and content with a cleaner, sleeker look. But why?

Continue reading “A Transition for Exponential-e” →

Science as we know it did not exist in the early 17th century. In fact, the term ‘Scientist’ wasn’t coined until much later down the line in 1833. Society was made up of Philosophers and Mathematicians, none of whom referred to themselves as ‘Scientists’. Regardless of titles and names, scientific methods of research were being applied and the creation, and subsequent testing of their hypothesise were creating some interesting results.

Continue reading “The History of Open Sourcing” →

You will no doubt have heard the news of Google’s change to the layout of their SERPs – which primarily involves the removal of the right-hand side ad bar. As with all changes that Google makes to their algorithm and website structure, we want to know exactly how it might impact upon us – and most importantly if it will cost us any additional budget.

Continue reading “Impact of the latest Google update” →

Artificial Intelligence (AI) has been slowly but steadily creeping in to our lives for the last half century and there are no plans to slow down its progress: the AI revolution is coming and it’s going to change everything.

Continue reading “Artificial Intelligence (AI) in the Workplace” →

Last week, an article on the BBC website claimed that women are better coders than men. In fact, digging into the detail of this study, the ‘evidence’ was not that strong; there’s just a 4.2% difference between men and women. Perhaps we can conclude that men and women are pretty similar when it comes to their technical ability.

Continue reading “Why Diversity in IT is a Business Problem” →

Do you see your internal communications as something self-contained within your organisation – or is it part of a bigger picture? Good internal communications are targeted at your employees but should be of the same calibre as the communications you send out to consumers, customers and stakeholders. After all, chances are your employees buy or consume your products and services once their work for the day (or night) is done – and talk to other people about their experience as well.

Continue reading “5 ways internal communications impact your brand” →

Fitbit’s share price fell through the floor when revealed its new smartwatch at CES. The Fitbit Blaze is its first colour watch, and is intended to broaden its horizons beyond fitness, to compete directly with the big players in the market. But despite the buzz around wearables, and regardless of Fitbit’s track record, investors saw a problem.

Continue reading “What Does Your Wearable Know About You?” →

Now that the party decorations have been stuffed in the attic until next year it’s time to get stuck in to those New Year’s resolutions you promised yourself. I’m sure you’ve made set all kinds of positive challenges for yourself, but did you set any goals for your digital life?

Continue reading “Technology Resolutions for 2016″ →

Technology is developing as such fast pace, particularly in recent years, and our lives are transforming with it; changing the way in which we interact in our everyday lives. From accessing a wealth of information with just your phone to tapping our debit card on the contactless reader instead of handing over physical money, technology features more heavily in our lives than we often realise.

Continue reading “Does Digital Currency have a Future?” →

2015 marked the launch of our corporate blog, and it has been a busy one! With blog posts from internal contributers, as well as a select few external ones, have covered everything from Cloud Computing to Google updates and event management. Ensuring we keep our customers and readers informed on the latest topics and hottest trends.

Continue reading “Top 10 Blog Posts of 2015″ →

Interviews are a nerve wracking experience for most candidates, but ensuring that you are properly prepared and suitably presented is half the battle. Whatever job you may be applying for the rules are the same: make the best impression that you can and ensure that the interviewer knows you are the right candidate for the job.

Continue reading “5 ways to stand out at interview” →

‘An algorithmic and smart machine-driven world where people and machines must define harmonious relationships.’ How about that for a slice of dystopia? It might sound like the backdrop to a bad sci-fi movie, but it’s how analysts at IT research company Gartner recently described the digital future for 2016 and beyond.

Continue reading “New Year, New Technology: Tech Trends for 2016″ →

Recent research has shown that 44% of people in the UK would strike up a conversation over a pun in a business name, so when it comes to naming your business – could adding a little bit of humour work in your favour?

