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.
Wednesday, September 05, 2007
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.
Friday, August 31, 2007
A million hijacked computers
A gang infecting blogs with malware is estimated to have infected a million PCs over the last eight months.
That number is not surprising and just goes to show how bad the security issues are on Windows systems.
I can't emphasise how important it is to run computers in Limited User mode.
Or get a Mac.
That number is not surprising and just goes to show how bad the security issues are on Windows systems.
I can't emphasise how important it is to run computers in Limited User mode.
Or get a Mac.
The heartbreak of lost data
Megan Bowen's story of losing her family photos and videos to a housebreaker is a reminder of how data is far more valuable than hardware and why you need to guard the backups.
The sad thing for the Bowen family is they had burned CDs with the photos, but these were in a laptop case that was stolen as well.
It's important to do backups because theft is the only way you can lose data; your hard drive might fail, you may accidentally delete it or a fire might destroy your computer.
Fires, theft and floods often also destroy backups. That's why we recommend keeping a copy off site. Ideally we'd recommend having at least two backups and rotating them so one is by the computer and another is somewhere else.
Backup software's always a major issue. For home and small business users, we recommend using the Microsoft Synctoy. For larger businesses there's all manner of software that can be used.
Regardless of what you use, we'd recommend checking the backup on a regular basis to make sure everything is being backed up. One of the most stressful and heartbreaking parts of working as a computer tech is when you find a backup has failed.
The sad thing for the Bowen family is they had burned CDs with the photos, but these were in a laptop case that was stolen as well.
It's important to do backups because theft is the only way you can lose data; your hard drive might fail, you may accidentally delete it or a fire might destroy your computer.
Fires, theft and floods often also destroy backups. That's why we recommend keeping a copy off site. Ideally we'd recommend having at least two backups and rotating them so one is by the computer and another is somewhere else.
Backup software's always a major issue. For home and small business users, we recommend using the Microsoft Synctoy. For larger businesses there's all manner of software that can be used.
Regardless of what you use, we'd recommend checking the backup on a regular basis to make sure everything is being backed up. One of the most stressful and heartbreaking parts of working as a computer tech is when you find a backup has failed.
Thursday, August 30, 2007
The Monster.com mess
As we enter National Identity Fraud Awareness Week, the story of Monster.com's security breach just seems to get worse.
What amazes me is just how little coverage this is getting in the media. This story is huge with not only millions of accounts at risk, but the company seems to have no idea of how many accounts have been compromised.
Even more disturbing is how this scam works, it relies on infected machines running software that logs onto to Monster's database, looks up candidate details and sends the results to spammers and phishers who then use the addresses to spread more spam and malware.
What really concerns me is that I've received a few of these type of emails purporting to be from Seek and MyCareer. I'm wondering if the same scam is at work on these sites as well.
What amazes me is just how little coverage this is getting in the media. This story is huge with not only millions of accounts at risk, but the company seems to have no idea of how many accounts have been compromised.
Even more disturbing is how this scam works, it relies on infected machines running software that logs onto to Monster's database, looks up candidate details and sends the results to spammers and phishers who then use the addresses to spread more spam and malware.
What really concerns me is that I've received a few of these type of emails purporting to be from Seek and MyCareer. I'm wondering if the same scam is at work on these sites as well.
Dodgy cheques and laser printers
On the techno-fraud front, the Consumerist has an article on the surge in fake bank cheques due to high quality laser printers.
Given fake cheques are a favourite trick of Ebay and 419 fraudsters, it's really important not to trust cheques unless they have come from someone you know.
It also pays to be very cautious of foreign cheques. It can take quite a while for a cheque drawn on a foreign bank to be cleared. If you've sent goods or given money to people based on one of these cheques you might be in for a nasty surprise a month or two down the track.
Personally, I'd be very reluctant to accept any cheque drawn on an institution I've never heard of. If I did, I'd be making doubly sure it had cleared before acting on it.
Given fake cheques are a favourite trick of Ebay and 419 fraudsters, it's really important not to trust cheques unless they have come from someone you know.
