Choosing the right IT supplier

Assessing and implementing alongside the IT requirements of any business is usually a dreaded headache which a lot of business owners put off and finally tackle reluctantly.  There are a lot of myths and confusing  jargon associated with IT, but it really doesn’t need to be as scary or confusing as you might think. 

I read a useful article recently by Mark Greatrex, who is product and services director with Lakeview.  They are a provider of bespoke software for business management, accounting and manufacturing control.  In his article, Mark sets out clear steps you should take to help you chose the right IT supplier.

I totally agree with what Mark is saying and I’m pleased to say that our approach fits well with the points that he raises.

Mark suggests you should check you’re getting the best out of the systems you already have in place.  We often find that our customers believe a system is capable of doing a specific thing for them, only to find that they need an additional module to make it work.  At other times, it is simply that the settings on the system in question are wrong.  You might find that little or no additional spend is necessary and a simple adjustment could be all you need to allow your business to become the streamlined operation you originally envisaged.

He also says that your staff may need some additional training in order to use the system in the most efficient way possible. Some software providers fall by the way side when it comes to after sales service, training and customer care. It’s worth researching the possibility of some independent training, as there’s every chance that this gap has been noticed and that training courses are available in that area.  For example, our training courses are tailored to business people who want to learn essential IT skills, but are not interested in the technological complexities behind the scenes.

He mentions that budget is always a deciding factor of any new purchase.  Be sure to set out a clear budget from the very beginning. If you do find that you need to purchase additional systems, don’t be tempted to buy new technology for the sake of it.  Only buy what you need.  Excess technology can be a hindrance, as it can make things over complicated.

Mark states that the relationship you have with your IT supplier is key.  They should listen to your requirements and advise when they feel it is necessary.  A responsible supplier will help you to fulfil your requirements in the most efficient and cost effective way for you and not bombard you with jargon or new technology.  This is part of our commitment to our customers.  With us, you are dealing with people who understand your needs, can talk to you about them in plain English, and get your IT delivering what it truly can to make your business more profitable.

For more information about us, or to contact us, please go to www.eximium.net. 

To read Mark’s full article see http://www.smeweb.com/technology/features/top-tips-on-selecting-an-it-supplier.html.

Government IT project overrun cost millions

Government plans to introduce shared services for human resources, payroll and finance could cost the Department for Transport (DfT) £81m by March 2015 - instead of the £57m saving that was originally intended.

The figures were revealed in a scathing report by public sector spending watchdog the National Audit Office (NAO), which slammed government efforts to introduce shared services.

So far, parts of the DfT to have adopted a shared service approach are the Driving Standards Agency, Driver and Vehicle Licensing Agency and the central Department, with the Maritime and Coastguard Agency coming on board later this year.

The NAO report points to inadequate contract management and poor initial implementation within the department and says the DfT was over optimistic in setting its timetable and goals for the programme with its main IT supplier IBM.

The completion date for setting up shared services for a number of processes was originally set for last month at a cost of £55m to achieve savings of £112m.

But the inability to agree on a common set of business processes, a breakdown in supplier relations and inadequate testing led to what the NAO called “an unstable” IT system being implemented.

As a result the programme is set to go £65m over budget and projected savings have been slashed by nearly two-thirds.

The NAO said the department is making efforts to recoup savings in this area and could potentially increase gross savings up to £84.4m, less any additional cost in implementing new systems.

In a statement NAO head Tim Burr said “It is disappointing to see a programme which aimed to improve the efficiency and effectiveness of a department leaving it, on current projections, some £80m worse off. Departments need to be realistic about the challenges of implementing shared services and to manage suppliers effectively. Over the past year the department has made efforts to improve the performance of the Shared Services Programme and it cannot afford to fail.”

Derrick Cameron from IT firm Eximium said “Even given the size of this project it is remarkable to say the least that such an overspend can be achieved.  We are used to reading about projects going over budget, but this represents an overspend of about £1 for every man, woman and child in the country. It’s a good example of how important it is to be as clear as possible about objectives, timescales and costs before starting a project and flagging up any deviations as early as possible to errors can be quickly adjusted.”

Tips on writing effective documents

Don’t worry about using the same word twice in a sentence. You don’t need to reach for the thesaurus just because you repeated yourself. They’re useful but can make things more complicated for your reader and often result in a document that sounds like gobbledegook. Plus, sometimes the real meaning of what you were trying to say can get lost.

Is your website working hard enough for you?

Are you getting the most out of your website? Is your website generating interest and ultimately customers for you? Websites have evolved from purely a source of information into powerful advertising and marketing tools. All too often, when I am researching on the internet, I come across websites which consist of one page and which have no valuable information on them. They could be doing so much more.

