Tip 1: Update Your CV

“A polished and professional CV will go a long way in improving your job prospects. Remember to tailor your CV and covering letter to the job for which you are applying,” she advises.

Listing your most recent and relevant work experience first, and keeping it to the point are also important when updating your CV. 

Wi-Fi is not new. Although it’s hard to track its origins, it’s safe to say Wi-Fi was being used on a large scale for the first time in the late 1990s – which probably qualifies it as being prehistoric in tech terms. But there has been renewed interest in the technology of late, and with good reason.

 

For one, analysts have predicted that in the next few years, the average people will go from owning two to three Wi-Fi enabled devices (such as a laptop, tablet and smart phone) to seven, or more, if the futurists are correct in assuming that we’ll soon download our emails via our fridges, bedside radios and televisions.

Building relationships with the right individuals is key to the success of a business, due to the long lasting and powerful effect a favourable relationship can bring about. This is according to Gugu Mjadu, Executive General Manager of Business Partners Limited, who says that networking is one of the most useful ways for start-ups to build a business and increase their profile in their respective industries.

 

Mjadu explains that for the self-employed, building long-lasting business relationships and partnerships is significantly more important than what most business owners believe. “When starting a new business, it can often feel like you have no time for anything, but entrepreneurs need to take a long-term approach and invest in networking and researching groups that might be relevant to their business. The strengthening of these relationships will potentially result in direct business referrals, as well as create a sustainable support network.” 

 

She says that creating channels to share business know-how is critical in helping business owners succeed, and sharing business knowledge and experience contributes to the stability and growth of a growing SME.

 

“Ensure that you get involved with business councils and other networking groups, as you’ll be able to ‘mingle’ with others going through the same process as you. Business owners may also find that fellow entrepreneurs can share valuable information on how they are going about building their business.”

 

She explains that as with other business activities, a strategy should be put in place for networking as it is a business process like any other which should be attended to, but is often neglected.

 

Mjadu offers the following pointers to help business owners when it comes to networking activities:

• Approach networking for what it is – a crucial business system like your accounting system, human resources system, or production system. It means that you have to spend some time thinking about it, working on it and maintaining it.
  
  
• Define the business’s target groups – if you don’t, you’ll end up chasing your own tail. How widely your net is thrown depends on the business. For example, a tourism business may want to include an entire country’s networks and sectors such as travel agents, while a niche technology business may choose to start with a much narrower group of specialised suppliers, clients and business associates.
  
  
• Networking only among industry peers is not wide enough. It is inadequate for a printer, for example, to limit his networking only to the local printers association. Seek out clients and business opportunities upstream, downstream and adjacent to your sector.
  
  
• Start with a list of people who are in your network already – your existing clients, suppliers and business associates, but be sure to add new people, or whole categories of people that you want to target. This is just the start - a healthy business network has new contacts coming in all the time, as well as having old ones removed as their relevance fades.
  
  
• You don’t need the latest customer relationship management software. These tools can be handy, but if money is tight you can effectively manage a large network with an ordinary spreadsheet using simple categorisation tools such as colour coding to prioritise contacts. 
  
  
• Relationships take time to develop and are built on genuine interest and mutual benefit. The key is regular contact, but it does not have to be monotonous. Interactions can vary from a call to say thank you, to introducing a useful contact, sending an interesting article or referring a client (and even asking for advice is a good way to make someone feel important). Don’t leave these things to spontaneity - plan and schedule them.  
  
  
• Clean up your contact list regularly, not only removing redundant entries, but reprioritising each contact so that you invest most of your time and energy in the most important ones.
  
  
• Internet-based social networking is important as a medium of contact, and be sure to maintain your presence on sites such as Facebook, Twitter and Linked-In as you would your appearance – neat and fresh.  But you don’t have to “hang around” there. True business networking happens face to face.
  
  
• Think carefully about your business networking calendar so that you don’t waste your time attending events that yield little. But don’t be afraid to experiment to see which events work for you. Get out there!

Often, when we attend networking events, we have an idea of what we want to get out of them: great contacts that will be of use to us, and a long list of new leads. We attend business breakfasts and industry events armed with business cards, ready to spring a sales pitch on the first poor soul who shows any interest. Of course, the reality is often different from what we’d imagined and we are disappointed when big things don’t seem to come out of these events.

 

The problem with this is the approach that many of us take: “what’s in it for me?” In fact, I would go so far as saying that when we network selfishly, we’re actually setting ourselves up for failure.

 

Consider for a moment one of the world’s biggest word of mouth referral organisations, BNI. This networking body has achieved such a level of success because the focus of its members is on how they can refer each other to useful contacts. Each member tries to put other members in touch with people who can benefit from their business services or products. Instead of asking “What’s in it for me?” they ask, “Who in my network could benefit from this person’s services?”

