Optimising MS Office – Using Outlook and Business Contact Manager to Boost Sales

Although many organisations already use leading software – many are unaware of the additional built-in features that are available to them which have the potential to streamline processes and activities within the business. MMC has the expertise and experience to show you how to optimise the use of the technologies you already have and our newsletter subscribers can look forward receiving this valuable information from us each month.

In today’s challenging economy, staying one step ahead of your competitor’s, means having a 360 degree view of every customer. Keeping track of what they purchased from you, when they purchased and when they are likely to purchase again, is imperative to enable you to build an accurate picture of each customer and ultimately enhance your ability to service their needs.

Microsoft Office allows for Small Business Contact Manager to be integrated with MS Outlook. This means that organisations can now easily manage contact and customer information, as well as track sales and marketing activities conveniently and accurately - in one place.

From Lead to Qualified Customer

Starting with an initial lead such as an email enquiry in MS Outlook for example, you are able to add this lead to a marketing list based on criterion such as Business Type, Business Size, Industry and so forth. Once the initial sales process has been executed and this initial lead becomes a ‘live’ customer, the built in ‘Sales Pipeline’ will be activated and you can begin up-selling and cross-selling your products and services to your qualified leads through automated newsletters and email updates.

Optimising your database in this manner means that synchronising MS Outlook with Business Contact Manager is ideal for:-

1. 
   
   Keeping in Contact – Regular prompts/reminders ensuring that you maintain regular contact with clients enables you to uncover new opportunities and remain ‘top-of-mind’.
2. 
   
   Identifying Key Customers – By grouping customers according to size, buying frequency/quantity and so forth, you are able to target key accounts for special treatment.
3. 
   
   Empowering your Sales Team – It is imperative for the sales person to be confident when speaking to a customer and this confidence comes from knowledge. By having all a customer’s details and history close at hand, the sales person reflects enthusiasm and care which is essential in maintaining good, profitable client relations.
4. 
   
   Organising your Customer Information in One Place – With the click of a button you have access to all customer contact information, source, status, sales, closing potential, email messages, phone-calls, tasks, appointments, documents and notes in one place, and all within the familiar look and feel of MS Outlook.
5. 
   
   Sharing Customer Information with Colleagues – You are able to provide employees throughout the network with secure access to customer contact and sales information. This is especially useful when ensuring inter-department accuracy in terms of delivery, follow-up etc.
6. 
   
   Staying Productive while on the Road – If you are not in the office, you can still update information on your laptop or PDA and synchronise new information with your office system when you return.

Personalising MS Outlook and Business Contact Manager for your Business

This article touches the tip of the ice-berg – and MMC is able to show you so much more. For more information or a consultation to assist you in developing this system around your individual needs, please contact Anthony Simons, our Business Intelligence Consultant telephonically on 021 530 1600, or via email at anthony@mmc.za.com

Shift to Security Services

IDC predicts a shift to security services as local companies prepare for an increase in the number of threats ahead of the World Cup.

With the 2010 Fifa World Cup looming, companies in SA are preparing for the worst, as the local news is full of warnings from security solution providers such as Symantec and Websense to expect an increase in malicious attacks from various insider and external threats.

Protecting your IT systems from both insider and external threats is no longer just the concern of large enterprises. With the rise in adoption of mobile solutions connecting to your organisational network, the expected increase in threats as a result of the 2010 Fifa World Cup, and the need to adhere to industry and government regulations, IT security should be a priority for every CIO in the country.

That said, given the current economic situation and its negative impact on IT budgets, knowing that you need to do something and being able to do something are two totally different things for a CIO. As such, listed below are three key emerging trends that IDC believes local companies need to consider when looking to procure security solutions.

These are not only cost-effective alternatives, but will also enable your organisation to ultimately become more responsive and pro-active in protecting against current and potential threats.

• Move towards preventive security. Historically, most security solutions have assured companies of reactive coverage as threats are discovered. Security software and solutions are modified to provide the necessary threat protection across enterprises. However, with the rise of targeted, sophisticated attacks, enterprises are aggressively seeking proactive security solutions that can anticipate potential threats and protect users and data from attacks. As security solutions develop, they are increasingly looking to prevent attacks from infiltrating enterprises, not just to protect them after an attack is launched.

