Diary of a Nokia E61 User

‘Mobile internet - now this is more like it!’

I used to use a 3G Sharp mobile phone that had Vodaphone Live! running on it and I thought that was as good as the Internet on a mobile phone had really become. I was hugely disappointed.  It was pretty useless really and everything seemed to cost money, which is not what the internet should be about.  However, with the Nokia E61, I’ve discovered that the mobile internet can be just as good as the normal internet.  I can use our internet banking facility, update our blog, get travel directions, check websites of contacts I’ve just met, etc. There is nothing I haven’t been able to do yet and it’s proved invaluable on a number of occasions. Like the time my sat nav gave out when I was trying to find a prospective customer’s office. This is more reminicent of the good old days of using a Psion 5mx and browsing the internet, except it’s in colour, quicker, and you can do it wirelessly anywhere.

You don’t get the whole of a website on the screen, of course, but the screen size is pretty good and there is a useful zoom facility. Also, there is a clever page overview that overlays on the screen as you move around and allows you to see where you are on a page.

A number of sites, including Google, have views designed for mobile devices, which can help with the speed of browsing, and there is less moving around the screen.

Along with the notes application,email and diary, this has allowed me to stop using my laptop in a number of mobile situations, many of which weren’t that practical in the first place.  It’s so much easier to use the E61 on a train rather than to try and sit with a laptop. Plus, I can save the charge on my laptop for when I get to my destination.

Of course, there is also a web feeds reader application, so I can subscribe to the web feeds I like and keep up to date on the latest posts when I’m on the move. Why would I need a paper? They can be pretty awkward when you’re out and about as well. With the Nokia, I can access news stories all over the world and search for the content that I’m interested in.

I like the feature that I can use a wireless LAN if there is one available rather than the 3G network.  Also, I find that even at home, I reach for the Nokia rather than bother with the laptop, if I want to quickly check the internet for something.

I want to talk about the Email and Diary applications in other articles, and I’ve already written about the creative thinking possibilities with the Notes application, but when you combine the Internet browsing capabilities with these other factors, it’s astonishing how much benefit I am getting from this one tiny device!

Well done Nokia!

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.

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”.

Hot Tips on Microsoft Word 2007

Don’t linger on the Review tab!

There is currently an issue with the review tab in Word 2007 which affects the speed of some processes. For example, cursor movement slows down considerably when moving between letters using the cursor keys, and even when using the control key with the cursor keys to jump between words.

Switching between tasks using the alt and tab keys is also affected. Our advice is, if you need to use the review tab, for example to turn on change tracking, then click to another tab to continue editing your document.

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.

Why temporary processes can be a bad idea in your business

Working with one of our customers recently, I was reminded why temporary processes can become such a headache for a business.

Our client uses a key report that shows the real profitability of their products by taking product sales and applying various additional costs and revenues to them to produce the true margin applicable to each product. It’s a vital report to the business. But, it’s created using a massively convoluted process, with a lot of manual intervention. Information is taken from over 30 different sources and manipulated to make it suit the reporting model. Very few people understand the process and it takes at least 6 months for someone new to learn how to do it. Also, it takes one person 20 days each month to produce the report, so it’s a full time job. Of course, with so much manual work, it’s also error prone and an area of high risk - what happens if the person who knows how to produce it is ill, for example. We’ve been helping them to understand and document the process, and making some recommendations for improvements, but changing it now is going to be hard for them.

Like many problematic processes I’ve seen in other companies, it started life as a feasibility study, answering questions such as ‘can this be done?’, ‘how can it be achieved?’ and ‘what would the results look like?’ That’s fine, and it’s a good approach to finding out what’s possible, but the trouble is that there’s a tendency for these things to turn into a real process once the underlying questions have been answered. Suddenly, what started out as a feasibility exercise has become a permanent fixture, which isn’t what the approach was designed for in the first place. Then people start to rely on the outcome of it, other processes are built on the back of it and, before you know it, you become trapped doing something in a less than ideal way.

