Blog Entries for IT Means Business

Will your IT system run smoothly in the face of a disaster?

eschmidl@hotmail.com — Wed, 25 Jul 2012 14:00:00 +0100

The overwhelming priority for any business is to have systems that work.

New features, platforms and applications can drive competitive advantage, but they need to be robust and reliable.

When they aren't, you can virtually guarantee that they'll interrupt your business at some point – something for which there's never a good moment.

So what can you do to make your systems reliable? One question some would ask is are you thinking about reliability in the right way? [...]

Windows 8, Window To Go, and "the new office" – your IT future?

eschmidl@hotmail.com — Wed, 18 Jul 2012 14:00:00 +0100

Microsoft's products are at the heart of many business infrastructures, making the company's plans important news.

Last week, Toronto hosted Microsoft's Worldwide Partner Conference in which 16,000 of the company's partners, including myself, caught up to hear the latest on all things Microsoft.

It's an important time for the software giant. CEO Steve Ballmer is claiming that the coming year will be the biggest for product and services launches in Microsoft's history. There [...]

Virtualisation – have you gone far enough?

eschmidl@hotmail.com — Wed, 11 Jul 2012 14:00:00 +0100

Virtualisation has long since established itself as a powerful tool.

According to Forrester research, 52% of servers are now virtual. By 2014, that number will rise to 75%, making virtualisation the norm. But it’s also the case that many businesses aren’t getting as much from virtualisation as they could.

I’ll discuss why in a moment but, for those who’d like a primer, here’s a reminder of what virtualisation is.

More with less

As commonly explained, virtualisation [...]

Microsoft Surface – the tablet business has been waiting for?

dstevens@smartcompany.com.au — Wed, 04 Jul 2012 14:00:00 +0100

There have been a few big announcements in the tablet space.

Google has unveiled the Nexus 7, a small-screen tablet that will run the Android OS. A compact and budget-friendly option, it’s set to compete with the growing number of tablets in the market: Apple’s iPad, BlackBerry’s PlayBook, and a range of Android devices.

But, as far as business is concerned, the biggest announcement last month was that of Microsoft’s new tablet, Surface.

Distinguished by its bright a [...]

Getting rid of legacy IT systems

dstevens@smartcompany.com.au — Wed, 27 Jun 2012 14:00:00 +0100

Dealing with legacy systems is an ongoing challenge for many businesses.

Legacy doesn’t mean "old" – indeed, many financial institutions still use old, but tried and tested, mainframe technologies.

What it does mean are the systems that are holding the business back – or those that have become too costly to run.

These systems might, in some cases, no longer be vendor supported. (After 10 years on the market and a number of new leases on life, Microsoft’s support for [...]

Frustrated by IT? You’re not alone

dstevens@smartcompany.com.au — Wed, 20 Jun 2012 14:00:00 +0100

It’s a rare SME for which IT isn’t integral – meaning that when IT breaks, the trouble it causes can be substantial.

This fact contributes to the frustration SMEs feel when their IT systems don’t perform.

What also contributes is what they perceive as a lack of help from the industry when things go wrong.

The fact is many customers don’t get the support they’d like from those who create their software and systems. And, in this regard, there is room for the industry t [...]

Keeping your business online in the event of a disaster

dstevens@smartcompany.com.au — Wed, 13 Jun 2012 14:00:00 +0100

Until recently, truly comprehensive disaster recovery (DR) solutions have largely been the preserve of the big end of town.

With the emergence of disaster recovery to the cloud however, this is quickly changing.

Cloud technology makes DR solutions both more efficient and less costly. (One business we recently helped to move to the cloud, for example, cut their DR budget in half.)

Expect to see DR to the cloud becoming the status quo for DR solutions in Australia, esp [...]

What to think about before switching IT providers

andrewmedia@internode.on.net — Wed, 06 Jun 2012 22:26:02 +0100

Switching IT providers can be a tough decision.

Even when a business is disappointed with its current service, moving camps tends to be a decision that’s often pondered but rarely made.

What can you do if you’re unhappy with your IT provider?

1. Go to leave, then… stay

At the end of a less than satisfactory contract, it’s time to revisit the market.

Most businesses do this well. They approach a number of different providers. They get a better price and a nu [...]

How to hire the right IT staff

andrewmedia@internode.on.net — Wed, 30 May 2012 14:00:00 +0100

At Brennan IT we’re on a recruiting drive, looking to hire around 50 new staff.

Our needs are, of course, different to those of the typical SME, but it does raise the question – what should SMEs look for when hiring IT staff?

It’s an area in which many businesses struggle, and assembling an internal IT team is not a simple task.

The problem is that the pool of ‘perfect’ candidates is small and they’re therefore in hot demand.

To understand what makes the perf [...]

Planning your IT budget

andrewmedia@internode.on.net — Wed, 23 May 2012 14:00:00 +0100

As the financial year draws to a close, many businesses will be considering their IT budgets for the next 12 months.

How much to spend, and where to spend it, are the two key questions that businesses will face.

Given the state of the economy in the last few years, some have been putting off major IT investments, trying to eke every last drop of value from their current systems.