Continue reading “What’s in a Brand Name?” →

New technology always brings about linguistic change. New styles of punctuation were developed after the invention of the printing press in 1440. The telephone brought about new ways to greet family and friends. Before mobile phones had QWERTY keyboards, ‘text speak’ became popular in order to save time, effort and blistered thumbs (c u 2nite m8!). But none have changed language more drastically than the internet.

Continue reading “Has Technology Accelerated the Evolution of Language?” →

Imagine having to continually input your password. If that sounds like a painful and frustrating way to live your life, it’s almost inevitable. Not only is online security now the hottest topic in tech, but with the spread of more and smarter devices, and the coming Internet of Things, the future is going to be one where constant identification is imperative.

Continue reading “Replacing Passwords with Behaviour” →

With limited background knowledge and not much experience in the world of work, I embarked on an exciting journey to improve and gain skills that I can use for the rest of my life. This week, working with Exponential-e, has allowed me to learn skills I never would have otherwise and improve on skills I already have. I spent my time in the company working with the marketing team to assist with their website and develop my knowledge on blog writing.

Continue reading “An Enlightening Journey with Exponential-e” →

There has been a lot of talk in the media recently about the impending cashless society – that is, a society that no longer uses traditional currency such as notes or coins, but instead opts for electronic methods to pay for 100% of its payments – and how it’s going to revolutionise the way we buy and sell around the globe.

Continue reading “How is Technology Bringing us Closer to a Cashless Society?” →

Case Management was historically a business discipline, with roots in the legal, medical and social care professions. The case was a person or an incident around which services were co-ordinated in pursuit of a goal, for example to successfully defend a legal case, or to cure an illness. The activities around a case were driven by practitioners, applying their skills and experience to decide which activities, in what order, and by whom, were needed to conclude the case. This is casework, and the practitioners are caseworkers or knowledge workers: non-routine problems solvers who process and transform information.

Continue reading “Adaptive Case Management is the saviour for fast moving Customer Service” →

If you asked a graduate in the 60s what they should do with their lives they would never have imagined that in the near future jobs might require social media or app development skills. Yet, this is where we are today. Job descriptions are destined to get more complicated with the birth of new technologies. While there will (probably) always be teachers, doctors and car mechanics, many children in UK schools are preparing for jobs that have not yet been invented.

Continue reading “8 Skills to Succeed in the Technology Age” →

Innovation is what keeps business moving and evolving, and particularly in the digital age this shows no sign of stopping. Generation Y, who have grown up immersed in technology, now make up a sizeable portion of those employed within the UK – and their knowledge and ability to use technology in new ways means that they can make use of it in ways never previously imagined.

Continue reading “Technology > Human Interaction” →

Sometimes to ensure that large events are organised and run to their very best you need to look for help outside of your organisation, alternatively you may not have anybody in-house that can arrange an event for you. Putting trust in one person or an external company to competently run your event is a big step, so I put together some top tips to ensure that you only select the very best event management company.

Continue reading “8 tips when choosing an event management company” →

Technology is absolutely everywhere and it is almost impossible to avoid. Whilst it has created incredible opportunities, it also acts as a barrier in many instances between human interaction and real-life contact.

Continue reading “Does Technology Dehumanise Society?” →

In a challenging rally competition fundraisers from across the globe have just a £350 budget to acquire and design a rally car before racing it 3000 miles across France, Switzerland, Italy and Monaco finally finishing at iceSheffield ready to participate for team prostate in the allstars charity ice hockey tournament.

Continue reading “Exponential-e hits the road in charity fundraiser” →

The rise of cloud computing is driving a seismic change in where organisations store information. Traditionally, all but the smallest companies held their data on computers and servers that they owned – usually located on their premises.

Continue reading “5 ways IT companies mess with your trust” →

Every business likes to think that their staff are living in eternal bliss whilst employed within their company; but just how often are they actually asked? Well, we decided to find out more from our staff and asked them just what they were proud of having achieved whilst working for us.

