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5 Keys to Control Website Development Costs

Saturday, October 17th, 2009

One of the first things a small business owner does is put up a company website. They engage a designer or a design firm and the next thing they know, they’ve spent more money than planned, the website isn’t complete and the designer isn’t going to release the site until the bill is paid in full! Now the business owner is stuck. He doesn’t have a functional website and he’s out of funds. What’s worse is that all of this could have been avoided with a little planning.

You can keep money in your pocket and have the website your business needs if you will do the following:

1) Before talking with a designer or optimization firm, define the role of the website in your business strategy and the results you expect. These impact the cost. What role does your website play in your business:

Glorified yellow pages ad?
Marketing?
Sales?
Creating community?

2) Establish a budget for the project. What do you expect to spend? Understand that the more functionality you expect or need, including optimization, the more expensive the site becomes. Most designers will work to deliver maximum functionality while staying within your budget.

3) Interview several designers and their client references. If their references are not getting the results they expected, walk away from that designer.

4) Clearly communicate your design requirements and market strategy to the designer. If you leave your site to the designer’s imagination, you will spend a lot of money and not get what you expect.

5) Establish a process for managing change. Once you and the designer agree to the specifications and cost, the designer expects that you will not alter them very much. Each change from the initial specs will cost extra to implement. If changes are needed:

Establish a process within your business for submitting and approving changes to the site.
Request a quote for the change from the designer.
Impress upon the designer that changes will not be made without approval from a person you designate. This is important particularly if you have several people involved in the design.
Agree with the designer on the cost of the change.

It is easy to get caught up in the excitement of launching a website with your business. A little planning will go a long way to preserving precious capital.

Wishing you safe passage through the I.T. Minefield!

__________________________________

This topic is discussed in greater detail in Navigating the I.T. Minefield: Straight Talk for the Small Enterprise. To purchase your copy, please visit http://bit.ly/SNL4W.

Leslie Knight is a small business consultant with over 20 years of experience in Information Technology management in Fortune 500 companies. She applies her experience in Corporate America saving them millions to smaller entrepreneurial enterprises. She is also the author of Navigating the I.T. Minefield.

Tags: Information Technology, IT, small business, Website Development
Posted in Business, IT, Information Technology, Website Development | 4 Comments »

Before Disaster Strikes

Saturday, October 17th, 2009

My laptop won’t be stolen. My building won’t burn down. My facility is secure. Our sprinkler system is foolproof. Tornadoes, floods, hurricanes, earthquakes…not a problem. You might even live in a part of the country that doesn’t experience many natural disasters and crime isn’t high. But you are vulnerable! We all think “that won’t happen to me”. Then when it does, we sit there, dumbfounded and woefully unprepared.

Most small businesses that suffer a significant disruption never reopen their doors. Of those that do, most close their doors within 2 years of re-opening. This is one time it is good to be in the minority. Here are six steps you can take before disaster strikes:

1) Invest the time to at least think about disaster recovery for your business (http://bit.ly/2vAUyO) and start to formulate a plan. If you need help or have questions, please ask your service provider. Feel free to ask me if you don’t have a provider.

Which processes are critical to your business?
Upon which technologies (computers, network, etc.) do these processes depend?
How quickly do you need to have service restored?

2) Backup your data. If you’re using a backup appliance which you bought from the office supply store, be sure you send or take the backup offsite. It doesn’t help you if the data is in the office when it is destroyed.

3) Test your data backup by restoring the data. The time to discover the data won’t restore properly is not in the middle of a real disaster.

4) Get replacement value insurance to cover your computers and network hardware and software. Remember, the cost to replace the hardware and software will be at current prices. A cash value policy will only cover the original cost less depreciation. You could end up spending a lot of money out of your own pocket.

5) Document your hardware and software assets. It simplifies dealing with the insurance company and gives you a starting point for replacing the assets.

6) Secure a service provider to support you if you don’t have in-house support. Recovering from a disaster of any size is a complex task. Most service providers are not able to take on ad-hoc recovery requests. You want someone in your corner before you need them.

These are steps every business can take to reduce the impact of a disaster. You will need to examine your business closely to cover any other gaps. Preparing for a disaster is a little like buying insurance. You may never need it, but if you do it’s great to know you’re covered. To download the chapter, “When Disaster Strikes” from Navigating the I.T. Minefield: Straight Talk for the Small Enterprise, go to http://bit.ly/1VAZRX.

Wishing you safe passage through the I.T. Minefield!

___________________________________________

If you’d like to purchase a copy of Navigating the I.T. Minefield: Straight Talk for the Small Enterprise, please visit http://bit.ly/SNL4W.

Tags: Business, Disaster Planning, disaster recovery, DR, Information Technology, IT, small business
Posted in Business, Information Technology, disaster recovery | 3 Comments »

Forming, Storming, Norming, Performing – Where is Your Team?