It also pays to be very cautious of foreign cheques. It can take quite a while for a cheque drawn on a foreign bank to be cleared. If you've sent goods or given money to people based on one of these cheques you might be in for a nasty surprise a month or two down the track.
Personally, I'd be very reluctant to accept any cheque drawn on an institution I've never heard of. If I did, I'd be making doubly sure it had cleared before acting on it.
Vista Service Pack 1 Beta
The announcement the first Vista Service Pack is about be released in beta is welcome news.
Experienced Microsoft customers know that waiting for the first service pack is a really good idea with a new MS operating system so the release of SP1 will spark the so far lacklustre sales of Vista.
What should be emphasised is that non-techy users shouldn't go within miles of a beta release. The computer industry is unique in this practice of releasing products that might not work so the general population can test.
It's akin to the motor industry giving away a new model car for testing, figuring that they'll save on the cost of crash test dummies.
Would you accept a free car on the basis that the brakes might fail, the airbags might kill the passengers and the whole thing might randomly burst into flames? Well that's what a beta release is.
To be fair to Microsoft they aren't making this available through mass market channels, it will only be available through the MS Developers Network and Technet.
We should also point out that at least MS beta test their major releases rather than using paying customers as crash test dummies which I'm convinced certain anti-virus companies do.
It's good MS are working on the Vista service pack, now we have to ask is where is the XP service pack three? The thing is two years overdue and it's becoming an embarrassment.
Experienced Microsoft customers know that waiting for the first service pack is a really good idea with a new MS operating system so the release of SP1 will spark the so far lacklustre sales of Vista.
What should be emphasised is that non-techy users shouldn't go within miles of a beta release. The computer industry is unique in this practice of releasing products that might not work so the general population can test.
It's akin to the motor industry giving away a new model car for testing, figuring that they'll save on the cost of crash test dummies.
Would you accept a free car on the basis that the brakes might fail, the airbags might kill the passengers and the whole thing might randomly burst into flames? Well that's what a beta release is.
To be fair to Microsoft they aren't making this available through mass market channels, it will only be available through the MS Developers Network and Technet.
We should also point out that at least MS beta test their major releases rather than using paying customers as crash test dummies which I'm convinced certain anti-virus companies do.
It's good MS are working on the Vista service pack, now we have to ask is where is the XP service pack three? The thing is two years overdue and it's becoming an embarrassment.
Appreciating your tech
One of the more saddening parts of being a computer tech is how little your skills are really appreciated.
A good example was yesterday, the first job had been locked out of her computer. The fix for this is usually quite easy and it only took twenty minutes to reset the admin password. When that was fixed she asked to setup a new profile which took another half hour.
So the total time was an hour. Her response?
I didn't expect it to be that expensive?
I mean, FFS! Thanks lady for the appreciation.
In the afternoon I did another job, this was for a client I hadn't seen for years. It took me ninety minutes to fix the spyware infection that had crippled her wireless connection.
Her thanks?
I hope I don't have to see again.
Gee lady, thanks.
One of my staff told me yesterday about the client who thought the three hour job he did on Monday should have been simple to fix in half an hour. It reminds me of the Dilbert principle that anything you don't understand must be simple to do.
On a related topic referring to yesterday's rant about Symantec I was delighted to note the first client's computer was almost new and the Norton, which was supplied with the computer, was defective.
Just to prove it's not just Norton, the afternoon job had a fully subscribed and up to date McAfee Internet security suite which had let a number of spyware packages on and allowed them to damage the TCP/IP stack.
Dealing with ungrateful customers and incompetent software vendors is why it makes this industry such a challenge.
If you really want to cultivate a good relationship with a computer tech, don't whine about the bill, time or insult them if they've done a good job.
A good example was yesterday, the first job had been locked out of her computer. The fix for this is usually quite easy and it only took twenty minutes to reset the admin password. When that was fixed she asked to setup a new profile which took another half hour.
So the total time was an hour. Her response?
I didn't expect it to be that expensive?
I mean, FFS! Thanks lady for the appreciation.
