While browsing the web I stumbled on the promo for the Bob Dylan compilation due out next week. The create your own message feature is pure marketing genius.
Thanks to the Bookchase Blog for putting me onto this. The promo certainly worked for me, I'll be buying the album.
Saturday, September 29, 2007
XP gets a lifeline while Vista struggles
Finally Microsoft have faced the reality that Vista is not popular with the market and have announced Windows XP will be available beyond the planned January 30, 2008 cut off date.
I've ranted enough about Vista's problems enough on this blog but the main reason why Vista has failed is that the benefits of moving up to Vista do not, for most people, outweigh the negatives.
In my view, the core problem is that Vista is Windows XP with a tutu. That tutu is the User Access Control feature. It gets in the way of what people are doing.
This is a problem of Microsoft's own making. To keep users, and their own software developers, happy they allowed the mess that was the Windows 9x security model to extend into XP.
The stupid thing is the Windows NT family, which includes Vista and XP, always had superior security to earlier versions of Windows but Microsoft decided to ignore it .
I suspect this was because their own software, especially Office XP and 2000, didn't run properly in Limited User profiles.
Being stuck with running most users as Administrators they decided on putting on the UAC tutu and that's made Vista as attractive as pig with lipstick.
There's a lot of things about this debacle that amazes me; how it took the world's biggest software company five years to come out with a substandard product, how the rest of the IT world completely bungled getting their products compatible and why Apple haven't doubled their market share because of this fumbling.
While Microsoft deserve most of the scorn in this schemozzle, the rest of the IT industry should hang their collective heads in shame as well.
I've ranted enough about Vista's problems enough on this blog but the main reason why Vista has failed is that the benefits of moving up to Vista do not, for most people, outweigh the negatives.
In my view, the core problem is that Vista is Windows XP with a tutu. That tutu is the User Access Control feature. It gets in the way of what people are doing.
This is a problem of Microsoft's own making. To keep users, and their own software developers, happy they allowed the mess that was the Windows 9x security model to extend into XP.
The stupid thing is the Windows NT family, which includes Vista and XP, always had superior security to earlier versions of Windows but Microsoft decided to ignore it .
I suspect this was because their own software, especially Office XP and 2000, didn't run properly in Limited User profiles.
Being stuck with running most users as Administrators they decided on putting on the UAC tutu and that's made Vista as attractive as pig with lipstick.
There's a lot of things about this debacle that amazes me; how it took the world's biggest software company five years to come out with a substandard product, how the rest of the IT world completely bungled getting their products compatible and why Apple haven't doubled their market share because of this fumbling.
While Microsoft deserve most of the scorn in this schemozzle, the rest of the IT industry should hang their collective heads in shame as well.
Friday, September 28, 2007
When Adwords get things wrong
Today's question on our IT Queries site was about registry cleaners. My reply was less than enthusiastic about these products as most of them are snake oil and there's perfectly good free tools to do the job.
Given my negative reply I had to laugh at what Adwords had inserted at the top of the question.
I know it's possible to exclude certain adwords appearing on your page but I'm not sure I can be bothered blocking them all and I know for every one I block there'll be five others to take their place.
I'll just rely on readers to properly read the article.
They do read, don't they?
Given my negative reply I had to laugh at what Adwords had inserted at the top of the question.
I know it's possible to exclude certain adwords appearing on your page but I'm not sure I can be bothered blocking them all and I know for every one I block there'll be five others to take their place.
I'll just rely on readers to properly read the article.
They do read, don't they?
The little picture
Nick Gruen writes in his Rough Type blog about the fat guy who can't get his web 2.0 software to work. Salesforce decided to upgrade their software and now it won't synch with Outlook.
I'm not a fan of Nick's blog. I'm more a little picture person than a big picture guy, I'm more interested in the small guy's application of new technology. Like my post yesterday of how a three person office uses Google Maps.
In fact, I'm such a small picture guy not seeing the wood for the trees is not my problem, I'm fighting my way through the underbrush.
So it's interesting to see Nick stoop to my level for a change. And he's absolutely right, the Software-as-a-Service guys need to consider the little stuff as much as the big stuff.
Where I disagree is that synching with Outlook is not little; it's a major problem. Breaking Outlook synchronisation is ridiculous.
I'll bet plenty of corporate IT admins have been sweating while the Chief Executive whatever screams at them about this very issue. Whether Salesforce like it or not, Outlook is the established leader in the PIM field and they have to deal with it.
The danger with letting technology people run an operation is they see the technology as being an end in itself. This is why Linux doesn't get traction in the mass market and why software developers tell small business to ditch Outlook.
In the real world IT is a means to improve productivity: The computers; Internet; Web 2.0 apps and everything else is there to help ordinary people do stuff. When the computer gets in the way of doing things then the computer has to go.
As the fat guy says in his blog,
"...Oh, and I’ll be going back to the open-source free crap for making cool pie-charts out of an SQL database (which my dog could probably write) for the quarterly investor reports. Maybe even Google docs. Maybe even nothing more than a yellow legal pad and some markers."
There's the message for everyone in the IT industry; whether you are a high falutin', macbook toting, Web 2.0 big picture guy or just the mom and pop corner computer store. If your products aren't delivering what the customers want, they will go elsewhere.
I'm not a fan of Nick's blog. I'm more a little picture person than a big picture guy, I'm more interested in the small guy's application of new technology. Like my post yesterday of how a three person office uses Google Maps.
In fact, I'm such a small picture guy not seeing the wood for the trees is not my problem, I'm fighting my way through the underbrush.
So it's interesting to see Nick stoop to my level for a change. And he's absolutely right, the Software-as-a-Service guys need to consider the little stuff as much as the big stuff.
Where I disagree is that synching with Outlook is not little; it's a major problem. Breaking Outlook synchronisation is ridiculous.
I'll bet plenty of corporate IT admins have been sweating while the Chief Executive whatever screams at them about this very issue. Whether Salesforce like it or not, Outlook is the established leader in the PIM field and they have to deal with it.
The danger with letting technology people run an operation is they see the technology as being an end in itself. This is why Linux doesn't get traction in the mass market and why software developers tell small business to ditch Outlook.
In the real world IT is a means to improve productivity: The computers; Internet; Web 2.0 apps and everything else is there to help ordinary people do stuff. When the computer gets in the way of doing things then the computer has to go.
As the fat guy says in his blog,
"...Oh, and I’ll be going back to the open-source free crap for making cool pie-charts out of an SQL database (which my dog could probably write) for the quarterly investor reports. Maybe even Google docs. Maybe even nothing more than a yellow legal pad and some markers."
There's the message for everyone in the IT industry; whether you are a high falutin', macbook toting, Web 2.0 big picture guy or just the mom and pop corner computer store. If your products aren't delivering what the customers want, they will go elsewhere.
Thursday, September 27, 2007
Using web applications
One of the fascinating things with the rise of web 2.0 applications is how they are changing business practices. Pretty well every week I see a few new and unexpected ways people are adapting the new tools to their work.
Yesterday I visited a hazardous goods consultant. Most of his business involves inspecting warehouses and factories and advising on how they can meet standards and reduce risks.
Before taking an assignment he uses the satellite view of Google Maps to check out the premises. He's found this helps him pick up features he might have missed when visiting onsite or reviewing plans, it also saves him a lot of time in preparing proposals, quotes and reports.
One of the important aspects is that he can now check out potential clients in places that he wouldn't have considered two or three years ago. While I was there he was checking out a warehouse and factory complex in Perth to see if the job was worth his while.
This is the exciting thing about the new generation of web based applications, they are allowing smaller businesses to reach into markets they couldn't have considered a few years back.
Yesterday I visited a hazardous goods consultant. Most of his business involves inspecting warehouses and factories and advising on how they can meet standards and reduce risks.
Before taking an assignment he uses the satellite view of Google Maps to check out the premises. He's found this helps him pick up features he might have missed when visiting onsite or reviewing plans, it also saves him a lot of time in preparing proposals, quotes and reports.
One of the important aspects is that he can now check out potential clients in places that he wouldn't have considered two or three years ago. While I was there he was checking out a warehouse and factory complex in Perth to see if the job was worth his while.
This is the exciting thing about the new generation of web based applications, they are allowing smaller businesses to reach into markets they couldn't have considered a few years back.
Wednesday, September 26, 2007
How to kill a web 2.0 product
How do you kill a web based service? Sign an exclusivity deal which locks most users out of your service, that's how.
MySpace signing an exclusivity deal with Optus and blocking Australian who are with other carriers from accessing the mobile service pretty well kills that app dead here.
Mind you, given the average age of an Australian MySpace user is rapidly approaching 12 and that many pre-paid mobile plans don't include data, I doubt MySpace Mobile is generate much interest.
I can understand they have to make as much as they can before the revenue stream completely dries up.
MySpace signing an exclusivity deal with Optus and blocking Australian who are with other carriers from accessing the mobile service pretty well kills that app dead here.
Mind you, given the average age of an Australian MySpace user is rapidly approaching 12 and that many pre-paid mobile plans don't include data, I doubt MySpace Mobile is generate much interest.
