12
Jul 2013

What Attributes Make A Good Project Manager?

By Felix Marsh Leave a Comment

Anyone who is familiar with working on projects of any size will tell you that it takes no time at all to work out whether a project is being managed well or not. When a project is being managed by a skilled project leader, it is pretty much plain sailing, as a good leader knows instinctively how to handle any issues that arise and knows exactly what needs to be done to put a project on the right route to a successful conclusion.

On the other hand, when a project is being lead by a weak project manager, each and every obstacle will cause delays and the entire project will feel like a battle!

So, what are the attributes or qualities that make one project manager a better leader than another? The following combination of attributes will all play a key role in becoming an effective project manager.

 

Clear Communicator

 

A good leader must be a great communicator and all round people person. Great communication is essential at all stages throughout the lifespan of a project, from the very early stages when the leader is expressing a clear vision of the project to the team, right through to communicating expectations regarding performance and responsibility and giving constructive feedback.

 

The project manager is required to communicate with not only the team but to communicate and negotiate with a variety of other people at all levels from different organisations and businesses and therefore needs to be able to pitch to a broad range of audiences effectively.

 

Regular team meetings are an incredibly important part of the communication process for any team. Even a small team of people working together in the same office will benefit from a fixed period of time that allows everyone to get up to date with the status of the project and discuss any issues or changes that need to be made.

 

The most successful project managers tend to be the ones that are known to be open, direct and fair.

 

Good Listener

 

A smart leader will realise that they can always learn something new and will be keen to listen to what their team members have to say. Project leaders can often learn as much from their team as the team can from them, providing they are open to listening to others opinions and ideas as well as expressing their own!

 

Project managers who are there for the team when they are struggling, willing to listen and offer support are able to boost team morale and this support develops a real sense of trust and loyalty between the group.

 

 

Cool As a Cucumber

 

Some people fold under stress and find it difficult to keep a clear head making them completely unsuitable for a project management role. Difficulties are always going to crop up so being able to remain calm under pressure and retain a clear head is a vital attribute in this field.  The buck stops with the project manager who is responsible for the success of the project and it can be difficult to keep everyone happy all of the time. So if having to tell a client you cannot meet a deadline would bring you out in a sweat, or you struggle to make decisions on the spot, perhaps this role is not for you!

 

Team Builder

 

A positive working environment is the result of a strong team of individuals who work together well and support one another. The ability to building the right team from the start will lay the foundation for productivity and success. A strong leader will carefully balance the dynamics of their team to keep them gelled as a cohesive unit and is able to recognise the strengths of each team member in order to capitalise on each individuals skills.

 

When working within smaller scale businesses with small teams, the process of getting to know a team in depth and identify their individual skills is obviously going to be a much faster process, but it is not necessarily easier to make a small team gel together.

 

A little diplomacy is essential at times and it is important to step quickly and act when issues arise within a team, after all a chain is only as strong as its weakest link. Conflict can arise when individuals have a difference of opinion and project leaders will generally have their own way of dealing with these types of situations in a positive way.

 

Skilled Delegator

 

Once tasks have been delegated to the right team member, a strong project manager will be happy to walk away and leave that person to handle the task rather than constantly trying to retain control over everything and micro-manage each and every aspect of the project himself or herself.

 

People respond well to leaders who demonstrate that they trust them and this space allows each member of the team to develop and grow whilst carrying out their role.

 

Creative Problem Solver

 

We all know that even with the best intentions, things rarely go to plan, so the ability to adapt to change, think outside of the box and find the best solution to each problem quickly, is essential.

 

A Great Project Manager

 

An effective project manager will have a fine blend of the attributes described above, combined with enough confidence and enthusiasm to lift team spirits and successfully complete any project they are involved with!

 

 

ABOUT THE AUTHOR:

 

Felix Marsh is a member of the team at Agil8. They offer the highest quality Agile consulting and training. Agil8 draws on experience of working with organisations across all industry sectors over many years, and the management and delivery of some of the world’s largest and most complex Agile implementations.

 

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10
Jul 2013

Cloud and Startups: A beautiful future together?

By Sharon Florentine Leave a Comment

It’s especially important for startups to maximize their technology investments, and having secure, reliable, easily accessible and, of course, affordable solutions can mean the difference between success and failure. With a cloud-based technology stack, your start-up can gain a huge competitive advantage.

