New E-Solution
STC has created a new tailored solutions service to provide customers with the quick-start engineering and integration support needed for deploying e-services. The new service draws upon the expertise of 1,400 engineers across STC to assure customers the best possible solutions to meet their specific business needs as well as complete implementation services to ensure solutions work and are delivered on time and on budget.
Focused on developing repeatable processes and solutions in focus areas such as e-commerce, business portals, e-services management, security and e-banking, newest solution brings together best-in-class technologies to send email.
STC’s new “Manager for BroadVision” packaged solution consists of preintegrated components from STC OpenView developed specifically for use with BroadVision-centric e-commerce infrastructures. The solution comes with sophisticated functionality such as:
service views and services monitoring
quality of services measurement
services reporting and trending
E-Commerce transforms IT management from a cost-centric maintenance activity to a front-line business operation. The availability and performance of the IT infrastructure is directly linked to business performance.
By preintegrating the components, the “STC OpenView Manager for BroadVision” can be delivered within 100 days. Implementing a comparable solution from scratch would require 50 percent more engineering days, which would be reflected in much higher project costs as well as associated project risks.
As part of today’s news, STC is also announcing that it recently won the highest certification by the Software Engineering Institute’s Capability Maturity Model. Recognizing continuous process improvement, the institute gave STC the top award
Safeguarding and maintaining the clients’ financial data is crucial
A small accounting firm serves some 150 clients. Its office technology includes two PCs and a laptop computer, all running various accounting software packages
An external HP Colorado backup drive provides peace of mind and complements the firm’s archives of paper documents. The drive also automatically backs up the system and the CPAs’ data files, a big help in tax season.
Steve Carroll previously was in charge of data backup and storage at another accounting firm. “I came to understand backup procedures and developed some good habits,” he said. “It is like insurance for a business. It sure is good to have when you need it.”
Carroll now heads his own firm. He and two contract CPAs primarily assist with tax returns, and also complete financial statements and other financial-related documents. Clients range from large manufacturing and construction operations to small businesses such as veterinary and dental practices. Carroll’s primary need revolves around the storage of client tax files. The Internal Revenue Service and American Institute of Certified Public Accounting (AICPA) standards require the firm to keep copies of client tax returns for up to ten years. Carroll prefers to archive these files on tape to complement but not replace his hard copy storage. “I’m not comfortable going completely electronic just yet. Plus, I am concerned about retrieving data from an operating system or software applications that I didn’t use to create the work, and that may be obsolete ten years from now,” he said.
Automation is another need. Even though his backup habits are strong, Carroll admits it’s easy to relax about backup in the summer months when business slows. “An automated system will keep my backup in order,” he said. Even more important, backup automation brings Carroll relief and saves time during tax season. “Having to worry about one more thing during the critical time of tax season is really asking a lot, even if it is something I know is good for us,” he said. “Now I come in, replace a tape and let the drive do its job. And any time that I save during tax season is a big help.” Carroll investigated his backup options and found that the HP Colorado 14GB external drive met all his needs. The drive now backs up one of the desktops and will be the primary backup for his laptop soon. With the drive’s portability, he’ll be able to backup his employees’ work to tape as well, leaving one less potential for data loss.
With the HP Colorado 14GB’s automatic scheduler, Carroll just sets the days and times he wants the backup to run. Then he only has to make sure a tape is in the drive. When the backup is complete, a message on the screen tells him that everything worked properly. Carroll has experienced data scares in the past. “I’ve closed out a year on my accounting software too soon and I had to go to my backup to retrieve a previously saved version,” he explained. “I had a hard copy of the correct data, but I would have had to recreate all of the that information, which would have amounted to numerous hours of tedious work. Fortunately I’ve never had a hard drive crash, knock on wood. But I know how long it would take to reinstall the operating system, software and configurations. It would take at least a week to get back to the point you were before.” With the new HP drive, Carroll can back up all of the system files as well as his data files. “The capacity of the drive is a big bonus. I can save everything on just one tape. Plus, I can save a copy of my operating system. Years down the road, I should have no trouble reading data created in old applications.
