Posted by Ken in Finance - Business, Finance - Personal, General Business, Ken Waddington, business, engineering, expense, technology, tags: accepting, application, assessment, avoiding, bottom, cost, determine, down-turn, downside, encounter, errors, expertise, fail, global, good, impact, inconsequential, insurance, irresponsible, line, manufacturers, mitigating, mortgages, omissions, perspective, plan, probability, project, recognize, recovering, response, risk, situation, transferring, undervalue, vendors
Project Risk is always framed from the perspective of accepting, mitigating, avoiding or transferring – if it is a downside risk. An upside risk is framed in terms of exploiting, sharing or accepting. And every project has a risk response plan. But how do you look at the cost of your risk?
Typical project managers use the probability and impact assessments in order to define how they will respond to a risk. However, have you considered the cost of the risk? Many people fail to recognize that while a 10% risk is a low probability, it still means that 1 in 10 times it becomes a reality. You might get lucky. Can your project or company pay out should the risk become reality?
Project managers need to look at the bottom line cost of recovering from their project risks, and determine whether their project (or company) can make good on a situation where all risks need recovery. If you cannot afford it, then you need to look at transferring some (or all) of the risk off the balance sheet.
One way to reduce the risk cost balance sheet is to undervalue the risk, or perhaps reduce the probability to an inconsequential amount. You know something like how the banks did with mortgages. What’s the chance that there would be a global down-turn? Say 0.1%? Eh, it’ll never happen. Hmmm……
So in order to be responsible, that means some risk will be covered through standard insurance, where you pay an insurance company a premium in exchange for covering the cost of the risk. Business and errors and omissions, as well as shipping insurance for large, costly items are good candidates for this route.
In other cases, you may put a more experienced team member on the team – ultimately paying more for that person than a less experienced one in order to cover the risk. In this case, you might do well to tell the person and team that the member has been brought on to help with his or her expertise on “x”, since this is a large risk of failure. It gives the member a heads up to what they are specifically looking out for, and the team a go-to person if they encounter the risk.
In other cases, outside vendors may be the solution. They may have the equipment and facilities that reduce the risk. Or expert experience in a certain area. I often employ the bearing manufacturers to determine the correct bearing type and size for an application. That way, if it is wrong, they replace it. They have the expertise and the resources to cover that risk. Regardless, you pay a little more (a premium) as a percentage of the overall cost of paying out on the risk becoming a reality.
That’s insurance. However, your customer would be very unhappy if you went out of business covering risks- and not completing their job. That’s just irresponsible project management. You owe it to yourself and you customers to complete the job on time, on budget and in the specified quality.
Until next month,
Ken Waddington, P.Eng., PMP
K.Waddington & Associates Incorporated (Engineers & Project Managers)
ken@kwai.ca
416-689-7964
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Posted by Allan in Finance - Business, Finance - Personal, General Business, Venture Capitalist, expense, funding, technology, tags: afraid, ask, askthevc.com, best, bluff, brad, business, cash flow, cost, early, engage, entrepreneurs, experienced, feedback, financial, first time, forecast, guarantee, help, investor, mentor, message, model, next, P&L, potential, projection, ptactice, revenue, simple, stage, stages, start-up, structure
Q: At a pub in Los Gatos, CA a casual conversation with some young, first time entrepreneurs lead to an interesting comment:
“…the business plan outlines our estimated (operational) expenses but how do I know an investor is not going to look at these numbers and say…’are you f’ing kidding me’ and right then and there we can loose this guy (his interest)…”How can an entrepreneur build these projections most accurately and in a way that will maintain credibility with potential investors? What could be defined as the “best practice” for entrepreneurs dealing with this subject?
A: (Brad) As I’ve said in the past, I’ve never met a financial plan for an early stage company where the revenue side was correct. However, I’ve met plenty where the cost side was correct (or – at least – appropriate). The key here is simple – you want to have a cost structure that makes sense, covers all the bases, but doesn’t assume a big revenue ramp to be supportable.
