In business and in life communication is the key to everything that we do, without it everything else falls down. In the modern age of the Internet and mobile phones it has never been easier to communicate with someone, for example you can communicate with someone via

• Phone
• Email
• SMS
• Facebook
• LinkedIn
• Twitter
• Letter

This is just a few of them. But what actually happens when communication between a two parties actually breaks down?

This happened to me recently personally and it has been a very frustrating experience to put it mildly. Last summer we decided to have some work done in the garden, a job the to be quite honest I have not got the time to get done but really wanted done as it would be much better for the kids. So I did the natural thing and asked around if anyone knew of someone to do the job and sure enough someone was put forward. So he came along, I explained the job to him and we agreed a price. In mid Autumn we finally gave him the go ahead and off we went. Since he agreed to do the work he had got a new job and was training but still wanted the work so it was agreed that it could be fit around his new job. So on the first day it all went well and a lot was done, before leaving he said when he would be back and sure enough he was back again working on it. After he left again, I couldn't recall when he said he would be back so I texted him to check and he let me know. After the third visit again he left but did not say when he was coming back so again I was chasing to find out when he was coming back. This pattern continued until the fifth day on the job where he hit some problems that was causing some major issue. He said he need to go off and have a think about it. That was in November 2011, since then I have repeatedly attempted contact without out success. The just before Christmas I had a reply to say he would be on it ASAP. I then chased it up a couple of days later but no reply. I chased it up again after the new year and got a reply back to say work had been manic and I had not been forgotten.

Now the work itself does not need to be finished until spring as the garden is not used in Winter but the issue is I have not got a clue what is happening. When my partner says 'is it always going to be a building site?',  'It was better before he started' and 'so when is he coming back' I have no idea what to say as I am not being told anything. The point is that all of the stress and aggravation could have been alleviated by setting the expectations at the outset and along the way. While I may not have been happy with the time frame I would at least know what to expect and more importantly be able to explain what is happening to other people when asked.

The moral of this story is just keep talking. When working with clients I always try to keep the client up to date, whether personally or via one of the team, on what is happening and when they can expect the next action to take place. Always remember; failure to communicate is a communication of failure.

- Rob

Another one of those devices, in my opinion, is the iPad. When the iPad first came out there was a 'gold rush' to own one and as keen as I was to own one I held back since I am practical by nature and have to justify anything I purchase. So I sat back and waited while I built a genuine case for purchasing one. This went on for a year until finally I came to the decision that I would get one and after a quick shop around I got an iPad 1 at the right price and I have not looked back since.

Over the last few months I have built up a good collection of apps that have made my iPad into the great business tool that I need. Last week though was the first time that I went off to a conference without my trusty laptop or netbook should I need to do some support etc. I have to say that the iPad held it's own throughout the day, admittedly I have remote access to a Windows 7 virtual PC for support. None the less it still was able to handle everything I needed to do with ease and was infinitely easier to carry around than the traditional tools of the trade.

This has made the iPad my most functional gadget purchase this year, if not of all time and I would highly recommend one to anyone

- Rob

As some of you will see there has not been a post on this site for some time and the reason for this is that I have been so busy with work that I have just not had any time to get to this, a poor excuse I know but none the less that’s where I’ve been at. I have been finding it increasingly frustrating as there are so many things happening that before I know it the day is over. While it is still very busy I am having to make time to get off the hamster wheel and make time for these types of activity which I do enjoy.

So I guess what I would like to do is throw this post open to the audience to see what great practical techniques you all have on handling these times and getting control back of you time. If you have the time to post up your thoughts in the comments that would be great.

Thanks in advance

- Rob

As you may be aware the Information Commissioner’s Office (ICO) has begun to issue fines over breaches of the Data Protection Act (DPA). Since there has been a large number of published data losses it cannot come soon enough for the general public.

