A leading UK supplier of Microsoft-based business solutions for the supply chain is urging businesses to review their IT Service Level Agreements (SLA) because 73% of business downtime last year was caused by IT failure.

This unacceptably high percentage comes from the latest Quorum Disaster Recovery Report (Q1 2013), which polled businesses from all over the globe, and highlights how damaging unreliable IT can be to businesses; causing hours of lost downtime and consequently lost business revenue. To avoid problems like this, UK businesses are being advised by K3 Managed Services to make sure they set appropriate boundaries and expectations for IT provision in their Service Level Agreements to improve reliability levels and optimise resource cost.

SLAs set boundaries and expectations for both the IT vendor (and IT department) and the customer. With such an agreement, the vendor commits to a percentage of uptime the IT system can be expected to run without interruption, taking into consideration regular planned maintenance and unplanned IT outage.  While no IT provider can guarantee 100 per cent uptime, they can minimise IT failures and plan downtime, which reduces disruption during business hours.

IT failures were a more common cause of downtime than human error and natural disaster in the Quorum report and it is estimated that UK businesses suffer over £2 billion worth of downtime because of IT failures every year.

As well as making sure a mutually beneficial Service Level Agreement is in place for IT, K3 Managed Services is also recommending that businesses plan for tomorrow’s capacity.

As a business grows or contracts, the demands on its IT system also change. It is important that a company’s IT system is reliable enough to cope with these changes so you only need to upgrade your IT when necessary. Planning for tomorrow’s capacity will ensure customers and employees enjoy reliable and responsive service from your systems.

Jason Price, Head of Sales at K3 Managed Services said: “Businesses need strong IT infrastructure to ensure their systems stay up and running and any potential problems are dealt with before they materialise. MDs need to make sure their organisations have a system which they and their customers can depend on. Reliability is no longer just about the IT; it’s about the business and its people. We understand how important SLAs are to ensuring maximum uptime and advise businesses to make sure they have a suitable SLA in place for their IT.”

A recent article on Sky News caught my attention! ‘Huge Amounts Of Data Can Be Stored In DNA’ - suggesting the latest method of data storage is within DNA!   In theory this makes perfect sense, we know DNA is robust -it does not degrade like a magnetic tape, and can be stored indefinitely, after all we can extract DNA from woolly mammoths dating back tens of thousands of years!

This research shows how methods of data storage are changing, no longer does someone need to be responsible for changing backup tapes and storing them somewhere safe just in case of a disaster, they could now carry something the size of a dust particle around with them…. the idea of taking your backup home may soon take on a whole new meaning!

Two things stop this process being used today  – the high cost involved and the slow speed of reading/writing DNA….so for now,  why not store your backup in the K3 Vault instead?!  

Download the K3 Vault factsheet here>>

Leading software provider K3 has been appointed as an Elite partner by QlikTech a leader in Business Discovery – user-driven Business Intelligence (BI).

K3 is a leading authority in delivering ERP, CRM, and Business Intelligence (BI) solutions and has been supplying QlikView for many years. The company has over 150 customers using QlikView to solve critical business problems and implements the software on any scale from a five-user system to an enterprise deployment of over 350 users. QlikView can be used for all types of reporting, forecasting and general data analysis and allows businesses to gain easy access to all their data sources and operational applications from one place.

John Campbell, QlikTech Alliance Director UK & Ireland said: “Demand for the QlikView Business Discovery platform is growing as business users demand self-serve, easy access to information. K3’s Elite status is a result of their experience of delivering high value solutions to customers quickly and effectively. These included energy saving systems supplier Mark Group in Leicester, which identified a need to aid service-level reporting and view financial reports, and DayMen International (worldwide distributor of the Lowepro, Acme Made and Joby brands) who implemented QlikView initially for sales and operational analysis.”

Simon Devine, Business Intelligence Practice Manager at K3 said: “We have been working towards Elite Partner status with QlikTech for quite some time, so to kick off 2013 with this recognition is great news for us and our QlikView customers. It demonstrates the levels of business we have achieved over the past few years and means that we can now provide our customers with even greater technical support. With greater access to the QlikTech team we can solve even the most complex of requirements for our QlikView customers quickly and to a high standard.”

Fourteen per cent of the UK workforce spend almost 50 per cent of their time surfing the Internet for personal use, according to research obtained by K3 Managed Services.1

On average, 64% of workers in the UK waste one hour a day at work while 14% waste three hours a day; of this time 48% is spent surfing the internet for personal use. K3 Managed Services says employers need to establish a fair usage policy to eliminate time wasting and help to promote greater productivity.