I can understand they have to make as much as they can before the revenue stream completely dries up.
Locked software
Mark Fletcher's Australian Newsagents Blog has two stories of newsagents locked out of point of sale software.
From the posts, I assume this is due to licensing disputes between the store and the software vendor. This is absolutely disgraceful behaviour by the vendor as it cripples the business.
Sadly, this sort of thing is not unusual with proprietary database programs. The data is firmly locked away and difficult to get at unless the victim stumps up a large and improbably amount of money.
I would recommend to anyone considering buying such a program to have a close look at the backup and data export features in the program. All programs should have a local backup function and the ability to export the databases into a generic format like a Comma Separated Values text file.
That way, should you find a dispute looming then you can at least export your business data into a format that other programs can read.
For my money, locking customers out of their own data is shameful behaviour. Sadly this lack of respect for the consumer all too common in the IT industry and is another reason why we are getting a reputation somewhere between real estate agents and used car dealers.
From the posts, I assume this is due to licensing disputes between the store and the software vendor. This is absolutely disgraceful behaviour by the vendor as it cripples the business.
Sadly, this sort of thing is not unusual with proprietary database programs. The data is firmly locked away and difficult to get at unless the victim stumps up a large and improbably amount of money.
I would recommend to anyone considering buying such a program to have a close look at the backup and data export features in the program. All programs should have a local backup function and the ability to export the databases into a generic format like a Comma Separated Values text file.
That way, should you find a dispute looming then you can at least export your business data into a format that other programs can read.
For my money, locking customers out of their own data is shameful behaviour. Sadly this lack of respect for the consumer all too common in the IT industry and is another reason why we are getting a reputation somewhere between real estate agents and used car dealers.
Too many Vista versions
When I first heard of there would be five different versions of Vista I thought it would be a support nightmare. Well I was right on that but now I'm finding it messes me up in other ways.
I'm midway through adapting Dan Gookin's latest "PCs for Dummies" for the Australian market. One of the things that's really, really irritating me is the version differences.
Take for instance the chapter on video making, Dan spends two pages on Windows Movie Maker. The final line reads "this isn't available in all versions of Windows Vista".
This proviso is having to go at least once into every chapter. It's a joke.
I've blogged on this being way too confusing for customers before. To make it harder, most of the entry level PCs, the CHUMPS as Adrian Kingsley-Hughes calls them, come with Vista Home Basic. This means they don't get much of the features Microsoft tout and that we spend much of the book discussing.
There was plenty of confusion between XP Home and Professional. Users were caught out because they bought the wrong type, usually office users buying Home and finding they couldn't connect to the office domain. With Vista it's far, far worse.
Apple are exactly right on this, this is needlessly confusing the market. It also screws up the channel as it increases inventory costs and returns.
To say Vista is not Microsoft's finest hour is an understatement.
I'm midway through adapting Dan Gookin's latest "PCs for Dummies" for the Australian market. One of the things that's really, really irritating me is the version differences.
Take for instance the chapter on video making, Dan spends two pages on Windows Movie Maker. The final line reads "this isn't available in all versions of Windows Vista".
This proviso is having to go at least once into every chapter. It's a joke.
I've blogged on this being way too confusing for customers before. To make it harder, most of the entry level PCs, the CHUMPS as Adrian Kingsley-Hughes calls them, come with Vista Home Basic. This means they don't get much of the features Microsoft tout and that we spend much of the book discussing.
There was plenty of confusion between XP Home and Professional. Users were caught out because they bought the wrong type, usually office users buying Home and finding they couldn't connect to the office domain. With Vista it's far, far worse.
Apple are exactly right on this, this is needlessly confusing the market. It also screws up the channel as it increases inventory costs and returns.
To say Vista is not Microsoft's finest hour is an understatement.
Tuesday, September 25, 2007
Shipping bare PCs
According to CNet The Globalization Institute, a European think tank, has recommended the EU require all PCs to be sold without preloaded operating systems.
I can't see that happening. A bare bones computer is a nightmare, it would send support costs soaring as buyers spend hours installing the operating system and system drivers. Customers want computers to work as soon as they plug them in.
Such a move in the EU would be a boom for the IT support industry. If this came in, I might consider moving to somewhere nice in Europe for a few years to take advantage of this.
I can't see that happening. A bare bones computer is a nightmare, it would send support costs soaring as buyers spend hours installing the operating system and system drivers. Customers want computers to work as soon as they plug them in.
Such a move in the EU would be a boom for the IT support industry. If this came in, I might consider moving to somewhere nice in Europe for a few years to take advantage of this.
Monday, September 24, 2007
Demolishing the silo
The SMH discusses the exodus of companies to the suburbs from the cities. To say I'm sceptical about this is an understatement, moving offices away from transport hubs to car dependent suburbs strikes me as a big step backwards. Even more so given the steady rises in oil prices.
But along with the usual management justifications for the bean counters bright ideas the SMH article claims a new one; moving from a high rise office to a "campus" will destroy "siloing".
It's funny they mention siloing in an article about Optus. The worst case of Siloing I came across was when I was trying to connect a client to the Optus Exchange server.
I just needed the password to connect, so we rang the Optus support desk. No dice, she was using a Dell and the only people on that day were Mac support techs. She's have to call back two days later when the PC guy was in.
We got the password by ringing back a few minutes later and pretending she was on a Mac.
If the bean counters think spending millions on moving to the suburbs and losing half their staff is the way to defeat that sort of mentality, then I wish them the best.
But along with the usual management justifications for the bean counters bright ideas the SMH article claims a new one; moving from a high rise office to a "campus" will destroy "siloing".
It's funny they mention siloing in an article about Optus. The worst case of Siloing I came across was when I was trying to connect a client to the Optus Exchange server.
I just needed the password to connect, so we rang the Optus support desk. No dice, she was using a Dell and the only people on that day were Mac support techs. She's have to call back two days later when the PC guy was in.
We got the password by ringing back a few minutes later and pretending she was on a Mac.
If the bean counters think spending millions on moving to the suburbs and losing half their staff is the way to defeat that sort of mentality, then I wish them the best.
Thursday, September 20, 2007
Another Google threat to Sensis
I've previously blogged about the threat Google is to the Yellow and White Pages monopolies Sensis currently holds. Thanks to Techmeme and Search Engine Land, I found Google411.
While this is currently a US-based experiment you can't help but think this is another threat to Sensis' dominance.
If Google launch this in Australia and take a chunk of the directory assistance market it pretty well leaves Sensis with only the printed directory business as a monopoly. Sensis have shown they struggle when forced to compete in a market.
There's no doubt the printed Yellow and White Pages directories are going to be very profitable for a long time to come, but these are declining businesses with high distribution costs.
When I was a Telstra shareholder, I was a firm advocate of them selling Sensis. I'm wondering now if they've left it too late.
While this is currently a US-based experiment you can't help but think this is another threat to Sensis' dominance.
If Google launch this in Australia and take a chunk of the directory assistance market it pretty well leaves Sensis with only the printed directory business as a monopoly. Sensis have shown they struggle when forced to compete in a market.
There's no doubt the printed Yellow and White Pages directories are going to be very profitable for a long time to come, but these are declining businesses with high distribution costs.
When I was a Telstra shareholder, I was a firm advocate of them selling Sensis. I'm wondering now if they've left it too late.
Tuesday, September 18, 2007
Vista drives the switch to Macs
It certainly appears switching to the Mac has become the flavour of the month. We covered it on the last ABC Sydney radio spot, now Jason Fry of the Wall Street Journal has his story of considering switching which is backed up by Mark Cuban's experience.
The message from Mark and Jason's readers is clear, Vista is driving customers away from Microsoft. The only thing restricting Apple's growth is their retail strategy as the New York Time described earlier this week.
We've certainly had a number of clients looking at changing but so far few have done so. Those that have seem to be happy with one or two exceptions.
There's no doubt though that Microsoft has really dropped the ball on Vista. Not enough to threaten their position in the market, but even one of the world's biggest companies can't afford many more mistakes like this.
The message from Mark and Jason's readers is clear, Vista is driving customers away from Microsoft. The only thing restricting Apple's growth is their retail strategy as the New York Time described earlier this week.
We've certainly had a number of clients looking at changing but so far few have done so. Those that have seem to be happy with one or two exceptions.
There's no doubt though that Microsoft has really dropped the ball on Vista. Not enough to threaten their position in the market, but even one of the world's biggest companies can't afford many more mistakes like this.
Sunday, September 16, 2007
Missing sales opportunities
I visited a client on Friday who had bought a new printer. One of the irritations of buying printers is how manufacturers skimp on a couple of dollars by not supplying USB cables which are essential to set up the machine.
This should be a great selling opportunity for the sales person to make more profit on the sale, given the fat margins shops make on cables. Yet nearly half the new printers I see are sold without a cable.
For the manufacturer, this is false economy as they almost certainly receive support calls from upset customers who can't figure out how to plug the printer in. This probably wipes out any savings from not throwing a cable into the box.
