Some great advice

Interesting post on Link4Business talking about “How to succeed in business”. I thought that made interesting reading, especially as a know a number of entrepreneurs that fit the points above like a glove. It doesn’t matter if you’re selling live event video streaming or selling stink bombs, the desire to success coupled with the other points below are critical to make sure you arrive at your final destination. Here’s the interesting part of the post:

It appears that great entrepreneurs have 5 key qualities that help them succeed in situations that others may fail…

1. A desire to succeed – not having an employee 9 to 5 mentality. They want to go that extra mile to succeed and will do whatever it takes.
2. A positive Mental Attitude – both towards themselves and their business. They see opportunities where others see obstacles, their cup is always half full and disappointments don’t get them down. They look forwards, not backwards.
3. A commitment to hard work – they’re not afraid of hard work and the commitment needed to succeed.
4. Patience – Rome wasn’t built in a day and as well as being committed they have the patience to see the job through, taking it step by step.
5. Persistence – challenges and problems will reveal themselves along the pay but the successful entrepreneur will persist with their ideas and not give up or change direction.

7 pointers for IT departments

I came across a post on InfoWorld entitled 7 things IT should be doing which talks about a number of problems organisations face today and gives some advice as to how companies should be dealing with them. Here are the main points:

1. Follow your users: Find out what your users really do in their day job. Share their pain and let them help you tailor what you’re offering them.
2. Embrace Web 2.0: Your users have high standards as to what applications are supposed to do nowadays. Letting them down will alienate them.
3. Tame the data monster: Bad data means that people can’t do their job effectively. Make data cleansing one of your top priorities.
4. Flirt with disaster: Disaster planning is only the first step of making sure you can cope with foreseeable problems. Make sure they’re tested and up to date.
5. Capture old knowledge: Use toolkits like ITIL to capture and store old knowledge. ITIL Mangement will be a key differentiator for you in the future.
6. Plug data leaks: If you don’t have a data security policy and don’t police it, your data could end up in the wrong hands. Make sure you know what needs to be protected and what doesn’t.
7. Follow the money: Senior management in the IT department need to have more than a basic grasp of the business drivers of the company. This will help the whole department function effectively.

There’s some great stuff in there, ranging from technical issues to business issues, read the complete article here