In the afternoon I did another job, this was for a client I hadn't seen for years. It took me ninety minutes to fix the spyware infection that had crippled her wireless connection.
Her thanks?
I hope I don't have to see again.
Gee lady, thanks.
One of my staff told me yesterday about the client who thought the three hour job he did on Monday should have been simple to fix in half an hour. It reminds me of the Dilbert principle that anything you don't understand must be simple to do.
On a related topic referring to yesterday's rant about Symantec I was delighted to note the first client's computer was almost new and the Norton, which was supplied with the computer, was defective.
Just to prove it's not just Norton, the afternoon job had a fully subscribed and up to date McAfee Internet security suite which had let a number of spyware packages on and allowed them to damage the TCP/IP stack.
Dealing with ungrateful customers and incompetent software vendors is why it makes this industry such a challenge.
If you really want to cultivate a good relationship with a computer tech, don't whine about the bill, time or insult them if they've done a good job.
Wednesday, August 29, 2007
Symantec whinges
I had to laugh out loud when reading Symantec's whinge about Microsoft's anti-competitive practices.
This is an outfit that's made a lot of money from Microsoft's inability to grasp the basics of computer security.
The fact is OneCare has lousy record as a security product so if Symantec's products were any good, OneCare wouldn't be a threat.
However Symantec has dropped the ball even more than Microsoft; their anti-virus software completely missed the spyware epidemic and their packages have become the industry byword for system clogging bloatware.
Instead of whining, these people should be looking at getting out well written, effective software that delivers what it promises. I suspect that's a challenge too far for them.
This is an outfit that's made a lot of money from Microsoft's inability to grasp the basics of computer security.
The fact is OneCare has lousy record as a security product so if Symantec's products were any good, OneCare wouldn't be a threat.
However Symantec has dropped the ball even more than Microsoft; their anti-virus software completely missed the spyware epidemic and their packages have become the industry byword for system clogging bloatware.
Instead of whining, these people should be looking at getting out well written, effective software that delivers what it promises. I suspect that's a challenge too far for them.
Tuesday, August 28, 2007
Acer and Gateway
Acer's proposed takeover of Gateway It's a good move by Acer.
Like Dell, Gateway lost the plot sometime around the year 2000 when the PC industry was hit by the post Y2K downturn. Dell went on a downmarket splurge while Gateway tried to get into fields it didn't understand such as retail stores.
One of the ways Gateway saved itself was by retreating from foreign markets and concentrating on their home US market.
In this light it will be interesting to see how Acer deals with the Gateway and e-machine brands outside the US. The reports indicate Acer have made the purchase to increase US market share. So perhaps we won't see the Gateway brand reappearing soon.
Like Dell, Gateway lost the plot sometime around the year 2000 when the PC industry was hit by the post Y2K downturn. Dell went on a downmarket splurge while Gateway tried to get into fields it didn't understand such as retail stores.
One of the ways Gateway saved itself was by retreating from foreign markets and concentrating on their home US market.
In this light it will be interesting to see how Acer deals with the Gateway and e-machine brands outside the US. The reports indicate Acer have made the purchase to increase US market share. So perhaps we won't see the Gateway brand reappearing soon.
Monday, August 27, 2007
Windows SteadyState
One of my colleagues has bought the new Windows SteadyState to my attention.
Oh boy! This looks like fun. Why do I get a bad feeling when an IT vendor boasts "set and forget".
It appears the bulk of SteadyState is just a nice interface to Window's Group Policy functions. That's good to simplify it, but group policies are a powerful tool that can leave systems in a quivering heap.
I'll be looking forward to having a look at this over the next week.
Oh boy! This looks like fun. Why do I get a bad feeling when an IT vendor boasts "set and forget".
It appears the bulk of SteadyState is just a nice interface to Window's Group Policy functions. That's good to simplify it, but group policies are a powerful tool that can leave systems in a quivering heap.
I'll be looking forward to having a look at this over the next week.
The Federal government web filter
The Federal government was always on a hiding to nothing with their free web filtering software. Some kid was going to crack it in ten minutes flat and indeed they did.