The local shop is even more at risk as those customers who can't set it up may well return the printer. That wipes out the profit on the next five printers.
Another niggle is the failure of shops to sell paper to go with the printer. Again this is another good opportunity. My client had no paper in her house.
The client suggested they could throw the cable and paper in for free as a goodwill gesture. Unfortunately too much of the retail IT industry operates on margins too fine to allow that. Also many customers are wholly price driven so goodwill gestures are usually wasted.
I charged for the cable, but gave some paper as a goodwill gesture. I'm still baffled why the shops don't do this.
This should be a great selling opportunity for the sales person to make more profit on the sale, given the fat margins shops make on cables. Yet nearly half the new printers I see are sold without a cable.
For the manufacturer, this is false economy as they almost certainly receive support calls from upset customers who can't figure out how to plug the printer in. This probably wipes out any savings from not throwing a cable into the box.
The local shop is even more at risk as those customers who can't set it up may well return the printer. That wipes out the profit on the next five printers.
Another niggle is the failure of shops to sell paper to go with the printer. Again this is another good opportunity. My client had no paper in her house.
The client suggested they could throw the cable and paper in for free as a goodwill gesture. Unfortunately too much of the retail IT industry operates on margins too fine to allow that. Also many customers are wholly price driven so goodwill gestures are usually wasted.
I charged for the cable, but gave some paper as a goodwill gesture. I'm still baffled why the shops don't do this.
Saturday, September 15, 2007
Betraying customer's trust
Roses Only is a business I've admired. The company's founder, James Stevens, has built up a great online business from scratch. So I'm dismayed and disappointed with how they've handled the news their database has been hacked.
Putting aside the question of why Roses Only were saving credit card details, the handling of this is disgraceful as we have no information on what has happened and who is affected.
The first place concerned customers are going to go to is the website. There is absolutely nothing about the problem anywhere on the site.
But the front page of the website proclaims "To ensure the security and privacy for all our customers. Roses Only does not store any credit card data in its system".
Well, according to the media, that's not true. "Hackers" have stolen credit card details from the database.
So you'd think clarifying this issue would be important for Roses Only. Apparently not, because apart from a press release issued by their PR agency they have nothing to say about this.
Communicating through a PR company to the media is not good enough. There needs to be, at the very least, something on the front page of the website explaining the problem.
I think what irritates me the most with this is the PR agency's line that you should contact your bank.
This is not the customer's problem. This is Roses Only's problem. It's up to Roses Only to contact customers, not let them wait for a pile of fraudulent credit card transaction to appear on their statement.
While the customer might not be responsible for those transactions, reporting and undoing them will be an expensive and time consuming hassle. Some people will have had legitimate transactions declined while others will have incurred penalty charges and some will miss the illegitimate entries.
Online commerce relies on trust by both the merchant and the consumer. Both sides of an online transaction are trusting the other side will do the right thing.
In my view Roses Only has breached that trust. It's a shame such an innovative organisation has dropped the ball so badly.
Putting aside the question of why Roses Only were saving credit card details, the handling of this is disgraceful as we have no information on what has happened and who is affected.
The first place concerned customers are going to go to is the website. There is absolutely nothing about the problem anywhere on the site.
But the front page of the website proclaims "To ensure the security and privacy for all our customers. Roses Only does not store any credit card data in its system".
Well, according to the media, that's not true. "Hackers" have stolen credit card details from the database.
So you'd think clarifying this issue would be important for Roses Only. Apparently not, because apart from a press release issued by their PR agency they have nothing to say about this.
Communicating through a PR company to the media is not good enough. There needs to be, at the very least, something on the front page of the website explaining the problem.
I think what irritates me the most with this is the PR agency's line that you should contact your bank.
This is not the customer's problem. This is Roses Only's problem. It's up to Roses Only to contact customers, not let them wait for a pile of fraudulent credit card transaction to appear on their statement.
While the customer might not be responsible for those transactions, reporting and undoing them will be an expensive and time consuming hassle. Some people will have had legitimate transactions declined while others will have incurred penalty charges and some will miss the illegitimate entries.
Online commerce relies on trust by both the merchant and the consumer. Both sides of an online transaction are trusting the other side will do the right thing.
In my view Roses Only has breached that trust. It's a shame such an innovative organisation has dropped the ball so badly.
Thursday, September 13, 2007
Switching to Open Office
Smart Company tech blogger, Brendan Lewis, has a post about switching one of his businesses to Open Office. He has a number of useful tips for anyone else contemplating this switch.
We offered this to clients a few years back and it was a disaster.
The biggest problem for businesses switching is user resistance. Office staff like having the Big Blue "W" or "X" to click on. We also have to keep in mind that many office workers have invested many years experience in getting to understand the foibles and menu commands in Office.
Transitioning costs are the financial killer. Brendan mentions this but I think understates it somewhat. Basically all your macros and templates are either going to have to be imported or recreated. The cost of doing that on its own outweighs the licensing costs of Office.
Another problem with Open Office is that many programs, such as Quicken, ACT! and MYOB, integrate with MS Office but don't with OO. This creates headaches for users and support.
The ultimate killer is compatibility. Brendan makes the point that you have to have one machine still running MS Office so you can make sure outgoing documents have all their features and formatting.
I found this problem personally early this week. I tried running a presentation I'd created in Powerpoint 2003 on my laptop running Open Office. It worked but it looked pretty ordinary and I couldn't have used it.
Of course, none of these problems are faults with Open Office. It's a fine suite of programs that's unbeatable at the price. I'd really recommend it if you are after a full featured office suite and you aren't fussed about sending documents to other users.
If you are a business though I just couldn't recommend it unless you are the type that like living on the bleeding edge with all the pain that goes with that.
We offered this to clients a few years back and it was a disaster.
The biggest problem for businesses switching is user resistance. Office staff like having the Big Blue "W" or "X" to click on. We also have to keep in mind that many office workers have invested many years experience in getting to understand the foibles and menu commands in Office.
Transitioning costs are the financial killer. Brendan mentions this but I think understates it somewhat. Basically all your macros and templates are either going to have to be imported or recreated. The cost of doing that on its own outweighs the licensing costs of Office.
Another problem with Open Office is that many programs, such as Quicken, ACT! and MYOB, integrate with MS Office but don't with OO. This creates headaches for users and support.
The ultimate killer is compatibility. Brendan makes the point that you have to have one machine still running MS Office so you can make sure outgoing documents have all their features and formatting.
I found this problem personally early this week. I tried running a presentation I'd created in Powerpoint 2003 on my laptop running Open Office. It worked but it looked pretty ordinary and I couldn't have used it.
Of course, none of these problems are faults with Open Office. It's a fine suite of programs that's unbeatable at the price. I'd really recommend it if you are after a full featured office suite and you aren't fussed about sending documents to other users.
If you are a business though I just couldn't recommend it unless you are the type that like living on the bleeding edge with all the pain that goes with that.
Wednesday, September 12, 2007
Trusting the IT industry
The overwhelming impression I got from yesterday's small business IT seminar it was the tech industry doesn't have the trust of small business; too often they've been burned by bad techs, bad software and bad hardware.
One lady told how she gets salespeople to write a personal guarantee before she buys anything, for big ticket items she sometimes gets three signatures on her piece of paper.
That's a pretty depressing state of affairs that our industry is in this and it's difficult to see how this is going to change.
Given our governments have a hands off policy on industry regulation, I can't see a mandatory licensing system being introduced as I suggested in my last post. So that means anyone who "knows something about computers" can hang out their shingle and claim to be a computer tech, web designer or programmer.
But just to blame the techs for this situation would be very unfair, the bigger players have allowed this situation to develop.
We really need software and hardware vendors to take responsibility for their products they release, we need them to take quality control seriously and to stop using paying customers as their crash test dummies.
Along with getting vendors to understand their moral and legal obligations, we need to get computer stores to understand their responsibilities. The bigger ones they are, the more it seems they try to wriggle around the law.
This "stuff the customer" mindset seems to run deep in the industry. I'm not sure if it's going to take governments to step in or the courts, but sooner or later someone is going to say "enough is enough".
One lady told how she gets salespeople to write a personal guarantee before she buys anything, for big ticket items she sometimes gets three signatures on her piece of paper.
That's a pretty depressing state of affairs that our industry is in this and it's difficult to see how this is going to change.
Given our governments have a hands off policy on industry regulation, I can't see a mandatory licensing system being introduced as I suggested in my last post. So that means anyone who "knows something about computers" can hang out their shingle and claim to be a computer tech, web designer or programmer.
But just to blame the techs for this situation would be very unfair, the bigger players have allowed this situation to develop.
We really need software and hardware vendors to take responsibility for their products they release, we need them to take quality control seriously and to stop using paying customers as their crash test dummies.
Along with getting vendors to understand their moral and legal obligations, we need to get computer stores to understand their responsibilities. The bigger ones they are, the more it seems they try to wriggle around the law.
This "stuff the customer" mindset seems to run deep in the industry. I'm not sure if it's going to take governments to step in or the courts, but sooner or later someone is going to say "enough is enough".