If you are in the very early stages (e.g. a few people and an idea), recognize that your investor is likely going to be funding you for about 12 months to see how things play out. The biggest mistake first time entrepreneurs make is that they fall prey to the idea that they need to put together a five year P&L forecast and cash flow projection. I can guarantee – with 100% certainty – that this model will be wrong. As an investor, I don’t really care about this; rather I want to see how you are thinking about getting to “the next stage” of your business. You get to define the next stage, what it’ll cost you to get there, and what things will look like when you get there.
If you are a first time entrepreneur, go find an experienced entrepreneur to act as a mentor. She can be a first line of feedback your cost model and likely will know a few “financial people” that can help you put together a simple, yet credible model. In addition, when you spend time with potential investors, don’t try to bluff. Tell them it’s your first time building a model like this and that – while you had help – you know you lack experience and are looking for feedback. Try to engage the investor in the process. Listen the potential investors feedback and iterate on your model.
Simple message – don’t be afraid to ask for help.
With thanks to askthevc.com. The original article can be seen by clicking here.
Remember, that the only dumb question is the one never asked. If you have any questions or comments, I look forward to them, please email or call me.
Cheers.
Allan
RESQBug.com Technical Services and PRAD Enterprise
“Managing Your Technology for Improved Workplace Performance”
c: 416.464.1508
e: allan@resqbug.com
t: http://twitter.com/resqbug
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Visit us on the Web at http://www.resqbug.com
This article is for information purposes only. It is recommended that individuals consult with an IT professional before acting on any information contained in this article. The opinions stated are those of Allan Waddington and not a reflection of any company he currently works with or has in the past.
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Posted by Evelynn in Finance - Business, Finance - Personal, General Business, business, expense, privacy, security, tags: Bangalore, bbc, cbc, censored, Chicago, CNN, death, died, Evelynn Ratcliffe, evy, facebook, headline, heart attack, intake, internation, King of Pop, media, Michael Jackson, Morocco, music, national, network, news, social, socially, sonos, tmz, tmz.com, toronto, twitter, wikipedia.org
It’s 7:30pm on Thursday June 25th, 2009. Michael Jackson died today and I didn’t find out from CNN or the BBC, or from any other media source. I found out from a friend that heard about it on Facebook an hour before CNN made it headline news.
A planet is updating its status and tweeting about the death of a man that was the King of Pop to many generations, but this blog is not about the news itself, but how it got to you.
Is CNN obsolete? Have we finally taken back control of the media we consume? Is Facebook and Twitter the ultimate news source? For headlines of national or international appeal, what can a local news broadcast offer you that you can’t get for yourself on a social networking or socially controlled site?
Do we not do our research on wikipedia.org before we turn to a library? Do we not turn to our friends and networks to verify rumours before we type in www.cbc.ca? One friend started a discussion on Facebook involving people from Toronto, Bangalore, Morocco and Chicago, all discussing the death of Michael Jackson in real time.
Congratulations everyone. The news is no longer controlled or censored they way it once was. Now you have the control to filter your own consumption of media.
I find this all far more astounding than the news of a passing icon.
And as I sit here typing out this blog, I have a collection of Michel Jackson music playing in the background on my Sonos. Within moments of hearing the news I was able to filter my entire music collection to play nothing but MJ throughout my home for hours. I feel Sonos deserves an article all to itself for giving me that freedom.
But I digress. If you’re moved by the ability to control your media intake, you’re not alone. Now go visit your favourite social networking site and get interactive.
Cheers.
e
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Posted by Doug in Computer Technology, Finance - Business, Finance - Personal, General Business, Luke Coughey, business, data recovery specialists, expense, privacy, recoveryforce, security, technology, tags: advice, cd, controller, cost-effective, costly, coughey, crash, data, data lost, data recovery experts, data recovery specialists, disasters, disks, dvd, employers, event, expense, experience, failure, finance, full-blown, hacking, hard, hardware, hardware failure, human error, loss, maintenance, malware, management, manually, massive, money, motherboard, plan, porn, prevention, privacy, recovery, recoveryforce, repairs, risk, roulette, Safety, security, store, techniques, technology, thumb drive, time, tools, trojans, trust, virus
Let’s face it. Life happens; power outages, equipment failure, forces of nature, even theft and sabotage. We’ve all experienced it in one form or another. We make contingency plans or purchase insurance for these reasons. It lets us sleep in peace and provides us with a sense of security that if something did go bump in the night, we are covered. Many of us have that same sense of security when it comes to our data – whether it’s on our personal laptop or company server. We have contingency plans for those times when system failure happens…don’t we? “We back up every week”, says one CTO I recently spoke with, ‘’but what I didn’t realise is that the backup failed on the RAID’s and left us paralysed for days’’.
