Small Business

I�ve been daydreaming about replacing my home theatre speakers, since our ageing amplifier died. The sleek, silver Sony box was impressive in its day but that was over 18 years ago. Now we�ve got all the wireless and internet connected things, I�m spoilt for choice. I�ve done some online research but I�m not a detailed, melancholic personality type. An instore demonstration of the Bose and Sonos systems has me convinced that Sonos is the way to go. But I�m still unsure about handing over that amount of money right now for some nicer sounds. Ultimately, my purchasing transaction is likely to be handled by someone in a retail store � hopefully someone who treats us better than the last guy we dealt with.

For small businesses, Cloud solutions seem to deliver innovation, productivity and profitability with ease.

You don’t have to sit around and wait for the “I.T. guy” to install something on a server, then install something else on your computer. It’s all enabled by just signing up to a service in your web browser and entering your credit card number. The secure access, reliability and backups are all handled behind the scenes.

Warning: This is an opinion piece and quite honestly, a rant. You have been warned.

Our business has been supporting the technology needs of SMBs for 12 years now, after we stepped out of the corporate world. The early years were comparatively easy � a business wanted I.T. support, we�d upgrade a server or two to newer software and bigger hardware and the addition of remote monitoring and management tools consolidated our efforts across our customer base. Nothing really extraordinary there.

The ATO Business Portal is vital to Australian businesses. This secure gateway allows us to provide reporting information to the tax office, to meet our compliance regulations.

It?s understandable that if you do any of those kind of tasks (either for your own business or someone elses), you need to know that the website and it?s AUSKey authentication is going to work before you upgrade to Windows 10.

The goods news is ? it does work.

People have started asking me how I have made so many connections with other people in IT, especially overseas. When I examined it, it turns out it�s just a by-product of how I engage with other people and get connected into groups of peers and �hero� speakers/writers. It�s nothing I specifically set out to achieve.

I�ve published my thoughts on LinkedIn�s Pulse blog site:

http://www.linkedin.com/pulse/how-become-known-within-your-industry-show-up-contribute-sonia-cuff?trk=prof-post

-SCuffy

It�s not news that IT is an ever-changing industry. The skills that I learnt when I first started are now mostly irrelevant. I say �mostly� because some of the fundamentals of disks, files, networks etc still hold true (once we�d migrated off token ring anyway). And I still use the command prompt to search for files. But when I started, there was no Cloud, no social media, no phishing, no virtualization, no sector based backups and no ADSL. File storage was done on a Novell Netware server or three, with a bank of dial-in modems for remote access.

Today I upgraded my laptop to Windows 8.1 Pro. By �upgrade� I actually mean backed up, formatted & installed Windows cleanly. It went surprisingly well and was pretty fast. The only Microsoft glitch I had were some updated that failed to install until after I rebooted, then away they went (though they gave me no indication that a restart was needed).

I�d been running QuickBooks Pro 2012/2013, so it was time to install the new version � Reckon Accounts Pro 2013. And this is where I went around in circles.
The product is supported on Windows 8, but the installation failed with �Error 1920. Service QuickBooks Database manager Service (QBCFMonitorService) failed to start.� The installation would then roll back.
This kb was hopeless:http://www.quicken.com.au/kb/issue_view.asp?ID=4906
And another kb was hopeless that told me to delete a bunch of folders (that hadn�t been created) and try it again. It mentioned that my installation was having trouble connecting to the company database file, which made no sense seeing as I�d pick the stand-alone client option (as our company file is on our file server, no my laptop).

I had the pleasure of showing a team the features of their new CRM software. Have I lost you yet with how boring that sentence is? Fortunately the reality was far from boring.

To me�� the CRM system is a plugin to a Joomla website. There are some bits I can configure & some bits I can�t (especially as I�m not the Joomla site admin nor do I ever ever want to be.
To the business owner�� the system means no more monthly fees to a Cloud CRM system. This one off purchase will last her for at least 3 years and will handle the growth she is expecting. It�s also one place to see how her sales pipeline is looking & to get instant access to the conversations had with & information that�s been provided to her customers & prospective customers.
To the team members�� this is a �central console�, one place to get a picture of what they have on the go and what others are working on too.

Brace yourselves � this is a rant.

In my opinion, mobile phone companies are right down their with real estate agents and used car salesmen. But let me lay out the facts and you can decided for yourself.

After receiving a wedding invitataion, we decided to pack up the kids and head to Wellington for a 10 day holiday. We�re self-employed with clients who rely on us, so by �holiday� I mean �time away from the office�. We accept that our lifestyle means our phones come with us and so does the laptop. Then again, we didn�t have to get annual leave approved.

OK, this one is a �mini-post� to �get the subject off my chest� � yes, pardon the pun.

On the news yesterday we heard of a mother who was approached by a staff member at a council-run public swimming pool, because another swimmer was uncomfortable with this lady breastfeeding her baby at the poolside. The mother was embarrassed & humiliated and chose to leave the pool. To her defence, she stated that she was supervising her other children who were still in the pool. It�a also against the law to discriminate against breastfeeding mothers in public places.