Month: February 2009

Envy

For many years Microsoft was a very successful business. It continued to experience stunning growth year on year. Then it reached middle age and discovered that it was under threat from all these new comers. So what was its response?

 

Firstly, it decided that it wanted to be like Sony so it brought out the Xbox in competition to the Playstation. Having not completely succeeded there it then decided that it wanted to be like Google by creating on line maps, Live Search, host applications and so on. Having even less success there it now decided that it wanted to be like Apple so it brought out the Zune as a competitor to the iPod. And this list goes on.

 

In its craze to be everything, except Microsoft, it has decided it will now open retail stores as this story highlights. Aside from the obvious Apple envy once again most people are scratching their heads and asking why? Especially in these economic times. Why?

 

Now I’m sure there is a really valid reason and it may or may not be successful but it certainly seems to me that Microsoft is spending far too much time trying to be things that it isn’t. That has led, I believe, to it falling down on things it should be (like making better desktop operating systems i.e. Vista). It’s hard enough to lead one life let along try and lead two!

 

There are things that Microsoft do real well. There are things that it can also do well that are extensions of these. However, diving into totally unrelated markets just because it can doesn’t mean it should. In the early day Microsoft could dominate the market and take the lion’s share but those days are gone. It doesn’t make sense to me spreading your resources as thinly as Microsoft must be doing to keep all these balls in the air.

 

The motto should be how to make things simpler, not how can I be like every other Tom, Dick and Harry in the business.

Tim Ferris interview

Here’s a nice interview with Tim Ferris who is the author of the Four Hour Work Week. In short the book shows you how to ‘do more with less’ and design a life of your own desires. Sounds cliché but I can attest that it has some really mind blowing concepts, so if you haven’t read the book then you should.

 

http://vimeo.com/3184873

It is interesting in the interview that Tim mentions how much more interest he is seeing around the concepts of the Four Hour Work Week. The simple reason is that everyone is trying to get by on less and here’s a framework on how that can be achieved.

 

So watch out for the updated edition of the Four Hour Work Week that includes over 30 more pages of information and updates. If you are serious about enjoying life then this book is a must read.

Twitter comes down under

Well it finally seems that people down here in Australia are beginning to adopt Twitter as the following article highlights.
 
It appears the heightened awareness has come from people providing Victoria bush fire updates via Twitter as this article says. All of a “sudden” conventional media outlets have “discovered” Twitter and I expect to see them all flocking there shortly.

As I have said before I’m still undecided as to the business value of Twitter, yet I do see the benefits in certain circumstances. Because Twitter has mainly US based it really didn’t have a great deal of local value. However, I expect that start changing very fast as more people get on board. I think that Australians will take to Twitter pretty quickly given their love of SMS.

Any mainstream adoption of Twitter will also raise further questions about filtering in the workplace. Will Twitter be added to the black of sites such as Facebook, Myspace and so on? Or will employers embrace it as a way to do business better? Given the current economic climate I would tend to think most would probably simply block it without considering where it may actually be able to improve business.

Like it or not it seems that Twitter is going to be the next “big” thing on the Internet so if you get in now you’ll look like a star! If you feel so inclined please add me to you follow list via http://twitter.com/directorcia.

Labour vs work

Have you ever taken the time to examine how much time you spend doing tasks? Do you actually plan what you are going to do or do you just ‘do it’? The answer to these questions should be considered in light of whether you do labour or work.

 

Typically labour is low value with little control over the process. I think that most people spend most of their day doing ‘labour’. They get up, come into work and try and simply wade through everything. Conversely, work is about producing high value output by being discerning about what effort is expended to produce a result. The difference comes down to planning.

 

How much time do you take to plan what you actually do? Do you also take time to review what you have achieved and determine whether in fact it can be done more effectively or efficiently? Doing work is about thinking not merely about doing.

 

Once again a good example is the way that most people tackle their emails. It is simply a labour that they go through. They have no system to maximizing their return. They simply plough into their inbox each and everyday in a vain attempt to control the information overload. Rarely would they consider taking the time to learn how to use their email program better. This effectively limits their ability to be productive and can place a significant amount of stress on their workday.

 

We almost all have access to the most powerful technology available today, so why do most continue to struggle? Like everyone else your time is limited by a set number of hours per day. If you want to achieve more you need to stop doing the low value items and do more of the high value items. Technology can certainly assist you but it requires you ‘work’ rather than merely ‘labour’ to understand it.

 

To achieve more out of everyday stop doing labour and start working.

EasyJet video

Here’s a nice short video about how EasyJet are using SharePoint Server 2007 as their intranet.

Networking course

My Networking Basics course starts this Thursday at Macquarie Community College at Carlingford and runs over the next three weeks. This course will give you a understanding of things such as TCP, IP addressing, switches, wireless, routers, firewalls and more. It is aimed at those who little of no networking experience and want to better understand the technology of getting machines to talk to each other.

 

You can find more information, including enrolment details here:

 

http://www.macquarie.nsw.edu.au/index.php?action=course&course_action=detail&code=109M301

The course will also give you hands on experience with the technology in a computer lab and comes with a comprehensive set of course notes.

Recertify

So Microsoft has made some changes to the Small Business Specialist requirements, including the need to recertify. Here’s the details from https://partner.microsoft.com/global/program/40021563

 

Small Business Specialist partners must employ or contract with at least one person by location who has passed one of the five technical exams in the following list. 

70-653: TS: Windows Small Business Server 2008, Configuring

70-654: TS: Windows Essential Business Server 2008, Configuring

70-631: TS: Windows SharePoint Services 3.0, Configuring

70-236 TS: Exchange Server 2007, Configuring

70-655 TS: Windows Vista and Server operating systems, Pre-Installing for OEMs

Note: If you passed either Exam 70-282: Designing, Deploying, and Managing a Network Solution for Small- and Medium-Sized Business or Exam 74-134: Preinstalling Microsoft Products and Technologies to receive your Small Business Specialist designation, your exam credentials must be updated by October 31, 2010.

If you are already a Small Business Specialist then you have plenty of time to recertify but if I were you I go out and do it as soon as you can. Why? because it will provide a definite point of differentiation for your business. And when you have recertified in SBS 2008 make sure that emphasize that fact in all your marketing. Make sure they understand that you have taken the trouble to recertify and that they should have confidence in the fact that you are keeping up to date.