First and foremost, the cloud gives startups the power to choose. With the increased competition in the infrastructure-as-a-service (IaaS) market, startups now have an incredible variety of Cloud solutions to choose from. There are mature Platform-as-a-Service (PaaS) offerings like Windows Azure, Heroku, Engine Yard and Google App Engine and proven IaaS providers like Rackspace, AWS, and GoGrid. Startups also gain the ability to choose their preferred operating systems, application platforms, frameworks and languages. Many providers are now enabling applications written in .NET, Java, Ruby, Python and Node.js, and offer cloud-based databases from MySQL, MS SQL Server, PostgreSQL and popular NoSQL databases on demand, too.

As Janakiram Mocherla, cloud technology consultant, evangelist and author outlines in this article, there are a number of reasons why startups should consider adopting cloud computing.

The self-service aspect of the cloud is extremely compelling. The ability to add or remove computing, storage, and processing resources without relying on a third party, is very powerful, Mocherla said. Most cloud platforms include a dashboard or management console that you can use to acquire and launch resources as needed. Vendors like Rackspace even offer an entire solution set devoted to supporting startups.

Cost, of course, is one of the top considerations for startups, and the cloud offers the ability to run your business without any upfront investments. As Mocherla said, this can free up capital for investments in personnel or other business needs.

The cloud’s scalability and flexibility are important features that make the cloud the perfect companion for startups. As your business grows, you’ll need to acquire more servers, storage and databases to keep up with demand, Mocherla said. With cloud technology, you can choose to scale up by adopting a different infrastructure configuration or scale out by adding more servers of similar configuration to your existing setup.

Elasticity goes hand-in-hand with scalability, he said. Scale up, down, out and in as you need; only paying for the resources you need when you need them. And, because of the automation capabilities inherent in the cloud, you can also automate your resource allocation based on the factors like CPU usage, Disk I/O and Network I/O so that additional servers can be launched to distribute the load and help you handle any unexpected demands, he said.

Start-ups also can automate backup, disaster recovery and security to further streamline operations. This increasing trend toward automation can even mean that applications deployed on Cloud could become intelligent and self-healing. By detecting faults, they can automatically launch healthy instances with supported APIs, Mocherla said.

The cloud also enhances developer’s ability to apply continuous Integration (CI) to make software development more agile. CI is the process of applying smaller code changes more frequently, and is much simpler and faster when done in the Cloud. Continuous integration aims to improve software quality while reducing the time taken to deliver it. With the cloud, it’s easy to push changes to code managed via a version control system or a content management system (CMS).

Of course, the biggest advantage that you as a startup get is the ability to spend more time on your core business and less time and money worrying about how you’ll make it work. The Cloud lets you stay focused on your business instead of on power, cooling, bandwidth and the maintenance of the infrastructure. Instead, you can work to add more value for your customers.

Sharon Florentine is a freelance writer who covers everything from holistic veterinary care to data center technology and occasionally blogs for cloud provider Rackspace Hosting.

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08
Jul 2013

What Types of Documents Should a Business Shred?

By Jason Knapfel Leave a Comment

Regardless of what kind of business you run, more than likely you’re in possession of confidential files that you have been entrusted to keep safe and secure. It’s really important that a company sets up a policy that details just how to properly store and get rid of these files.

If a policy does not currently exist, it’s best to create one as soon as possible. The old pattern of tossing sensitive paperwork into the garbage when it’s not needed anymore is an invitation to disaster.

You don’t have to be a sophisticated identity thief to search through dumpsters for carelessly tossed personal documents. Yet, every month (or more) there seems to be a story about medical or financial documents found in a dumpster, thrown out by a complacent company employee.

The rewards these ne’er-do-wells are after are files containing confidential information that can be used to either access a person’s current assets or to steal their identity and go on to commit other crimes.

Any company that’s not taking appropriate steps to completely destroy these kinds of files may find themselves in legal trouble. Luckily, there is a simple solution to the problem: document shredding services. These are companies which focus on shredding large volumes of files in a secure and safe fashion.

The Big Question: What Documents Need To Be Shredded?

Most businesses create a constant stream of paperwork that involves clients, workers, and corporate partners. Here are some examples of documents that need to be shredded beyond recognition, not just thrown away.