Recently I wanted to take my daughter to a craft café in our area. I knew that the town would be very busy on the Saturday, as it was carnival day, so I decided to see if they opened on a Sunday. It has quite an unusual name and I was unsure of the spelling, so I started by searching generally for cafés in my area. I couldn’t find any reference to it. Eventually I found it, after trying a few different attempts at the spelling of its name directly into Google. They shouldn’t have been that difficult for me to find, given the nature of their business.

The website is visually pleasing, which is one factor where so many other websites fall down, and consists of a home page and a contact us page. The home page told me that they are a café where you can also participate in a particular type of craft activity, that they host children’s parties, corporate events and team building events and that it’s fun. There is no useful information there at all. I already know what they do and their name. Indeed, I would not have been able to find the site at all if I hadn’t. I assumed they would cater for children’s parties because of the nature of the craft activity and though I know that Corporate and team building event are far less formal than they used to be and that in fact, some companies take their staff paint balling and assault coursing these days, I still find it hard to imagine that they would make a lot of money from corporate events. I struggle to imagine a purchasing team sat around the table making models from plastercine, or finger painting, which is on a similar level to the kind of craft activity they offer.

The contact us page consists of an address, phone number and an email enquiry form. There are no opening times anywhere, no price guides, sample menus or anything of any use. With some imagination, this website could be full of colourful photographs of children participating in the activity and some valuable marketing text, explaining the roots of the company, their inspiration and ethos and that all important ‘relevant information’. With the right optimisation this website could be appearing at the top of a Google search attracting a steady source of interest and more importantly customers.

Sadly, someone somewhere told them that they must have a website, so they have one, but it’s hard to find and doing nothing for them. It is unfortunately a wasted opportunity, a waste of the money they spent having it developed and the money they continue to pay to have it hosted. I urge anybody who has a website to consider whether it is fulfilling its potential as an advertising and marketing tool and to take steps to make it work for them, if not.

Customers help themselves to customer care

It appears that only half of all call centre transactions are now handled by people.  This is because the use of automated self-service tools in call centres has surged over the past decade, to the point that only 50 per cent of callers actually talk to real people.

In 1997, 90 per cent of contact centre calls were handled by an operator but today that figure has fallen by almost half. Interactive Voice Response and web-based systems now respectively account for 15.5 per cent and 13.7 per cent of all transactions. Other transactions use part computer / part person systems such as the VCII offered by Voice Connect www.voiceconnect.co.uk installed at the Houses of Parliament for example. 

Derrick Cameron from IT firm Eximium comments “Whilst it can be very temping to save money through automation, it is important to recognize that the cost of a lost customer can be very high to your business when things go wrong.  Certain processes can be simplified and even improved through automation, but it’s important to keep the human element in the equation when things don’t work out.  Where automated processes are introduced, it is important to carefully think through just what is going on in the mind of the customer to ensure that a proper service is being provided – and not just the inability to complain due to lack of opportunity.”  

It now takes and average 39 seconds for centres to respond to a call, compared with 23 second in 1997. And the time taken to respond to messages left by customers has almost doubled from 11 to 20 hours.

The expansion of the DNA database – has it become a data security issue?

Last autumn, while visiting the London HQ of the Forensic Science Service, Tony Blair, who was still Prime Minister at the time, called for the national DNA database to be expanded to include every UK citizen.  Gordon Brown raised the matter again in a speech this week.  In light of continuing high-profile breaches of data and information security in the public sector, and concerns that even the highest profile information systems are not safe, has this debate become a data security issue?

What are the arguments for the database?

So what are the implications of this? The arguments for a DNA database are compelling:
1. Without DNA evidence convictions may not always be secured.
2. Police time can be saved by narrowing down suspects very quickly.
3. Unsolved crimes spanning many years can be solved and the criminals brought to justice.

A case in question centers on Mark Dixie, a pub chef from Surrey, as detailed in this article from The Times Online by Richard Woods and Daniel Foggo earlier this year:

“Dixie was regarded by friends as an ordinary guy who enjoyed a party. He had managed to keep hidden a history of violent sexual assaults and had emigrated to Australia in 1993 before the collection of DNA became routine. He was not on the national database when he returned to Britain.

In September 2005 Dixie was prowling the streets in the early hours when he chanced upon Sally Anne Bowman, an 18-year-old aspiring model, returning home. He pounced in the driveway of her house and stabbed her repeatedly, inflicting wounds that one detective said were “off the scale”. Dixie sexually defiled Bowman’s corpse.
Although police recovered DNA samples of the attacker, the database held no match. For nine months the murder investigation made little progress. The police, believing the killer lived locally, had a list of more than 22,000 suspects.