• Security-as-a-service is on the rise. Due to lack of IT and security expertise, organisations are increasingly turning towards alternative IT strategies. Security-as-a-service allows organisations which are starved of IT and security expertise to contract their cyber security needs to a security software provider who then takes the role of turnkey SP who will effectively manage customers' security infrastructure. Another trend seen in the security-as-a-service model is referred to as a hybrid model, where the majority of the functionalities are run via the cloud, while some reside in clients' networks where they need to supplement their resources due to strains in Web bandwidth.

• Managed security services. These involve more cost-effective methods to address lack of financial and operational resources and free up IT personnel's time to do more strategic IT projects. Security software providers are offering complete suites of services to IT departments that are looking to supplement their security skills. IDC believes that security software vendors will move into the security services space, most likely through acquisitions, as they have been keeping an eye on the lucrative services market.

Lastly, IDC warns that as a result of restricted budgets, pressuring vendors on renewals is expected, but forcing them to reduce prices so extensively that they threaten their own sustainability is a real danger. It is important to remember that vendors are an important part of the security ecosystem. If vendors fail, no public resource will take over threat detection and remediation.

IDC Insights

Malware Via Search Results

Cyber crooks are rigging the internet with booby-trapped blog commentary, chat rooms, email messages and websites, according to a Websense report released on Thursday.

Analysis of online threats during the second half of 2009 showed that 81 percent of email was rigged to deliver "malicious" code and 95 percent of comments posted to blog or chat forums were spam or links to nasty payloads.

Search Engine Optimisation (SEO) poisoning attacks were a favoured tactic, piggybacking on hot topics such as celebrity deaths or major disasters to lure people to websites designed to infect computers.

"It is pretty scary," said Websense security research manager Stephan Chenette. "Attackers have been moving in the same direction as Bing and Google with real-time search results."

The rival internet search engines have been improving results pages to feature fresh content such as Twitter posts in real time.

Complete control over rankings

Hackers use armies of infected computers referred to as "botnets" to host a plethora of bogus websites and swiftly lift links high into internet search results based on hot topics at any given moment, Chenette said.

"They use botnets nowadays to give them control over search engine rankings," Chenette said of hackers. "They are jumping on the band wagon of any big event; at a drop of a dime they can instruct botnets to run websites and raise those links high in searches."

Websense found that 13.7 percent of the time trick websites rigged with "malware" were included in the top 100 results for searches conducted using words from Yahoo! Buzz or Google Trend hot topics tracking services.

"Attackers are following every real-time event that is happening and changing, minute-by-minute, their rankings in Google search," Chenette said. "Attackers are as real time as any real-time search engine."

Websense gathered its data from a Threat Seeker Network that every hour scans more than 40 million Web sites for malicious code and nearly 10 million emails for nefarious content.

Trusted websites infected

A popular malicious payload is a "scareware" program designed to frighten people into paying to fix computer problems that don't exist.

Computer viruses also typically install code that lets hackers commandeer control of machines, adding them to botnets.

The number of malicious websites more than doubled from the second half of 2008 to the same six-month period last year, according to Websense.

Making matters worse, hackers are also increasingly planting viruses on websites people have grown to trust.

Approximately 71 percent of the websites found by Websense to have malware were legitimate websites that had been compromised without the operators' knowledge.

"It's almost as if you can't trust the sites you know," Chenette said.

Hackers are also combining tactics.

For example, recent cyber-attacks on some 30 firms including Google combined using trick emails and malicious software to invade company systems.

iAfrica

Email Outages: A Business Reality

Like it or not, email outages are a business reality. A recent ApplicationContinuity.org survey revealed that, despite advances in data-backup, archiving and protection technology, companies of all sizes remain vulnerable to costly and damaging email outages. In fact, data from a recent Dell MessageOne survey demonstrated that in any given 12-month time period, there is a 75 percent likelihood of an unplanned email outage and a 14 percent likelihood of a planned email outage for any given company.