Employee Information

Most workers must fill out application paperwork that involves personal data. They could be discarded after a worker leaves. However, simply because someone is not working in the business anymore does not mean that business is not responsible for that private info.

Customer Documents

Customers are often asked to divulge private information for creating accounts or conducting transactions. There might be physical documentation on file. Clients should be able to trust that a company is capable enough to shield their private data. Nevertheless, that depends upon the company having a policy in place to manage the customer information that they gather.

Business Partner Information

Similar to customer information, you might also have records pertaining to your dealings with other businesses. In your dealings with other businesses, you might have files that include their financial data. There might be sensitive legal documentation related to contracts that definitely should not be made public.

Legal and Medical Files

If you have a business that revolves around the legal or medical industries, you definitely should never be casually dumping old paperwork into the trash.

The Value of a Paper Shredding Service

Paper shredding services exist to help companies have the ability to easily and safely get rid of all kinds of confidential files. Don’t risk being sued, but also save you and your employees time that should be used in more productive ways for your business.

BIO: Jason Knapfel writes for Accu NW, a records and information management company in Gresham, OR.

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05
Jul 2013

The 5 Pillars Of Leadership

By Sean McPheat Leave a Comment

Pillars provide a firm structure and support for some classic buildings around the world. In the same way there are key pillars for our leadership.

In this article we discuss five key pillars that support your leadership both inside and outside work.

Courage

To be a good leader we need to have the courage of our convictions and do what we believe is right. We need to have the courage to share our ideas with our teams and let them see our vision for the future. Courage is also required to make difficult decisions that people may not be happy with that may be best for the organisation. When faced with a tough call, ‘Be brave’ and be ready to handle the consequences, they may not be as bad as you might think. Also have the courage to learn from your mistakes and move on.

 

Compassion

As a leader we must remember that we have human beings working for us and not machines. Show true understanding and compassion for individuals. Consider that we all make mistakes along the way and be tolerant of people who do not work in the same way that you do. Instead look for their strengths and build upon them. Ensure that your team receives recognition and praise as this will encourage them to repeat good behaviour. Be constructive when giving negative feedback and be sure that you value their contribution to the team.

 

Character

Some managers hide behind a façade and not show who their true character. Be prepared to be open about yourself and share your experiences with them. Show that you are comfortable with who you are and what you believe in. Likewise make the effort to understand the character of the people in your team and what motivates them to work hard.

 

Competence

As a leader your job is to be a role model. Demonstrate competence as a leader by showing that you understand people and also that you know how to achieve the targets. This is the true balance that you need to manage; people and the task. Key competences for any leader and manager include setting effective goals, planning, time and task management, communication, delegation, building an effective team, performance management.

 

Identify you’re your own strengths and use these as your foundations. Self-assess you areas for development and look for opportunities to make these into strengths too and ask your team to help you with these.

 

Commitment

In order to be successful as a leader we have to show our commitment to our people as well as to the task. We cannot achieve our goals on our own. We need the commitment of our people and the skills, knowledge and experience they bring to the table. As their leader our team need to see that we care and that we know what we are doing.

 

So how committed are you to being the best leader you can be? How many of these pillars have you built to support your leadership? Take time to assess yourself and if you feel brave enough seek 360o feedback from the people around you including your team, your peers and your manager.

 

Author Bio: Founder and MD of international management development firm MTD Management Training, Sean McPheat is widely regarded as a leading authority on modern day management and leadership skills. If you would like help building the pillars of leadership or to set up a 360o feedback system in your organisation, give Sean and his team a call now on 0800 849 6732 for more help and support.

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03
Jul 2013

Female Business Leaders in the UK

By Steven Archer Leave a Comment

The United Kingdom has a very strong and ever growing community of female business leaders, from leaders of the creative industries to business investors and heads of worldwide corporations, not to mention a few rather famous faces in the world of football.

Perhaps one of the most famous business women living and working in the UK today, Dame Marjorie Scardino is an American living and working in the UK who in fact chose to accept UK citizenship in order to accept her title as Dame.   In 1997 Scardino became the first female executive in the ftse 100 when she took control of The Pearson Group she has also been a non-executive director of Nokia and is a former CEO of the Economist Group.   Scardino started her career as the editor of the Georgia Gazette a Pulitzer prize winning newspaper in the United States and has, in the time since then gone on to become 17th most powerful woman in the world according to Forbes in 2007.

