Century technology explosion

How to prepare for the 21st Century technology explosion

WITH the year 2000 almost upon us, and the dreaded Millennium Bug about to follow the Dodo into extinction, perhaps now is the ideal time to consider the huge advances made in Information Technology and how these advances can benefit your business in the 21st century.

Not all managers, even those at the top, can view the future through the eyes of an oracle. The words of Thomas Watson (Chairman of IBM, 1943) - “I think there is a world market for maybe five comput ers. “ Is a far cry from today’s claims of “All businesses use, or will use comput ers” - predictions echoed constantly by IT Specialists, Government Ministers and futurologists everywhere.

Are you taking these predictions seri ously? You should! In whatever form they evolve, computers are the way of the fore seeable future; they are coming anyway so you should welcome them. Businesses that do so and willingly embrace the power of today’s technology will enjoy enormous advantage over their more ‘traditional’

c ontemporaries.

Your first step in joining the ‘age of technology’ should begin with a question: How can I make technology work for me -

accounting, marketing, administration,

production, development? The answers are manifest and lead swiftly to step two, which is of course, buy your computer.

Although swamped by variety, managers will experience few pains when buying the actual ‘box’. Today’s market leaders offer reliable, easy-to-use and staggeringly pow erful machines at prices no one could have envisaged only a few short years ago. The final step is the procurement of software and computer services. These are the dan gerous fields that buyers must tread care

fully: here today and gone tomorrow out fits; pirates that sell everything but exper tise and support, and of course the friend that ‘knows computers’ - they are all there, veiling the real skills that success demands. Locating the software package or computer service that is ‘right’ for your business can be a nightmare and many managers, exhausted or unhappy at the cost of such searches, succumb to the pres sure of time and accept products that... ‘will do’.

‘Today’s market leaders

offer reliable, easy-to

use and staggeringly

powerful machines at

prices no one could have

envisaged only a few

short years ago’

Yet there is no need for anyone to settle for second best; there is a truly amazing array of solutions available. Off-the-shelf products, modular packages (easily adapt ed to client requirements), bespoke solu tions, Consultants, Internet developers, systems designers, IT training, disaster recovery, authoring - literally thousands of proven products and services - and there are a number of ways open for companies to find them: Consultants - IT Consultants offer expertise. From location and testing of

products or services to design, provision,

installation and support of complex com

pany specific applications they provide

comprehensive and accurate advice and information. The downside to engaging such expertise is of course the cost.

Charges, usually daily rate per consultant,

can run from £4OO to £2OOO and above -

and one must bear in mind that the con sultant’s role is very often that of the ‘middle man’, and

the ‘provider’s’

costs must also be taken into account.

Added to that, is the problem of locating

the consultant that can actually offer the expertise you require - in many cases this exercise can prove every bit as difficult as locating the product or service you require in the first place.

Internet Search Engines - Wonderful tools without which the WWW (World Wide Web) would be rendered practically useless. All of them, ‘Alta Vista™’, ‘Yahoo’, ‘lnfoseek’ and the rest do a great job... unless your ISP is handling large volumes of traffic - at such times the WWW is best referred to as the ‘World Wide Wait’.

That said, the information you want is probably there waiting to be found and search engines are more then capable of finding it. The task can be daunting though... for example, ask ‘lnfoseek’ for a listing of ‘software’ sites - at the time of writing this article, the response was a discouraging 17,353,519 sites. Of course, with practice, and more specific requests, one can whittle this figure down to more

manageable proportions.

However, the searcher can still find him/herself faced with hundreds, if not thousands, of sites to browse through in search of the required product or service.

Perhaps the most annoying factor one has to contend with when using search engines is the overuse of ‘forms’ in place of detailed contact information.

It is infuriating when, after spending hours (sometimes many) locating the ideal product and completing the obliga tory form, one receives a reply informing you that, that particular provider is locat ed in some obscure part of the world and that the product you so painstakingly selected is not available at your location.