The length of email outages in the companies surveyed ranged from a minimum of two minutes to a maximum of 120 hours, with the average outage lasting 32.1 hours. Although the majority of the outages lasted less than 24 hours, 43 percent of them lasted longer than 24 hours, a length of time that can lead to significant business disruption and damage. The causes for these outages ranged from storage-area-network failures and losses in network access to database corruption and viruses. And there’s no discounting the damages, from disgruntled customers to lost revenue.

Fortunately, companies’ options for protecting their email services are expanding. Here are a just handful of measures that businesses can take to safeguard against unforeseen email outages.

 

File and Database Replication/Clustering

According to Vince Londini, a research analyst with Info-Tech Research Group, a company can greatly "speed up its recovery process" in the event of an email outage by creating and maintaining multiple copies of the same databases or files. That’s because in most cases of database replication, one database server maintains the master copy of the database while additional servers maintain slave copies. Clustering can also prove helpful, said Londini. For example, if a company’s email server in a cluster stops working, a process called failover ensures that the workload is automatically transferred to another functioning server in the cluster. The result: continuous availability of applications and data.

Outsourcing Email Services

Gartner Inc. estimates that 80 percent of enterprises with fewer than 300 employees could save money by outsourcing email. But there are incentives other than cost savings that prompt companies to farm out their email services to a third party. Consider this: Outsourcers boast the technical means, the manpower and the financial motives for delivering the greatest system reliability possible — especially when there’s an SLA (service-level agreement) on the table. If, however, outsourcing your company's entire email system still makes you nervous, Londini recommends that you ask yourself "how much hassle you want to go through, how much money you want to spend and how much staff you want to dedicate to administering an email system in house." The answer may surprise you.

Dell MessageOne

Dell's MessageOne EMS Email Continuity solution is an on-demand, Linux-based standby email system. Since EMS Email Continuity has no dependencies on a company’s IT environment, it ensures that an organization always has access to email without downtime or data loss — regardless of what happens to local systems, staff or infrastructure.

Despite these protective measures, Londini pointed out that not all companies need to develop a comprehensive email-outage strategy. After all, some businesses can survive the odd hour of downtime without suffering enormous losses. "There are a host of options you can employ to make sure your email never goes down," said Londini. "But those come at a price. So you have to ask yourself if it’s really that critical to be without email for three or four hours."

IT Management

How to Keep Mobile Cloud Data Safe

As the use of mobile devices continues to soar, enterprise cloud applications are now resident in the palm of your hand, like your ordinary e-mail and mobile Web browsing. And with mobility comes ever greater responsibility to keep enterprise data safe.

"The power of these devices in consumers' hands is now equal to that of what people have in their hands to access their enterprise data, and the two things are all getting smashed together," said Tom Barber, vice president of marketing for DecisionPoint Systems, provider and consultant for enterprise cloud and mobile applications.

Kendall Collins, chief marketing officer at Salesforce.com, acknowledges that security is an area of concern for mobile devices. "Security on mobile devices is an area where we’ve invested a lot of time to make this world class," he said. "We’ve seen a lot of custom applications being employed in mobile devices."

Here's what you need to know to keep your mobile cloud data safe.

Complete the link

"Security is an end-to-end problem between the end user and where the data lives," Barber said. Overseeing the entire chain in your cloud operation is essential, from the technical infrastructure to the SaaS application to the mobile device. "To be able to manage and oversee the whole technical infrastructure — that is the mobile devices themselves and how they connect to the wireless network — is key to being able to keep it secure," Barber explained. The mobile device is the weakest link in this chain and needs to be secured, he said.

"If you tackle the security for the mobile infrastructure, but you don't tackle the security for the SaaS application, you're still vulnerable," Barber added. "You have to tackle both pieces of it, so you're assured it's end to end."

Factor in multiple-step authentication

Mark Beccue, senior analyst for consumer mobility at ABI Research, explained that because enterprise workers access cloud applications on mobile devices using an ordinary SSL Internet connection, security is the same as on a PC. The airwaves are also encrypted from the handset to the tower. "The biggest problem is when people drop their phone and leave it somewhere," he said. To combat loss or theft, you need multifactor authentication on the mobile device.

Two- or three-factor authentication is important, agreed Barber. In addition to a username and password, a third piece of information — often a challenge question — is required for a particular device. This is a one-time process per device, he said. This extra step in the authentication process helps guard against phishing attacks.

