The problem with this, is that because we  can make new technology sound complicated, and most of it is not complicated, businesses are put off evaluating new technologies that could really benefit their businesses. This is particularly important in tough times when the proper use of Computers and Technology can make your business more efficient, allow you adapt to the changing marketplace, reduce your costs and ultimately make your business more profitable.

Anyway to this end I have included a link to a video explaining in simple terms what Cloud Computing is.

This is a variation on the World Directory Scam. You are being asked to pay a recurring annual charge of €998 to participate in an Internet directory that has no real value.

The company is registered in Spain and the gray letters are posted from Spain.

See previous posts;

http://blog.glasgorman.com/2009/11/world-company-directory-scam/

http://blog.glasgorman.com/2009/12/internet-register-ireland-scam/

Great to see a local North Wexford business doing so well. Check them out at http://www.facebook.com/pages/Kilmurry-Nursery/345970965399

• The Accounts/ERP Systems people were saying it was a Network Problem.
• The LAN/WAN people were saying it was a Citrix/Remote Access problem.
• The Citrix/Remote Access people said it was a Broadband/Bandwidth problem.
• The Broadband people said it was a CCTV Remote Viewing issue.

I could go on, but the net result was the customer was left “Holding the Baby” and the problem was dragging on for weeks, causing huge disruption and making the IT Systems unusable for a large proportion of the working day.

Because the company had no In-House IT resource or an Independent IT Professional who had no vested interest to call upon, the individual suppliers were able to quote technical terms at the customer and blame everyone else.

After looking at the problem and talking to all the suppliers we were able to establish that the problem was caused by a number of issues;

• The Security company was inadvertently streaming CCTV from the customer site 24 Hours a day using large amounts of bandwidth. We were able to get them to only stream video based on event triggering.
• The LAN/WAN people had added an extra broadband connection to the VPN and the routing of traffic over the networks had not been adjusted to take advantage of the new connection.
• The Citrix and Broadband suppliers had not co-ordinated and optimised their parameters to make sure they were working to maximise the speed of the connection.
• There had been an upgrade to the ERP System that installed a module which was not required, but was using large amounts of the server processing power.

We were able to increase the overall performance of the systems by 80% in a few days and by 100% within a couple of weeks.

Because of our depth of experience, gathered over twenty five years in various industries and business sectors, we were able to get to the root cause of the issues and allow the company to concentrate on their core business and stop wasting time arguing with the various IT Suppliers.

If you find yourself in this type of situation, don’t wast time fighting with IT Suppliers. Talk to an Independent IT Professional who will ultimately save you a lot of time and money. Better still develop an ongoing relationship with a professional who knows your system and can make sure any changes don’t have a knock on affect on  your existing systems.

If you are thinking of Developing an Online Marketing plan,  and you really should be, then I strongly recommend you use a professional. We use Cada Media based here in Gorey, Co. Wexford.

However having listened to The John Murray Show on RTE Radio1 yesterday I have had to change this. A solicitor pointed out that by moderating comments you might not be able to avail of the hosting defence.

The hosting defence says that, as soon as you are aware of a third party posting information to your site that might have issues, and are so informed, then if you remove the content promptly then you cannot be held libel.

However if you edit the content in any way, including moderating or even correcting spelling mistakes, then you are the publisher and cannot avail of the hosting defence.

I now do not moderate comments but will monitor them carefully and remove any I think are dodgy.

The competition was tough and a huge thanks goes out to all the participants for their fantastic presentations and professional delivery in front of a large audience. I’m not so sure that many of us who have been business a long time could promote our businesses in such a professional manner.

The other participants were Ciaran Dolan of “Gorey School of Kayaking”, Dean Keating of “Monaseed Sales”, Lynsey Moorehouse of “Irish Dance Superstore” and Kelly-Anne Breen of  “Shen Acupuncture Clinic & Shen Cosmetic Acupuncture Clinic”.

A massive thanks also to Shane Byrne of Arklow Waste, Niamh O’Sullivan of Ruby Rouge and Pat Walsh of Walsh Mushrooms who gave some very practical advice for all businesses in these tough times and in particular to our contestants.

Finally our host for the evening Mick Molloy of  Molloy Architects and the chief organiser Mick McGovern of Horizon Financial.

After last night it’s quite clear that business is alive and well in Wexford and Wicklow.

While all the hype and attention is on politics, we all know that the people who are going to get Ireland out of the recession are the Small and Medium Sized business owners. In an effort to promote and highlight businesses in Wexford and Wicklow the local chapter of BNI are running a Dragon’s Den type competition with a prize fund of €10,000 available for the winning Start-up Business.

So why not come down to the Ashdown Park Hotel this evening (Thurs 24th Feb) from 6pm and meet like minded business owners with a positive outlook. (Dragon’s Den competition starts at 8pm).

Without giving too much away the following are the type of businesses participating;

Cosmetic Acupuncture Clinic

Specialist Retail Outlet with an Irish Theme

A Craft/Specialist Food Producer

An Adventure Sports School

A business Services Provider

So given there will be no Political Campaigning on Thurs 24th, why not come down to the Ashdown Park Hotel between 6:00 and 9:30 and meet like minded, positive business people from Wexford and Wicklow.

The Dragon’s Den competition starts at 8:00pm.

Basic Book-Keeping Course for Small Business Date: 31/01/2011 Duration: 6 afternoons Time: 2.00 pm – 5.00 pm Venue: Enniscorthy Enterprise Centre, Enniscorthy Brief Description This course is aimed at owner/managers or persons responsible for the accounts and finances of a business. Course Details This course will enable a business to maintain accounts for both Revenue and management information purposes.

Contents:

1.                Introduction

2.                Sales ledger

3.                Purchase Ledger

4.                Cash Book

5.                Cheque Journal

6.                VAT Return

7.                Month End – Bank Recon, Debtors, Creditors

8.                Trial Balance

9                  Profit & Loss

10.              Costing & Pricing Trainer Info Geraldine Doyle, GD Accounts Training Cost: €175 Booking through WCEB @ 053 9122965 or www.wexfordceb.ie ]]> http://blog.glasgorman.com/2011/01/basic-book-keeping-course-for-small-business/feed/ 0