Probably the most often overlooked threat to a company’s data is the belief that the security of existing back-up procedures is foolproof. Before you go running down the hallway to your IT tech, there are several other facts that should be considered. Most back up systems work. Most employees do what they are supposed to do. Most hardware does work the way it was designed to. Yet, “most of the time’’ doesn’t cut it when we’re running a business. The unexpected does happen. Equipment fails and Mother Nature throws the occasional curveball. Thankfully, there is another layer of security that many people don’t know about. Chances are that even your best IT tech doesn’t totally understand this side of the universe. It’s called data recovery. You might think of us as ‘’the guys in white coats’’ who can retrieve data from hardware that most technicians, after their cursory inspection, would look at you and say “it’s dead. Nothing can be done. Your data is lost”. Not so! Guelph-based Recovery Force has a near 100% success rate of recoverable data and is often referred to crack the real tough jobs where others have been unable to retrieve the data.
The price range is anywhere from the $500 to $5,000 mark depending on the complexity, tools required and of course the amount of time it takes. On average, the recovery cost due to typical hardware failure is priced below $1000 and your valuable data can be back in your possession within a couple of days. Several insurance companies cover data recovery work costs and it would be wise to ask your insurer or agent about what they cover and the benefits of adding a rider to your business coverage. Another area of data recovery involves backtracking. These days, most people know how to empty the trashcan on their email and some even know how to delete files from system memories. For those employees who may have thought they covered their tracks (thinking the data has been deleted) should think again. Simply deleting cannot erase the data. (Only a talented technician using special software should actually WIPE the drive clean to ensure it’s thoroughly done). So it goes for the files that were tampered with prior to termination or the forwarding of emails to home or private accounts. They can still be recovered and traced. The message? Be aware. Whether you are the boss or the head of the IT department, data recovery can ‘almost’ always be accomplished. (No Virginia, the hard drive that was crushed and broken into a hundred pieces is likely irretrievable).
There is, however, a condition to this. Data recovery is like getting a red wine stain out of very expensive white carpet. The more chemical and solvents you try, the less likely you are going to restore the carpet to its original state. In data recovery, we may only have one or two attempts. So, if your data is of value to you or your business, please don’t try to recover it yourself or simply ship it to the tech guy down the hall. Immediately contact – or at least make sure your tech people do – a qualified data recovery firm. There are several very reputable companies in Canada that can restore your data to a workable condition. Whether it’s your RAID drives in the server room, or your laptop that had your favourite beverage spilled on it, call a professional first. Giving back to the community. We have recently seen several high profile cases where data has been recovered by the “new owner or recipient”, after the original owner thought they had deleted their personal and professional information on the very same hard drive. In this age of disposing of computer hardware responsibly, many firms replace hardware on regular intervals and send their hardware to charities, schools or even recycling firms. HARD DRIVES should be properly wiped using special software. Finding leftover data poses not only a dilemma for the new user who may be shocked to find business records still resident on the computer, but it can also be a costly from a legal view point should the records found on the machine be a violation of privacy legislation.
So let’s all understand what the real sense of security is about. If in doubt, call a professional first and contact your insurer so you can continue to have peace-of -mind.
If you are interested in finding out more about how you can minimize your risk of data loss, and maybe even lower your insurance rate, please call the Recovery Force team.
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Posted by Allan in Apple store, Computer Technology, Finance - Business, Finance - Personal, General Business, Microsoft, Nortel, allan waddington, apple, business, expense, security, technology, tags: 1 million, 2009, 22nd, 3GS, 7, apple, ball, Bankruptcy Court, bill, blackberry, canada, China, delisting, Gates, iphone, Mexico, Microsoft, Nokia, October, RIM, Siemens, smartphone, Steve, Steve Ballmer, Steve Jobs, telecom, telephone, TSX, US, Visa, windows, wireless, XP
I’m betting that a number of analysts are speechless and they should be. Sales of the new iPhone 3GS reached 1 million in its first weekend. This is IMPRESSIVE when you take into account that the iPhone 3GS was only released in 8 countries this time. The original iPhone was released in 21 countries and only sold 270,000 in the first weekend. The closest analyst estimated was 500,000 sold in the first weekend. There is no question that Apple and their application store will continue to be a major driving force in the smartphone market for some time to come.