Enable remote wipe

Several experts we spoke to recommended maintaining the ability to wipe data off devices remotely in case of theft. "A lot of admins really love this feature," said Collins.

And although regularly cleaning out your in-box and out-box is a necessary chore, remote wipe may save you the trouble, according to Beccue.

Lock 'em out

Collins said Salesforce.com implements remote lockout procedures for its cloud offering. "Each device has its own locking mechanism and password protection, but we have our own level that follows all the standard protocols," he said. "We give them all the freedom to basically say, if the user hasn't touched the application in a minute, or in 120 minutes, or whatever the range is that they like, we can lock them out of the application and force them to enter a password."

Collins noted that you can also disable a particular device type such as iPhone or BlackBerry and restrict IP addresses. "You can set a series of IP addresses and ranges, so people cannot access Salesforce.com by the mobile device or by PC when they're outside these IP ranges," Collins said. "That allows more granular control. That's what we do at the device level."

You can also lock out specific devices for specific individuals, Collins noted. And when you get a new device, your previous device can be wiped. Also avoid unlimited tries to log in. A limit works best, said Collins.

Use Secure SMS

Beccue suggested using Secure SMS from companies such as CellTrust and VeriSign.

Opt for one-time passwords

Beccue recommended taking a tip from the banking industry and using one-time tokens in the form of a downloadable app or widget to log in.

Use proper encryption

According to Collins, AES 256-bit is the proper layer of encryption for mobile devices running cloud applications.

ITPlanet.com

Surviving The 2010 IT Budget

Just about every CIO survived 2009 by cutting costs to make IT more efficient. However, to remain competitive in 2010, enterprises will need more than just cost cutting to survive.

This is the view of Professor Pete Janse van Vuuren, executive partner at research firm Gartner. Janse van Vuuren will deliver a presentation entitled “Meeting the challenges of doing more with less: the 2010 CIO agenda”, at the upcoming ITWeb Doing More with Less event. The event will be held on 9 March at The Forum in Bryanston, Johannesburg.

Janse van Vuuren explains that the recession brought IT budgets down to 2004 levels; and while IT budgets have stabilised, they will stay flat at 2004 levels for most of the remainder of the year. This transition, he argues, gives the enterprise and IT the opportunity to reposition themselves and exploit the tough corrective actions taken during the recession.

“CIOs expect IT to shift its focus from cost and consolidation to innovation and competitive advantage. They have aspired to this shift for years, but economic, strategic, and technological changes have only recently made it realistic,” opines Janse van Vuuren.

According to Janse van Vuuren, the 2010 CIO Agenda highlights business priorities and CIO strategies. “The economic transition places a premium on productivity versus another round of cost cutting. This will require CIOs to respond to immediate needs that are similar to those in 2009, but with a different solution,” he explains.

“CIOs see this as an opportunity to reposition IT in the enterprise as more innovative and supporting competitive advantage. They will need to consider advent of new, lighter-weight technologies,” he continues.

Cloud computing, virtualisation, and Web 2.0 are lighter-weight technologies, explains Janse van Vuuren, because they entail reduced upfront costs, increased capacity, and variable cost structures. “In addition, these technologies require limited support resources, giving them an asymmetrical benefits profile whereby relatively small investments generate significant business benefits at speed.”

Productivity is the key concern for CIOs in 2010. 'Without productivity gains, the enterprise will be unable to act as the economy improves. CIOs will find their IT resources tied up in supporting yesterday's operations rather than freed up to create the new solutions and services necessary to reposition IT,” warns Janse van Vuuren.

IT Web

Why you'll Use a Tablet - Yes You

I know, I know. You've checked out the Apple iPad, and you're not impressed. You think it's a limited, pointless, overpriced unpocketable iPod for gullible trend whores drunk on Cupertino Kool-Aid.

You despise its closed, proprietary platform, lack of built-in keyboard, missing camera, un-removable battery, no Flash support and monthly fee for AT&T 3G access.

Besides, the sudden tablet craze is just an overhyped fad, right?