Wednesday, October 14th, 2009

I first learned about Forming, Storming, Norming and Performing some 20+ years ago. I don’t recall the class, but I have always remembered this one page in the materials. One page, 20 years ago and yet it still has a powerful impact on my work with teams. Until today, I didn’t know to whom to give credit. According to Wikipedia, this model of team development was first proposed by Bruce Tuckman in 1965. Every team must go through these stages “in order for the team to grow, to face up to challenges, to tackle problems, to find solutions, to plan work, and to deliver results.”[i]

As a leader, knowing that a team will pass through these stages allows you to better manage team interactions: when to be directive, when to intervene and when to get out of the way. In my experience, the real power is in sharing these stages with the team. When they are aware of them, they tend to automatically correct their behavior.

- Forming occurs when the team is first brought together. They share personal and professional information and begin forming bonds. As the leader, you share with them the team’s purpose, performance standards and processes. Everyone plays nicely for a while.

- Storming occurs as members search for their place on the team in relationship to the leader and each other. This is a painful phase the team needs to expect and understand. Each member possesses a natural desire to be valued and respected for their expertise and contributions. You need to emphasize patience and a respect for diversity among the members.

- Norming. The team has moved out of storming and now begins to adjust to each other’s work patterns. They accept each other’s role on the team, compensate for weaknesses and capitalize on strengths. They are working together almost seamlessly. As a leader, your role changes as you give the team greater responsibility for execution and decisions. They need to understand they may experience some anxiety with the increased responsibility…but you are expressing confidence in their ability.

- Performing is the phase we all dream about as leaders. They don’t require constant oversight. The team has matured. They are confident in their ability and themselves. Differences in approach or opinion are not viewed as a threat but as an opportunity. The team brings solutions to the table rather than problems. You have complete confidence in their ability to execute.

I enjoy watching teams move through these stages. It pains me when they get stuck in storming and the final solution is to remove a team member. It fills me with pride when they reach performing and their bonds transcend the immediate project. How long a team spends in each stage of development depends on you, the leader. Where is your team?

[i] http://www.wikipedia.com

Leslie Knight is the Executive Director of Staff for CEO Space, producing the CEO Space Forum, a conference for entrepreneurs (www.CEOSpace.biz www.IBIGlobal.com). She is also founder of Knight Performance Management (www.KnightPM.com) and author of Navigating the I.T. Minefield (www.ITMinefield.com). Leslie has over 20 years of experience with Fortune companies in various leadership positions and Information Technology. She applies her corporate experience to small to mid-sized businesses, saving them time and money.

Tags: Business, leadership, small business, Team
Posted in Business, Information Technology, Team, leadership | 1 Comment »

5 Qualities of a Great I.T. Professional

Monday, October 5th, 2009

No person on the planet is more of an enigma to the small business person than the I.T. professional (computer geek). They get excited about “techie” things and what technology can do. They speak a foreign language (unintentionally)…after all, doesn’t everybody speak geek after 20+ years. Be honest, most of you would rather have a root canal than deal with the I.T. professional.

Take heart, there are many good I.T. professionals, but how would you recognize one? Here are 5 qualities you should look for in any I.T. service provider.

1) Passion. Passion for technology is important, but more important is a passion for the success of your business. This provider will focus on your business strategy and trends in your industry and stay abreast of ways technology can best support your business. Their mantra: business strategy drives technology usage. If technology is their toy and your business is their testing ground, then run.

2) Speak English. For some service providers, simple English appears to be a third language. Rather than talking “tech”, this provider has the ability to express complex concepts in terms that are relevant to your business. Sounds simple, but many professionals have a difficult time bridging the gap between your business and the technology they deal with.

3) Attentive Listening. The Great I.T. person will do more than just hear you, they will listen to you. You may not be able to express your business needs in terms of the technology. They will be able to translate your business needs into technical solutions or guide you toward appropriate solutions for the growing needs of your business.

4) Responsive. Does the service provider have the capability to respond to your needs? If your business can’t afford to be down for an extended period of time due to computer, server or network failures, you will need to shop around to find the professional that can meet your needs.

5) Results. It is very easy for an I.T. person to dazzle someone with “techno-speak”. You, however, are concerned with their results. Ask for 3 references and take the time to interview them. How do their clients feel about their performance?

You probably have other thoughts on the qualities that make a Great I.T. Professional. These are simply my top 5 based on input from clients. Feel free to include your own thoughts in the comments and I’ll update the list as it grows.

Wishing you safe passage through the I.T. Minefield!

Leslie Knight is a small business advisor with over 20 years of experience in Information Technology management in Fortune 500 companies. She applies her experience in Corporate America saving them millions to smaller entrepreneurial enterprises. She is also the author of Navigating the I.T. Minefield.