Technician qualifications
I had my first Top 10 IT Solutions for Small Business at Parramatta yesterday.
Given it was the first presentation I've done on the topic it went well, apart from the boring Powerpoint presentation.
During the Q&A one thing became very clear, a lot of small business owners are very frustrated with finding competent, reliable and trustworthy techs.
There's a lot of reasons for this, the main one is most computer techs are "technicians suffering a entrepreneurial spasm" as the E-myth writer Micheal Gerber puts it. When they find how tough this business can be their service, and possibly sanity, quickly suffers.
One area I think we have to look at is the licensing of computer techs. Just as motor mechanics, hair dressers and plumbers need to show they have a base level of skills, so to should computer technicians.
The base level should be the Certificate IV in IT Support. I'd like to see it coupled with a formal trainee or apprenticeship.
This won't get rid of all the dills and shonks, after all there are still some crook mechanics and plumbers out there, it will at least give some level of confidence among consumers and employers that a tech does have a base level of skills.
Given it was the first presentation I've done on the topic it went well, apart from the boring Powerpoint presentation.
During the Q&A one thing became very clear, a lot of small business owners are very frustrated with finding competent, reliable and trustworthy techs.
There's a lot of reasons for this, the main one is most computer techs are "technicians suffering a entrepreneurial spasm" as the E-myth writer Micheal Gerber puts it. When they find how tough this business can be their service, and possibly sanity, quickly suffers.
One area I think we have to look at is the licensing of computer techs. Just as motor mechanics, hair dressers and plumbers need to show they have a base level of skills, so to should computer technicians.
The base level should be the Certificate IV in IT Support. I'd like to see it coupled with a formal trainee or apprenticeship.
This won't get rid of all the dills and shonks, after all there are still some crook mechanics and plumbers out there, it will at least give some level of confidence among consumers and employers that a tech does have a base level of skills.
2Clix sues Whirlpool
The accounting software company 2Clix is suing Whirlpool, the Australian broadband forum, for malicious falsehood (the corporate equivalent of libel) over a couple of threads in the forum.
I'm sure the management of 2Clix have some very good legal advice that such an action will be successful, but from a business point of view this is a disaster.
Doing this draws more attention to the problems, real or otherwise, in their product.
I have a lot of sympathy for software developers writing product for the consumer market, a single Microsoft patch can bring their product crashing down. For accounting programs like 2Clix they are also at the mercy of whatever brain damaged ideas come out of the tax office or government.
There are almost 200,000 registered members of Whirlpool and probably that number again who read it without signing up. The vast majority of those had no idea what 2Clix was or that it had any problems until today.
If 2Clix really has suffered $150,000 in damages from a couple of obscure threads on Whirlpool, the mind boggles at what the damages they are going to suffer when the industry press will pick up on this story later today and the mainstream media run with it over the next few days.
I'm sure the management of 2Clix have some very good legal advice that such an action will be successful, but from a business point of view this is a disaster.
Doing this draws more attention to the problems, real or otherwise, in their product.
I have a lot of sympathy for software developers writing product for the consumer market, a single Microsoft patch can bring their product crashing down. For accounting programs like 2Clix they are also at the mercy of whatever brain damaged ideas come out of the tax office or government.
There are almost 200,000 registered members of Whirlpool and probably that number again who read it without signing up. The vast majority of those had no idea what 2Clix was or that it had any problems until today.
If 2Clix really has suffered $150,000 in damages from a couple of obscure threads on Whirlpool, the mind boggles at what the damages they are going to suffer when the industry press will pick up on this story later today and the mainstream media run with it over the next few days.
Sunday, September 09, 2007
Small Business IT mistake 10: No disaster recovery
I've left disaster recovery for last because it frightens and depresses me. Almost every business I see has some flaw in how they protect their business data.
Most businesses don't understand that computer hardware is cheap and easy to replace; it's the data stored on the system that is valuable. For most businesses, losing all their data would be the end of the enterprise.
Backing up data is the most fundamental part of a disaster recovery plan. But that’s not the whole picture with disaster recovery.
The aim of a disaster recovery plan is to get your computer systems back on line as quickly as possible should a disaster strike. That disaster could be a fire, a break in, a flood or even the building collapsing.
So it's more than just the data; you need something to save the data onto, you need somewhere to store the data, you need something to read the data. You need to be able to access everything quickly should the worst happen.
It's probably a good idea to keep at least part of that locked cabinet full of software and folders we discussed earlier at home rather than the office.
Until the rise of cheap external hard drives, most business data backups were done onto tape. Tapes were comparatively cheap, stored a lot of data and were portable.
The only problem was they failed as often as not, the mental scars of my own encounters with this are why this subject fills with me with dread.
The disaster recovery plan has to include rotating the backups. If you rely on one drive or tape, your whole system will fail if that drive or tape fails. Ideally you'd have twenty of the things working on daily weekly and monthly schedules that mean your data is saved for a year at a time.
Most businesses though balk at this cost and that's understandable. A compromise is often two or three backup devices where one is plugged into the computer while the others are taken home by the boss or the secretary.
This means you'll lose a weeks work should the building burn down. For most small businesses this is a reasonable trade off between costs. For some though, the cost of re-creating a week's work is prohibitive so the cost of a few more $200 external drives is worthwhile.
Disaster recovery is an absolutely key area for small business IT. The smaller your business is, the more your data and intellectual property is important to you.
It's critical you discuss a disaster recovery plan with your IT consultant and make sure you have a working one in place.
Most businesses don't understand that computer hardware is cheap and easy to replace; it's the data stored on the system that is valuable. For most businesses, losing all their data would be the end of the enterprise.
Backing up data is the most fundamental part of a disaster recovery plan. But that’s not the whole picture with disaster recovery.
The aim of a disaster recovery plan is to get your computer systems back on line as quickly as possible should a disaster strike. That disaster could be a fire, a break in, a flood or even the building collapsing.
So it's more than just the data; you need something to save the data onto, you need somewhere to store the data, you need something to read the data. You need to be able to access everything quickly should the worst happen.
It's probably a good idea to keep at least part of that locked cabinet full of software and folders we discussed earlier at home rather than the office.
Until the rise of cheap external hard drives, most business data backups were done onto tape. Tapes were comparatively cheap, stored a lot of data and were portable.
The only problem was they failed as often as not, the mental scars of my own encounters with this are why this subject fills with me with dread.
The disaster recovery plan has to include rotating the backups. If you rely on one drive or tape, your whole system will fail if that drive or tape fails. Ideally you'd have twenty of the things working on daily weekly and monthly schedules that mean your data is saved for a year at a time.
Most businesses though balk at this cost and that's understandable. A compromise is often two or three backup devices where one is plugged into the computer while the others are taken home by the boss or the secretary.
This means you'll lose a weeks work should the building burn down. For most small businesses this is a reasonable trade off between costs. For some though, the cost of re-creating a week's work is prohibitive so the cost of a few more $200 external drives is worthwhile.
Disaster recovery is an absolutely key area for small business IT. The smaller your business is, the more your data and intellectual property is important to you.
It's critical you discuss a disaster recovery plan with your IT consultant and make sure you have a working one in place.
Small Business IT mistake 9: No training
I never ceased to be amazed at how we don’t train staff on how to use computers. As business owners we wouldn't dream of not training staff to use a forklift or lathe, let alone give a company car to an employee without a driver’s license.
Yet almost no staff get training in using computers.
I remember clearly the first day I faced a personal computer. I was sat down in front a computer on it and told to get on with it. It took me half an hour to turn the thing on, it was nearly a week before I got anything productive done.
People are wonderfully inventive and curious beasts. Most folk will eventually figure out how to do something by trial and error. The problem is this leads to bad and inefficient habits in the office.
Couple this with the self taught office guru and you have a problem like I described earlier; those bad habits start getting very expensive.
Training's surprisingly easy to find. There are the local newspaper and Yellow Pages, but many computer trainers there share the problem with the local computer tech that anyone can claim to be one.
Far better in my experience are the local community colleges or the corporate training companies. Corporate training is expensive and sometimes their instructors leave something to be desired but the courses are usually well structured. The local community college is cheaper but it usually requires staff to attend out of hours.
There is a question about offsite versus onsite training. Onsite training is cheaper and uses the equipment that the staff work on every day. In my view, offsite training is best for staff as it gets them away from distractions.
While offsite training adds to the cost of computers and staff, it's money well spent for businesses of all sizes as it improves the productivity and morale of staff immensely.
From the businesses owner’s point of view training increases the return on their IT investment dramatically.
Yet almost no staff get training in using computers.
I remember clearly the first day I faced a personal computer. I was sat down in front a computer on it and told to get on with it. It took me half an hour to turn the thing on, it was nearly a week before I got anything productive done.
People are wonderfully inventive and curious beasts. Most folk will eventually figure out how to do something by trial and error. The problem is this leads to bad and inefficient habits in the office.
Couple this with the self taught office guru and you have a problem like I described earlier; those bad habits start getting very expensive.
Training's surprisingly easy to find. There are the local newspaper and Yellow Pages, but many computer trainers there share the problem with the local computer tech that anyone can claim to be one.
