SMEs - Make your IT resources go further

Smaller businesses and organisations are having to move fast in order to keep up with and make the most of new technology opportunities. It has been suggested that 2009 will be ‘the tipping point’ where businesses start to switch over to the cloud, as they gain more understanding of it.

It is expected that small and medium-sized enterprises (SMEs) will suffer more than most in the current economic downturn. A combination of smaller cashflows, shrinking IT funds available for investment and a lack of internal resources are among the obstacles they all face.

The answer lies in the SMEs ability to be more adaptable and innovative than larger corporations and those who can find the best IT deals available will be heads above the rest. There are signs that this is exactly what SMEs are doing, by looking for new ways to gain technology without paying through the nose.

Tim Jackson, chairman of technology consultancy Inflector, has noticed that SMEs are moving more towards outsourcing their IT. He has seen the demand for web hosting rise dramatically. He says that, “This trend is likely to be replicated in other areas, with SMEs expected to start outsourcing services to other countries in much the same way as larger enterprises do now.” He also said that, “This move will be pushed by a number of elements including virtualisation, a reduction in computer costs, and the availability of faster network connections due to expanded broadband rollouts.”

BroadGroup, a consulting group has published a recent report suggesting that SMEs will increasingly turn to cloud computing and software-as-a-service (SaaS). Both models can help smaller businesses to deliver new products and services quicker and at a lower cost.

The SaaS model is gaining a lot of clout in the business world, with large software vendors and application service providers like HP, IBM and Microsoft, now offering business applications such as customer relationship management (CRM), databases, knowledge management and web development software as web-based utilities.

Analyst Gartner estimates that organisations are typically saving between 25 and 40 per cent by using SaaS-based CRM applications. The savings are made up of reduced application expense and lower implementation costs.

SaaS offers a pay-as-you-go approach, which is particularly appealing to SMEs as it allows them to only pay for the resources they need without the worry of installing, upgrading, maintaining or securing those systems. They avoid the expense of hardware, installation, maintenance fees, software licensing and the need for the dedicated internal IT resources needed to administer systems.

“Some of the earlier adopters [of SaaS] were SMEs, but it is down to cashflow and the fact that many organisations do not need to keep their own servers under the stairs,” says David Mitchell, senior vice president of IT research at Ovum.

“Driving down cost is the obvious reason for moving to SaaS/cloud computing, but there are two aspects to cost – ­ total cost of ownership and cashflow,” says Inflector’s Jackson. “If you save 20 per cent off the cost of the IT over five years, that is nice, but if doing it involves spending 80 per cent of the money right now, that has a more dramatic effect.”

Part of the appeal is the flexibility it affords its users. In the past, if a company wanted to offer a new service, it would need to build the technology infrastructure to support that and factor in the cost of paying the money upfront.

“With the cloud model, you can actually try it out without incurring significant capital costs,” says Jackson.

In future, suggests Jackson, some of the larger SMEs will start examining options that look more like cloud services, where they lease computer power to run intensive applications and storage space by the megabyte.

Up until now, the new cloud computing model has tended to focus more on the consumer market, with companies such as Google and Amazon offering simple and standard on-demand applications such as word processors or spreadsheets, coupled with online storage resources.

“Many executives are still very sceptical about the cloud,” says Jackson. “But there are millions of consumers already using it. It is gaining rapid and universal adoption – ­ 2009 will be the tipping point where a wider business community will start switching to the cloud as they come to understand it more.”

Other ways SMEs are avoiding the expense of software licensing include the use of open-source software, where firms pay maintenance and support costs but the software is free.

Nevertheless, the fees for commercial open-source packages such as those on offer from Red Hat, Novell or Ingres, can often equal the total cost of ownership of propriety software over time.

“It is difficult to move people onto open-source software on the desktop if they are used to Windows and Word environments,” says Ovum’s Mitchell. “Also, is it actually going to save them anything by moving to OpenOffice and Linux for instance? Because when it comes to replacing those assets in two or three years’ time, there might be an issue.”

For many SMEs, however, IT delivers sufficient business benefits to justify owning their own hardware and software. In such cases, SMEs lack the clout to establish direct relationships with technology vendors, and instead buy goods and services through the reseller channel.

This does not mean SMEs should expect lower levels of service, says Glenn Morrison, managing director of UK business-to-business reseller Upgrade Options. Resellers are better able to forge a close relationship with the user, he says, and have better insight into available inventory, ensuring they can deliver orders to schedule.

Eximium MD recognised as ‘Technology Entrepreneur of the Year’

Further to my previous posting about the Bright Sparc awards, I’m proud and honoured to announce that I was crowned ‘Technology Entrepreneur of the Year’ at the Bright Sparc awards evening at the Cranfield Management Research Institute, part of Cranfield University, on 13th May!!