For more information on Picking an I.T. Service Provider, purchase your copy of Navigating the I.T. Minefield @ http://bit.ly/SNL4W.

Tags: Information Technology, Service Provider, small business
Posted in Business, Information Technology | 1 Comment »

5 Essential Practices of the Best Data Backup Services

Wednesday, September 23rd, 2009

You’ve probably seen or heard ads for data backup solutions. Someone in your area offers the service. Some of the major computer manufacturers provide a solution. Who do you choose? Data backup is important! After all, the loss of critical information could close your business for a few days…or permanently.

In order to play in the industry, all services must:

- Provide a physically secure facility.

- Encrypt data prior to transfer.

- Provide notification of backup failures.

- Provide an easy to use and understand interface.

Those are the “must haves”. What sets the best apart and how do you know which provider to choose? Select a vendor:

1) With at least two facilities separated by 50 miles or more. Why? First, these vendors use their facilities as backup sites for each other. If one burns down, the other has a copy of the data and can continue to function. Second, the distance between them reduces the chance that both are overtaken by the same disaster (think Hurricane Katrina).

2) That regularly tests their disaster recovery process. It is one thing to show the process works on paper (SAS-70 Type 1 audit). It is another to show you can successfully recover from a failure (SAS-70 Type 2 audit).

3) That offers a variety of storage options to manage your costs. Online storage is for crucial files only. Near-online storage is for less critical files. Offline storage is for files you rarely access but need to keep for archive or regulatory purposes.

4) That understands and accounts for your industry’s legal requirements (e.g. SOX and HIPAA). You can be fined for a data loss or failing to protect the data. Choose someone who understands how best to protect you.

5) That willingly discusses their process for transferring your data to another provider. We don’t like to think about changing service providers…but it happens.

Many services are do-it-yourself, the best usually aren’t. They will provide guidance on which files to backup. I don’t object to you installing a vendor’s application, setting the parameters and then monitoring your data backup. Most solutions automatically backup MyDocuments. You must specify the other files and directories to backup. If you’re a solo-preneur this might be sufficient. However, if you have not told your employees where to save files, then you (or your IT service provider) need to take the time to look at each hard drive and discover the directories where users are storing their work files. If you are not aware of these files, they will not be backed up.

Once you have chosen your provider and are up and running with your new backup. Test them. Rename a critical file so you don’t lose it. Then try to restore the file using the backup from the service provider. Did it work? How long did it take? Better to discover the problems before you have a real problem.

Wishing you a safe passage through the I.T. Minefield!

To download the sample chapter “When Disaster Strikes” from Navigating the I.T. Minefield: Straight Talk for the Small Enterprise, go to http://bit.ly/zAcdl. To purchase your copy, please visit http://bit.ly/SNL4W.

Tags: disaster recovery, DR, Information Technology, IT, small business
Posted in Business, Information Technology | 4 Comments »

How Important is I.T. in Your Business?

Monday, September 14th, 2009

Just 25 years ago the most important business tool was the telephone…not the sophisticated iPhone™ or Blackberry™, but POTS, the plain old telephone system. Combined with the Rolodex, it was a powerful tool that linked the business to the customer. Twenty-five years ago, and even today, AT&T and the “baby bells” were known for their reliability. The chance of the phone system going down was very slim. You definitely were not going to close the doors to your business for good if the phones were down for a period of time.

Today, the indispensible tool is the computer and the network to which it is connected. Together they facilitate communication with clients, manage complex business processes and maintain financial and client information. Unfortunately, an outage with computer systems or the network could easily force you to close your business for good. What would happen to your business if either one was unavailable for an extended period of time? Would you lose money? Would your company’s reputation suffer? Would your inability to supply your product or service damage another company’s reputation? Could you recover?

While all businesses need some level of disaster recovery planning, most small business owners have not given much thought to the possibility of a disaster! Wake up, small business owners! A disaster could be as small as spilling a drink on a critical server or your laptop or something as spectacular as Hurricane Katrina or a security attack. If the event keeps you from conducting business for an extended period of time, then you need a backup plan that answers the question: How do we conduct business if a critical resource is unavailable?

Think for a few moments about your business and consider these 3 questions:

1) Which processes are critical to your business? If these processes are unable to function, your business doesn’t function.

2) What are the technology components upon which these processes depend? Do you have a critical file, server, or other piece of hardware?

3) How long can your I.T. environment be unavailable to you or your customers before the business begins to suffer?

Answers to these three questions are the beginning of disaster planning. The next step is to begin to reduce or eliminate the risks that impact your business (the subject of another post).

Best wishes for your success!