That’s understandable, but it’s not a situation that can last forever. Technology cycles [...]

How to use Outlook and Exchange effectively

pstafford@smartcompany.com.au — Wed, 16 May 2012 14:00:00 +0100

For most of us, Microsoft Outlook and Exchange are everyday tools for communication, calendaring and more.

They’re a powerful platform and, from CRMs to Unified Communication systems, there are many opportunities for integration with other business applications.

The benefits that your business can derive from Exchange, however, will also depend on how you deploy it.

Effective Exchange

Exchange delivers a comprehensive mail, contacts and calendaring platform.

What should your business be doing about security threats?

dstevens@smartcompany.com.au — Wed, 09 May 2012 14:00:00 +0100

As IT systems become more integral to businesses, so does their security.

If your business falls prey to an attack, the risks are two-fold:

Operational. If an attacker manages to compromise one or more of your systems, they’re usually in a position to disrupt your operations, should they choose to do so.
Reputational. Informing your customers or business partners that their information has been stolen from your systems is not something that helps to engender trust, and will [...]

Cloud lessons learned

dstevens@smartcompany.com.au — Wed, 02 May 2012 14:00:00 +0100

It’s an interesting time in the cloud services world.

Many early adopters are coming out of their initial three-year contracts and they’re looking to renew.

With the benefit of experience, some have developed strong opinions about what they’re going to pursue in a solution this time around, and what they’re going to avoid.

Multi-tenancy blues

One noticeable trend is a lack of enthusiasm for multi-tenanted services.

These are services in which you s [...]

IT’s green credentials

dstevens@smartcompany.com.au — Wed, 25 Apr 2012 14:00:00 +0100

Last week, Greenpeace launched a campaign urging the three big cloud computing companies – Amazon, Apple and Microsoft – to make their clouds more environmentally friendly.

Of course, any effort to do so is very worthwhile.

But, for some, the campaign may imply that IT is a bad guy when it comes to environmental impact, which I don't think is the case.

In fact, IT is helping businesses to reduce their carbon footprint in a number of ways. And happily, the s [...]

What’s the ideal IT infrastructure for your business?

dstevens@smartcompany.com.au — Wed, 18 Apr 2012 14:00:00 +0100

The IT landscape is diverse, and deciding exactly what products and services are right for your business can be tough.

While some may find the choice daunting, the fact is that for SMEs the suitability of available solutions – and their cost – have never been better.

The rub lies simply in deciding what's best for you. So what's ideal? The key is to think carefully about your aims.

Flexibility

One of the advantages SMEs hold over bigger competitors is thei [...]

How to build an effective intranet

dstevens@smartcompany.com.au — Wed, 11 Apr 2012 14:00:00 +0100

Mobile and "anywhere/anytime" computing are changing the way we work, allowing us to be more flexible and productive.

One consequence however, is a rise in situations where staff are working either at different times or in different places.

Good collaboration technologies are therefore vital for getting things done and sharing knowledge.

Most businesses have an intranet solution (such as a wiki or Microsoft SharePoint), but for a variety of reasons many don [...]

Financing a move to the cloud

pstafford@smartcompany.com.au — Wed, 04 Apr 2012 22:32:06 +0100

As most SMEs are now well aware, cloud computing can be a powerful business tool.

Thanks to a patchy economy and tight cash flows however, the cost of unlocking the cloud’s benefits can, for some, put it out of reach.

Migration and project expenses, for example, create upfront costs that must be met. Yet, while the cloud is in some senses ‘new’, not much has changed when it comes to financing and business objectives.

For most businesses, the aims remain simple:

[...]

Is a single IT provider best for your business?

pstafford@smartcompany.com.au — Wed, 28 Mar 2012 14:00:00 +0100

From managed services to cloud applications, when it comes to IT systems, today’s businesses are often spoiled for choice.

The same can be said about their choice of provider. From the big telcos to small IT shops, hundreds of companies stand ready to deliver.

With such a large array of IT partners on offer, it might seem strange to ask whether businesses can get the best service available by choosing just one. But it’s a path many are following.

The reasons your busin [...]

How to make the most of data in your business

pstafford@smartcompany.com.au — Wed, 21 Mar 2012 14:00:00 +0100

Whether it's transactions or inventory, customer information or visits to your website, managing business data can be both an opportunity and a problem.

Exactly how you want to exploit the data you collect of course depends on the nature of your business. Common aims however, include things like targeting marketing (predicting which customers will respond to a promotion based on their purchase history) or customer retention (predicting which customers might be intending to leave you [...]

The new technologies your business will consider in the next 12 months

pstafford@smartcompany.com.au — Wed, 14 Mar 2012 14:00:00 +0100

Technology has shown time and again its capacity to change the way we work.

From smart devices and video conferencing to cloud-based infrastructures, technological change has allowed us to work more effectively and conveniently in more places and in more ways.

So what new technologies will your business consider in the next 12 months?

Here are a few to ponder:

4G mobility

We're all aware of the revolution that mobile data networks have delivered for anywhere [...]