It's easy to predict that tablets will be huge sellers. After all, even skeptics can believe that other people will get caught up in a marketing-driven trend. But I'm going to make an even bolder prediction. I'm going to predict that you, personally, will be using a tablet within 18 months.

That's bold because if you're reading this, you're probably far more technical and sophisticated than the average user, and you're probably a professional evaluator of computer equipment. Chances are, you're skeptical about hyped new fads, and have far better memory about the Next Big Things that never happened.

1. Tablets will become hobbyist dream gadgets.

Love to tinker? Tablets will be ideal for that. The home automation crowd will go nuts with these things. And the tablet craze will be accompanied by powerful, simplified development tools. People will build tablet cradles into their car dashboards, and will use tablets for GPS map display, audio control, engine diagnostics and more.

Tablets will serve as robot controllers, model airplane controllers and will function as the brains and interface for homemade smart appliances and devices. Why wouldn't you want to build your own Microsoft Surface-like smart coffee table?

2. They will be optimized for specific tasks.

If you do those tasks, you'll want the optimized tablet. For example, aviation companies will use the new touch tablets for their "electronic flight bag" devices, because they can hold all the documentation, charts, tools and so on that pilots need, both private and professional.

Education? Forget about it. Touch tablets are tailor made for K-12, as well as university education. Tablets with cameras will be useful as magnifiers, security-cam, nanny-cam and crib-cam monitors. Solutions providers will take the open systems and build proprietary, optimized applications that take advantage of the touch interfaces.

3. You will be compelled by apps we can't now predict.

When personal computers first arrived, nobody thought we'd use them to do social networking. When graphical user interfaces first took over, few predicted we'd use them heavily for surfing a very graphical Web (since the Web didn't even exist then). When cell phones started becoming popular, we never imagined people would use them for capturing data with applications like Evernote.

The same thing will happen with tablets. Nobody knows what the "killer apps" will be. It's very likely that something will be invented, designed or developed that will thrill you, and make you change your mind.

4. Tablets will have uses that don't involve replacing something you're already doing.

Tablets are viewed now as hobbled netbooks or giant cell phones. In fact, they'll be used for totally unpredictable purposes that currently nobody now does with computers. For example, imagine if a tablet computer could function as a remote control. And image it had "presets" on it for, say, 12 of your favorite channels. Now imagine that instead of buttons with numbers on them, 12 "buttons" show live video of what was currently playing on each of those channels.

5. Tablets will be open.

Touch tablets will come out optimized for operating systems ranging from closed (iPhone OS) to open (Linux) and everything in between. There will be a gazillion Android tablets. We'll see Windows and Windows Mobile tablets, and more. Take your pick.

6. Your company may buy one for you.

While you're busy not buying a tablet for your home, your company will become increasingly likely to purchase them for your use at work. I believe companies like HP, IBM and others, as well as VARs, will add Linux- and Windows-based touch tablets to their lineups of IT equipment, and as part of larger solutions packages.

7. Tablets will become ideal for IT pros.

Data center staff use clipboards and documentation. Help desk staff need remote desktop capability and remote access to network tools. IT executives attend meeting after meeting. Everybody uses laptops.

Tablets will do all this in a single package. Management tools will be optimized for touch user interfaces. And anyone who wants to use a physical keyboard and/or a mouse will be able to do so with the tablets. If you work anywhere in IT, you will be surrounded by tablet users.

8. Tablets will be better netbooks than netbooks.

Tablets will soon be able to do 90% of what netbooks can do, but netbooks will be able to do only 50% of what tablets can do. I'm making these numbers up, but my point is that for most users, tablets will be able to replace netbooks, but netbooks won't be able to replace tablets.

A universe of special purpose tablet apps will be created, while very few netbook-specific apps have been or will ever be built. A rational buying decision means that if you have to pick between buying a tablet or buying a netbook, you'll buy the tablet.

9. Tablets will get huge.

Ten inches today, 13, 15, 21, 27 and more inches tomorrow. They'll be HD TVs you can bring anywhere. You'll use them for board games, arcade games, first-person shooter games.

10. Tablets will be cheap!

It's a foregone conclusion that the tablets of tomorrow will be cheaper than the netbooks of today. It's the Law! (Moore's Law, to be specific.) You'd have to be pretty aggressively anti-tablet to not pay $200 for a gadget that will do so much.