On top that, downloading illegal files, sharing data across the web and using unlicensed software can all leave a company’s IT vulnerable to malware, viruses and spyware. A clear usage policy can raise awareness of best practice and the ramifications of improper internet usage.

Last year the Information Commissioner’s Office (ICO) increased the amount companies can be fined for a data security breach from £5,000 to £500,000. With fines this big, businesses cannot afford to take risks.

In its free IT guide, K3 Managed Services, a leading supplier of Microsoft-based business solutions for the supply chain, outlines how to implement an effective usage policy to not only best utilise the time of employees but also keep the business on the right side of the law.

An effective usage policy will clearly set out how employees are expected to use computers and the Internet in their workplace. The benefits of a robust usage policy go beyond promoting a better work ethic; it also supports security and licensing policies ensuring a business is not at risk from software piracy or a security breach. A business owner is responsible for their employees use of unlicensed software whether they know about it or not and if caught, would have to pay a substantial fine.

Jason Price, Head of Sales at K3 Managed Services said: “When we discuss the results of how their bandwidth is being used with our customers, many are shocked to see how much is taken up for personal use by employees.  This poses a dilemma for managers as the Internet and many social media websites are now an integral part of business operations. As digital channels continue to mature, it is becoming increasingly difficult for businesses to place blanket bans and restrictions on Internet access.  However, companies with a robust Internet Usage policy can effectively manage their staff time online, and also ensure that they stay on the right side of the law.”

1. Source: www.salary.com

People seem to be unable to get through a day without using their phone, I know that I go into panic mode when I can’t find mine.…just in case the queen tries to call!! So I can totally understand the frustration when your phone is stolen, all of those contacts and pictures that are stored on there. I was recently reading about an App (iGotYa) which helps police track down the phone thieves! Click here for article >> 

How amazing, the app actually takes a picture of the criminal as they try to unlock the device and send the picture to the owner.  The App also takes note of the location of the phone and sends this information to the owner.

Could this be the future for the police to help them locate stolen phones?!!  It did create some debate in our office of what the next steps would be?  What does the owner of the phone do with this information and does this picture actually stand up in court!?

Whatever the legal questions are surrounding this, it has to be said, it is a pretty cool App!!

It was reported in the news that the recent snow has cost the UK economy £500m a day! click here for article>>  Snow has covered most of the UK this week – we were lucky to only get a few cm in Manchester! This snow may have caused major disruption to my social life but I have not allowed it to stop me working (even though I would have secretly rather being out playing in the snow!)

Last weekend I was all set to drive to Buxton to meet a friend for dinner but unfortunately a drive across the isolated hills was probably not a good idea with the deep snow.  A better idea might have been to ‘Skype’ my friend whilst we both sat in the safe comfort of our own homes! Granted, not the same as being there, enjoying a glass of wine and a good gossip.

However for my business life that is very much an option. We decided to take to Skype meetings with colleagues and customers rather than risking driving to meetings in the icy conditions, keeping the company moving and hopefully reducing the cost to the economy!

The last few days just show how easily companies can grind to a halt, staff can’t get to work and might be unable to continue work from home and meetings end up being cancelled.  It made me think that the customers of ours who have their systems in the Cloud must be quite pleased with themselves – they are able to continue business from home and reduce the impact on the business – customers like S&P Coils whose staff can access all of their work in the cloud from anywhere on different devices!

Of course there are things you cannot do from home, like operate a machine on the shopfloor but admin and meetings can continue with the right systems, comms and attitude!

UK companies are wasting thousands of pounds on maintaining and supporting existing IT systems instead of streamlining their IT for business advantage, states K3 Managed Services, one of the leading UK suppliers of Microsoft-based business solutions for the supply chain. Fifty per cent of businesses add more to their IT systems than is necessary, making for a complex environment that is expensive to support.

That’s the message delivered by the fourth monthly “Business of IT Guide” published by K3. The guide reminds directors on the importance of strategic IT budgeting and states that reducing the complexity of IT mitigates the risk of overspending and wasting money on maintaining over complex, yet inefficient systems.