 

If you’re like most people, when you’re attending a networking function and someone introduces themselves, you probably don’t immediately think about whether there are opportunities for them to benefit from your network, even if you don't have a particular need for their product or service yourself. Successful networkers are people who try to think more about others.

 

Read the book review for this contributors book Branding & Marketing YOU! - click here.

 

Don’t feel guilty if you have always thought of what you can get out of a networking event. You are not alone. In fact, research suggests that people think about themselves and their own needs 95% of the time. It’s not a natural state to spend the majority of our time thinking about what we can do for other people. But this means that even if you start thinking of other people 6% of the time (instead of 5%), you will be at an advantage over other people.

Business people around the globe still prefer dealing with those they know, like and trust! Networking isn’t about taking advantage of business friends or coworkers to get ahead. For me networking and business building is all about relationship building.

 

I recently shared the following story with an executive who was asking me about the importance of networking: When John became the production manager and a board member of a pharmaceutical company, improving his network was the last thing on his mind. Like most executives the main problem he faced was time. Where would he find the hours to guide his team through a major upgrade of the production process and then think about strategic issues like expanding the business? The only way he could carve out time and still get home to his family at a decent hour was to lock himself — literally — in his office.

The latest market trend illuminating the ICT sector is the fact that enterprise networks are starting to resemble Internet Service Providers (ISP) in both its structure and user management. "Enterprise users are increasingly using work related web-based applications over public Internet Protocol (IP) networks. The introduction of IPv6 and Domain Name System Security Extensions (DNSSEC) are addressing the current security issues facing web users, making the move into the cloud a logical next step," says Jeff Fletcher, Co-founder of three6five.

An ISP model comprises of end users operating independently from their service provider, which fundamentally sets it apart from an enterprise network. "These end users buy their own equipment, provide much of their own support and pay their own bills. Security is however a priority and end user isolation at Wi-Fi hotspots and inside 3G networks are a good example of how security is managed. Each user's private sessions, such as internet banking, are encrypted end-to-end to maintain security and data integrity," says Fletcher.

Enterprise costs are at the heart of the shift as businesses find themselves increasingly moving towards Operational Expenditure (OPEX) and pay-per-use or pay-per-user models. The trend to outsource non-core elements such as the IT function and data centre components further underpins the growing market trend.

"Outsourcing enterprise network infrastructure to a service provider makes absolute sense from an operational point of view as it helps the enterprise to avoid the initial Capital Expenditure (CAPEX) and on-going maintenance that these supporting functions require," explains Fletcher. "This is similar to the way mobile phones are owned, supported and maintained by the end user and the mobile network is owned and provided by the mobile network service provider. The enterprise does not need to own or manage any mobile infrastructure, just cover some of the mobile service provider charges if they choose to."

The mobile data explosion has seen a proliferation in mobile PC sales such as laptops, with smart phones and the sale of tablets adding massively to this user base. There were 15.43 million iPads sold in the first quarter of 2012 alone. "Software as a Service (SaaS) is alive and well and growing substantially, with all these market trends pointing towards quite a significant change in thinking. Broadband access costs are remaining constant while both capacity and availability are constantly increasing, providing the perfect environment in which SaaS can flourish," says Fletcher.

The Compound Annual Growth Rate of SaaS is conservatively pegged at 27% in comparison to traditional IT products which is pegged at 5%. "It speaks volumes for the demand of cloud services and highlights a clear shift from the traditional enterprise network into something that resembles an ISPs network, changing the way in which we operate at its core," concludes Fletcher.

For more information, visit www.three6five.com

Unified communications (UC) is changing the way organisations operate, as their employees tend to be more available, productive and effective when invested with UC tools.

But report published in July from analyst firm Canalys points out that many UC deployments fail or don’t meet their goals because their cultural (people) impact and the related contexts of IT consumerisation ‘BYOD’ (bring your own device) and workforce mobility are ignored.

In Tellumat, we are in agreement that many UC failures can be avoided by approaching projects as a business transformation process in which the user experience is central.

Three key trends

Consumerisation is the increasing use by employees of technologies like smart phones, iPads, video and social networking tools in the enterprise.

As Canalys points out, organisations that fail to assimilate and take advantage of consumerisation (for instance, with a BYOD strategy) will find themselves increasingly at a disadvantage against competitors.

For example, organisations that aren’t visible on in social media will become remote from customers who want to communicate via an increasing number of channels. (Conversely, UC solution providers that do not recognise the touch points of the technology with consumerisation and BYOD will at the very least miss the opportunity to leverage existing consumer platforms.)