Continue reading “Is your company encouraging proud employees?” →

With its popularity and fast paced growth, social media isn’t going anywhere. Almost all of us use it on one platform or another and it influences us in many ways; could this be transferred to influencing us in our business decisions too? With an increasing number of B2B businesses using social media platforms, it is a possibility that we could soon turn to these to make those all important decisions instead.

Continue reading “How is social media used in the business decision making process?” →

Many of us spend a lot of our time proclaiming that technology is wonderful and that it allows us to do a variety of things we never could previously; from apps allowing us to order takeaway before we are home to ones that control your heating remotely. Whilst these are obviously wonderfully useful tools, there are still a variety of things that technology still does not assist with and perhaps never will.

Continue reading “Technology is great – isn’t it?” →

Email is like oil; we’re all addicted to it, but it can’t last. Can cloud-powered unified communications platforms step in?

If your inbox is crammed with unread emails, flagged emails and others in folders you’ve never opened, this is for you. If you’ve ever sat at your desk and hit the refresh button on your email inbox, this is also for you. The likelihood is that you suffer from two common problems; the first is threatening your productivity at work, and the second is a habit that indicates a dangerous addiction to email. If you constantly check work email on a phone during the evening, you already know how dominating email can be.

Continue reading “Inbox Zero or Zero E-mail?” →

The blogosphere is alive with the news that Google has tweaked its page ranking algorithm to favour mobile-friendly websites in mobile search rankings. The change has profound implications for online marketers, for whom online visibility is hugely important. Should you be concerned about this change and how will it impact your business?

Google’s recent announcement that it will give priority in its mobile search page rankings to those websites that display well on smartphones has important consequences. Effective April 21st, 2015, this change, dubbed Mobilegeddon by the more alarmist commentators, represents a radical change to the way Google and, by extension, users view the internet, favouring “mobile-friendly” sites over those that are not in searches conducted on mobile phones. While the move does not directly impact Exponential-E, it is important that our customers at least know what all the hullabaloo is about.

Continue reading “What Google’s Mobile Friendly Update Means” →

While politicians argue about the best way to boost the UK’s economic prospects in the run up to the election, one sector appears to be in rude health.

When the dot-com bubble burst in 2000, the idea of running a successful digital business was a bit of a joke. But after this crash at the start of the millennium, the digital economy was resurrected. It has grown steadily ever since and managed to weather 2008’s enormous financial slump better than many other sectors.

Today, digital business is big business. Few companies remain unaffected by the internet, and entrepreneurs can make real money by delivering products and services digitally.

Continue reading “Six surprising facts about the UK digital economy” →

Last week, the Government released its annual Women on Boards report, which outlines the progress that has been made to increase the presence of women on FTSE 350 boards.

This year marks the report’s fourth year of existence, since Lord Davies recommended in 2011 that UK-listed companies should be aiming for a minimum of 25% female board member representation in FTSE 350 companies by 2015.

Continue reading “Getting women on board” →

A discussion at the recent Fulham FC Business Club event encompassed whether people were naturally born with talent or if it was created through nurturing. Can you be taught to be talented?

Success can only be gained through the hard work of an individual; those that are talented have this at the centre of their very core. Hard work is what determines the talented and successful amongst others. The most talented people will be selfless in their commitment and will go to show that there is no substitute for desire.

Continue reading “Is talent nurtured or are you born with it?” →

Welcome end-users! We’ve all played buzzword bingo at meetings. While it’s fun to spot managers and even supposedly normal colleagues using words like leverage, mindshare and bandwidth, and perhaps even phrases like touch base, low hanging fruit and win-win situation, none of these come anywhere near the tech industry’s continued insistence on openly describing its precious customers – even on TV, radio and in print – with those hugely derogatory terms, ‘end-users’ and ‘consumers’.

What horrible, un-human phrases. It’s not uncommon to read press articles where someone in IT is bemoaning the lack of respect his industry has, but the solution – to ‘develop a better end-user perspective’ – merely underlines the core problem; tech can’t talk.

Continue reading “Tech can’t talk: why the tech industry needs to speak human” →