According to research firm Forrester, companies are starting to invest more in IT innovation. In its latest Forrsights Software Survey, Forrester reveals that 12% of businesses planned to increase their software budgets by more than 10% in 2011 and a further 10% by between 5&10%. However, a high proportion of IT budget is still being consumed by software operations and maintenance. K3 has found that over half of companies’ total IT expenditure is being spent solely on maintaining systems, with just 24 per cent of the budget spent on IT innovation.

K3’s guide reminds directors that it is not just about setting a carefully constructed IT budget but implementing it properly. IT spending must be aligned with available new technologies, sustainability and ultimately, moving a business forward.

The expansion of IT systems to support existing software has many hidden costs, including the energy required to power extra servers and devices. Analyst firm Gartner predicts that by the end of the year, the cost of power and cooling will surpass the cost of hardware. Reducing energy goes hand in hand with simplifying the complexity of your IT.

Jason Price, Head of Sales at K3 Managed Services said: “Businesses are still in the habit of spending money on additional hardware to support existing IT systems, instead of streamlining their IT and freeing up funds for IT innovation. It is not a case of bigger is better. Often smaller, streamlined IT systems work better than those that rely on multiple hardware. The key is managing your IT budget to accommodate IT innovation and implementing that budget for business advantage.”

I am pleased to say I have just got off the phone with a very happy customer based in South Wales (where the Met office have today announced a Red warning).  Several parts of the region are at a complete standstill, roads are closed (even the M4 in some areas) and gritters are struggling to clear the major roads let alone business / industrial estates.

The Flower Stork based in Ebbw Vale moved their Sage system into the cloud earlier this year and as a result all their staff are now able to access their systems from home. Where other local businesses are struggling to get employees into the office, the back office staff are continuing to work exactly from where they left last night.

Business continuity isn’t just for major “disasters”. As we have all seen with the floods earlier this year and the snow overnight, a robust business continuity plan can be called upon for a variety of reasons and this is just another example of where we are proud to say that cloud computing from K3 is able to help our customers keep running!

UK businesses must have the staff and resources in place to avoid IT emergencies concludes K3 Managed Services, the UK’s foremost supplier and maintainer of ERP solutions. In the second of its monthly IT guides, distributed to business owners throughout Britain, K3 highlights the dangers that an under resourced IT department can present to a business.

“IT breakdowns or network problems can prove very costly for businesses. Not only do you suffer lost downtime but in some cases, networks can be down for lengthy amounts of time, resulting in dramatic economic loss. If you have to rely on someone else to restore your system, you could suffer long term damage to your business.”

The increasing importance of IT in business is transforming the role of IT staff significantly. K3 says the responsibility for IT should not and cannot be left to a handful of individuals and neither should the IT department work as a separate entity because it has become an essential component in delivering business strategy.

K3’s guide highlights the cost and complexity of ensuring an IT team is trained properly and equipped to maintain and develop mission-critical business applications as a key concern for companies. IT staff turnover is high, which results in companies facing the on-going threat of losing high paid, trained IT staff once they have gained the knowledge and experience necessary to move up the career ladder. Unless IT delivery is a core activity for a business, it does not make economic sense to keep investing in extra resources to try to stay on top of things. This is where companies can benefit from alternative solutions such as outsourcing.

“By forming a creative relationship between directors and IT staff, a business can keep track of its IT maintenance. Just as IT staff need senior executives to understand how developments like social networking, collaborative IT and a mobile infrastructure can make a business more effective, executives need IT staff to have a clear grasp of their overall business objectives, targets and development plans.”

As businesses move away from in-house developed systems and towards advances in software such as cloud computing, IT staff are able to concentrate on productivity and value adding activities, leaving minor IT problems a thing of the past. However, even then, bigger IT emergencies can cost a business greatly if there is nobody to step into the shoes of the IT Technician. This is where outsourcing IT makes good business sense.

The abundance of apps available can benefit our lives in immeasurable ways but a recent wave of Policy and Privacy terms points to a need to maybe take a better look before you leap…

A recent entry in the Huffington post (http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2012/12/17/instagrams-terms-of-service_n_2317402.html) points to some ground breaking changes to the internet favourite Instagram.

The new policies include amongst other things the right for the company to target advertisements at you but one of the major changes is the right to use any of your pictures globally for paid advertisers (for which you receive no form of compensation or pre-authorisation).

Of course there is no such thing as a free lunch and these apps providers need to make money somewhere but maybe it is time that we all stop just hitting “accept” and start considering the potential costs and exposure? Maybe it’s time that we all update our Corporate IT guidelines?