Many companies think they are saving money by getting bogus copies of software. There is no question that software companies charge too much for their software and constant upgrades. For the small businessman and large for a different reason, buying software is a pain.
But all the hype about the conflicker virus provides us with another good reason to have licensed software and up-to-date virus definitions.
According to the people that respond to these issues, anyone who had a valid operating system and up to date anti-virus, was not vulnerable to this virus. There were 2 million systems that did not have valid operating systems and could not get updates. These are the people who were the most vulnerable.
One IT supplier identified a new customer that had bought what they thought was legitimate systems, but the supplier had simply copied their own version of the operating system. The customer didn't know, and as a result were vulnerable. This begs the question. If you got it cheap, is it valid?
All small business owners are concerned about running their business and the costs of running their business. The cost of the software is small compared to what the Conflicker virus could have done. There is so much free software out there, that you can run your business with free software (including LINUX), why would you put your business at risk with copying software?
Focus on running your business. Get qualified suppliers that can take away the problems of having to develop technical skills. There is far more value in that than in trying to get cheap services.
Showing posts with label it support. Show all posts
Showing posts with label it support. Show all posts
Thursday, April 2, 2009
Friday, December 26, 2008
Computer systems reliability and business impact.
An article on computer systems reliability from ZDNET Asia quotes statistics from Freeform Dynamics that shows the impact on business from what they call software resiliency. This means the system's ability to recover from software failures.
Some of the statistics include:
Some of the statistics include:
- 24% of organizations suffer from a software failure once per week.
- In addition, 34% suffer from a software failure once per month.
- Even worse, 20% of organizations suffer from financial or legal issues once per quarter.
These problems cause major business impact. In most cases, these problems can be prevented by planning for systems to be resilient. Yet organizations focus on new business functions, creating more dependence on these systems, and seldom plan for resilient systems. They assume that systems will work and react to failures.
Despite significant improvements in computer systems over the years, systems continue to fail. These failures can be prevented by proper planning, or at least the impact of these failures minimized.
Many technical support staff enjoy diagnosing problems and become very good at it. However, the business suffers while they react. Until business owners and managers insist on software reliability and understand the impact to their business, things will not improve.
The original article can be found here.
Monday, December 1, 2008
Why the traditional approach to IT staffing doesn't work
I see many small businesses that hire technical staff to support the technology used by their business. They often have been poorly served by sales people or buy technology from their local business or computer store. Things invariably go wrong and they don't know how to solve the problems, so they hire someone who is comfortable with technology and can fix the problems without having to call in tech support.
This makes the management more comfortable because they don't have to worry about technical problems. Someone else is responsible for handling it. In most cases, these businesses end up with reliability problems and problems that impact productivity of the business.
Why is that?
First of all, there are so many types of technology out there and no single person can be an expert in all of them. The result is that anytime something new has to be looked at, a lot of time is spent understanding and evaluating tools. This time could be saved by getting help from an expert.
Secondly, solving problems requires experience. So many things can go wrong. It can take a lot of time to identify the problem and get it fixed. In a small business, it is not often that the same problem occurs twice in a row, so your onsite staff starts again on every problem.
Thirdly, if you have a recurring problem, it has a major impact on your business. Your onsite staff may become expert on resolving it, but it still has an impact on productivity of the staff member who has the problem and the support staff that works on fixing it. Wouldn't it be better to prevent the problem in the first place? Most small business support staff don't understand the value and need for preventative maintenance nor what to do.
Lastly, if you have someone who is really good, they are gaining experience on your dollar. As soon as they have that experience, they are more marketable and you either have to pay more money or hire another untrained staff member.
A computer support company can be a much cheaper alternative, even though the rate that they charge is higher that an employee. This is not the case for all companies, but it is what you should look for.
They have a number of people and have a breadth of experience that you cannot afford in your business. You can get an "expert" in each type of technology. It will take much less time and effort to investigate and install new technology.
They see many different installations and see problems over and over again. While they may struggle on the first occurrence, they quickly learn how to solve these problems on somebody else's dime, not yours.
They learn what causes problems and how to prevent them. They can come to you with a preventative maintenance program, that ensures that your equipment keeps running. This increases your reliability and the productivity of your staff.
You don't have to worry about losing a staff member. Your support company is responsible for that. They can pay higher wages, get more qualified staff and keep them happier because of the range of challenges.