My advice is to find any processes like this in your business and take stock of them. Consider if they are really necessary and whether, if you were to design it from scratch now, what would you really like it to do and how would you want it to work. Chances are, you’ll find that it’s not really giving what you want anyway, and there are much better ways to do the job you really need.

It’s worth spending some time and money to do this sort of thing properly with a real process that’s carefully thought out, using the proper tool for the job. In this case, a huge amount of information is being processed using 23 Excel spreadsheets, with macros and complex formulae, and a lot of elbow grease. The limits of what’s possible with this tool have really been reached, causing a lot of extra headaches.

Quite often, especially with reporting, and certainly in this example, the real problem that needs to be solved is at the point that the information arrives into the system. When people enter transactions onto systems, the requirements of key reporting processes need to be understood, so that the right information is being gathered at that point, to allow later analysis in the right way. In this example, if the revenue and cost transactions were already being posted at the best possible level, it would be so much easier to analyse the eventual effect on profitability, without all the manual effort to translate it.

So, next time you set someone off on a temporary approach to something, I’d recommend you think about where it might all lead. And once the feasibility study results are in, take the time to use what you’ve found out to design a proper process that provides a workable and sustainable solution to the problem.

If you would like some free advice about any processes in your business that are currently causing you concern, please just drop us a line by clicking here.

Tips on Writing Effective Documents

Try to structure your headings so the document flows in a ‘drill down’ approach. Start with an introduction, overview, and background then work gradually into the detail. Save the fine detail for the appendix. Imagine you are taking the reader on a journey. Don’t try and get to the end without explaining the key details of what has gone before.

Diary of a Nokia E61 User

Making Time For Creative Thinking

I’ve had the Nokia E61 smartphone for some time now and I thought it worthwhile to share the ups and downs of using it with you. In this diary, I hope to give some insights into what difference having handheld computing power, with remote access, is making to my business.  This week, I want to talk about creative thinking.

Creative thinking is something we all need time to do. Like any business owner, director or manager, I have to make sure I spend time working on, not just in, my business.  But, how do you do that, given the pressure on your time during the working day?

Once again, this is where I’ve found having the E61 is the ideal solution to at least part of the problem.

The notes application on the E61 is ideal for putting down and organising creative thoughts whenever they come to you.  The thing about the E61 is that it has a very usable full keyboard, otherwise I wouldn’t be able to use it to any great extent.

As a result, I’ve found time to spend time thinking creatively about my business in what were previously situations where I might have just mulled things over in my head, or simply sat and done nothing. For example, while waiting to be collected in a customer’s reception area, during taxi journeys, and when I wake up first thing in the morning.

All of a sudden, these are my most creative moments, and my subconcious mind seems to reserve it’s most creative thoughts ready to be used at these stolen moments throughout the day.  Most of the articles I write for magazines, websites, and our blog (including this very article!) are either sketched out or written completely on the E61, at these times.

Waking up is an especially good example. I often wake up early with thoughts buzzing around my head. By getting these thoughts down into the notes application, it ensures they’re recorded somewhere before they’re forgotten, and it gets them out of my mind so I can think about something else, or go back to sleep.

Then, having got the bones of the idea down, I can flesh it out later on.  By either continuing it on the phone or emailing it to myself from the phone, which is very easy to do.  In fact, you can use bluetooth or simply wait until the next time you synchronise your phone with Outlook, as the notes get automatically copied along with everything else.

I find that, looking back at my notes, I’m often inspired again to write more on the same subject. 

Of course, this doesn’t replace the strategic meetings I have with the team, but often I find I’m bringing notes made on the E61 along with me.  It’s made a huge difference to finding time to be creative about my business - I can’t recommend this approach strongly enough to all those other busy business people out there!

Tips on writing effective documents

Add a table of contents at a useful level at the start. It helps people assess and absorb the content of your document, as well as find their way around it. Don’t have too much detail in it though - a maximum of 3 heading levels usually works best. Microsoft Word has powerful tools for helping you create a table of contents easily and effectively, whilst also making keeping it up to date straightforward.

