kdr ebusiness

Consulting with people outside of the IT bubble reveals a lack of knowledge of many of the cornerstones of Web 2.0. With many businesses not yet making the most of the original Web 1.0 internet technologies, the hype seems to be missing the target. Sure it’s always exciting to play with new toys, but there needs to be a business reason for choosing something new. Start with a clear idea of what it is you are trying to achieve. Only then should you move on to deciding which technologies can help you to achieve your aims.

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If your company uses Information Technology, you need an IT Operations Schedule. The purpose of the schedule is to ensure that the most important tasks are not forgotten. Another reason you need a written schedule it that it helps you to understand what you need to manage. Writing down tasks also clears up areas of doubt when deciding who should be responsible for the activities.

If your IT is really complicated then you might wish to consider a dedicated scheduling package. However for many small and medium sized companies this would be overkill. Most email programs have a very good calendar with the ability to set recurring appointments and tasks with reminders. These are ideal to create and manage an IT operations schedule.

KDR EBusiness Limited offer IT Management Services designed to reduce complexity, improve costs and ensure that your Information Technology services support your business goals.

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The cost of a gigabyte of computer memory, over time.

1956 | 10 million
1980 | 233,000
1990 | 7,700
2000 | 13.30
2006 | 1

These figures are astonishing and demonstrates the progress that computer technology has made since 1956. Do I think that memory will ever be free? Well no, but only because we need more and more of it. For an example of what the storage requirements of the future may be, take a look at the rest of this article about MyLifeBits, a Microsoft research project.

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Everyone with an email address will be familiar with the term SPAM. This nuisance shows no real signs of going away and those responsible for it continue to work out new ways of getting through SPAM filters.
Netriplex have this Return on Investment calculator for deciding whether to purchase a SPAM blocker. This just covers the monetary costs, as it is hard to place a value on the nuisance factor. There is also the fact that some SPAM can be offensive in nature and there may be risks to your organisation for allowing your staff to come into contact with this type of material.

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I came across this essay from renowned security guru Bruce Schneier entitled The Psychology of Security. There are some excellent insights into why we often make the wrong decisions when assessing risks and into the huge differences that exist between the reality and the feeling of security. For those of you who are involved in risk management, health and safety or security management I recommend that you take a look. Warning: Set aside some time, this is not a five minute read, the article is 13,500 words long.

Tags: Bruce Schneier, risk management, health and safety, security management

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Before the Internet, companies used press clipping services to understand what the market thought about them. The rise of social media means that it has become increasingly important for companies to understand what is being said about them on the Internet. Now with the re-release of Google Alerts it’s become possible for anybody to track what is being said about their favorite subject.

You can set up Google Alerts to e-mail you whenever your company name is used. Alternatively you might like to track keywords or phrases that are relevant to your businesses marketplace. It’s an important contribution to understanding how your business is seen by the outside world.

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A recent article in the New York Times demonstrated just how insecure it can be to use a WiFi ‘hotspot’ - just like the ones you might find in Ronaldsway Airport or Strand Streets’ Java Coffee lounge.

First the bad news:

…Jon sat a few feet
away with his PowerBook; I fired up my Fujitsu laptop and began doing
some e-mail and Web surfing.

That’s all it took. He turned his laptop around to reveal all of this:

* Every copy of every e-mail message I sent *and* received.

* A list of the Web sites I visited.

* Even, incredibly, the graphics that had appeared on the Web sites I had visited…

Jon used a program called a “packet sniffer” to capture the data being broadcast by the laptop - these programs are widely available and can be very sophisticated.

The good news is that by taking some basic precautions, you can use WiFi hotspots in a reasonably secure manner and the full article lists these in some detail.

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Now that we’re back in swing after the holiday season, We decided to make some predictions for growth areas in IT for 2007.

1. Search Engine Marketing and Search Engine Optimisation (SEM and SEO)

Companies are wanting to achieve more with their internet presence. It is no longer a case of putting up a web page and hoping for the best. Companies will turn to SEM and SEO to help them to get the results they need.