Far better in my experience are the local community colleges or the corporate training companies. Corporate training is expensive and sometimes their instructors leave something to be desired but the courses are usually well structured. The local community college is cheaper but it usually requires staff to attend out of hours.
There is a question about offsite versus onsite training. Onsite training is cheaper and uses the equipment that the staff work on every day. In my view, offsite training is best for staff as it gets them away from distractions.
While offsite training adds to the cost of computers and staff, it's money well spent for businesses of all sizes as it improves the productivity and morale of staff immensely.
From the businesses owner’s point of view training increases the return on their IT investment dramatically.
Small Business IT mistake 8: Get more from the Internet
When businesses get online they have little more than an email address. Sadly this is how it remains for many businesses. That's a shame because the net has a huge range of benefits for the small business.
Nearly fifteen years ago the New Yorker had a cartoon saying on the Internet nobody knows you're a dog.
For a smaller business, the Internet gives you the opportunity to project yourself as a much bigger organisation and allows you to reach a much bigger audience and markets.
The absolute must do for every business is to get a business domain registered. This is cheap and makes your business look professional. Using the email address supplied by your ISP screams cheap, cheap, cheap.
The next step is to organise hosting a website. Good hosting services cost between ten and fifty dollars a month depending upon the features such as multiple email addresses, mailing list services and all manner of tools to help you add features to your online presence.
To setup that online presence you need to start with a website. You can do it yourself but there are plenty of good website designers that can put together an attractive and functional website for a few hundred dollars.
The Internet doesn't just stop with websites. Other applications include hosted software services where you pay a monthly fee to use a software program, this can save a lot of money in capital costs and allows you and your staff to do their work while at home or on the road.
Accessing your information remotely is probably one of the biggest attractions of the Internet for small business. With the fixed IP addresses we discussed in the last post you can log into your office while anywhere in the world. This is a serious productivity gain for the small business owner.
The Internet has huge opportunities for the small business owner and I'm only just scratching the surface of what can be done. Once again, it's worthwhile consulting a professional who can look at your business needs to see what the net can do for you.
The next step is to organise hosting a website. Good hosting services cost between ten and fifty dollars a month depending upon the features such as multiple email addresses, mailing list services and all manner of tools to help you add features to your online presence.
To setup that online presence you need to start with a website. You can do it yourself but there are plenty of good website designers that can put together an attractive and functional website for a few hundred dollars.
The Internet doesn't just stop with websites. Other applications include hosted software services where you pay a monthly fee to use a software program, this can save a lot of money in capital costs and allows you and your staff to do their work while at home or on the road.
Accessing your information remotely is probably one of the biggest attractions of the Internet for small business. With the fixed IP addresses we discussed in the last chapter you can log into your office while anywhere in the world. This is a serious productivity gain for the small business owner.
The Internet has huge opportunities for the small business owner and I'm only just scratching the surface of what can be done. Once again, it's worthwhile consulting a professional who can look at your business needs to see what the net can do for you.
Nearly fifteen years ago the New Yorker had a cartoon saying on the Internet nobody knows you're a dog.
For a smaller business, the Internet gives you the opportunity to project yourself as a much bigger organisation and allows you to reach a much bigger audience and markets.
The absolute must do for every business is to get a business domain registered. This is cheap and makes your business look professional. Using the email address supplied by your ISP screams cheap, cheap, cheap.
The next step is to organise hosting a website. Good hosting services cost between ten and fifty dollars a month depending upon the features such as multiple email addresses, mailing list services and all manner of tools to help you add features to your online presence.
To setup that online presence you need to start with a website. You can do it yourself but there are plenty of good website designers that can put together an attractive and functional website for a few hundred dollars.
The Internet doesn't just stop with websites. Other applications include hosted software services where you pay a monthly fee to use a software program, this can save a lot of money in capital costs and allows you and your staff to do their work while at home or on the road.
Accessing your information remotely is probably one of the biggest attractions of the Internet for small business. With the fixed IP addresses we discussed in the last post you can log into your office while anywhere in the world. This is a serious productivity gain for the small business owner.
The Internet has huge opportunities for the small business owner and I'm only just scratching the surface of what can be done. Once again, it's worthwhile consulting a professional who can look at your business needs to see what the net can do for you.
The next step is to organise hosting a website. Good hosting services cost between ten and fifty dollars a month depending upon the features such as multiple email addresses, mailing list services and all manner of tools to help you add features to your online presence.
To setup that online presence you need to start with a website. You can do it yourself but there are plenty of good website designers that can put together an attractive and functional website for a few hundred dollars.
The Internet doesn't just stop with websites. Other applications include hosted software services where you pay a monthly fee to use a software program, this can save a lot of money in capital costs and allows you and your staff to do their work while at home or on the road.
Accessing your information remotely is probably one of the biggest attractions of the Internet for small business. With the fixed IP addresses we discussed in the last chapter you can log into your office while anywhere in the world. This is a serious productivity gain for the small business owner.
The Internet has huge opportunities for the small business owner and I'm only just scratching the surface of what can be done. Once again, it's worthwhile consulting a professional who can look at your business needs to see what the net can do for you.
Small business IT mistake 7: Choosing the wrong Internet plan
It's not surprising many people get their Internet plans wrong. The range of plans and options are massive and deliberately confusing. Researching ISP deals leaves even the most switched on tech with a headache.
The simplest advice for small business owners is to invest in a proper, business grade Internet plan. This cuts out the noise of the consumer plans.
The vast majority of Internet plans are designed for home users. Like IT equipment, this means they are pitched at a price, which in Australia is around $30 a month for an entry level plan.
That price means you won't get a lot of features that businesses need; a fixed IP address, multiple email accounts, reliable service and a support line that doesn't hang up when you tell them you have a router and server.
You should work with your IT consultant to find a business Internet provider. It's also worthwhile exploring references from other businesses. As with other IT fields, word of mouth is always a good way to find suppliers.
Some services will include website hosting and other features. I prefer to have websites hosted by specialist hosting companies as my experience is ISPs don't do it particularly well. But many small businesses prefer the simplicity of one point of contact and one bill.
A decent small business ISP plan is going to cost between $60 and $100 a month. This is money well spent for reliable service and the additional features and support small businesses need.
You should work with your IT consultant to find a business Internet provider. It's also worthwhile exploring references from other businesses. Word of mouth is always a good way to find suppliers.
Some services will include website hosting and other features. I prefer to have websites hosted by specialist hosting companies as my experience is ISPs don't do it particularly well. But many small businesses prefer the simplicity of one point of contact and one bill.
A decent small business ISP plan is going to cost between $60 and $100 a month. This is money well spent for reliable service and the additional features and support small businesses need.
The simplest advice for small business owners is to invest in a proper, business grade Internet plan. This cuts out the noise of the consumer plans.
The vast majority of Internet plans are designed for home users. Like IT equipment, this means they are pitched at a price, which in Australia is around $30 a month for an entry level plan.
That price means you won't get a lot of features that businesses need; a fixed IP address, multiple email accounts, reliable service and a support line that doesn't hang up when you tell them you have a router and server.
You should work with your IT consultant to find a business Internet provider. It's also worthwhile exploring references from other businesses. As with other IT fields, word of mouth is always a good way to find suppliers.
Some services will include website hosting and other features. I prefer to have websites hosted by specialist hosting companies as my experience is ISPs don't do it particularly well. But many small businesses prefer the simplicity of one point of contact and one bill.
A decent small business ISP plan is going to cost between $60 and $100 a month. This is money well spent for reliable service and the additional features and support small businesses need.
You should work with your IT consultant to find a business Internet provider. It's also worthwhile exploring references from other businesses. Word of mouth is always a good way to find suppliers.
Some services will include website hosting and other features. I prefer to have websites hosted by specialist hosting companies as my experience is ISPs don't do it particularly well. But many small businesses prefer the simplicity of one point of contact and one bill.
A decent small business ISP plan is going to cost between $60 and $100 a month. This is money well spent for reliable service and the additional features and support small businesses need.
Small Business IT mistake 6: Not keeping records
Nothing irritates a tech more than missing disks and passwords. This can leave even the most the thick skinned IT god in a speechless rage. It also means big costs and a lot of downtime for the business.
Manuals, invoices, disks, registration keys and passwords are like gold. They need to be stored safely and securely.
Software disks are valuable. Microsoft Office retails for $700, a specialist program like AutoCad costs ten times that. If those disks go home with a staff member that's an expensive asset lost.
What's more, you'll end up spending money while a tech or staff members spends hours scrabbling around for those missing disks. Needless to say, they'll go missing when you need them most.
We like to see software kept in a locked filing cabinet along with a folder containing all the warranties and purchase records for your existing equipment. Another folder should contain all your passwords and registration details.
Another frustration for computer techs is the missing Internet Service Provider password. Keep those passwords in the computer stuff folder. This ties into our next small business mistake.
Manuals, invoices, disks, registration keys and passwords are like gold. They need to be stored safely and securely.