Nortel’s Wireless business will be sold to Nokia Siemens. As part of the deal, 2500 employees in the US, Canada, Mexico and China will keep their jobs. The deal with Nokia Siemens is expected to close in the 3rd quarter of 2009, this assumes that its approved by both the US Bankruptcy Court and the Ontario Superior Court of Justice. Nortel will continue selling off other parts of its business and will continue applying for delisting from the TSX. It’s sad that this once giant of business has sunk so low. Did yo know that in its early days, Nortel was the Northern Electric and Manufacturing and supplied telecommunications gear for Canada’s young telephone system and at the height of its glory days about 10 years ago, Nortel was worth $250 billion and had more than 90,000 employees.
And finally, Windows 7 will be officially released to the public on October 22nd, 2009. While its better than Vista, I won’t be the first on my block to run it in a production environment. I’ll wait a year and let somebody else work the bugs out.
Remember, that the only dumb question is the one never asked. If you have any questions or comments, I look forward to them, please email or call me.
Cheers.
Allan
RESQBug.com Technical Services and PRAD Enterprise
“Managing Your Technology for Improved Workplace Performance”
c: 416.464.1508
e: allan@resqbug.com
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Visit us on the Web at http://www.resqbug.com
This article is for information purposes only. It is recommended that individuals consult with an IT professional before acting on any information contained in this article. The opinions stated are those of Allan Waddington and not a reflection of any company he currently works with or has in the past.
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Posted by Allan in Computer Technology, Finance - Business, Finance - Personal, General Business, business, expense, privacy, technology, tags: 3G, 3GS, Amber, apple, can be found, cheaper, contract, faster, fido, FoxNews, free, headlines, iphone, ipod, itouch, mac, MacWorld, new, rogers, SIM card, Steve Jobs, update, usera, youtube
When Steve Jobs announced the brand new iPhone at Macworld in San Francisco early in 2007, Apple fans from around the world celebrated the shiny new gadget. With its American launch in June of that same year, our neighbours down south taunted us with the phone’s candybar design, speedy YouTube videos, and two-finger photo “pinching.” It was all so sexy.
Unfortunately, for those of us outside the U.S., it would be many more months before this touch-screen device would be available in local stores. As a result, in Canada, many Apple die-hards scurried across the border to scoop up a U.S. iPhone, one that could be (fairly) easily unlocked for use with a Fido or Rogers SIM card.
On June 8th, 2009, news of a faster and cheaper iPhone made headlines. This latest release includes new enhancements such as a built-in camcorder, longer battery life, and voice control. The camera is now 3 megapixels, which will increase the quality of photos substantially, and on the camcorder side, you can trim videos you shoot simply by using your finger. Apple calls this 3GS, “the fastest, most powerful iPhone yet,” with up to 32GB of storage. Most importantly, this time around, Canadians will not be left behind.
Rogers has confirmed that, along with Fido, they will be launching the new 16GB and 32GB Apple iPhone 3GS on June 19th. The prices are $199(16GB) and $299(32GB), both will be available in black or white. The existing iPhone 3G (8GB) will be for sale for just $99 (on a three year voice and data contract). If you don’t want to sign a contract, that is also an option. Rogers and Fido will, once again, be offering the $30/6GB plan for iPhone customers for a limited period.
On the software side, both iPhone 3GS and 3G users will be able to download a free update, which includes the much desired cut, copy, and paste, among dozens more additional features.
Insofar as tethering, which allows you to share your iPhone internet connection with your computer, Rogers will support this feature for existing models and new models of the iPhone on both brands.
All of this news is refreshing for Canadian iPhone lovers. No longer will we have to sneak across the border to get our Apple phone fix or gaze into the eyes of proud iPhone owners on YouTube. Instead, we’ll be sharing the features of this year’s sexiest phone around the same time as the rest of the world.