Hiring an IT support company can be as challenging or more challenging that hiring staff. It's important that you identify your needs and determine whether the company can meet them, and not put you in a tougher bind. This requires a good process for identifying the benefits of good management and ensuring that your supplier can deliver. Unless you have experience with doing this, you can get in trouble. Get somebody to help you structure this relationship.
This makes the management more comfortable because they don't have to worry about technical problems. Someone else is responsible for handling it. In most cases, these businesses end up with reliability problems and problems that impact productivity of the business.
Why is that?
First of all, there are so many types of technology out there and no single person can be an expert in all of them. The result is that anytime something new has to be looked at, a lot of time is spent understanding and evaluating tools. This time could be saved by getting help from an expert.
Secondly, solving problems requires experience. So many things can go wrong. It can take a lot of time to identify the problem and get it fixed. In a small business, it is not often that the same problem occurs twice in a row, so your onsite staff starts again on every problem.
Thirdly, if you have a recurring problem, it has a major impact on your business. Your onsite staff may become expert on resolving it, but it still has an impact on productivity of the staff member who has the problem and the support staff that works on fixing it. Wouldn't it be better to prevent the problem in the first place? Most small business support staff don't understand the value and need for preventative maintenance nor what to do.
Lastly, if you have someone who is really good, they are gaining experience on your dollar. As soon as they have that experience, they are more marketable and you either have to pay more money or hire another untrained staff member.
A computer support company can be a much cheaper alternative, even though the rate that they charge is higher that an employee. This is not the case for all companies, but it is what you should look for.
They have a number of people and have a breadth of experience that you cannot afford in your business. You can get an "expert" in each type of technology. It will take much less time and effort to investigate and install new technology.
They see many different installations and see problems over and over again. While they may struggle on the first occurrence, they quickly learn how to solve these problems on somebody else's dime, not yours.
They learn what causes problems and how to prevent them. They can come to you with a preventative maintenance program, that ensures that your equipment keeps running. This increases your reliability and the productivity of your staff.
You don't have to worry about losing a staff member. Your support company is responsible for that. They can pay higher wages, get more qualified staff and keep them happier because of the range of challenges.
Hiring an IT support company can be as challenging or more challenging that hiring staff. It's important that you identify your needs and determine whether the company can meet them, and not put you in a tougher bind. This requires a good process for identifying the benefits of good management and ensuring that your supplier can deliver. Unless you have experience with doing this, you can get in trouble. Get somebody to help you structure this relationship.
Sunday, August 10, 2008
Three elements of IT for small business
Many small business owners that I talk to are frustrated with information technology. They don't understand it, aren't happy with what they are getting and aren't interested in becoming more "technology knowledgeable". The response from most technology people is that they need to be to run a business. They don't need to become technicians, but they do need to understand how to manage technology because their business depends on it. They need to manage it the same way that they manage all other aspects of their business. They need to make it work for them.
In many cases, technology is seen as a jumble, with no difference between the various aspects. If you don't understand it, can't fix it yourself, you lose.
There are three elements and how a small business owner deals with it and the skills that are required are very different. The three elements are:
In many cases, technology is seen as a jumble, with no difference between the various aspects. If you don't understand it, can't fix it yourself, you lose.
There are three elements and how a small business owner deals with it and the skills that are required are very different. The three elements are:
- Base infrastructure: the roads, the bridges and the technology that the software runs on.
- Business software: the component that helps you run your business.
- Information: What you need to manage your business.
Over the next fews days, I'll be describing each of these elements, their importance and the skills necessary for a business owner to get results from It, without becoming a technical expert.
Thursday, August 7, 2008
Can a Not-for-profit organization afford free services?
Not-for-profit organizations are always struggling with paying for the services to manage their business operations.
They are in operation to deliver a service to the community and typically do an excellent job at this, providing essential services. When it comes to business operations, however, they often do poorly. Funding organizations will provide funding for delivery of service, for staring new initiatives, but not for office operations. So many NFPs look to get these services for free. They attempt to get skilled people to contribute their time, so that it does not cost the organization anything.
The services that they get are often hit and miss (they get what the volunteer can give) and inconsistent. Each volunteer will approach the issue differently and often any learning or documentation that is collected is lost or not made available to the next volunteer.
Business operations are no different in small business and NFPs. They need to run their business effectively. A consistent level of service is required in the office as well as to the clients. However, there is often a huge gap between the levels of service delivered. The clients get good service (that is why the organization was started and why people volunteer). The office gets second class service (not a priority for office staff or volunteers).