Search engines, although relatively inex-

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pensive to use, can take a large lump of time out of a manager’s working week!

CD-ROM - The Computer Software & Services 2000 CD-ROM, available from Learned Information is a comprehensive guide to the UK IT industry.

Listing over 5,000 companies and 12,000 products it is an extremely useful reference tool for the industry’s heavy user, that is, Solution Providers, Resellers and Consultants.

However, at £470.00 including online updating services for one year, this excel lent tool is probably too expensive for occasional use by companies seeking a single software product or a particular computer service. Product and service pro files are somewhat heavily weighted in favour of technical information.

Computer Megastores - In today’s mar ketplace Computer Megastores are to be found in most major towns and cities doing to the local computer shop what the supermarket chains have done to the local grocer.

It is the way of today’s world, and when one looks at what these giants, such as ‘PC World’ and ‘Time’, have to offer it is diffi cult to argue against them.

With pre-configured machines, shelves

piled high with peripherals and add-ons,

thousands of ‘shrink-wrapped’ software packages, plus networking and support services the Megastores seem to offer everything the SoHo (small office/home office) and leisure market could ask for.

Companies seeking industry specific

software, technical applications or special ist services will probably not find what they want in the Megastore.

Also, quality of support services and technical advice depends on the availabili

ty and ability of staff at a particular loca tion and can vary. Too often the customer is faced with hours of waiting whilst the instore ‘experts’ wander around in appar ent bewilderment.

Direct Sales - Like the Computer Megastores, Direct Sales outlets such as ‘DIRECT focus’, ‘SMC direct’, ‘lnsight’, and ‘Software Warehouse’, supply both a huge variety of hardware and peripheral

The advent of the

‘open all hours’ Internet

and the rapid growth in

online buying

will allow more and

more businesses to

select their suppliers

from an ever-widening

global marketplace

products, and the full range of ‘shrink wrapped’ software. Pricing is very com petitive and next day delivery is fast becoming the norm. Sales and manage ment are usually helpful and for the most part offer good advice on the products that they sell.

The disadvantages of buying from a direct sales company can be, insufficient technical support (buyers may find them selves ‘referred to the manufacturer’ when problems occur), lengthy phone calls when seeking support (one rarely has the prob lem with sales, but when asking for sup port it seems that the caller is always placed in a queue), and the inevitable delays incurred when faulty goods have to be repaired or replaced.

Provider’s Solution - An increasing number of software product and computer service providers are adding their exper tise to a new online service: the ‘Virtual

Community of Soft ware Providers’

(Vcsp).

A growing community, with members around the world, the VcSP provides a unique link to today’s IT solutions by offering detailed profiles of all member’s

products and services at one address on the Internet. A specially written, in house facility helps the user to search the data base and all product/service profiles give access to full provider details.

A powerful back-up service is also pro vided for users who cannot locate the product/service that matches their require ments. In such instances ‘VcSP User Ser vices’ will carry out an advanced search on the users behalf - to take advantage of this service one has to complete the ‘Requirements’ form on the VcSP web site (or alternatively, supply details of require ment via email or fax).

Optional registration is an additional feature for users, but it is worth considera tion.

Responding to managers and owners, who have stated that “it is good practice to stay ‘up-to-date’ and maintain an aware ness of what the marketplace has to offer”, VcSP will ‘e-mail’ details of new soft ware products that have a particular rele vance to all registered businesses. Perhaps the most unusual aspect of ‘VcSP User Services’ (found at www.vcsp.com) is that they are provided without charge!

As we depart the 20th Century one thing is certain; the business arena will become even more competitive.

The advent of the ‘open all hours’ Inter net and the rapid growth in online buying will allow more and more businesses to select their suppliers from an ever-widen

ing global marketplace.

Staying on top of your market, or even just keeping up, will be vital and informa tion will play a major role in every busi ness.

Selection of software that meets the needs of your business, every day, could be the key that opens the door to future success! ■