Any technology measure can be circumvented and web filtering is no different so it's no surprise a computer savvy kid cracked it. It's just disappointing these programs don't make it harder for the smart kids.
The difficulty with web filtering is that it's an incomplete answer. While it might protect kids from the odd rude word or dirty picture, it does nothing to protect them from online predators, bullying or other inappropriate behaviour.
No web filter is a substitute for proper supervision. I've said before that most important thing is to keep an eye on what the kids are doing. The first step is to get the computers out of the bedrooms.
I'm trialling these products over the next few days as we're discussing them on this week's Nightlife spot. I'll be posting some of my observations and findings here.
Any technology measure can be circumvented and web filtering is no different so it's no surprise a computer savvy kid cracked it. It's just disappointing these programs don't make it harder for the smart kids.
The difficulty with web filtering is that it's an incomplete answer. While it might protect kids from the odd rude word or dirty picture, it does nothing to protect them from online predators, bullying or other inappropriate behaviour.
No web filter is a substitute for proper supervision. I've said before that most important thing is to keep an eye on what the kids are doing. The first step is to get the computers out of the bedrooms.
I'm trialling these products over the next few days as we're discussing them on this week's Nightlife spot. I'll be posting some of my observations and findings here.
Thursday, August 23, 2007
Struggling with home networks
"Troubled times for home networks" declares the BBC. A little over the top perhaps, but there is an element of truth.
Networks are complex, it's the nature of the beast. As the article says,
The problem, he said, was the sheer complexity of getting all those different devices to work together and swap data via a home network.
The only devices I've seen that work as advertised are the Airport Express devices when streaming music. Even there they have the same problems with SSIDs and WPA that everything else hits.
Where the BBC article hits rocky waters though is in falling for the LAN over powerlines hype. Quite frankly, they are problematic and don't work properly. Trying to your network over your powerlines is an exercise in frustration.
The article also falls for some Wireless LAN hype quoting Selina Lo, chief executive of Ruckus Wireless, as saying "wide usage would not have come about without it being straightforward to use."
Well yeah, except it isn't. In 50% of home and offices it simply doesn't bloody work properly due to all manner of factors.
What worries me even more is Selina's, and many other computer users, idea that WLANs should be ubiquitous and just work when you turn your computer on. This is a security nightmare.
The lesson for users is to be careful of the hype. When you buy stuff like wireless networking or network over powerline equipment, make sure the retailer has a satisfaction guaranteed refund policy.
Networks are complex, it's the nature of the beast. As the article says,
The problem, he said, was the sheer complexity of getting all those different devices to work together and swap data via a home network.
The only devices I've seen that work as advertised are the Airport Express devices when streaming music. Even there they have the same problems with SSIDs and WPA that everything else hits.
Where the BBC article hits rocky waters though is in falling for the LAN over powerlines hype. Quite frankly, they are problematic and don't work properly. Trying to your network over your powerlines is an exercise in frustration.
The article also falls for some Wireless LAN hype quoting Selina Lo, chief executive of Ruckus Wireless, as saying "wide usage would not have come about without it being straightforward to use."
Well yeah, except it isn't. In 50% of home and offices it simply doesn't bloody work properly due to all manner of factors.
What worries me even more is Selina's, and many other computer users, idea that WLANs should be ubiquitous and just work when you turn your computer on. This is a security nightmare.
The lesson for users is to be careful of the hype. When you buy stuff like wireless networking or network over powerline equipment, make sure the retailer has a satisfaction guaranteed refund policy.
Tuesday, August 21, 2007
Broadband Australia 2007
I was fortunate enough to be invited to the Broadband Australia conference and managed to get to the first morning session. It proved to be an interesting window on where broadband is in Australia at present.
The list of speakers featured the big players in the field, specifically Telstra, Optus and the government. Senator Coonan, the minister for telecommunications, kicked off with the keynote.
Helen Coonan
I quite like the minister, but this wasn't one of her strong performances. Rather than giving us a run down of the government's broadband policies and how broadband can help the country, she spent her time scoring points off the Labor opposition.
