So, What's Your Plan?

Which plan is that? The one for how all your IT applications work together to help your business succeed. The plan that goes right along with your business plan as one of the important living documents that you read and update every year. The one that details what your business needs to accomplish your mission, whether it's building hotels or building brands through innovative marketing programs. That plan that identifies what IT resources you have, what they do, and how you know they are effective, current, and secure.

If you're mumbling something like, "I know, I'm going to do that one of these days, but I've been busy, and you know how it is." Yes, we do know. After the first rush of getting a business launched, you focus on making it grow. As you need new IT solutions, you buy the software that seems best for the particular task. Only later do you find out that there is no way to export data from one system to another. You upgrade the operating system and then learn that some of your important applications won't run anymore. It happens all the time, and small businesses pay the price in slowed growth and unnecessary cost.

Last week we talked about how small businesses can learn from how large corporations handle their systems. You don't have to have millions of clients and billions of dollars to get the best combination of IT resources; all you need is some solid planning before you start spending. That's what large organizations do; they invest in planning before they spend the first dollar.

A solid IT plan starts with defining all your needs and then identifying the best solutions to meet them. It includes planning for hardware, operating system, and software version upgrades including system security. An important part of planning that is sometimes overlooked is setting the policies that define how the system will be used, and when components will or will not be replaced.

Take for example if you have 10 staff and 5 PCs. Your plan should include a statement regarding how the internet will be controlled, and a policy preventing employees from downloading too much of the wrong thing. Not only could you have a security risk with all those downloads, but you might be blowing your budget on broadband costs, running up $1,000's of unnecessary cost. One method is to remove control of firewall software from the end user and buy a robust router. This centralises control and lets you manage the network. Or consider this: The average total cost of ownership for a PC out of warranty and more than 3 years old is around $600 per year, and even more with lesser known brands. But a new PC with a 3-year warranty is around $1,100. Do the math and you'll find a saving of more than 33% over a 3-year period. It pays to turnover your network hardware when the warranties run out.

Your plan documents all of this so you have a blueprint for growth, doesn't it?. Yes, you can probably do this yourself - if you have the expertise to compare the technical options and understand the complexities of putting together software from different vendors to create the unique package that will serve you best. Or, you can do what larger companies have learned is the easier and more cost-effective way; choose an experienced professional IT implementer to guide you through the maze of possibilities.

So, what's your plan?

At Chill we take the heat out of IT. No matter what pressure you are under, we will always keep our heads and make sure you get back up and running as soon as possible. So don't sweat - Chill IT. Click here for more information on our consulting services.

The Handheld Revolution

There you are in a hotel two or three time zones from home, feet up and cool beverage in hand. You've finished your meetings for the day and now it's time to open the laptop, check on email, review your next presentation, and get ready for tomorrow. Except the hotel's Internet connection is down so your laptop isn't talking to anyone, at least for the time being. Not a problem. You have your hand-held, perhaps a BlackBerry or maybe a Treo, and you're still in business.

Mobile computing has improved exponentially in the last few years to the point that, today, you can make phone calls, receive and send emails and instant messages, take pictures, update your calendar, browse the Internet, download and review documents, and play music, all from that one small device. There are models that have WiFi capability, 3G technology, and video recording ability. With some, you can even figure out where you are with GPS capabilities.

With older handheld devices, when you were away from home base and your PDA's synching cradle, you had to depend on email or a phone call to let you know about a schedule change. No more. The newer handhelds have push technology that doesn't wait for you to ask "What's new?" Changes to your calendar, tasks, and email in Outlook take only seconds to automatically synch to your BlackBerry, Windows Mobile or mobile phone calendar.

Sometimes what you need is a quick look at a document or spreadsheet. No problem now for the newer handhelds. With small screen readers much better than they used to be, you can receive Acrobat, Excel and Word documents on your phone and read them easily. This capability becomes even more powerful coupled with the latest version of MOSS (Microsoft’s Office SharePoint Server) intranet software. Now, handheld users can see mobile versions of their KPI data, those all-important measures of performance.

Imagine you are at a client's office an hour away from your office. How much would it be worth to know that the prospect you've been trying to get in to see for months can see you today if you can be there in two hours? That's when you can quickly see the value of making a full-featured handheld part of your every day business outfit.

With these new mobile computing options there is no longer any question about whether we can be connected anytime, anywhere . Should we always be connected? Ah, that is a topic for another day.

At Chill we take the heat out of IT. No matter what pressure you are under, we will always keep our heads and make sure you get back up and running as soon as possible. So don't sweat - Chill IT. Click here for more information on our consulting services.

Use the Other CRM to Create Future Success

What is the single biggest cost for most businesses? Correct – people. Salaries, taxes, and benefits are a major expense, so managing the hiring and retention of good employees is critical to an organisation's success. In the information age, when knowledge has become the product of value, managing your company's talent resources is as critical as managing cash flow or making investment decisions.