Software disks are valuable. Microsoft Office retails for $700, a specialist program like AutoCad costs ten times that. If those disks go home with a staff member that's an expensive asset lost.
What's more, you'll end up spending money while a tech or staff members spends hours scrabbling around for those missing disks. Needless to say, they'll go missing when you need them most.
We like to see software kept in a locked filing cabinet along with a folder containing all the warranties and purchase records for your existing equipment. Another folder should contain all your passwords and registration details.
Another frustration for computer techs is the missing Internet Service Provider password. Keep those passwords in the computer stuff folder. This ties into our next small business mistake.
Saturday, September 08, 2007
Small Business IT mistake 5: Not setting up equipment properly
I once went to an office where everyone had to shut down their systems when someone wanted to print. Just before someone would send a job to the printer they'd call out "everyone shut down, I'm going to print".
Everyone would save their work, shut down their computers and march outside for a smoke or coffee. The guy doing the print job would do it, restart his computer and wander out to join the others. They'd all tromp back to the office ten minutes later.
This was costing the owner a $100,000 a year. He thought it was normal.
While the computer industry likes to pretend their equipment can be setup with a few clicks, it isn’t true.
This is why getting a trusted tech in to set equipment up properly is essential. All too often the office guru, kid from the computer superstore or the boss’s niece who knows something about computers sets it up and gets it wrong.
One of the advantages of having a regular tech looking after your system is they know how your system is set up. A good tech will have documented the system and will have a good idea of how the equipment will fit in to your existing network and business.
If you do insist on setting up your own systems then at least have a cup of coffee and the read the manual before you start. It might save you and your computer tech a lot of expense and heartache later.
Everyone would save their work, shut down their computers and march outside for a smoke or coffee. The guy doing the print job would do it, restart his computer and wander out to join the others. They'd all tromp back to the office ten minutes later.
This was costing the owner a $100,000 a year. He thought it was normal.
While the computer industry likes to pretend their equipment can be setup with a few clicks, it isn’t true.
This is why getting a trusted tech in to set equipment up properly is essential. All too often the office guru, kid from the computer superstore or the boss’s niece who knows something about computers sets it up and gets it wrong.
One of the advantages of having a regular tech looking after your system is they know how your system is set up. A good tech will have documented the system and will have a good idea of how the equipment will fit in to your existing network and business.
If you do insist on setting up your own systems then at least have a cup of coffee and the read the manual before you start. It might save you and your computer tech a lot of expense and heartache later.
Small Business IT mistake 4: Not getting a regular tech
Imagine owning a car and never checking the tyres, oil or water while ignoring any flashing lights on your dashboard.
Then imagine, when it breaks down, you desperately flick through the yellow pages to find the cheapest mechanic that can fix it immediately.
That's what the vast majority of businesses do with their computer systems.
Like the mechanic, a computer tech is a tradesman. When you call a tradesman out to a crisis it means you are up for a big bill. Whether it's cars, plumbing or computers, it's best to pick up a problem early than before a disaster happens.
Finding a tech can be a problem, though; there's few barriers to anyone who knows something about computers, and a few that don’t, putting up a sign saying "I'm a computer tech". Many of these people can barely be trusted with the family computer let alone the systems that keep your business running.
The first step in finding a good support organisation is to ask around. Your accountant, contractors and clients might know some names. Word of mouth is always the best reference.
Next, you need to know how big they are. The single man operator is often very good. But they are going to struggle supporting you and a dozen other customers.
Ideally a small support company will have at least four techs. This gives them a range of skills and they won’t have to rely on one or two people to service you.
Once you've found a support company with a number of staff you need to look at their pricing; "the no fix, no fee" and the "no call out fee" guys are firmly aimed at the consumer market. Their services are based on fixing comparatively small problems. You want to be avoiding problems, not having someone rush out to fix them when you can.
The hourly rate itself is a warning sign. A professional tech support outfit simply cannot provide quality services, employ decent staff and make a profit at under a $100 an hour. $150 is probably closer to a realistic rate when dealing with server support and network issues.
You should also remember that good techs cost. An experienced computer guy charging $150 an hour will often fix a problem in the first hour that the inexperienced $25 an hour tech will take two days to fix, if at all.
The support company should offer a support plan or retainer. This support plan will include documenting the system, monitoring its performance and regular inspections.
It's important to emphasise how critical support plans are. It's a win for both the tech and the customer. The customer gets regular maintenance done while the tech company has regular jobs that allows them to plan their cash and work flows.
One absolute no-no is buying on the recommendations your local computer superstore. The big box movers aim squarely at the home market. The stock at the computer superstore is rarely designed for business use and, even if it was, the staff couldn't support it.
Just as an aside, some businesses make the mistake of not only buying from the local computer superstore but also hiring one of the shop assistants to help them with setup. This almost always turns to tears.
Your IT investments are important to your business, so it's important they are looked after by someone who knows what they are doing.
Then imagine, when it breaks down, you desperately flick through the yellow pages to find the cheapest mechanic that can fix it immediately.
That's what the vast majority of businesses do with their computer systems.
Like the mechanic, a computer tech is a tradesman. When you call a tradesman out to a crisis it means you are up for a big bill. Whether it's cars, plumbing or computers, it's best to pick up a problem early than before a disaster happens.
Finding a tech can be a problem, though; there's few barriers to anyone who knows something about computers, and a few that don’t, putting up a sign saying "I'm a computer tech". Many of these people can barely be trusted with the family computer let alone the systems that keep your business running.
The first step in finding a good support organisation is to ask around. Your accountant, contractors and clients might know some names. Word of mouth is always the best reference.
Next, you need to know how big they are. The single man operator is often very good. But they are going to struggle supporting you and a dozen other customers.
Ideally a small support company will have at least four techs. This gives them a range of skills and they won’t have to rely on one or two people to service you.
Once you've found a support company with a number of staff you need to look at their pricing; "the no fix, no fee" and the "no call out fee" guys are firmly aimed at the consumer market. Their services are based on fixing comparatively small problems. You want to be avoiding problems, not having someone rush out to fix them when you can.
The hourly rate itself is a warning sign. A professional tech support outfit simply cannot provide quality services, employ decent staff and make a profit at under a $100 an hour. $150 is probably closer to a realistic rate when dealing with server support and network issues.
You should also remember that good techs cost. An experienced computer guy charging $150 an hour will often fix a problem in the first hour that the inexperienced $25 an hour tech will take two days to fix, if at all.
The support company should offer a support plan or retainer. This support plan will include documenting the system, monitoring its performance and regular inspections.
It's important to emphasise how critical support plans are. It's a win for both the tech and the customer. The customer gets regular maintenance done while the tech company has regular jobs that allows them to plan their cash and work flows.
One absolute no-no is buying on the recommendations your local computer superstore. The big box movers aim squarely at the home market. The stock at the computer superstore is rarely designed for business use and, even if it was, the staff couldn't support it.
Just as an aside, some businesses make the mistake of not only buying from the local computer superstore but also hiring one of the shop assistants to help them with setup. This almost always turns to tears.
Your IT investments are important to your business, so it's important they are looked after by someone who knows what they are doing.
Small Business IT mistake 3: Buying bad equipment
Just as frustrating as old equipment for the tech guru or IT guy is bad equipment. By bad equipment, I mean cheap kit that isn't up to the job.
The problems with bad equipment are numerous; they won't last as long, the warranties will be poor, the after sales support will be awful and they will have lots of downtime.
Probably the biggest trap is buying consumer equipment. Not only are business needs different to households but the driving factor in consumer IT is price. Consumer equipment often doesn't have features that businesses need.
You should also keep in mind the local computer superstore aims squarely at the home market. The stock at the computer superstore is rarely designed for business use and even if it was, the staff couldn't support it.
Price is the killer for any home or business IT purchase. You pay peanuts, you'll get something even monkeys won't use. Because the IT industry knows price is so important to much of their market, they sell some very poorly specced product to meet price points.
Strangely though even if you pay a lot, you don't necessarily get what you pay for either. Some expensive products are as disappointing as the cheap stuff. This is why it's important to do your research.
Of course, research is time consuming and there are still plenty of traps awaiting the inexperience player. That's why you should find a trusted advisor to help you with your IT purchases.
The problems with bad equipment are numerous; they won't last as long, the warranties will be poor, the after sales support will be awful and they will have lots of downtime.
Probably the biggest trap is buying consumer equipment. Not only are business needs different to households but the driving factor in consumer IT is price. Consumer equipment often doesn't have features that businesses need.
You should also keep in mind the local computer superstore aims squarely at the home market. The stock at the computer superstore is rarely designed for business use and even if it was, the staff couldn't support it.
Price is the killer for any home or business IT purchase. You pay peanuts, you'll get something even monkeys won't use. Because the IT industry knows price is so important to much of their market, they sell some very poorly specced product to meet price points.
Strangely though even if you pay a lot, you don't necessarily get what you pay for either. Some expensive products are as disappointing as the cheap stuff. This is why it's important to do your research.
Of course, research is time consuming and there are still plenty of traps awaiting the inexperience player. That's why you should find a trusted advisor to help you with your IT purchases.