This is the second award I’ve received so far this year, and represents a major achievement, particularly given the stiff competition I was up against. This is a reflection on the whole team at Eximium, and the quality of their abilities and approach, so I can’t take all the credit myself!!

My award was sponsored by The Open University, and so was presented by Brigid Heywood who is their Pro-Vice-Chancellor (Research and Enterprise).

Here I am accepting the award.

I was given a free ticket and space to exhibit at Cranfield’s Venture Day on May 14th, which was an excellent event.  I was particularly inspired by terrific keynote speeches from Lord Karan Billimoria, CEO of Cobra Beer, and Mel Young, founder of the Big Issue in Scotland.

Cranfield University’s CMRI is a world class facility for the study of business management.

The Sparc Technology network is managed by the Milton Keynes Enterprise Hub and run by knowledge-based organisations for technology, who are seeking to develop face-to-face networking opportunities.  They run regular monthly events featuring high profile keynote speakers, an annual awards evening and competitive pitching for local technology led businesses.

Chris Dunkley, Sparc’s network director, said in their press release about my award: “The Bright Sparc Awards have provided an excellent opportunity to celebrate the achievements of some of the region’s most innovative entrepreneurs and technology-led businesses. Derrick Cameron has been instrumental in bringing the benefits of technology to businesses in the East of England. He has also enabled Eximium to both survive and thrive in the current economic climate through the adoption of the Procession tool.

“As a business Eximium is bringing the true power of IT within the reach and understanding of businesses throughout the region, by delivering its unique approach and the latest advancements in business software technology.”

I’m absolutely delighted to have been chosen for this prestigious award and I hope I can continue to live up to the standards that the judging panel felt I had set!

Start them early

They say that the children of today are more at ease with technology than generations who have gone before them. I can believe it when I see how they zip around the computer as if it were something as simple as a colouring book. They use computers in nursery schools now and I think it’s a good thing.

It is also said that children are much more susceptible to learning in the first five years of their lives and it has been suggested that languages should be introduced at a much earlier stage within schools to take advantage of this fact.

Bearing all this in mind, I am an avid believer in starting the learning process at a young age, but I think you can take things too far! Look at these photo’s of the youngest members of Eximium Limited hard at work on their latest project.

It’s just too cute.

How to find the right people for your organisation

Make sure that you advertise the job in the appropriate place. You need to aim it at the type of people you are looking to employ. A technical role would need to be advertised in a technical publication or on a website for technical roles. Advertising it in a local paper will produce very little, if any interest.

UK ID Card Scheme

Home Secretary Jacqui Smith has said that Post offices and pharmacies could act as enrolment centres for the Government’s ID card scheme. These cards will cost £60, £30 being for the card and £30 to cover the cost of collecting the data which is to be stored on a Government database.

The launch of the £5 billion scheme will take place in Greater Manchester this autumn. Anyone who lives in the city, who holds a valid UK passport and wants an ID card, or biometric passport as they are also known, can go to their local post office or pharmacy to have their fingerprints and a scan of their face stored. You can also sign up for information alerts at directgov website.

Ms Smith is meeting with pharmacy trade groups and post office managers to discuss the plans for them to become enrolment centres.

“The companies interested in working with us to deliver the service will play a key role in ensuring the public can apply for an ID card or passport simply and easily,” she said.

“While private companies will clearly benefit from the increased footfall from offering this service, their customers will benefit from being able to quickly provide their biometrics while they are out doing the shopping.

“With an identity card, people will be able to prove their identity quickly and conveniently while helping to protect themselves against identity fraud.

“ID cards will deliver real benefits to everyone, including increased protection against criminals, illegal immigrants and terrorists.”

Opposition parties believe that the scheme should be scrapped, as £5 billion is a lot of money to spend in the current economic climate, when the government’s finances are already being squeezed. The Home Office argues that it will save money in the long term, which is currently being spent on fighting crime, terrorism and fraud.

Our concern would be how are they going to protect the data once they’ve collected it? If past experience is anything to go by, they wouldn’t do a very good job! These ID cards are voluntary at the moment, so when you consider whether to get one, you need to consider whether you want to risk your information potentially getting into the wrong hands?

We have several articles commenting on security issues involving the government. They are Learn your lesson from Revenue and Customs to avoid a security meltdown, Another Security Meltdown and More Data Security Issues.

You can find further information on the proposed ID cards on the directgov website and the Identity and Passport Service website.

Everybody has a different opinion as to whether they think ID cards are a good idea or not. You can have your say on the BBC news website.