2. The rise of the Geobrowser, Geotagging, Location Based Services

Another huge trend in 2006 was the rise of the Geobrowser. Google Earth got all the press, but Yahoo and Microsoft have also been investing heavily in their respective offerings. in 2007 you can expect innovation in this area to continue strongly. Due to the huge ownership of mobile phones (42 million in UK alone) Location Based Services that deliver relevant content to mobile devices will also see strong growth. We wrote about the importance of location back in June.

3. Customer Relationship Management software (CRM)

Customer Relationship Software has had a chequered history so far and has largely been the preserve of large corporates with deep pockets. Now in 2007 everybody has a choice, from freeware offerings such as SugarCRM, through to subscription based services like Salesforce.com. We also expect so see further blurring of the boundaries between CRM, Workflow and Imaging systems as vendors compete with each other. Personally I’d like to see something that didn’t require you to have a PHD before you can install it…

4. Anti-SPAM, Anti-Spyware, Anti-Phishing

There are no clear signs of these problems going away, so smart filtering and good security practices will remain a priority for the forseeable future. Subscription based services will probably gain ground over systems that require you to buy an additional server (and support).

5. Social Media for Corporates

Blogging has been one of the fastest growing social trends in 2006. Now with some pundits predicting that it may have reached its peak, we expect that companies providing blogging and social media toolkits will start to target the corporate market in order to make a return on the investments they have made.

We will be covering each of these areas in greater depth as the year progresses.

Tags: predictions, Search Engine Marketing, Search Engine Optimisation, SEM, SEO, Geotagging, Geobrowser, Location Based Services, Customer Relationship Management, CRM, Social Media, blogging

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New Year got me thinking about New Year’s Resolutions for your business. So here’s the official KDR Top 10 Business Resolutions, and why you should consider them. If you would like our assistance with putting the ideas below into action, then please get in touch.

1. Have a backup plan

Vital business information is stored on your computers. Make a point of checking that your backup plan is up to date and that you perform a recovery test at least once this year. When your computer hardware fails, you need to know that recovery is possible.

2. Update your business plan

Once a year, revisit your business plan - if you don’t have one you’ll find it is worth the effort to make one. There’s a good starting point here

3. Streamline your administration

Well run administration can make a huge difference to a company. You can always find room for improvement. Examine the way that work flows through your company, find and remove the roadblocks first, employ IT technology second.

4. Sort out your email

Make plans to deal with timewasting SPAM. Depending on your business sector, there are legal aspects to email use and storage that must be considered. Create an email management plan.
Oh, and sort out your inbox, you know you need to.

5. Watch the cash flow - carefully

get your accounts up to date, and keep them as close to real time as you can. If you don’t have an accounts package, then you should consider purchasing one this year - but don’t do it without skilled support and advice.

6. Train your staff

Focused training for staff will contribute to the success of your business, but make sure that the training matches a business goal.

7. Don’t maintain the status quo

The business environment changes all the time, your business needs to change to match it.

8. Update your website

If you do, make sure that it is standards compliant this time around. Your old website probably doesn’t work in many of the new browsers that have been released since it was last updated. A well planned Search Engine Marketing campaign might also help to improve the effectiveness of your website.

9. Don’t ask how much it costs, ask what value it adds

Work out the value to your business before making a purchase. If the value is greater than the purchase cost, then go ahead.

10. Tidy Up the workplace

Because you know you should…

And finally, what are your top ten business resolutions for 2007?

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Here is a question that seems to be very popular:

“If you could change one thing what would you choose?”

People tend to choose something big, ambitious and often unrealistic, difficult or even impossible to achieve. In business, I believe this question has its place, especially during a strategic review, but what about the rest of the time? I suggest an alternative question that could produce greater benefits and is particularly relevant to the operational side of your business.

“If you could change one hundred small things what would you choose?”

Why is this question relevant? Because small changes are easier to find, take less time to implement, cost less and often the people who are aware of them are those we hear from least i.e., those doing the job! Big changes usually mean big resistance. Empowering people to make small changes means a greater buy-in as the ideas come from within your teams.

This approach is also known as “Continuous improvement”. Its purpose is to make gradual improvements at little or no cost, using your knowledge, not your money.

Tags: Continuous improvement

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