Skepticism is great. You have good reasons for dissing the Apple iPad. But the future is unpredictable, and the touch tablet concept is going to prove absolutely compelling. That's why I believe you'll be using one within 18 months.

Who knows? Maybe you'll even use an iPad.

Datamation

ICT Skills Shortage to Cost SA

The shortage of ICT skills will cost the economy, says Andile Tlhoaéle, a member of the ICT charter steering committee.

SA's shortage of skills in ICT could cost the country dearly in productivity and additional expenses, say market commentators.

Recruitment companies in the sector say the right ICT skills are hard to find, partially because clients are picky, and also because people do not want to job hunt during a recession.

In addition, because some specialised skills are in such high demand, the price for these talents is on the rise.

Moving target

Janette Cumming, director of Paracon SA, says there is no single skills shortage, but the industry is short of the right skills to do the job, especially black skills. “We've got skills, but they don't always match the requirements at the time.”

Paracon serves the ICT industry from technician level upwards. Clients are very specific, says Cumming. Sometimes a client may want a person with a degree, or an empowerment candidate. Candidates could also be either over- or under-qualified.

In some cases, clients are not being flexible enough with what they need, and are not prepared to take someone else and teach them the skills they need.

In addition, Cumming says not all graduates are prepared for the working environment, and don't always fit in. This is a gap that needs addressing, she notes.

Needs within the industry change on a weekly basis, depending on the project that is under way, Cumming adds. “It's a rolling requirement.”

Skills that come up on a regular basis include Java, SAP, Oracle and C#.net. One ongoing skill need is Cobalt/cics/db2. This is an “ongoing legacy requirement” from large corporate entities and banks that still run mainframes, says Cumming.

Specialised talent

Kelly executive Denise Thomas says skills shortages are more apparent in highly-specialised areas such as IT security, storage and virtualisation. Current job opportunities range from technical support, business analysts, and project managers to solutions sales executives.

Thomas adds that the issue of skills shortages needs addressing. However, good candidates “definitely have a place in the market”. She says the sector is driven by acquired skills and direct entry from secondary education is often not possible. “An aspiring entrant would need to invest in the bare minimum of IT certifications, such as A+ and N+.”

“Job-seekers need to realise they have to upskill themselves for the South African job market,” she says. This includes looking for opportunities available to acquire suitable skills, and having basic skills.

“Most companies do not have sufficient staff for hand-holding and it is, therefore, essential to gain some experience. Even limited experience sends a message to prospective employers that you have a mature, can-do attitude,” says Thomas.

However, local companies are also competing for skills that are wanted by international organisations, which pay more, she adds.

Costly exercise

Andile Tlhoaéle, CEO of Inforcomm and a member of the ICT charter steering committee, says the lack of the right skills at the right place will cost the economy.

He explains that because specialised or empowered skills are so scarce, people with those skills cost more, which spills over into operating costs.

Companies may have to import skills, or outsource their job requirements, adds Tlhoaéle. “Skills will be expensive, and the cost of delivering the technology becomes expensive.”

Tlhoaéle says when companies either import skills, or outsource functions, human capital development is undermined, and the industry ends up being populated by non-South Africans.

Chris Gilmour, an analyst with Absa Investments, says having a limited pool of candidates from which to choose could also impact productivity, if companies are forced to take the best skill that they can get.

Last month, the low numbers of matriculants passing mathematics and science was a cause for concern for the sector, as this would further limit the pool of candidates available in the next five years.

IT Web Business

Are You Thinking Like you CFO?

These are extraordinary times given what businesses have dealt with the last couple of years and most CFOs still wear a look of anxiety on their faces. The good news is about two-thirds of the CFOs I talk to believe business prospects are better now than last quarter.

 

To be effective in 2010, CIOs should recognize top-of-mind issues for CFOs sitting across the hall. From my own experience, and drawing on conversations I’ve had with many others, the three most common questions CFOs are asking today about new IT projects are:

 

The immediate impact on cash flow; The level of fixed cost being added; and How convincingly it will help grow sales.

 

Let’s take them one at a time ...