Then in June 2006, Dixie was arrested after a fight broke out among football fans watching an England match in a pub.

The police were puzzled as to why he burst into tears as he was taken away. Dixie knew what was coming. His DNA was taken and within days was matched to the Bowman murder case. Dixie was sentenced to life.”

And the arguments against?

But what about the arguments against a DNA database?
1. Is the data held accurate? Or can mismatches occur?
2. Is this data secure and safe from malicious interference?
3. How would it be used and can we be sure it won’t be used inappropriately?

Expanding on point two you have to look at recent and past high profile breaches in data security, and the government’s record on securing data. Most recently there is the case of a “serious” security breach after a civil servant lost top-secret documents containing the latest intelligence on al-Qaeda!

Then we have the Prime Minister who used a speech on the June 17th to claim the government’s policies of creating a DNA database were protecting civil liberties rather than eroding them. His bid, however, to champion the security agenda was undermined when it emerged that Hazel Blears, the Communities Secretary who has been spearheading a “hearts and minds” campaign to fight extremism, had her laptop stolen from her constituency office in Salford! The computer contained restricted government files on extremism and defence, although aides stressed none of the files were “top secret”!

Conclusion

To conclude I would suggest that the majority of the general public would welcome such a database, but ONLY if they knew that:
• The data held was 100% secure
• That it would not be used or accessed inappropriately

But as history has proven that neither of these points, currently, have the remotest chance of being met, we have compelling arguments against an idea that should, in reality, stand up on its own!

A deal is struck for expansion onto the Butterfield Business & Technology Park

Over recent weeks, we’ve been finalising plans for expansion and I’m pleased to say negotiations have now been completed for us to take some space at the prestigious Butterfield Business and Technology Park in Luton.  We’ve decided to establish a presence at the new Basepoint Business & Innovation Centre that was built on the park last year.  We’ll be taking a 1200sqft space at the centre, hopefully at the start of September.

Butterfield is just off the A505 and within easy reach of the M1, Luton Airport and the town centre, and is an 85 acre site.  The Business & Innovation Centre cost £18.5 million and was funded by the East of England Development Agency (EEDA) to the tune of £14 million. The remaining £4.5 million was provided by the Office of the Deputy Prime Minister (ODPM) and the Government Office for the East of England (GO-East).

Great attention has been paid towards providing an environmentally friendly building and we have been very impressed by the green solutions to needs such as heating and air conditioning.  It’s also a terrific looking building, with good use made of natural materials and there is plenty of glass and open space.  The whole atmosphere is professional but also fresh and tranquil.  There is even a pond!

We’re very excited about our new space and we’re looking forward to sampling the new working environment at the centre.  There’s a lot to organise first, though!

Tips on writing effective documents

Diagrams and pictures add a great deal to a document, but make them simple and explain what you mean where possible. There’s nothing worse than a diagram that makes things even more complicated than the words it is trying to provide an explanation or example for.

On the Web, speed is of the essence

If there’s one thing that drives me absolutely crazy when I’m surfing on the internet, it’s websites that take forever to load. We are all busy people and need to make the best use of our time, which these days we get precious little of.

At work, we have deadlines and mounting workloads that put pressure on us to do our work as quickly and efficiently as possible. At home, we want to spend the little time we do get with our families enjoying exciting and rewarding pastimes. The things that childhood memories are made of, not sitting on the internet wasting endless hours waiting for websites to load, while your children look on with that famous bored and disappointed expression on their faces. The advertising campaign where the children ‘fire’ their parents springs to mind. Nine times out of ten, I find that when a slow site finally does load, they are of no help anyway. That is the nature of researching on the internet. You usually read through a number of sites before you either find what you are looking for, or make your newly informed decision.

Personally, I do not tolerate these slow websites and move on to another instead of waiting, as do many other people I know. Anybody out there who is planning to update or invest in a website, please consider the amount of time it takes for your web pages to load. Don’t prioritise overcomplicating the site over having a fast load process.  It may seem like an insignificant thing, but you could lose an enormous amount of potential business over it.

Tips on writing effective documents

Assumed knowledge is a major problem with most documentation. Just because you understand the principles of data communication, for example, or know what the underlying problem being addressed is, doesn’t mean your reader will. Either explain anything like this, or make it clear at the start of the document what concepts people need to be familiar with in order to read your document.  This should include any relevant principles, whether they are internal or external to the business.