I see this problem in IT service on a regular basis. Computers are essential to running a business today (as well as NFPs). They can provide excellent value if they function properly. They can create tremendous stress when they don't. One of the major factors in quality of service is consistency of maintenance. If computers are not maintained consistently, they do not perform. The end result is frustration, ongoing service problems and difficulty in maintaining the level of service that the business or NFPs is in operation to provide.
Using volunteers for this type of service will cost an NFP more money that they save in the maintenance of their equipment. Their stress will go up, their productivity will go down, they will spend excessive amounts of time trying to find a good volunteer to maintain their equipment. They will suffer from the inconsistency as each volunteer solves problems a different way, and creates new ones in the process.
If you want to focus on delivering the service that your NFP is in operation to do, look at whether you can afford to get free technical support.
For some ideas on how to do that, check out my website at http://www.thevirtualcio.ca/. I don't fix computers. I help organizations to make more effective use of them.
They are in operation to deliver a service to the community and typically do an excellent job at this, providing essential services. When it comes to business operations, however, they often do poorly. Funding organizations will provide funding for delivery of service, for staring new initiatives, but not for office operations. So many NFPs look to get these services for free. They attempt to get skilled people to contribute their time, so that it does not cost the organization anything.
The services that they get are often hit and miss (they get what the volunteer can give) and inconsistent. Each volunteer will approach the issue differently and often any learning or documentation that is collected is lost or not made available to the next volunteer.
Business operations are no different in small business and NFPs. They need to run their business effectively. A consistent level of service is required in the office as well as to the clients. However, there is often a huge gap between the levels of service delivered. The clients get good service (that is why the organization was started and why people volunteer). The office gets second class service (not a priority for office staff or volunteers).
I see this problem in IT service on a regular basis. Computers are essential to running a business today (as well as NFPs). They can provide excellent value if they function properly. They can create tremendous stress when they don't. One of the major factors in quality of service is consistency of maintenance. If computers are not maintained consistently, they do not perform. The end result is frustration, ongoing service problems and difficulty in maintaining the level of service that the business or NFPs is in operation to provide.
Using volunteers for this type of service will cost an NFP more money that they save in the maintenance of their equipment. Their stress will go up, their productivity will go down, they will spend excessive amounts of time trying to find a good volunteer to maintain their equipment. They will suffer from the inconsistency as each volunteer solves problems a different way, and creates new ones in the process.
If you want to focus on delivering the service that your NFP is in operation to do, look at whether you can afford to get free technical support.
For some ideas on how to do that, check out my website at http://www.thevirtualcio.ca/. I don't fix computers. I help organizations to make more effective use of them.
Monday, July 21, 2008
Is tehnical knowledge necessary to manage IT?
When I speak to small business owners, I often find them uncomfortable with technology. They know they need it to run their business, but they aren't comfortable with it and tend to stay away from it, if they can.
They often have found some useful aspects, such as searching for information on the Internet, but see IT as that PC that is always causing them problems.
In many cases, they hire a junior person on staff, or a technician that fixes the equipment when it breaks. This allows them to ignore the technology.
While they shouldn't be spending their time fixing PCs (they have a business to run), assuming that getting someone technical to manage the equipment is not necessarily the best thing for their business either. The technician is probably very good at fixing what breaks, but is that the best thing for the business? If reliability is a problem, or slow response, this is affecting their business productivity. The technicians are unlikely to focus on preventing these problems, unless they have experience at managing technology. This is very different from fixing technology.
Making technology work for your business has little to do with technical skills, but a lot to do with management and leadership skills. Management skills bring you processes for maintaining technology so that it works consistently and reliably. This ensures that outages do not keep you from doing the job that you bought the equipment for.
Leadership skills in IT are another element. This does take a little technical knowledge to understand or be able to envision the use of technology in a way that improves your business. This requires education and awareness of capabilities, something few courses provide. It also requires a focus on your business and a vision of where you want your business to go. If you have this vision of your business, then you need to look at how technology can support your vision.
Technical skills in your staff and suppliers are not likely to help you develop your business vision. Neither will the next silver bullet software product. Develop the vision of where you want your business to go. Then look for software that can help you get there. Once you set yourself in that direction, you will gain the technical skills that you need to use technology effectively. And those skills will have nothing to do with fixing your own PC or installing your own software.
They often have found some useful aspects, such as searching for information on the Internet, but see IT as that PC that is always causing them problems.
In many cases, they hire a junior person on staff, or a technician that fixes the equipment when it breaks. This allows them to ignore the technology.