The only good thing about her speech was the repeating of the words "strength" and "experience" give a fairly good idea of what the Federal government's re-election slogan will be.
Phil Burgess
Phil can always be counted on for an entertaining talk. Apparently he didn't know people lived in Iceland until he went looking for a country as disadvantaged as Australia in rolling out a new network.
Phil made some very good points; the fact is 1Gb to the home and office is not the future, it's now, his teleconferencing software requires a 40Mb/s link on it's own.
One had to laugh out loud at his point about 256kbit connections not being considered broadband. This is quite true, but Phil still markets them as such and with a crappy 200Mb monthly data limit to boot.
Most of Phil's presentation was focussed on kicking the ACCC and their pricing policies. An interesting accusation he made was that the access price for ULL has just been pulled from the UK OFCOM with no allowance for Australian differences.
A good performance by Phil, but he was preaching to an audience of sceptics. Particularly enjoyable were his anecdote of visiting Birdsville and their struggles with phone and Internet access.
Warren Hardy
I haven't heard Warren speak before and he gave a credible corporate speech on Optus' broadband position. He wasn't as lively as Phil Burgess and this may not be a bad thing.
He rebutted a number of points Phil made about the OPEL network. There's no doubt this proposal and the government funding for it has struck a nerve with Telstra and Optus can't help but rub it in.
I've been scathing of Optus' performance in this market and nothing Warren said changed my mind, but he at least raised a laugh by pointing out to Phil Burgess that he could get broadband in Birdsville from the Optus satellite.
David Kennedy
It was good to hear from someone prepared to admit to have been involved in setting up the mess we currently find ourselves in. David put his hand up as being a ministerial advisor at the time of the 1997 reforms to the telco industry.
His historical perspective was that a few core countries dominate new technologies such as the UK with railways, the UK and Germany with steel production. In his view, Australia will not be one of those core countries in the Internet revolution. I'd have to agree.
Panel Discussion
The panel topic was Broadband in Australia; what do we want? How do we get it? The three panelist were Derek Francis from UBS, John Stanton from People Telecom and Anne Hurley from the Communications Alliance.
Anne Hurley: I feel sorry industry lobbyists, they often have to juggle different competing interests of their members and the lowest common denominator often turns out to be bland. The problem for the Communications Alliance is the industry is dominated by Telstra with Optus paddling in it's wake and the rest making up numbers. Anne tried hard, but really couldn't add much.
John Stanton: It was good to get a reseller's view. But the main topic of the morning was infrastructure so John's experience is somewhat limited. We did get a view of some of the economics of the industry and a glimpse of how vulnerable service providers are when the market is dominated by two or three large players.
Derek Francis: Derek was by far the most interesting panel member. He came to the debate with the position that we should let the market rip. The simple application of "comparative parity rules" to stop incumbents from protecting their own operations.
The problem is this has been tried and doesn't work; Telstra will be able to confound any such rules with transfer pricing and other tactics.
I also found Derek's claim that the OPEL consortium should be paying $300 per line to use the existing copper network as being misleading. This is the replacement cost of the copper lines and no way represents the current value.
While I'm sure a lot of the merchant bankers and hedge funds would love "open slather" as it would generate lots of fee income through a bigger Telstra, I'm certain it's not in the nation's best interest to deregulate when the market is dominated by one player.
My observations
From the first day, I'd have to say the case for splitting Telstra into at least wholesale and retail companies is compelling. Do this and most arguments about regulation and market dominance disappear.
One of the most disappointing aspects of the morning was the nit picking and point scoring, whether it's the minister scoring points off Labor, Telstra scoring points off the ACCC or Optus scoring points off Telstra.
It's clear the industry is bogged down in distrust between almost all the players. In this light, it's not surprising we're in the breakdown lane of the Information Superhighway.
An interesting morning, but I can't help but think we need some leadership in this field.
The list of speakers featured the big players in the field, specifically Telstra, Optus and the government. Senator Coonan, the minister for telecommunications, kicked off with the keynote.