Vendors and partners must also advise customers on the impact of workforce mobility, on processes and information accessed by employees.

Workforce mobility is not a new concept, but due to the consumerisation of IT and BYOD, it is a rapidly accelerating trend, making it an IT priority.

The proliferation of mobile devices provides employees with greater access to tools like video collaboration. Increasingly, employees want to access business applications and social media while on the move. If mobility is not considered as an integral part of future UC strategies, then the investment will be wasted.

Expert guidance

To accommodate these trends in employees’ everyday workflow, organisations will need guidance from experienced UC partners. Issues that have to be thrashed out include:

• The decision about which platforms to support (iOS, Android or BlackBerry),
• The changing security ecosystem, and
• Networking (the number of devices without Ethernet ports is on the increase).

But it goes deeper than processes and architecture, touching the very core of an organisation’s objectives. Technologies like UC, BYOD and mobility have impact far beyond the scope of just an IT department purchasing decision. They affect management, HR, marketing, sales, R&D and back-office integration, in countless new ways.

To prepare for the impact of the new technologies and accommodate them, organisations must ask themselves what they want the technologies to achieve, and within what parameters. The following considerations are common:

• Organisations must work through changing access modes and trust accords very closely and apply corporate policies as well as IT security measures accordingly.
• Education of employees is a crucial aspect of a holistic UC deployment: employees must understand their responsibilities and obligations in a world where they are able to freely move sensitive data from device to device and location to location.
• Equally, the corporate culture of the organisation must embrace trust and openness in a mobile, UC-driven, BYOD environment, so that employees are able to take more rapid but well-informed decisions.
• UC deployments that incorporate collaborative tools and social media work most effectively when the deployment is aligned with business goals such as improving customer satisfaction or streamlining decision-making processes.
• Collaboration must enable individuals to identify other individuals in order to be able to freely form communities that can quickly come together to tackle specific company issues.

All these and more must be keen focus areas in the purchasing decision, to ensure that the organisation is prepared for the big changes that UC can bring, and that benefits will be realised.

There was a time when small-to-medium sized organisations had to make do with whatever they had to even stand a chance of survival. Not too long ago, the issue of technology procurement and application in SMEs or SMBs was shrouded in frustration and difficulty.

Decision makers who knew what ICT they wanted, but could not afford to source and implement it. Those who had the technology but required advice or guidance, received little in the way of meaningful support. Technical issues were viewed either as elephants in the room’ or a fire that had to be extinguished - and usually with money.

It is amazing what can happen in a short time. Today, the small-to-medium segment of the market is one of the fastest growing within the broader economy – a view shared by the leadership of established ICT and telecommunications companies.

One of the key game-changers for this area of the market has been the advent of the cloud. There is no denying that this model has changed the way technology is brought on board and used. It has radically transformed conventional processes and procedures related to technology ownership and application in the workplace.

Now those operating within this ultra-competitive space do not have to spend a fortune on infrastructure and systems to sustain the business. They are not obliged to detract attention away from core focus areas in order to look after technology or scramble to sort out technical issues that arise.

They have a clear opportunity to invest in and acquire the advantages of cloud-based service which, if correctly understood and strategically implemented to suit the business, does have benefits.

These include productivity and a flexible, more predictable price structure that enables more accurate and effective budgeting.

It is important for the business operator to be able to differentiate between the public/private or hybrid cloud model and truly understand what is the most suitable for the business. This is where service provision is emerging as an asset.

To illustrate, Vodacom and Microsoft recently established an alliance to rollout Microsoft’s Office365, the company’s cloud productivity service.

The service will be bundled with Vodacom’s broadband connectivity products that are tailored specifically for this area of the market.

According to a statement released by Vodacom Business Services, the Managing Executive from the company, Chris Lazarus, said it is imperative that SMEs are provided with the tools necessary to compete with big business within a marketplace driven by the need for fast turnaround times and proactive service.

I have to agree – and this is another facet of the current market that is interesting. Size is all relative. There is no more ‘small fish/big fish in the pond’ scenario. Technology has levelled the playing field and with access to numerous services offered through the cloud, the small operator has just as much opportunity as larger counterparts.

The network has always been – and will always be the lifeblood of any organisation. Whereas in the past IT administrators and Financial Directors would have to endure lengthy, arduous brainstorming sessions to figure out how to apply the IT strategy, there is far more room to manoeuvre today.

And this is a good thing because, according to statistics like those reflected in an IP Expo Corporate Cloud Survey in 2011, by 2013, 56% of corporations will be using cloud computing.

Moreover the relevance of undersea cable infrastructure cannot be ignored. The capacity offered by this infrastructure is expected to be 35 Terabytes per second by 2013.