Karen Brady is another influential thought leader in the UK business sector.  Taking a position at Saatchi & Saatchi straight out of School she quickly moved on and by 1990 had been appointed director of Sport Newspaper Limited before moving on again in 1993 to take over Birmingham City FC.  Making direct inroads into the male dominated world of Football, Brady drove the club out of administration and into profit and in doing so became the youngest managing director of a PLC when she successfully floated the club on the stock markets.  She has since gone on to join the board at West Ham FC as vice chair and has become an non-executive member of the board at Sir Philip Green’s Arcadia group, not to mention Sir Alun Sugars right hand woman on The Apprentice.

Recently appointed head of Ulster Bank in Northern Ireland, Ellvena Graham who is also COO of the Ulsterbank group is a walking example of solid work ethic and company loyalty.  Joining the bank straight from, School Ms Graham has worked her way to the top being promoted through senior positions in Belfast, Dublin and the Isle of Man.

Graduating from Oxford in 1987 with BA in history Laura Wade-Gery took a position in the investment banking sector before moving into consulting.   After her time in consulting Wade-Gery secured a position within the target marketing department of Tesco, she pushed on to become head of targeted marketing before being promoted through the company until she was finally appointed CEO of Tesco.com.  In 2011 she was appointed to the role of executive director of cross channel at British retail super brand Marks and Spencer’s.

All of these women provide great examples of influential business thought leaders pushing the boundaries of their chosen fields and illustrating the will and drive to succeed.  Each has approached industry in their own way but, all of them have had the fore thought to push through to the top of their sector.  The accompanying image shows all of the above women and a few of their contemporaries in timeline format.

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03
Jul 2013

10 Ways You Can Improve Your Branding And Catch More Leads

By Tony Evans Leave a Comment

No matter how many times people are reminded: “Don’t judge a book by its cover”, people will judge by the cover.

If we judge other people shallowly, how shallow-er can we get when judging a product? Our cover – our brand – is pivotal in the success of our business. That much you should’ve learned in your business courses.

So, if your business is going to be judged by the cover, don’t you think that cover should look insanely gorgeous? Say yes.

Here are 10 ways you can improve your branding to catch more leads.

1. Make Sure You Have A Kick-Ass Logo

Your logo is the most recognizable visual icon which your product will be associated with. The trending “logo quizzes” are testament to this – that people identify brands through their logos. (BTW, I ridiculously enjoy playing that game!)

Logos don’t have to be complicated, in fact simple is better. But you have to put a lot of thought and creativity into this, don’t just get the initials of your company and slap it in your product – be creatively distinct (that is the challenge!)

2. Have a Snappy Slogan

The slogan is the escort of the logo. It may be short, but this word or words should embody the brand. I love Coca-Cola campaigns they are amazing – those slogans have cemented the Coca Cola brand.

3. Develop A Stand-Out Website

Gone are the days when people only find out about a product or service through radio or tv commercials. People find you on the internet. If you don’t have a stand-out website to give more beef to your credibility and quality, then people will bounce out – and you will lose any potential customers.

Your website is another “cover” – people will judge you by it. You need a site that pulls people in so that hopefully, when they get to that call to action they will take it.

4. Facebook, Twitter, Instagram Like Crazy

Social media is the new “it” game for marketers everywhere. People are heavily immersing themselves in social media that is why it’s the best place to introduce them to your brand.

A word of caution: social media is not a place for hard-sell. Create content that attracts people to your brand first.

5. Don’t Be A Man Of Steel, Humanize

The beauty of content development is that it shows the other side of the business. It’s not all hard-sell. Branding is not just about the face of the company – it’s about the character of the company. People identify with people. Through blogs, social media postings and other means of content development try to humanize the brand. Show other aspects, such as glimpses in the life of staff. What moral standards does the company stand for, fight for?

6. Show Some Emotion

Again, people do not identify with things, they identify with people. Add some emotion of your branding and marketing campaigns. I’ve noticed that some of the best commercials are those that show emotion.