Helen Coonan
I quite like the minister, but this wasn't one of her strong performances. Rather than giving us a run down of the government's broadband policies and how broadband can help the country, she spent her time scoring points off the Labor opposition.
The only good thing about her speech was the repeating of the words "strength" and "experience" give a fairly good idea of what the Federal government's re-election slogan will be.
Phil Burgess
Phil can always be counted on for an entertaining talk. Apparently he didn't know people lived in Iceland until he went looking for a country as disadvantaged as Australia in rolling out a new network.
Phil made some very good points; the fact is 1Gb to the home and office is not the future, it's now, his teleconferencing software requires a 40Mb/s link on it's own.
One had to laugh out loud at his point about 256kbit connections not being considered broadband. This is quite true, but Phil still markets them as such and with a crappy 200Mb monthly data limit to boot.
Most of Phil's presentation was focussed on kicking the ACCC and their pricing policies. An interesting accusation he made was that the access price for ULL has just been pulled from the UK OFCOM with no allowance for Australian differences.
A good performance by Phil, but he was preaching to an audience of sceptics. Particularly enjoyable were his anecdote of visiting Birdsville and their struggles with phone and Internet access.
Warren Hardy
I haven't heard Warren speak before and he gave a credible corporate speech on Optus' broadband position. He wasn't as lively as Phil Burgess and this may not be a bad thing.
He rebutted a number of points Phil made about the OPEL network. There's no doubt this proposal and the government funding for it has struck a nerve with Telstra and Optus can't help but rub it in.
I've been scathing of Optus' performance in this market and nothing Warren said changed my mind, but he at least raised a laugh by pointing out to Phil Burgess that he could get broadband in Birdsville from the Optus satellite.
David Kennedy
It was good to hear from someone prepared to admit to have been involved in setting up the mess we currently find ourselves in. David put his hand up as being a ministerial advisor at the time of the 1997 reforms to the telco industry.
His historical perspective was that a few core countries dominate new technologies such as the UK with railways, the UK and Germany with steel production. In his view, Australia will not be one of those core countries in the Internet revolution. I'd have to agree.
Panel Discussion
The panel topic was Broadband in Australia; what do we want? How do we get it? The three panelist were Derek Francis from UBS, John Stanton from People Telecom and Anne Hurley from the Communications Alliance.
Anne Hurley: I feel sorry industry lobbyists, they often have to juggle different competing interests of their members and the lowest common denominator often turns out to be bland. The problem for the Communications Alliance is the industry is dominated by Telstra with Optus paddling in it's wake and the rest making up numbers. Anne tried hard, but really couldn't add much.
John Stanton: It was good to get a reseller's view. But the main topic of the morning was infrastructure so John's experience is somewhat limited. We did get a view of some of the economics of the industry and a glimpse of how vulnerable service providers are when the market is dominated by two or three large players.
Derek Francis: Derek was by far the most interesting panel member. He came to the debate with the position that we should let the market rip. The simple application of "comparative parity rules" to stop incumbents from protecting their own operations.
The problem is this has been tried and doesn't work; Telstra will be able to confound any such rules with transfer pricing and other tactics.
I also found Derek's claim that the OPEL consortium should be paying $300 per line to use the existing copper network as being misleading. This is the replacement cost of the copper lines and no way represents the current value.
While I'm sure a lot of the merchant bankers and hedge funds would love "open slather" as it would generate lots of fee income through a bigger Telstra, I'm certain it's not in the nation's best interest to deregulate when the market is dominated by one player.
My observations
From the first day, I'd have to say the case for splitting Telstra into at least wholesale and retail companies is compelling. Do this and most arguments about regulation and market dominance disappear.
One of the most disappointing aspects of the morning was the nit picking and point scoring, whether it's the minister scoring points off Labor, Telstra scoring points off the ACCC or Optus scoring points off Telstra.
It's clear the industry is bogged down in distrust between almost all the players. In this light, it's not surprising we're in the breakdown lane of the Information Superhighway.
An interesting morning, but I can't help but think we need some leadership in this field.
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