While they shouldn't be spending their time fixing PCs (they have a business to run), assuming that getting someone technical to manage the equipment is not necessarily the best thing for their business either. The technician is probably very good at fixing what breaks, but is that the best thing for the business? If reliability is a problem, or slow response, this is affecting their business productivity. The technicians are unlikely to focus on preventing these problems, unless they have experience at managing technology. This is very different from fixing technology.
Making technology work for your business has little to do with technical skills, but a lot to do with management and leadership skills. Management skills bring you processes for maintaining technology so that it works consistently and reliably. This ensures that outages do not keep you from doing the job that you bought the equipment for.
Leadership skills in IT are another element. This does take a little technical knowledge to understand or be able to envision the use of technology in a way that improves your business. This requires education and awareness of capabilities, something few courses provide. It also requires a focus on your business and a vision of where you want your business to go. If you have this vision of your business, then you need to look at how technology can support your vision.
Technical skills in your staff and suppliers are not likely to help you develop your business vision. Neither will the next silver bullet software product. Develop the vision of where you want your business to go. Then look for software that can help you get there. Once you set yourself in that direction, you will gain the technical skills that you need to use technology effectively. And those skills will have nothing to do with fixing your own PC or installing your own software.
Saturday, July 19, 2008
Why can't IT support companies make commitments
I got a call recently from a friend who had just purchased a new PC from someone that I had recommended. The IT support person seemed to have a great attitude and approach to service and the experience to date from my friend had been very positive.
When she purchased the PC, a number of small problems had been encountered and had to be resolved. This was not what my friend was reacting to. My friend was concerned that with each new issue or problem, she was being charged. This was so contrary to the way that she runs her own business that she called me to ask whether this was something that she should expect.
When she installs equipment for her clients, she gives them a price then sticks to it. She is the one with the skills to do the job and is in control of the results. Her clients have no experience with the equipment and cannot control the outcome. If something goes wrong she looks at it as a learning experience and something to be prevented the next time.
In my experience, few IT support companies operate this way, especially the ones that support small business. When a problem is encountered, they react to it and fix it. They may say that this always happens, but there is no ownership. They don't look at how they can prevent this in the future. Since they don't want to do work that they aren't paid for (and this happens all the time), they charge the client.
This is one of the reasons why people get frustrated with computers and computer support. They have no idea what is happenning and they regularly get hosed. It always costs more than they expect and they never know why. And their supplier takes no ownership.
Isn't it time that IT support companies take ownership of this issue? If there are glitches all the time, why don't they find out why and do something to prevent them? I worked in large businesses for many years and that was what we did. We recognized that every incident, every problem caused productivity problems and should be prevented. We diagnosed the reason why this happenned and made changes that prevented these problems. That increased stability and eventually required less support and greater satisfaction.
Why can't small support companies operate the same way?
Maybe the problem is not the IT support companies are not the problem. Maybe the problem is their customers who accept this type of service and feel that they can't do anything about it. Maybe they need to take action and say this response is unacceptable. That's what I suggested to my friend. I'm looking forward to what happens.
When she purchased the PC, a number of small problems had been encountered and had to be resolved. This was not what my friend was reacting to. My friend was concerned that with each new issue or problem, she was being charged. This was so contrary to the way that she runs her own business that she called me to ask whether this was something that she should expect.
When she installs equipment for her clients, she gives them a price then sticks to it. She is the one with the skills to do the job and is in control of the results. Her clients have no experience with the equipment and cannot control the outcome. If something goes wrong she looks at it as a learning experience and something to be prevented the next time.
In my experience, few IT support companies operate this way, especially the ones that support small business. When a problem is encountered, they react to it and fix it. They may say that this always happens, but there is no ownership. They don't look at how they can prevent this in the future. Since they don't want to do work that they aren't paid for (and this happens all the time), they charge the client.
This is one of the reasons why people get frustrated with computers and computer support. They have no idea what is happenning and they regularly get hosed. It always costs more than they expect and they never know why. And their supplier takes no ownership.
Isn't it time that IT support companies take ownership of this issue? If there are glitches all the time, why don't they find out why and do something to prevent them? I worked in large businesses for many years and that was what we did. We recognized that every incident, every problem caused productivity problems and should be prevented. We diagnosed the reason why this happenned and made changes that prevented these problems. That increased stability and eventually required less support and greater satisfaction.
Why can't small support companies operate the same way?
Maybe the problem is not the IT support companies are not the problem. Maybe the problem is their customers who accept this type of service and feel that they can't do anything about it. Maybe they need to take action and say this response is unacceptable. That's what I suggested to my friend. I'm looking forward to what happens.
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