7. Give A Care About Online Reputation Management

The internet is such a powerful influence. It can be used to build you up and unfortunately to tear you down (and feed you to the dogs). If someone chooses to release negative publicity about you in the internet – it’ll be there forever. If, say, you are a restaurant, you wouldn’t want to be associated with the phrase rat infestation. So keep a close watch on your online reputation, make it clean and crisp because once it is defiled, it’ll be hard to clean up.

8. Avoid Going Marketese

Simply said, going marketese is writing with words that are in-your-face promotional. These are the words to avoid, words such as: the best, super cheap, unbeatable, amazing etc. Trust me, people avoid marketese brands like the plague.

9. Be In Constant Communication With Your Customers

The only way to nourish customer relationship and brand loyalty is to always keep in touch with them – especially when they have concerns. One area where companies are miserably failing is in giving immediate replies to customer feedback. It is highly important that your relationship with the customer beyond the purchase. They have to feel taken care of, otherwise they will switch to another brand.

10. Deliver The Goods: Say and Do!

Don’t think that you can just lie and say great things about your product and get away with it. Aside from all the marketing and branding campaigns, the ultimate decider is the quality of the product itself. Remember the ORM influence of the internet. If opinion about your brand sways to the negative, it’ll be hard to bounce back.

Hopefully, these tips have made you look cooler in people’s book-cover-judging eyes.

 

Author Bio:

Enthusiastic about art, passionate about business, and crazy about food, Tony Evans has spent the latest years of her life immersed in developing websites and managing projects. When Tony isn’t working, she’s busy dreaming about taking business courses in Melbourne and culinary lessons in Italy.

 

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01
Jul 2013

Business KISS Method: Keep It Simple for Success

By Britney Anderson Leave a Comment

Small business owners and those looking to become one have enough on their plates already to ensure their endeavors become profitable and successful. The KISS method has proven to be an excellent tool in all aspects of running a business. Keep it simple and successful at the same time:

Develop Efficient Marketing Plan

Attracting new customers and retaining your best and most frequent ones require a well-thought out marketing plan, according to barbarabec.com. This includes:

  • Create a professional website and keeping it up to date. New customers will go to the website for information. Returning customers will visit to see what is new.
  • Advertise in the local paper. If you have a minimum budget to begin with, frequent smaller ads are more successful than infrequent larger ads. Be sure the advertisement refers readers to your website for more information.
  • Network by joining organizations in the business community. Go to meetings and fundraisers. Attend luncheons. Have business cards ready to hand out. Engage people in conversation so you can let them know what services or products your business provides.
  • Get involved in the community itself. Volunteer for positions that interest you.
  • Issue press releases when appropriate. These are particularly useful when you hire a new star employee or begin offering a new product or service.

Time Management

Resource scheduling software provides an efficient method for scheduling meetings and reserving conference rooms and equipment. It allows you to create your own system for assigning the right type of work to the employee with the right skill for the task. This optimizes the utilization of employee talent and balances the workload of each employee. It allows you a mechanism for predicting any employee shortage and keeps employees happy.

Social Media

Every small business owner knows they should be involved with social media, but are not sure how to best incorporate it. Start slowly and focus on only one social media site at a time, according to Forbes. Use Google Alerts and Google Analytics to help determine which site is most likely to find targeted customers for your business. Once you get up and running, be consistent with your postings. The more you update, the more potential customer will engage.

Make a plan as to what you will post. Give yourself a time limit so you do not get distracted and spend too much time on the site, and stick to the time limit. It is very easy to overuse social media to your company’s detriment.

Evaluate and Optimize Business Practices

Professional business consultant and author Steve Pavlina says that in order to sustain and grow productivity, owners must conduct periodic evaluations of their business procedures. Use the most up-to-date software, relevant software for your particular business needs. Frequently test your Web site on various browsers and operating systems so it displays properly regardless of platform.

Take Care Of Y​ourself

The time and energy it takes to build a successful business will ultimately start wearing on anyone. Your personal health is just as important as your business plan when it comes to profitability and success. This means eating right, exercising, sleeping regular hours and spending time on something other than the business, according to stevepavlina.com.