Thursday, September 06, 2007
Small Business IT mistake 2: Old Equipment
The most common small business mistake we see is old equipment. The office struggles with a bunch of decrepit pentium IIIs running Windows ME, crashing regularly and taking five times as long to do a job.
It's quite understandable for a business owner to hold onto old kit. IT equipment is a major capital cost and upgrading computers always involves money, time and pain.
But that cost and time is worth it. Slow old computers are a false economy. The whole idea of computers is help people do their jobs better and quicker.
One of the worst clients I had was a food distributor that had a terrible old machine. Every afternoon he received emails from his clients with the next day's orders. Almost every day his machine would crash.
In one year he spent over two thousand dollars in unnecessary support costs. What's more, he lost a number of days orders. I would guess that one dodgy computer cost him ten of thousands in lost orders and disaffected customers.
Saying "the computer is down" is one of the worst possible images your staff can give customers. It looks shoddy and unprofessional.
Ten years ago customers might have nodded sagely and accepted "the computer done it" as an excuse. Today they won't, they’ll take their business elsewhere.
Five year old equipment is the limit. Older than five years and computers become unreliable. Once past that five year limit the odds are high that you'll see hard drives, power supplies and motherboards failing.
One of the strangest attitudes I see in home and small business IT is the owner knows their systems are old and decrepit. But they are waiting for the Next Big Thing™.
The problem in the computer industry is there will always be a Next Big Thing™. When this big thing arrives there will be another coming soon after.
Often a business finds itself rushed into replacing the old computers when one gives up the ghost, or they find the new printer or software just won't work with the older equipment.
This is when businesses make the next mistake; they grab the first thing they see when they need the new computer, they either pay too much for substandard equipment or buy on price and suffer the consequences.
It's quite understandable for a business owner to hold onto old kit. IT equipment is a major capital cost and upgrading computers always involves money, time and pain.
But that cost and time is worth it. Slow old computers are a false economy. The whole idea of computers is help people do their jobs better and quicker.
One of the worst clients I had was a food distributor that had a terrible old machine. Every afternoon he received emails from his clients with the next day's orders. Almost every day his machine would crash.
In one year he spent over two thousand dollars in unnecessary support costs. What's more, he lost a number of days orders. I would guess that one dodgy computer cost him ten of thousands in lost orders and disaffected customers.
Saying "the computer is down" is one of the worst possible images your staff can give customers. It looks shoddy and unprofessional.
Ten years ago customers might have nodded sagely and accepted "the computer done it" as an excuse. Today they won't, they’ll take their business elsewhere.
Five year old equipment is the limit. Older than five years and computers become unreliable. Once past that five year limit the odds are high that you'll see hard drives, power supplies and motherboards failing.
One of the strangest attitudes I see in home and small business IT is the owner knows their systems are old and decrepit. But they are waiting for the Next Big Thing™.
The problem in the computer industry is there will always be a Next Big Thing™. When this big thing arrives there will be another coming soon after.
Often a business finds itself rushed into replacing the old computers when one gives up the ghost, or they find the new printer or software just won't work with the older equipment.
This is when businesses make the next mistake; they grab the first thing they see when they need the new computer, they either pay too much for substandard equipment or buy on price and suffer the consequences.
$4000 dollars a year to support a laptop?
Infoworld reports that a Microsoft and Wipro study shows the annual cost of a Windows Vista laptop is only $3,802, while XP costs $4,407.
Let me repeat those figures.
Three thousand, eight hundred and two dollars compared to four thousand, four hundred and seven dollars.
That's per year.
Someone's kidding themselves. If I gave a client those numbers they'd go back to using abacuses, pilot pigeons and carbon paper.
There's no doubt the figures are fudged. 55% of the number comes from indirect cost and all but 5% is "User labor: Primarily self support and time spent learning to use IT systems".
The study also assumes all users have full admin rights. I suspect this actually understates the $635 per year direct support costs for XP in the study. Users screwing their machines through installing spyware and filesharing programs is a huge issue which seems to be a much smaller problem with Vista.
What interests me from a quick reading of the WIPRO study is that the savings seem to be mainly in the direct setup costs. This would be consistent with improved management tools for both Vista and Server 2003.
So while it is probably true rollout costs are cheaper for a properly kitted enterprise it means Vista's value proposition for home and small business users is dubious at best.
The other interesting point is the user labor number remains unchanged. This indicates businesses should be investing more in training and Microsoft's changes to the Vista and Office 2007 user interface hasn't helped those who use MS products for a living.
I'm not sure releasing figures like this will help Microsoft convince customers to upgrade. The idea of a laptop costing 4,000 per year is going to scare a lot of computer and business owners away from.
Let me repeat those figures.
Three thousand, eight hundred and two dollars compared to four thousand, four hundred and seven dollars.
That's per year.
Someone's kidding themselves. If I gave a client those numbers they'd go back to using abacuses, pilot pigeons and carbon paper.
There's no doubt the figures are fudged. 55% of the number comes from indirect cost and all but 5% is "User labor: Primarily self support and time spent learning to use IT systems".
The study also assumes all users have full admin rights. I suspect this actually understates the $635 per year direct support costs for XP in the study. Users screwing their machines through installing spyware and filesharing programs is a huge issue which seems to be a much smaller problem with Vista.
What interests me from a quick reading of the WIPRO study is that the savings seem to be mainly in the direct setup costs. This would be consistent with improved management tools for both Vista and Server 2003.
So while it is probably true rollout costs are cheaper for a properly kitted enterprise it means Vista's value proposition for home and small business users is dubious at best.
The other interesting point is the user labor number remains unchanged. This indicates businesses should be investing more in training and Microsoft's changes to the Vista and Office 2007 user interface hasn't helped those who use MS products for a living.
I'm not sure releasing figures like this will help Microsoft convince customers to upgrade. The idea of a laptop costing 4,000 per year is going to scare a lot of computer and business owners away from.
Dodgy hardware
Brother's problems with their multifunction printers as reported in today's Sydney Morning Herald don't surprise anyone in the industry.
We haven't recommended Brother for years. Their printers have been flakey and the software that controls the multifunction units has been dreadful and buggy.
From a tech's point of view, these sort of problems are the worst. The client expects you to be able to fix them, but you can't do anything about an "error 41".
In the worst case, you've come out on a "no fix, no fee" basis. You can't fix it, so you don't get paid. It's another reason why I'm dubious about doing jobs with this guarantee.
The quotes from the techs are instructive. My guess is some of these guys spent a lot of non chargeable time on these problems.
The lesson here for a customer is to do your research before buying. Have a look at the models on the market and which ones meet your needs. Then fire up the search engine of your choice and type in the model name with the word "problem" at the end.
That way, you go fully informed into the market and hopefully will avoid a dog. It also means your computer tech will love you too.
We haven't recommended Brother for years. Their printers have been flakey and the software that controls the multifunction units has been dreadful and buggy.
From a tech's point of view, these sort of problems are the worst. The client expects you to be able to fix them, but you can't do anything about an "error 41".
In the worst case, you've come out on a "no fix, no fee" basis. You can't fix it, so you don't get paid. It's another reason why I'm dubious about doing jobs with this guarantee.
The quotes from the techs are instructive. My guess is some of these guys spent a lot of non chargeable time on these problems.
The lesson here for a customer is to do your research before buying. Have a look at the models on the market and which ones meet your needs. Then fire up the search engine of your choice and type in the model name with the word "problem" at the end.
That way, you go fully informed into the market and hopefully will avoid a dog. It also means your computer tech will love you too.
Wednesday, September 05, 2007
Small Business IT mistake 1: Torturing the office guru.
This is the first of our top ten small business mistakes. As part of the 2007 NSW Small Business Week I'll be posting these mistakes over the next few days.
None of the ten are in any particular order; every business is different so these mistakes affect businesses in different ways. The first we look at is putting too much on the office guru.
a. The mainstay of small business computing is the office guru. It’s rare to find an office that doesn’t have one. To a point, this is good for the business as there's always someone who can fix a password problem or clear a printer jam.
The guru’s usually the ideal employee; they are industrious, take initiative and get irritated when they can’t do their job. Usually they've become the guru because the computer systems got in their way.
So the office manager, bookkeeper or secretary becomes the designated guru. Now everyone in the office comes to them to fix paper jams, recover lost files and figure out how to insert pictures into powerpoint documents.
Your business will come to depend upon them. They are cheap, reliable and often your best employees. They are also the only one that knows how to avoid paper jams on the cranky Laserjet 4L you bought in 1996.
But they are still the office manager, bookkeeper or secretary. They have to do their main job as well as the IT.
Eventually the guru gets fed up. They are doing two jobs and only being paid for one. What's more, the IT support role is a demanding, time consuming and often thankless.
While most gurus become disaffected others become protective; the system is their baby. They’ve had to care for it, nurture it and sometimes resuscitate it. They've raised it from a tantrum throwing toddler to somewhat stable adulthood, although prone to strange episodes.
For the small business owner, it's usually a losing proposition; you end up losing good staff and you have a computer network that doesn't work well.