Big data and the certain increase in Internet and mobile solution users mean that SMEs should position themselves to take advantage of the access and business opportunities.

It also means that networks will continue to be of critical importance.

Networks are becoming smarter, decision makers are more tech-savvy and have more understanding of what is actually required within the business and what is not. There is a far more analytical and strategic component to the purchasing of infrastructure and application.

Data analytics and mobility is driving network maturity and investment. This, together with innovation and multi-functional products, mean more power to the operator – irrespective of size or focus.

Market preferences tracked from two perspectives

As cloud-based PBX deployments show accelerating growth, a fascinating sub-plot is unfolding, with public, private and hybrid installations all finding favour*. The question is – which configuration will gain preference as the market matures, and in what circumstances?

Industry perspective

From our point of view, public cloud installations are preferred in more than 56% of deployments, and private and hybrid installations in 22% of cases respectively.

When measured by extensions, the picture is reversed. Close to 60% of our extensions are private, while 12% are hybrid, and 28% public.

A clear inference can be made from this. Large companies, which represent a small base of our install base but the majority of extensions deployed, prefer private hosted solutions, while a large number of smaller customers, representing a comparatively small number of extensions, favours public.

Large companies prefer private cloud deployments because it allows them to leverage their considerable investments in high-end network and data resources and equipment, thus retaining control over the running and support of their deployments.

Connection Telecom’s hybrid install base is made up of a small but growing base of large customers, whether measured in customer numbers, sites (which may involve multiple branches or chain stores) or extensions.

These customers are planning to grow their solution footprint significantly, so in extension numbers they might in time get close to the number of private extensions out there for us.

Research view

Research has shed further light on this question, in the form of the ITWeb Unified Communications 2011 user survey.

The survey finds that, over the next two years, 23% of respondents will look at hosting private voice installations themselves. 28% will look at serviced provider-hosted private solutions; 16% at publicly-hosted solutions; and 32% at on-site least-cost routing installations (non-hosted). The private-public split is therefore 51%-16%, with no provision for hybrid implementations.

While it is impossible to compare the findings from ITWeb’s user-centric survey to Connection Telecom’s customer, site and extension metrics, the ITWeb sample base provides broad correlation of my observations.

Close to 25% of respondents of the survey represented small companies, while nearly 75% were from large enterprises. In that light, it is not surprising that a majority felt private installations were the way to go.

Conclusion

As cloud PBX adoption continues to accelerate, the above findings appear indicative of a market-wide trend. Depending on the customer split of a particular service provider, we think it is quite predictable what the public-private-hybrid weighting will be.

 

Public cloud implementations reside in off-site data centres owned by the service provider (SP). Private cloud implementations reside in customer-owned data centres, hosted by the customer or the SP, on- or off-site. Hybrid implementations reside in customer-owned data centres, and calls are carried out over a virtual private network via a public switch.

Cloud virtualisation or the environment through which all areas of the business can be controlled off-site or ‘virtually’ presents decision makers with an interesting scenario: today they have more choice about how to manage and sustain the business using strategically-placed ICT infrastructure without breaking the bank.

Business operators have to sustain the highest levels of activity, with minimal impact on resources and this has helped to spur interest in virtualisation.

There are many areas where virtualisation impacts the business. We know that a range of hardware, software and other network infrastructure can be managed this way, used and applied throughout the network without owners having to worry about maintenance and sustainability.

Server virtualisation is a good example. It is based on simulation technology and the creation of more ‘virtual’ servers than there are physical ones.

Administration and practical application of this infrastructure takes place in a non-physical way. There are many products that can form part of the virtual environment including servers, platforms, application, desktop and network.

Being able to focus on business strategy without being distracted or side-tracked by infrastructure management issues such as Total Cost of Ownership and Return on Investment, remains a key advantage in today’s marketplace.

A virtualised environment means more productivity and more time to focus on strategic core areas. This is because virtualisation is based on the centralisation of resources, which eliminates the need to add more software and organise additional resources to run operations. It is a more streamlined approach to business management.

There is less usage of space and of physical infrastructure, flexibility and scalability are also advantages.

Physical resources are spread across the business, to all departments, via virtual networks which improves access and efficiency.

With the rapid advancement of cloud computing and parallels to virtualisation, it is easy to understand why cloud virtualisation and cloud computing are mistakenly referred to as one in the same. The reality is that these are two very different technologies and have different dynamics – however both are focused on helping the decision maker gain more by using less. 

But with cloud computing, the data resource and process resides in the cloud - based on a Software as a Service model.

The extent to which these technologies are acquired and implemented in business may vary and depends on a variety of factors. This is up to decision makers to understand and apply policy.

What is also true, however, is that these technologies must be part of any credible operational strategy – this is critical for survival.