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28
Jun 2013

Incentives for your employees all year round

By Liam McClure Leave a Comment

Your business is only as good as your workforce, so it’s important to keep your employees motivated and one way of doing this is by introducing a staff incentive and reward scheme. There are many benefits to introducing such a scheme, as staff incentives generally –

  • Help retain staff
  • Attract better staff to you company
  • Improve productivity
  • Encourage teamwork and knowledge sharing
  • Increase staff motivation and morale

Whatever your budget, introducing a staff incentive scheme could pay back into your business tenfold and doesn’t need to cost the earth. While many businesses recognise the contribution of their staff with a bonus at the end of the year, increasing numbers of businesses are looking for ways to motivate staff all year round.

From time off to corporate gifts here are some ideas to get you started…

 

Staff incentive ideas

Party time

Throw a themed event. It doesn’t have to be hugely expensive, just something to reward your hard working staff and a chance for them to let their hair down. Think sports day, beer and pizza party, movie night, games day or a fancy dress evening…

Vouchers

Use small gifts to reward achievement. Token rewards like cinema tickets, gift vouchers or coffee cards are great ways to say thank you. Bigger achievements can be rewarded with VEX Gift Certificates which can be spent in over 40,000 shops, covering 150 different brands, plus you can even have them printed with you company name and logo.

Discounts

Offer employees and their families a small discount on the goods or services you provide. This is a benefit to both parties and one of the perks many prospective employees look for when joining a company.

Free food

Lay on a free breakfast once a month with all the trimmings – think bagels, muffins, fresh fruit and yogurt. Alternatively, order in some take out coffees to help tackle the mid-afternoon slump or take away pizza if you’ve had a particularly successful week..

Recognition scheme

Ask employees to nominate each other, when someone has done a particularly good job. This way, employees can thank each other for support and going the extra mile, which is positive for team work and will boost morale.

Time off

Something money simply cannot buy. Give your employees the chance to win some time off by producing outstanding results. Allow employees that have children to take ‘family days’ and work from home when the kids are off school. Alternatively give everyone a surprise half day off – why not early on a sunny Friday afternoon and head for an al fresco lunch?

Red Frog Events company claims to have the best employees benefit package in the world, including unlimited holidays. They claim that their positive work culture means the system never gets abused, and provided the work gets done their employees can take as much time off as they like.

Don’t forget to say thank you

It’s completely free, but also very rewarding for an employee to hear when they’ve done a good job. Always remember to give praise where it’s due when there’s a job well done.

Say thank you in person, with a card or even have a ‘wall of thank yous’ where everyone can show their gratitude to those ready to help out.

Liam McClure is a keen blogger with a focus towards business and social media. He is also very interested in the ways that staff incentives can be used to encourage and inspire workers to think deeper about problems faced in their role.

How do you incentivise your staff all year round?

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26
Jun 2013

Update Your Small Business Signage

By Robert Smyth Leave a Comment

You’ve probably had your business sign up for a while. It’s starting to show it’s age. You’re not sure what to do, but the safest bet is to change nothing and keep doing what has worked for you in the past. It’s a strategy that a lot of small business owners adopt, but it’s not always a great one. A slow decline is almost as bad as a quick fall from grace. If it’s been more than 10 years since you’ve updated your signage, it’s time to take a look at how to upgrade your facade.

 

Glass

Glass is sleek and elegant. It’s probably not the first material that you’d think of for a sign, though. Glass can look very cheap if it’s not done properly. Thankfully, not all glass signs are created equal. A great way to add some sophistication to your facade is to purchase high-quality glass material from a reputable sign maker. Generally speaking, glass with a low coefficient of thermal expansion – like borosilicate glass – would be ideal for extreme temperatures since it resists expansion and contraction.

Etching from either the front or the rear can give your company a more elegant look. This kind of signage is appropriate for a lot of services-based businesses. If you run a hair salon, for example, you might benefit from this type of sign. Financial services, and any other type of luxury product or service, would also benefit from having a glass sign.

 

Metallic Letters

Metal is sometimes seen as cold, but it has a very sleek and business-like look to it. Metal can be powder-coated, polished, or painted. Polishing and powder-coating give metallic lettering an industrial look. This is excellent for industrial companies, companies that offer consumer products, and companies that want to portray strength and durability in their signage.

 

Stainless steel signs give your company an “edgy” feel – perfect for spas, nightclubs, and gyms. If you go this route, get waterjet-cut  stainless steel with a solid plate depth between 1/2″ to 8″. This will give you optimum depth for any lettering without having to resort to low-grade aluminum.