“One thing I am seeing more and more in the Accounting industry, and similar industries, is the increased use of laptop computers,” noted Carroll. “It is easy and efficient for me to take my laptop to a client’s office and enter data or pull up information as we speak.” The HP Colorado 14GB is a great companion for portable computers, which frequently aren’t backed up as regularly as desktop PCs, especially those connected to networks. “I’ve read statistics about the high theft of laptops, and just jostling it around could cause problems,” continued Carroll. “So it is nice to know that I have the option to backup my files even when I am not in the office. “The thing I like best about the HP Colorado 14GB is that it simplifies the backup process. That is important to small business owners like me, who have seemingly endless other things to worry about. With this drive, there really isn’t any excuse for small businesses to put themselves in jeopardy without proper backup.”
Business technology consulting
The clients of this CPA firm wanted more than their accounting expertise. They also needed reliable technology, as well as service and technical support. After all, a business that uses an accountant probably uses at least one PC, too.
Adding business technology consulting to their accounting services helped Company tap a new revenue stream and increase their revenues by 20 percent. After installing a network of 17 personal computers and servers, HP LaserJet printers, and fax machines, the firm began recommending HP products to clients. Today both company and their clients are enjoying the enhanced productivity that comes with a reliable computer system.
Why would a CPA firm offer business technology consulting services? It’s a matter of responding to clients’ needs. After all, if a business uses an accountant, it probably uses at least one personal computer, too. That insight is why Company, a nine-accountant CPA firm in Ketchum, Idaho, has increased its revenues by 20 percent to $1.4 million.
“Seventy percent of our revenue comes from 30 percent of our customers,” says vice president.
“These clients were telling us they needed more than our accounting services, they also needed reliable technology, as well as service and technical support.”
Like many of its clients, Company had also experienced the frustration of downtime due to computer failure. Both in-house and with customers’ systems, the firm wasted too many nonbillable hours repairing unreliable clones. But after Company installed a network of 17 computers and PC Servers, printers and fax machines, the firm’s down-time disappeared. They soon began recommending HP products to clients, and today those clients are enjoying the enhanced productivity that comes with a reliable computer system. And they don’t mind paying for training and technical support to optimize their investment which means more revenue potential.
Software foundation for successful e-services
In the dynamic new e-services economy, prospering means reinventing how you work, how you compete, and especially how you compute.
Move beyond static, predefined websites, processes, and relationships. Leave behind disparate platforms and isolated information silos. Use new approach: a dynamic business ecosystem that allows you to work with whomever you need to, and to respond to changes in your market at web speed.
The right software and services form a solid foundation for this ecosystem. New approach brings together everything you need:
• A complete software environment for running your Internet business.
• Your choice of best-of-breed software components and our industry-leading partners
• Expert global consulting and tailored integration services for fast, successful deployment
• The industry’s best support expertise to keep you going
With comprehensive, integrated software environment, your Internet business will be always on, always available, and always ready for new opportunities.
I want to improve my communications to my customers, and simplify my contact management.
Wherever possible, use automation to become more effective. For example, there are contact management products like ACT, GoldMine, Telemagicand other competitors. These products can be used to track follow-up phone calls, meetings, letters, sales potentials, and other key information. Other alternatives include integration into products like Microsoft Exchange via Outlookor higher end Customer Relationship Management (CRM) products like Siebel, SalesLogix, or Clientele. If you can get all people in your organization using a similar contact manager and keep all databases synchronized (or just share one database), you will find that you have much better customer information at your fingertips.
Simplifying your contact management is a reasonable goal, but is going to take a certain level of expertise. For example, you can have mobile people entering information in PDAand synchronize this information with contact managers like ACTor mail systems like Microsoft Outlook. The combination of Outlook and Exchange is Microsoft’s key strategy to integrate information into all sorts of other systems, including accounting systems. Your business management decision will be where your “master” data is located and how much authority you want to grant for making changes. This technology is working, but is not trivial to implement yet.
I am preparing to install a network
Network administration can vary in complexity. In house administration can give you more flexibility, but you may wind up with a lower level of expertise. If network administrators make between $36,000-$60,000 then, with benefits, the cost of these people will be between $46,800-$78,000. If your network outsource vendor charges between $75-200 per hour (the average nationwide is close to $150/hour), then these salaries would yield 312-520 hours or about one quarter of a year. You will want to do this calculation for your local market salaries and network administration labor rates. Hold an amount in reserve to support your in house network administration to contract for outside expertise when this is required.