With Thanks to Amber Mac. Her original article can be seen by clicking here.
Remember, that the only dumb question is the one never asked. If you have any questions or comments, I look forward to them, please email or call me.
Cheers.
Allan
RESQBug.com Technical Services and PRAD Enterprise
“Managing Your Technology for Improved Workplace Performance”
c: 416.464.1508
e: allan@resqbug.com
Download our toolbar at http://pradenterprise.LoyaltyToolbar.com
Visit us on the Web at http://www.resqbug.com
This article is for information purposes only. It is recommended that individuals consult with an IT professional before acting on any information contained in this article. The opinions stated are those of Allan Waddington and not a reflection of any company he currently works with or has in the past.
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Posted by Allan in CRM, Computer Technology, Finance - Business, Finance - Personal, General Business, business, expense, privacy, technology, tags: 8700, 8800, 8900, application, at&t, blackberry, Bold, calendar, calls, client, CRM, curve, daskboard, dealers, eMail, essential, face-to-face, forcast, improve, intergrated, LBS, managers, Maximizer, meeting, metrics, Microsoft, mobile, organizational, productivity, RIM, rogers, sales, service, smartphone, sprint, Storm, synergy, tasks, tools, update
 Track Side Maximizer Software’s mobile CRM service for BlackBerry is a robust application powered by a company with a long history in the industry.
This mobile CRM solution offers both offline and online access to all the essential organizational tools needed to effectively manage your business. Use this application to track:
- customers
- leads and sales opportunities
- service cases
- notes and profiles
- document library
- schedule
- follow-up tasks
- call/email logging (including integration with BlackBerry)
- mobile dashboards
Maximizer Software have earned themselves the titles BlackBerry ISV Alliance Member and Microsoft Gold Partner. In addition, Maximizer Mobile CRM is certified on AT&T, Sprint, Rogers, and the company works with other carriers and mobile dealers around the world to bring mobile CRM to global mobile smartphone users.
The traditional field sales rep lugs around file folders or a laptop and makes their face-to-face sales calls. To keep track of their activities requires a customer relationship management (CRM) system to routinely update meetings, forecasts, and prepare for upcoming meetings.
 Track Side Maximizer Mobile CRM with phone integration.
There exists a synergy between mobile CRM solutions and BlackBerry devices. Using Maximizer Mobile CRM on a BlackBerry, field sales reps have access to the customer and sales information they need to build stronger customer relationships, boost productivity, and provide real-time updates – anytime, anywhere.
Companies typically invest in mobile CRM for field sales for one of three reasons: to increase revenue, improve service, or reduce costs. Companies using mobile CRM have achieved a return on investment (ROI) in these areas through the following:
- Improved productivity by 17 – 20% (one additional sales appointment per day).
- Ability to provide seamless client service from in-office and field staff.
- Compliance for financial professionals to track all client interactions and requests.
- Greater visibility into field staff activities for managers to provide better coaching
See the Maximizer Software store for pricing information and sales.
See the following screenshots showing some of Maximizer’s Mobile CRM for BlackBerry features:
 Track Side
MaxMobile Actions will provide you with key CRM options for your contacts.
Track Side
The Dashboard gives you a visual representation of your CRM metrics. As a side note, this feature looks particularly good on the Storm.
 Track Side
Of course no CRM application would be complete without LBS functionality.
 Track Side Maximizer Mobile CRM offers seamless calendar integration. Again, a key component of CRM.
With thanks from http://www.blackberrycool.com
Remember, that the only dumb question is the one never asked. If you have any questions or comments, I look forward to them, please email or call me.
Cheers.
Allan
RESQBug.com Technical Services and PRAD Enterprise
“Managing Your Technology for Improved Workplace Performance”
c: 416.464.1508
e: allan@resqbug.com
Download our toolbar at http://pradenterprise.LoyaltyToolbar.com
Visit us on the Web at http://www.resqbug.com
This article is for information purposes only. It is recommended that individuals consult with an IT professional before acting on any information contained in this article. The opinions stated are those of Allan Waddington and not a reflection of any company he currently works with or has in the past.
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