 

A unique way to hang your sign is to use invisible mounting. Mounts that attach to the facade allow the sign to “float” away from the wall.

 

Lighted Signs

By far, one of the more popular types of signs are lighted signs. No, you don’t have to have a seedy neon light hanging in your front window. LED lighting is a bit classier and a lot more energy efficient. Glass, metal, plastic, and even some types of wooden signs can all be retrofitted with mood lighting or accent lighting.

 

Not only can this update an existing sign, but it serves as an alternative to buying new signage for your business. Most companies who don’t have lighted signs choose front-lighting to illuminate their business at night. With a lighted sign, you can illuminate everything around the edges, from behind, or use discreet front-lighting to tell people you’re still open when the sun goes down.

 

Robert M. Smyth is a Generation Y employee. He loves sharing his ideas for adding modern flair around the office. Click here for more signage information.

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24
Jun 2013

Key Small Business IT Trends for 2013

By Victor Daily Leave a Comment

Results from the latest IT trends research conducted by the global consultancy firm Accenture reveals that businesses that are not digitally engaged are probably struggling. According to Accenture’s report Technology Vision 2013, organizations that strive to build richer as well as deeper customer relationships making use of the digital route to interact and deliver personalized experiences have an edge over competition and win the global race to succeed.

In specific terms, the report said that the way businesses are operated these days has changed because of the convergence of mobile computing, social media, the cloud and the analytics. The companies that are technology savvy and go digital are in a better position to take advantage of business opportunities as they come up.

According to Paul Daugherty, chief technology officer at Accenture, the study analyzed the prevailing technology landscape, assessed the ongoing projects as well as those that have been executed with their clients and utilized the expertise of the consultancy firm’s research and development team to identify the following seven major technology trends:

Relationships

Technology is being put to use by businesses to build relationships with their customers. In fact, businesses are looking beyond the transactions and implementing digital relationships in order to engage the customers in an effort to enhance their loyalty. This is changing the way businesses are being conducted. The business and IT approaches are getting unified.

Analytics

Business enterprises are establishing strategies to view customer data more from a supply chain point of view than as the requirement for managing a warehouse. Currently available software applications are designed to capture data only for a specific function as important questions were not considered when they were formulated.

Data

Companies are improving their competitive advantage by enhancing their skill in analyzing data. This is assuming a lot of importance as better analytical skills helps insights provided by data analysis to be converted into action and benefit from opportunities presented by the market. Other aspects being considered include data velocity, mobility and consumerization of IT to enable faster access to data. New technologies like in-memory computing, high-speed data storage, data visualizations, analytics advances, etc., are also being made use of to achieve the conversion of insight into action.

Collaboration

Enterprises are taking note of the growing customer expectation that all applications will be social and are therefore developing tools that will help them change businesses processes. Social networking sites such as Twitter and Facebook and video tools such as Google+ and Skype have greatly revolutionized the communication between customers and businesses. Companies can also utilize the employees’ increased interest in social networks to achieve a higher level of productivity.

Software-defined Networking (SDN)

Businesses are moving towards SDN which enables virtualization to cut IT expenses and boost efficiency and agility. Virtualization makes the transition to the cloud easier. In the case of SDN, the network is managed with the help of software instead of hardware. It therefore affords enterprise flexibility and ability to reconfigure system connectivity without a change in physical characteristics. This makes it easy to manage any change, amalgamate cloud services and get more return on network investments.

Security

The role of security is shifting from just monitoring to one of understanding and acting. This has necessitated the development of new systems and data platforms that are capable of catering to the shift in security function. It is a challenge for companies to safeguard their digital businesses. IT departments are staying current by implementing the latest security features, learning to engage the enemy and adopting defenses that match the threat.

Cloud

Cloud is becoming more and more enterprise friendly. Conversations are now directed towards cloud services differentiating a company’s business, helping to get products and services to the market faster, operating a business more efficiently as well as responding more flexibly when presented with new opportunities or challenges. Many companies and even startups have started implementing cloud into their systems and conventional software in order to create a hybrid environment.

The report provides specific suggestions as well as to-do lists and 365-day plans for each of the trend that the study has identified. Technology has become an integral part of every business and those companies that adopt these trends and move with the times stand a better chance of succeeding in this highly competitive world.

 

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