IT shares in £200m training cash allocation

The government has recognized the importance of the IT sector by announcing a big new grant.  It is believed that the sector will share in a grant of £200m to be invested in new training facilities.

The investment, to be made over the next three years, is part of a wider move, signalled over the weekend by John Denham, secretary of state for innovation, universities and skills, that the government will focus attention on developing skills in a number of strategic sectors.

Official Government research shows that UK businesses will need an extra 160,000 extra IT staff by 2014. This is in addition to the 190,000 IT professionals identified by the report, Working Futures 2004-2014, needed to replace those currently working in IT, who will retire or otherwise leave the industry over the next seven years.

The money will come from existing further education budgets rather than additional funding. IT’s slice of the pie has yet to be announced. Denham is to arrange meetings next month with the industry-led sector skills councils, including E-Skills UK, to identify how the money should be invested.

Derrick Cameron, MD of IT firm Eximium which offers IT training as well as other IT services comments “Naturally, I’m delighted that the importance of investing in the future of IT is being recognized.  The sector is clearly important and will become even more important in the future.  There will be profound implications for the economy if training for the IT sector does not match its needs. Every part of the economy depends on the expertise of the UK’s IT professionals, and these plans to allocate more funds to help address the sector’s priority skills needs will be greatly welcomed by employers”.

Is there a good time to resign?

With the news that David Davis has joined an ever growing list of people that have resigned on a political matter of principle, it’s hard not to wonder what drives a person to those lengths.  As both a businessman and an IT professional, I can’t help debating when we should simply accept what our employers, customers and colleagues are doing as just the way it is, whether we agree with it or not, and when it’s time to take drastic action and say ‘if you want it like this, you can do it without me’.

Voting with your feet certainly makes a statement, and shows you have strong principles, but couldn’t it also be seen as simply giving up?  If so, when is an issue big enough to warrant this kind of action without creating the wrong sort of whispers once you’ve gone?

In the world of IT and business change, particularly in larger organisations, we all come across some ridiculous things. Timescales are set that can never be achieved, changes are planned that are clearly never going to work, and the approach taken to projects is sometimes quite obviously inappropriate or unethical.  It’s become customary for us to accept the latest crazy scheme as the norm.  But are there some golden rules that we shouldn’t allow to be broken? Are there times when we should be taking a stand and making it clear that we don’t agree with what’s happening by opting out, just as Mr Davis and others like him have done?  And, if we do that, would it be viewed as an honourable gesture or would it create the reputation of someone who doesn’t see things through?

In my view, these are quite complicated questions to answer. Having witnessed several departures of this sort, and been the escapee myself on a few occasions, I think there are a number of factors at play.

It all seems to start with 5 main questions:

1. Is something about this situation going against either my core values or my belief system?
2. How bad is it really going to be for me if I just put up with what’s going on?
3. What are the ramifications for everyone else, and the project in hand, if I go?
4. Does being involved in this cause me more grief than the problems walking away from it could potentially cause me?
5. Is my leaving defensible - could I explain it to future customers or employers and would it sound like I did the right thing?

After these points, there are other things to consider, like peer pressure.  Many of the bad situations I’ve found myself in have been cases where everyone else thinks it’s bad too, but most of them have stayed to see it through. So you feel a certain pressure to stay yourself, and that it can’t be all that bad if they’re all willing to carry on.

I think it’s partly about how comfortable you are with yourself and where your self-esteem comes from.  If your self-esteem is partly based on how others perceive you, which is certainly true in my case, then walking out of any situation is not top of your list - what will people say when you’ve gone?  However, if you’re generally not that concerned with what people think about you, as long as you know you’ve done the right thing, then you’re free to make the decision that suits you best.

There’s also the nature of the engagement to think about. During my time as a freelance IT consultant, I must admit that I was much less inclined to leave a project just because I didn’t like it. I always felt that reputation was everything, and I didn’t want to burn any bridges, so I wouldn’t want to upset my customer or create the wrong impression amongst my colleagues. However, it must be said that, if you don’t truly believe in what you’re doing, what quality of service are you really providing, and what impression is that creating?

With a permanent position, things are a little different. You’re not normally thinking of going back there, and it doesn’t matter so much what people around you are thinking, so you’re a little freer to do what you feel is right.

Another factor is how high profile the role or project is. In the case of Mr Davis’ departure, the profile doesn’t really come much higher!  But, even if it is high, that can work to your advantage. The PR it might generate for you could be invaluable, if you’re in a situation that goes against popular opinion.