To download “When Disaster Strikes” from Navigating the I.T. Minefield: Straight Talk for the Small Enterprise, go to http://bit.ly/zAcdl. Yes, I require your email address…but that’s to keep the spam bots from taking over. Good people won’t abuse the content J

Posted in Business, Information Technology | 1 Comment »

Rant on Computer Hardware Manufacturers

Saturday, September 12th, 2009

Twenty-five years ago (yes I’ve been in the business that long…ouch) IBM, Dell and HP were the major players in desktop/laptop hardware. Dell was the young upstart. They made a name for themselves by producing a high quality, customized product in less time than their competitors. IBM and HP were overtaken. All of the manufacturers were trying to outdo each others. When the dust settled, Dell stayed on top (with a brief loss of share to HP).

Today, the major players have changed a little bit. But if you’ll notice their ads, they are all competing on price. A computer is for the most part a commodity. The insides are very similar, but the external case has a different name stamped on it. There is very little differentiation between Dell, HP, Lenovo, Gateway (Acer) and the other players. Computer quality is about the same with each major vendor. Customer service is dependably mediocre (at least I have not heard any rave reviews in a while). Small businesses are the fastest growing segment, yet they have not figured out that they key to winning the entrepreneur is the experience they create for us, not their old brand image.

Ask anyone who has had a laptop stolen or otherwise destroyed and they’ll probably tell you they bought the replacement at a big box retailer because it would take too long to order what they really wanted from the manufacturer. No begging, pleading, calls to sales or letters to the CEO would cause the manufacturer to move any quicker on their order (14 to 30 days to receive a new one). The message “As an entrepreneur or small business (20 or fewer computers), you are not that important.” Unfortunately for us, our computers are our lifeline. They are as important to our business as they are in a large company. Since we are small, we don’t always have the option of stowing duplicate hardware for later use. So, we’re stuck.

I wonder if there is an up-and-coming manufacturer out there who will actually carve out their niche in the small business or entrepreneur segment…and treat us like we are as important as those business that buy a few hundred computers at a time. IF they do it right, word of mouth referrals could easily suck business away from the established manufacturers.

Tags: Information Technology, IT, small business
Posted in Business, Information Technology | 3 Comments »

Are Small Businesses Repeating I.T. History?

Friday, September 11th, 2009

George Santayana is credited with the quote, “Those who fail to learn the lessons of history are doomed to repeat them” (the original is quite different). After 20+ years working in Corporate America for Fortune 500 companies, it pains me greatly to walk into a small business and see that even the most basic of the lessons learned by the large companies have generally not been implemented in smaller businesses. The IT environment and work processes remain undocumented. Many still don’t have an effective data backup scheme…definitely no business continuity plan. I believe this is happening for three reasons:

Small requires less mentality. The term “small business” now suggests a home office or small office, something substantially less than the government definition of 500 or fewer employees. In some local economies, small businesses represent more than 50% of the area businesses. Of those 75% or more have fewer than 10 employees, and most have only one or two employees. These businesses drive the economy and employ more than 50% of the workforce. Service providers and business owners alike seem to think that small means less is required to manage and maintain them from an I.T. perspective. In reality, these businesses require processes and protection that are as robust as those of the Fortune companies. How do you view your small enterprise? Do you see it as a long-term, growing business concern?

Lack of awareness. Part of the problem stems from the plug-n-play simplicity with which most computers and applications integrate into daily operations. This often hides the complexity and criticality of the operations they support. Consequently, most small business owners are simply unaware of the risks I.T. poses to their business. What are your business critical processes? How dependent are these processes on I.T.? Can your business survive if the computers and network are not available?

Conscious decision. In some cases, no matter how important it might be to take action, the business owner simply does not have the financial wherewithal to implement a suggestion from the I.T. service provider. It might be less expensive to allow the business to close after a significant I.T. failure than it is to protect against the problem. That’s a decision you, the business owner, will have to make. Are you armed with enough information to make an informed decision?

How do you view your business? Are you aware of the risks I.T. poses to your business? Have you done what you can to reduce or eliminate those risks? This is the first post in a series. I hope you will return as we explore the risks for startups and established businesses, possible solutions and then share your experiences.

Best wishes for your success!

Leslie

To download “When Disaster Strikes” from Navigating the I.T. Minefield: Straight Talk for the Small Enterprise, go to http://bit.ly/zAcdl.

Tags: Information Technology, IT, small business, startup
Posted in Business, Information Technology | No Comments »

Brag on Your I.T. Service Provider

Thursday, September 10th, 2009

I see and hear about a lot of the I.T. horror stories from clients, friends and other consultants.

I would like to hear a few people brag on their I.T. service provider. What stories do you have to share about how they helped your business?

Tags: Information Technology, IT, small business
Posted in Business, Information Technology | No Comments »