The smaller the business is, the worse the problem becomes. In the worst case, when the owner is the guru, the entire business suffers as the owner is fluffing around with the computers while the business drifts.
The solution for the business is to respect your employees and your IT investment. Get a proper tech to look after the system.
Usually when the tech arrives, they find the biggest problem is old equipment. Most guru run networks are lumbered with ancient systems. That's the topic of our next post.
None of the ten are in any particular order; every business is different so these mistakes affect businesses in different ways. The first we look at is putting too much on the office guru.
a. The mainstay of small business computing is the office guru. It’s rare to find an office that doesn’t have one. To a point, this is good for the business as there's always someone who can fix a password problem or clear a printer jam.
The guru’s usually the ideal employee; they are industrious, take initiative and get irritated when they can’t do their job. Usually they've become the guru because the computer systems got in their way.
So the office manager, bookkeeper or secretary becomes the designated guru. Now everyone in the office comes to them to fix paper jams, recover lost files and figure out how to insert pictures into powerpoint documents.
Your business will come to depend upon them. They are cheap, reliable and often your best employees. They are also the only one that knows how to avoid paper jams on the cranky Laserjet 4L you bought in 1996.
But they are still the office manager, bookkeeper or secretary. They have to do their main job as well as the IT.
Eventually the guru gets fed up. They are doing two jobs and only being paid for one. What's more, the IT support role is a demanding, time consuming and often thankless.
While most gurus become disaffected others become protective; the system is their baby. They’ve had to care for it, nurture it and sometimes resuscitate it. They've raised it from a tantrum throwing toddler to somewhat stable adulthood, although prone to strange episodes.
For the small business owner, it's usually a losing proposition; you end up losing good staff and you have a computer network that doesn't work well.
The smaller the business is, the worse the problem becomes. In the worst case, when the owner is the guru, the entire business suffers as the owner is fluffing around with the computers while the business drifts.
The solution for the business is to respect your employees and your IT investment. Get a proper tech to look after the system.
Usually when the tech arrives, they find the biggest problem is old equipment. Most guru run networks are lumbered with ancient systems. That's the topic of our next post.
The top ten small business IT mistakes
As part of NSW Small Business Week I'll be giving a talk in Parramatta and another in the Sydney CBD on how businesses can make more from their IT investment.
Over the next week, I'll be putting the top ten mistakes here and on the PC Rescue website.
Over the next week, I'll be putting the top ten mistakes here and on the PC Rescue website.
False bargains on the net
In the days before eBay took off I used to go to computer auctions looking for bargains. I quickly learned that the combination of technology and auctions is pretty dangerous for most bidders; they are first dazzled by the tech and then caught up in the excitement of bidding.
The worst example I came across was a room full of 386 laptops (this was 1998). I wasn't going to bid for those things, but I mentioned to the other computer tech I was there with that I'd be surprised if they sold for ten bucks. He made a bet they would sell for fifty.
He won. The things sold for $150 a piece. I'm sure the mugs thought they were getting a good deal.
Another auction I went to was a for a shop clearing excess stock. While talking to a mate, a lady interrupted and asked "what would be a good price for these systems?"
My response was if you don't know what these are worth you shouldn't be here.
At least back then people had to make the effort to get to an auction. These days of eBay and Grays Online mean that anyone with an Internet connection can make a bid. Which increases the ratio of dills prepared to overbid on junk dramatically.
The Bleeding Edge blog has a description of how people get themselves caught. Today the Sydney Morning Herald reports on 1500 complaints the state government has received from upset online buyers.
I've no doubt a lot of those 1500 are legitimate ripoffs, but I'll bet there's a large proportion where the buyers didn't read the description like the example in the Bleeding Edge article or were just looking for the cheapest deal.
Searching for the cheapest deal is where people get stung. The days of exceptions bargains falling off virtual trees online ceased years ago.
The old saying "if something seems too good to be true then it probably is" applies just as much to the net as anywhere else.
The worst example I came across was a room full of 386 laptops (this was 1998). I wasn't going to bid for those things, but I mentioned to the other computer tech I was there with that I'd be surprised if they sold for ten bucks. He made a bet they would sell for fifty.
He won. The things sold for $150 a piece. I'm sure the mugs thought they were getting a good deal.
Another auction I went to was a for a shop clearing excess stock. While talking to a mate, a lady interrupted and asked "what would be a good price for these systems?"
My response was if you don't know what these are worth you shouldn't be here.
At least back then people had to make the effort to get to an auction. These days of eBay and Grays Online mean that anyone with an Internet connection can make a bid. Which increases the ratio of dills prepared to overbid on junk dramatically.
The Bleeding Edge blog has a description of how people get themselves caught. Today the Sydney Morning Herald reports on 1500 complaints the state government has received from upset online buyers.
I've no doubt a lot of those 1500 are legitimate ripoffs, but I'll bet there's a large proportion where the buyers didn't read the description like the example in the Bleeding Edge article or were just looking for the cheapest deal.
Searching for the cheapest deal is where people get stung. The days of exceptions bargains falling off virtual trees online ceased years ago.
The old saying "if something seems too good to be true then it probably is" applies just as much to the net as anywhere else.
Tuesday, September 04, 2007
Will Sony ever learn
Another rootkit debacle hits Sony. This time software bundled with USB memory sticks.
What on Earth are these guys thinking? Why do they find it necessary to hide this stuff?
From a tech's point of view, this sort of thing is a nightmare. It really makes our job difficult when these things go wrong.
And go wrong they do. In this case the user could find themselves locked out of their own data.
Once again, we see vendors adding unnecessary complexity to systems. What they don't seem to understand is the more complex you make things, the more likely they are to break.
Sony, like many other hardware and software companies, need to get people that understand that simplicity is the key to keeping computer customers happy.
What on Earth are these guys thinking? Why do they find it necessary to hide this stuff?
From a tech's point of view, this sort of thing is a nightmare. It really makes our job difficult when these things go wrong.
And go wrong they do. In this case the user could find themselves locked out of their own data.
Once again, we see vendors adding unnecessary complexity to systems. What they don't seem to understand is the more complex you make things, the more likely they are to break.
Sony, like many other hardware and software companies, need to get people that understand that simplicity is the key to keeping computer customers happy.
Monday, September 03, 2007
The limitations of web 2.0
The PayPal payment outage this weekend is the latest of a number of online systems falling over. Last week we saw the Microsoft Genuine Advantage system fall over and before that Skype.
The problem with these services failing is they have a terrible impact on people who depend upon them. This is the major reason why I discourage businesses from relying on online services.
One of the worries I have is that IT and web businesses don't fully understand customer service. The PayPal outage is a good example; "sorry, we have no idea; come back later."
I never cease to be amazed at how companies like PayPal can't stick a simple message on their website and keep their customer service people in the loop that there is a problem, what the problem is and how long it's expected to continue.
To add to the problem, the Internet itself is not wholly reliable for the average home or small business user; outages are still more common than they should be.
Until we have a much higher level of reliability and responsibility from vendors, it's very difficult to recommend Web 2.0 applications to businesses.
The problem with these services failing is they have a terrible impact on people who depend upon them. This is the major reason why I discourage businesses from relying on online services.
One of the worries I have is that IT and web businesses don't fully understand customer service. The PayPal outage is a good example; "sorry, we have no idea; come back later."
I never cease to be amazed at how companies like PayPal can't stick a simple message on their website and keep their customer service people in the loop that there is a problem, what the problem is and how long it's expected to continue.
To add to the problem, the Internet itself is not wholly reliable for the average home or small business user; outages are still more common than they should be.
Until we have a much higher level of reliability and responsibility from vendors, it's very difficult to recommend Web 2.0 applications to businesses.
Weekend show 2 September 2007
The September weekend show was our first spot with Simon Marnie for months. We had a look at the new iMacs and looked at the pros and cons of switching to a Mac.
We had quite a few callers on the Mac vs PC topic including Margaret who had reluctantly switched to Windows a few years back because of incompatibilities with her accounting software.
Of the eight callers we got through, three were having hardware problems, which is unusually high.
I'll have a rundown on the show on the PC Rescue website in a few days time.
We had quite a few callers on the Mac vs PC topic including Margaret who had reluctantly switched to Windows a few years back because of incompatibilities with her accounting software.
Of the eight callers we got through, three were having hardware problems, which is unusually high.
I'll have a rundown on the show on the PC Rescue website in a few days time.
Sunday, September 02, 2007
ABC Nightlife 31 August, 2007
August's Nightlife spot was less than successful given we had communications problems between the Sydney Tardis and Tony's Perth Studio.
We covered the National Identity Fraud Prevention Week and the Netalert free webfilters.
The full show is available at the Nightlife website. We'll also have a rundown and answers to listener's queries on the PC Rescue site tomorrow.
We covered the National Identity Fraud Prevention Week and the Netalert free webfilters.
The full show is available at the Nightlife website. We'll also have a rundown and answers to listener's queries on the PC Rescue site tomorrow.
Subscribe to:
Posts (Atom)