The other CRM – Candidate Relationship Management – is an outgrowth of traditional Human Resource (HR) activities. In the past HR departments have concentrated on making policy, hiring and troubleshooting staffing issues, and managing the risks of being an employer. That's no longer enough. The best managed organisations are reaching out ahead of need to create a system that identifies candidates and builds an optimal workforce for the business. And it's working. Companies that invest in talent management are showing higher performance than their competitors, because it is the people who are the creators of value.

CRM systems are designed to help improve recruiting, development, and retention of employees who have the skills and aptitudes to meet a company's needs, both now and in the future. If your company always seems to be scrambling to find good people to hire, consider adding a CRM system to help expand the pool of qualified, pre-screened candidates before you need them.

There's a good article that includes techniques for building your talent management process here: http://tinyurl.com/2kl72n. CRM tools don't have to be elaborate and expensive to be effective, and there are options for small firms with salaried as well as hourly employees. The key is not size or complexity, but how well you are able to build a knowledge base of good candidates. If you have employees, you owe it to your organization to build a business-enhancing CRM system.

At Chill we take the heat out of IT. No matter what pressure you are under, we will always keep our heads and make sure you get back up and running as soon as possible. So don't sweat - Chill IT. Click here for more information on our consulting services.

What's All the Fuss over VoIP?

Sometimes that thing that sounds too good to be true turns out to really be true. VoIP (Voice over Internet Protocol) has turned into one of those techno-promises that has proven its potential, especially as a cost saver for business.

The concept is simple – plug your phone into the Internet, and talk to the world as if it were all next door. And the reality is almost as easy: VoIP service converts your voice to a digital signal, and that can be sent over the Internet. On the other end, it comes out as your voice in a signal that the receiver can process – cell phone, wired phone, whatever. VoIP does require a broadband (high-speed Internet) connection for your computer, but these days you need that just to conduct business effectively anyway.

Since the service starts with your computer, your desktop computer can actually make calls directly from your CRM (Customer Relationship Management) system. Now, while you talk to a customer you can also be reviewing their information on your computer, entering orders, checking schedules, or even writing a confirmation of your phone conversation. Sure, you could do that before, but what was that phone call costing you?

As simple as the VoIP concept is, the main attraction has always been the potential cost savings. Installing a traditional wired phone system for your office with multiple stations could be an enormous investment. But a VoIP PBX system with up to 16 extensions costs under $2,000. And if that got your attention, how about calling from Sydney to Perth for just 10c? Period. Now your mobile phone can become an extension of your PBX, and a call to a mobile can cost only 20c/minute, regardless of the carrier.

During the early days of VoIP there were stories of dropped calls, just as there were with the early cell phones. But the technology has advanced rapidly, and these days VoIP is highly reliable. You do need to understand how the system works and what services are available, because there will be differences from your old style wired phone system. But that brings us to another advantage of a computer-based VoIP phone system - one service provider can install and support everything for you. That provider will be able to advise you about the best service choice for your business.

So give VoIP a look and a listen. With the cost savings and increased efficiency, I think you will soon be saying, “Now we’re talking!”

At Chill we take the heat out of IT. No matter what pressure you are under, we will always keep our heads and make sure you get back up and running as soon as possible. So don't sweat - Chill IT. Click here for more information on our consulting services.

Network Security - Seal IT with a KISS

You know by now that I believe in keeping things as simple as possible when it comes to information technology. It is very easy to dive into a subject and feel that you are drowning in the details of do's and don'ts. Network security is a good example of a topic that has many levels of detail, threats on all sides, and a bewildering array of options for protecting your company's network. Even the descriptive words are frightening: hack, worm, phish, spoof, denial of service attack, malicious code, spam, Trojan horse. And when you learn that 90% of businesses and government reported a security breach in 2002, and 80% reported a resulting financial loss, the whole issue can seem overwhelming.

Where to begin? The first thing to do is not to rush in and throw money at the problem and hope you get it right. Putting in a $199 firewall router by itself won't solve anything; if it is not configured, you may as well put in a lock and leave the key in the door. You need a plan.

Take the time to create a coherent and comprehensive approach to network security. This will help you identify where you are in terms of security, what threats hold the greatest risks for your business, and what you should do in response. Your integrator should be able to help you with this task. It will also help you avoid focusing on something that may sound terrifying while overlooking something else that is a more realistic threat to your specific situation. Think KISS – Keep It Simple Security.

So how do you create that important approach? There are plenty of resources available in articles and sites to help you understand the potential threats, the areas you need to consider, and how to select the best protective measures for you. You might start with Microsoft's small business Security Guidance Centre; scroll down and click on the "Quiz" to see a good overview of security concerns and issues for small companies. Another resource is this chapter from the book, Executive Guide to Information Security: The Threats, Challenges, and Solutions. And this article reviews 10 major threats to network security and how to prevent damage to your system.

Network security does not have to be complex. It does need to be the simplest appropriate system for your situation. Start with covering the basics and build on that solid ground. Then as your company's security needs grow, your KISS system will grow with it.

At Chill we take the heat out of IT. No matter what pressure you are under, we will always keep our heads and make sure you get back up and running as soon as possible. So don't sweat - Chill IT. Click here for more information on our consulting services.