With our work taking up such a high percentage of our lives it makes sense to enjoy what we do. If a task becomes too onerous or problematic, is it best to try and stick at it or is the sensible thing to do to give up and go and do something else that you’ll enjoy more? I guess the answer is that the reward needs to be great enough at the end for it to be truly worth putting yourself through something that you’re not really enjoying.

Of course, it’s good to be challenged. It keeps us on our toes, ensures we continue to learn, and makes success that much more fulfilling. But, too much stress is a bad thing. It can reduce your effectiveness, affect your health, and leaves you feeling drained and exhausted during the precious time you spend with family and friends. If a situation is too stressful, you have to know when to draw the line before it makes you ill.

Having the courage to take action is also a key part of the decision - it’s much easier just to carry on.  I met a business owner recently who backed away from his biggest customer because he wasn’t getting the most profitable work from them, and the relationship was time-consuming and difficult. I asked him how he’d got on since then and he said he’s never looked back. He’s happier, the business is making more money, and he has more time to spend on growing his business.

Someone once told me how best to deal with today’s pressing issues. Take a step away and look at the journey you’ve made to date. Consider all the things that have gone before in your life to get you to this point. Think of the obstacles you’ve overcome, the low points, and how they’ve often led to great transformations. Only then think of where you are now and the issues you are currently dealing with. This process helps put perspective on the current problems and it usually makes them seem insignificant.  I think this process also helps enormously when we’re considering whether backing away from a customer, resigning from a permanent job, or terminating a great contract is the right thing to do. It might seem like the biggest decision we’ve ever made at the time, but it probably isn’t if we look back at what’s gone before in our lives.

Mr Davis and others like him, whether you agree with his views in this case or not, are to be commended for taking a stand. We should all learn from their example and try and lead work lives on our terms, that are a better reflection of who we are and where we really want to be.

Derrick Cameron is Managing Director of Eximium Ltd, a business IT solutions provider that specialise in helping business people get more benefit out of their IT systems, by using them to solve their business headaches. He can be contacted on 01582 635 078 or via their website at www.eximium.net.

The Hertfordshire Business Independent - Networking Event

I’m delighted to say that I’ve been asked by one of the magazines that have previously published my articles, The Hertfordshire Business Independent, to speak at their forthcoming Networking Event on Thursday 26th June.  I’ve been given a 20 minute slot to entertain the 50 or so business people present so I’m working on that now!

If anyone is interested in attending this event, the details are listed below.  You can either drop me a line or contact them directly.  I’d be pleased to see you there.

The right recruitment company is the key to finding the right candidate

Recruiting new staff is a headache that all business people have to face at one time or another. This is why recruitment consultants exist – to take the headache out of the situation for you. But do they?

I recently read an article that, whilst aimed at candidates and employers, reinforced everything that we believe about our service. It was great to hear that others share the same views.

Matthew Poyiadgi, Vice President of EMEA at the Computer Technology Industry Association (CompTIA), suggests that the issues that employees and employers face when using recruitment companies, such as submitting inappropriate candidates for jobs, can be combated by ensuring that your recruitment consultant knows exactly what you are looking for.

This is the thinking that underpins our recruitment philosophy: you can only provide employers with the right type of candidate if you firstly understand exactly what the employer is looking for, and secondly, understand what the candidates’ skills are. We do this by providing IT recruitment using recruitment consultants who currently work in the IT industry, so we know what we are talking about – you won’t find us trying to provide specialist plumbers because we don’t know anything about plumbing!

As his article is aimed at candidates and employers, Matthew says that the onus is on them to ensure that their consultant has enough information to find them the right job or candidate. As the recruitment company, we have taken on this responsibility ourselves, as we also believe that it is also up to the consultant to find this information out, otherwise how can they provide an acceptable service? It is easy to just supply CVs for candidates that have keywords somewhere within the text of the CV without understanding what those keywords are, but in order to provide a truly suitable candidate, you need to understand what the keywords mean and what the employer is looking for, whether that is a qualification or some specific business experience.

Whilst many recruitment companies claim to provide a specialist service, very few of their consultants have worked in the sector they are recruiting for, let alone still currently work in that sector. We actually provide these skills so can provide both candidates and employers with a better service. If you would like more information on our recruitment service, please go to www.eximium.net/recruitment.asp

To read Matthew’s full article see www.computing.co.uk/computing/analysis/2217560/perfect-match-4019770

Tips on writing effective documents

Try to avoid jargon. If you must use it, either provide a glossary of terms at the beginning or end of the document, explaining what they are, or explain the jargon the first time you use it in the document then use it without explanation from then on.