How to find the right people for your organisation

If you find you’re having trouble making your mind up, don’t be afraid to ask them back. Use the opportunity to talk about some more specific areas and get to know them better to see how well you think they would perform in your department.

Bright Sparc Awards 2009

I’m extremely pleased to announce that I am a finalist for this year’s Bright Sparc ‘Technology Entrepreneur of the Year’ award.

The Bright Sparc awards are provided by the Sparc Technology and, this year, are in association with Cranfield University, Business Link and Bedford i-lab, among others.  The purpose of the awards is so that technology-led businesses and entrepreneurs from across the region have the opportunity to be recognised for innovative achievements and will honour those businesses or individuals who have truly excelled in their specialist field.

These are the second Bright Sparc Awards and are a great way for innovative companies in our region to showcase their work to an expert panel of judges and gain recognition for their achievements.  Milton Keynes and the surrounding regions are home to many technology companies all of whom are pushing the boundaries of their chosen specialism.  The awards were closely fought last year and gained significant recognition for the winners!

There are a total of 9 awards, in the following categories:

• Young Technology Entrepreneur of the Year 2009
• Technology Entrepreneur of the Year 2009
• Technology Led Business of the Year 2009
• Use of Sustainable Technology in a Business 2009
• Business Innovation Support Person of the Year 2009
• Best Interaction between an HEI and Business 2009
• The Best Use of Technology by a Business 2009
• Overall Bright Sparc Award 2009

The winners will be announced at an awards dinner on 13th May.  The evening starts at 6pm with drinks and the presentation of the awards at 6.30pm. There will be the chance to network over a glass of wine and a hot buffet until the end of the evening around 9pm. There are a limited number of additional tickets available, on a first come first served basis and can be purchased using a Ticket Request Form.

A great benefit of being a finalist for this award is that we will also have a free ticket to attend and exhibit at Cranfield University’s ‘Venture Day’ on the following day - 14th May.  Cranfield VentureDay 2009 is a one day conference and networking event for entrepreneurs and those interested in cutting-edge entrepreneurial performance. 

The event comprises keynote addresses by leading entrepreneurs, exposure to the latest research, exhibits by new enterprises and a networking zone.  The extensive range of workshops and plenary sessions will focus on business start-up, growth, finance and business strategy and will incorporate leading entrepreneurs, business angels, venture capitalists and academics.  Tickets for the event are £120 each.

I’m honoured and excited that we are part of this year’s awards and the Venture Day, and there is of course the possibility that I will actually win the award, which would be truly fantastic!!

Please do come and speak to me if you decide to attend either event.

Do Businesses trust workers out of the office?

The snow that crippled the country at the end of last year left many people unable to get to work. It raises the question, should businesses make it easier for people to work from home, therefore significantly reducing the cost to the business of employees not being able to make it to the office?  Many people say yes, though it has been suggested that managers still aren’t doing anything about it.

It would seem that managers are still reluctant to allow their employees to work remotely, as less than 1 in 10 businesses trust employees to work from home, according to new research released by BT and Nortel. This is surprising considering 42% of them were confident that their employees could do a better job at home!  Does this mean that many managers are stuck in the past, keeping outdated working models, rather than moving with the times and moving people away from their desks?

BT and Nortel results showed that some employees felt that they could be more productive on the road, working with customers if they had the right technology.  However, 58% of them didn’t feel confident of being able to do a better job outside the office.  Perhaps this shows that employees are as uncomfortable with remote working as their managers.

The fact remains, however, that remote working would benefit business, as the snow-related problems demonstrated.  It is concerning that so few managers trusted their employees to work remotely.

“This boils down to a matter of trust,” said John Wright, chairman of small businesses in a statement. “In the current climate, small firms need to be operating at full stretch.”

According to BT and Nortel, the research pointed at outdated research practices such as ‘presenteeism’, where it was thought that if workers weren’t at their desks, they weren’t working.  BT claimed that business investment in unified communications could help solve the problem, as managers could check the productivity of their staff.

Eximium believe that remote working is a very powerful tool which should be utilised wherever appropriate. Our consultants work on site, with clients, and from home - so remote working is certainly a day-to-day occurrence here.  As with everything, you need to have the right tools for the job, but as long as you are properly equipped, there should be no stopping you getting the benefits of flexible remote working in your organisation.

How to find the right people for your organisation

Don’t take what they say on their CV for granted. Many people exaggerate the truth. Get them to tell you in their own words about anything which is important to you. A good way to do this is to get them to talk you through their CV. Part of the benefit to this is as much how they talk as what they say. It’s often enlightening to discover what people really know, despite what they have put on their CV.