Cash Flow

 

The reason companies stop growing is not because they are unprofitable, it’s because they run out of cash. One of the CFO’s most fundamental jobs is to prevent cash flow issues from impeding the business and slowing it down. Even though the credit crisis has settled down, it’s still really hard to borrow money so CFOs are keeping their arms out and protecting bank lines. CFOs get paid to worry about unhealthy cash positions that can choke your growth options. This is precisely why many CFOs keep poking in to approve ever smaller investments and asking about their cash flow implications.

 

Generally speaking, you should expect CFOs to remain cautious with cash outlays in 2010. Before signing off on the next project, anticipate them asking to see leasing or outsourcing options. This shifts up-front cash outlays to a service provider and protects cash needed to grow on the road ahead.

 

Cash Flow Tip for CIOs: Demonstrate how technology projects impact cash flow for the next 24 months. Explore and include financing options that avoid a “big hit” and use smaller monthly payments instead.

 

Fixed Costs

 

By now, most businesses have reduced headcount and trimmed discretionary spend like travel and training. These reductions typically came with great pain and sacrifice, so the last thing a CFO will endorse is costs they don’t really truly understand creeping back into the business. This is especially true as the board-level pressure to perform gets dialed even higher in 2010.

 

CFOs, as a result, will keep on dissecting new staffing and project requests this year and challenging thoughts on how fast they’ll pay back. IT leaders should expect a continuation of long lead times and extra approval layers before getting CFO sign-off. The simple reason driving this is all the cost-cutting pain of the past two years was endured on a promise of better profit margins when sales finally recovered. So, in the CFO’s mind, keeping your fixed costs low means a correspondingly lower monthly sales target to reach break-even. Once that key hurdle is cleared, every extra sales dollar drops profit exponentially since all the fixed expenses are covered.

 

From an IT perspective, this means any investment layering on new recurring expenses like software licenses or maintenance fees gets less favorable odds for approval. A green light depends on the CFO either seeing a very short payback (typically in the current year’s operating cycle) or feeling convinced new staffing or recurring expense can’t be off-loaded to a vendor. Whenever possible, CFOs want things converted to variable expenses that flex with sales volume or level of services consumed. Good ways to “pay as you go” include remote IT asset management services or procuring new servers and storage from a vendor as Infrastructure as a Service (IaaS).

 

Fixed Cost Tip for CIOs: Socialize your investment plans earlier in the planning cycle and take a hard gut-check on any new staffing requests. Ask your vendor base for variable priced options to augment staffing and equipment needs based on actual usage in a monthly fee.

 

Growing Sales

 

Given the unpredictable ride we’ve all taken over the past couple of years, CFOs crave better sales data and business intelligence to funnel investment dollars toward sales improvement efforts. CFOs are demanding to know what products are moving and which customers are most profitable as they decide where to invest. You’ll see the CFO walking over to the CIO’s office much more this year to discuss how IT can increase its customer-centric focus.

 

As we gear up for growth in 2010, many businesses are not expecting double-digit sales gains, but everyone is aiming to outperform competitors and grow market share. Taking market share means customer-facing IT investments—projects like CRM or portal applications that directly tie into sales—are going to top a CFO’s priority list today while other “business efficiency” projects stay parked in neutral as good ideas for the future.

 

Sales Impact Tip for CIOs: Map for your CFO how a technology investment can directly or indirectly serve your customers better. Prioritize projects that touch customers and put your best staff on them while outsourcing other work to vendors you judge as reputable and financially sound.

Doing business as usual went out the window—or should have—last year. My advice to any CIO in 2010 is to step beyond traditional thinking and embrace new ways of delivering core support to the organization. Your strategy should aim for a “triple crown” of minimizing cash outlay, reducing fixed costs and refocusing overworked IT staff on sales growth. You’ll not only get their attention, but also their checkbook.

CIO Update

Tougher e-waste Policies Coming

Africa needs to create a common set of standards for e-waste disposal, says eWASA chairman, Keith Anderson.

E-waste legislation could receive an overhaul, following the drafting of conditions to provide greater control over the importing and exporting of electronic goods in the country.

Spokesman for the Department of Environmental Affairs (DEA) Albi Modise says the importing of used or second-hand electronic goods into SA for various reasons has become a major challenge.