A correctly installed network takes minimal day-to-day intervention. For a network of 5-20 users, we suggest that there will be 20-30 minutes/day and around 1 hour once/week.
The number of support people will depend on the complexity of your network. A good rule of thumb is one technical support person for every 50 PCs, and one support person for every 3 servers in use. A network of 100 stations and 6 servers performing different functions would probably need 4 technical people working as a team to take care of hardware, software, and training issues. These technical people will make all the other people much more efficient. For a smaller network, let’s say 25 stations and 1 server, there is probably only about a half-time job for network administration.
What methods should I consider for a multi-location business
There are four primary methods to consider:
1) dial-up over regular phone lines,
2) Digital lines, particularly ADSL,
3) cable modems,
4) more traditional dedicated lines like frame relay.
We are going to assume that you have a main location and a few other locations all within a relatively small geographic area. Alternative 1, dial-up is the slowest, cheapest approach. You will probably want to consider a thin client software application (like Citrix Metaframe ) that will allow slow speed connections to run at acceptable rates. The Citrix Metaframe server will cost from $5,000-18,000. This dial-up approach will work OK for a workstation or two in a remote location. Higher speed solutions have become much more cost effective in the last few years. Solution 2 or 3 (ADSL or Cable modem) assumes that you are going to attach your remote locations to your main location via the Internet. We suggest that you consider a connection device like those offered by Sonic Systems (like the Sonic Wall) or eSoft (like the Ipad ). These devices will be between $300 and $3,000 each depending on their features, and the line costs will be roughly $40-60 monthly per location. You may still need a thin client server like Citrix Metaframe or Microsoft Terminal Server . Approach number 4, frame relay, requires dedicated lines that will vary from $100-700 in monthly cost, and require purchase of routers at $1,500-3,000 each. These types of configurations are complex enough that you should hire outside expertise to properly configure a solution that fits your needs.
Out of the office technology
Consider integrating your cell phone technology with your computer system. Popular phone manufacturers like Nokia and Motorola have the ability to synchronize names and phone numbers with products like ACT , Outlook and others. Taking the time to set up your company phones so they accept data from your contact management and/or mail systems can keep your people more productive.
Another possibility is portable scanning technology. This technology allows you to take documents of all kinds and create a magnetic copy of this document. For extreme portability, a product like the CapShare 920 can allow scanning of small articles all the way up through flip chart images. Synchronize these to your laptop and e-mail them to your customers or colleagues.
Global Consulting Practice About Information Security
Hewlett-Packard Company announces a new dedicated global consulting security practice that enables customers to elevate information security into a core component of their business strategies, and that counsels them on proactive measures for implementing security strategies that minimize threats and maximize opportunities for their customers and business partners.
The new practice comes at a time when the role of security is changing. Keeping people out is not enough in the e-services age. Information security is now about creating services that let the right people in whenever they need to be regardless of their location or computing device.
One area of specialization will be helping application service providers generate revenue by being able to offer varied security service levels. Similarly, HP will be able to offer infrastructure service providers opportunities to generate revenue from offering advanced security services such as public key infrastructure services.
HP is not new to information security consulting. What is different now is that it is creating a security dream team from HP’s consulting organization and keeping them dedicated to what they do best.
The new service strengthens HP’s global leadership in providing end-to end information security solutions and establishes HP as an e-security thought leader. In addition to having consultants located throughout the world, HP offers technology infrastructure expertise combined with industry-leading products such HP Praesidium and Virtual Vault. This adds up to a one-stop shop for customers that includes an unmatched collection of resources to integrate their business and security strategies. Services offered include the full spectrum of security consulting, from risk management and strategy to architecture and implementation.
What are the benefits of upgrading to Windows 2000
Windows 2000 Professional is faster and more stable than any other version of Windows. The user interface is similar, so converting a user from other versions of Windows requires minimal re-training. The biggest risk you may have is compatibility with your existing applications.
Windows 2000 requires 64-128MB of RAM, 10GB of hard drive and at least a Pentium II 400 to run acceptably. “Older” hardware usually indicates less capability than the minimums we suggest. Please note that our minimum recommendation is greater than the Microsoft suggested minimums. Further, we know that many older machines require hardware-level drivers that make the Windows 2000 upgrade difficult. Therefore, we don’t recommend upgrading older hardware with Windows 2000, but do recommend Windows 2000 on new hardware purchases.