Are you compliant with the PCI standards?

In September 2006, the Payment Card Industry (PCI) Security Standards Council released version 1.1 of a document entitled ‘PCI Data Security Standards’, generally referred to as the ‘PCI DSS’.  The PCI Security Standards Council was formed by the leading payment brands, including Visa and Mastercard, specifically to develop the Data Security Standards. This was in response to rising fraud within the industry, and the standards were designed to ensure organisations adopt consistent security measures to proactively protect customer account data. The standards will be updated in response to new payment security risks, as they are identified.

Adherence to these standards became a mandated requirement in July 2007 for all organisations handling credit and debit card transactions, or providing systems or services that do.  However, many companies are still not compliant and nonconformity could result in hefty fines and possible withdrawal of payment services.  The largest merchants, those handling over 6 million transactions a year, are expected to be compliant first, with the smaller merchants following along later, working towards a deadline of December 2008.  Companies offering systems or services that handle credit and debit card data will also need to comply or face going out of business.

The PCI requirements, like many standards, are just a framework and so by their nature are quite generic. This can make it difficult to pin down exactly how they should apply to your business, your systems and your processes. Anyone who has implemented an ISO standard, such as ISO 9001, will be all too familiar with this problem.

The good news, of course, about a framework such as this is that it’s prescriptive about what needs to be done but not always about how it should be done, so allows you some leeway to implement the approach in a manner that suits your business and the way you like to operate.

So what are these standards really about?

The key information that the standards are interested in is known as ‘cardholder data’.  The PCI define cardholder data as the ‘full magnetic stripe or the PAN (card number) plus any of the following: cardholder name, expiration date and service code (often referred to as the security code on the magnetic strip)’.  In fact, however, many of the requirements deal with general industry best practice in connection with system and data security and have nothing directly to do with card data at all. For example, ensuring that each user of your system has a unique user id and password, and that their password is not one that can be easily guessed.  If your system security policy is already top-notch, then you’ll be a long way there already.  If not, you may have a lot of work to do.

Let’s have a look into the essence of what these standards are really getting at. There are 12 main requirements which are grouped under 6 main headings.  Here are the headings with my simple explanation of the requirements underneath each:

1. “Build and Maintain a Secure Network”
Ensure you have a secure network, including firewall protection and the need for passwords to gain access.

2. “Protect Cardholder Data”
Protect cardholder data wherever it is stored, and even when being transmitted outside your secure network.

3. “Maintain a Vulnerability Management Programme”
Ensure your systems are protected against unauthorised access, including using up-to-date anti-virus software.

4. “Implement Strong Access Control Measures”
Install and maintain strict controls around system access, even access to the physical bits of hardware, ensuring only those people who actually need to see cardholder data have access to it.

5. “Regularly Monitor and Test Networks”
Monitor and track access to systems and, more specifically, cardholder data within systems.  Also, regularly test the security systems that have been put in place.

6. “Maintain an Information Security Policy”
Implement and maintain a policy for the security of information in your business

A common misconception about the standards is that they only apply to credit or debit card numbers. In fact, whilst only the card numbers themselves need to be protected using encryption (meaning converted into something incomprehensible using a ‘key’, so that only a holder of the matching key can convert it back to its original form), information such as expiry dates, issue numbers, customer names, addresses, etc., all need to be carefully protected according to these standards.

The 12 requirements under these headings are then further broken down into a total of 64 smaller requirements.  I don’t propose to list them all out here - suffice to say that the PCI council have been very thorough in covering a lot of areas that could result in a security breach, leading to card fraud.  Interestingly, as you can see from these 6 headings, only number 2 is actually concerned directly with what state cardholder information is in inside your business.  The others are all to do with stopping any unauthorised or unscrupulous activity that might compromise that information.

Is everyone affected in the same way?

The PCI have categorised merchants into 4 levels, each with their own set of compliance criteria, based on the annual number of credit/debit card transactions that your business handles, as follows:

Level 1 - over 6m transactions, or anyone whose data has previously been compromised.