According to Modise, one of the tools in the National Environmental Waste Management Act is “extended producer responsibility”, meaning the producers of a certain product will be held responsible for the whole life cycle of that product. “This includes the recycling, treatment or disposal of the waste that resulted from that product,” says Modise.

“In most cases, the application of producer responsibility, as well as duty of care principles, is impossible. Therefore, when these goods reach their end-of-life, they become e-waste, which could also contribute to the volume of e-waste stockpiles already in the country.”

He says the DEA is working with the International Trade Administration Commission of the Department of Trade and Industry to draft conditions to be included in export/import permits, to control the import of electronic commodities.

“In the long-term, the DEA will develop an import/export policy for chemicals and wastes, and this would take into consideration emerging issues such as trade with recyclable wastes, e-waste, ozone-depleting substances and goods imported as donations,” adds Modise. “This policy will also help the country in various measures to tighten up control over illegal import and export.”

Keith Anderson, chairman of the e-Waste Association of SA (eWASA), says the dumping of international e-waste in African countries is reaching “epidemic proportions”. He notes that eWASA is working with Europe's industry body, the Waste Electrical and Electronic Equipment Forum, to create an African agreement similar to the one signed by European countries to all follow the same procedure for disposing of e-waste.

“We want to implement a similar forum for the African continent, so that from Cape to Cairo, all countries in Africa follow the same standard.” This would involve the governments in each country setting up a secretariat, to establish a set of uniform standards and procedures, explains Anderson.

Growing problem

According to Modise, e-waste is gradually becoming a major worry for SA. “The rate of development of the country and rapid changes in technology could potentially lead to a growing problem of stockpiles of electronic waste.”

He points out there are no known licensed facilities in the country that can manage electronic waste in an environmentally-responsible way. “This sometimes leads to the random disposal of these electronics once they reach their end of life.”

While e-waste is still a minor offender when compared to other waste streams in the country, notes Anderson, it is the fastest growing.

He says there are plans to create an industry recycling body in coming months, which will cover all forms of solid waste, from plastics to electronic and electrical goods to tyres. This body will then report to government on issues in various industry waste categories.

“There's also been a lot of focus on the clarification and definition of second-hand goods and their recycling,” notes Anderson. He adds that major industries have been asked to submit plans on how to minimise waste streams, and are busy formulating guidelines.

After consulting stakeholders on various strategic issues late last year, the DEA amended the framework for developing the National Waste Management Strategy (NWMS), to help implement the objectives of the Waste Act, which came into effect in July 2009.

According to the department, the first draft of the NWMS will be released for stakeholder comment and consultation early this year. The final publishing of the NWMS is scheduled for early June.

Revamped recycling

The departmental Web site notes that an estimated 12.5 million to 15 million computers are in use in SA, with a life cycle of seven years. It adds there are only a few South African recycling companies that process this waste, which amounts to more than 4 000 tons per year.

Anderson says eWASA plans to announce an industry-wide initiative in the next few weeks for all generators of e-waste to take products to accredited collection points, from where approved recyclers will treat or dispose of the waste. Anderson says it is finalising the project, with plans to introduce it nationwide for consumers and the IT industry in February.

“The biggest challenge in SA is that there is not one local recycler who meets European standards,” says Anderson. “A lot of it is exported, which is problematic because it merely shifts the problem somewhere else,” he explains.

The DEA defines e-waste as discarded electronic products including consumer items such as computers, cellphones, televisions, and audio equipment, as well as commercial apparatus such as medical, technical, and scientific equipment. It points out that, while many of the constituent materials can be re-used, refurbished, or recycled, e-waste recycling is neither widespread nor well-known, and is specialised and labour-intensive.

According to Anderson, eWASA is working with groups like the IDC to put up plants that can treat e-waste.

This includes plans for a model site in Gauteng, which would be capable of handling any form of electrical or electronic waste.

He also hopes for greater collaboration from individual companies, to help create all-inclusive industry standards locally. “Our biggest desire is that all importers, the HPs, Microsofts, Dells, Fujitsus and so on, come onboard, join the association, and abide by its code of conduct.”

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