Last week another set of fines were issue to Ealing Council at £80,000 and Hounslow Council at £70,000, you can read the full story here. What is so special about this case is that it involved the loss of two unencrypted laptops, one from each council, containing the details of around 1,700 individuals from an employee’s home. Ealing Council provides an out of hours service on behalf of both councils, which is operated by nine staff who work from home. The team receive contact from a variety of sources and rely on laptops to record information about individuals. Ealing Council was found to be in breach of the DPA as it had issued an unencrypted laptop to a member of staff which is in breach of it’s own policies. This process had been established for a number of years and insufficient checks were made to ensure that relevant policies were understood and adhered to by employee’s. Hounslow Council were found to have breached the DPA as they had failed to have a written contract in place with Ealing Council, they also did not monitor Ealing Council’s procedures established to operate the service securely.

You may be wondering why this changes everything? As an outsourced IT service provider there may be occasion where you may have to remove a laptop/desktop/server from site in order to action a repair of the equipment, a normal everyday IT activity. What this could mean is that if that device is then lost or stolen while in your possession and it is not encrypted then you will potentially share equal liability for the data loss. Since that liability can include a rather hefty fine of up to £500,000, not too mention the bad press that would go with it, then the impact on your business could be catastrophic.

The question now is, what are you going to do to mitigate your risk? Please feel free to drop a comment in on this as I would love to hear your thoughts

- Rob

One thing that you learn in life is that no two people will see or hear the same thing and that really fascinates me. It all comes down to perception and emotional intelligence, in my humble opinion. The fact is that people see things from very different perspectives in life based on the life that they have lived.

One thing that is *always* worth doing is standing back and taking a look at your business from 30,000ft to see if what you are doing and where you are going is really where you want to be. As human beings we are so involved in our day to day life are serving our clients and providing them with what they want that it’s very easy to forget.

So the lesson for today is to stop and look at where you are and more importantly where you want to be going……you’ll be surprised at how different things look from 30,000 feet!

- Rob


Add-PsSnapin Microsoft.SharePoint.Powershell -ErrorAction SilentlyContinue
try
{
  $today = (Get-Date -Format dd-MM-yyyy)
# Created the a new directory with todays date and store in a variable
  [IO.Directory]::CreateDirectory("F:\sp_backup\"+$today)
  $backuppath = "F:\sp_backup\"+$today

# This will iterate through all of your sharepoint sites and create a backup with the site URL as the name 
  Get-SPWebApplication | Get-SPSite | ForEach-Object{$filepath = $backuppath + "\" + $_.Url.Replace("http://","").Replace("/","-").Replace(":","-") + ".bak" ; Backup-SPSite -Identity $_.Url -Path $filepath}

# Edit this address to suit your own needs 
  $emailFrom = "Sharepoint@server.local"

# This is the address that the notification email should be sent to 
  $emailTo = "administrator@server.local"

# Subject for the notification email. The + "$today" part will add the date in the subject.
  $subject = "The SharePoint sites Backup was Successful for "+"$today"

# Body or the notification email. The + "$today" part will add the date in the subject.
  $body = "The SharePoint sites Backup was Successful for "+"$today"

  # IP address of your SMTP server. Make sure relay Is enabled for the SharePoint server on your SMTP server
  $smtpServer = "1.1.1.1"
  $smtp = new-object Net.Mail.SmtpClient($smtpServer)
  $smtp.Send($emailFrom, $emailTo, $subject, $body)
}
Catch
{
  $ErrorMessage = $_.Exception.Message
  # Configure the below parameters as per the above.
  $emailFrom = "Sharepoint@server.local"
  $emailTo = "administrator@server.local"
  $subject = "The SharePoint sites Backup Job failed on "+"$today"
  $body = "The SharePoint sites Backup Job failed on "+"$today and the reason for failure was $ErrorMessage."
  $smtpServer = "1.1.1.1"
  $smtp = new-object Net.Mail.SmtpClient($smtpServer)
  $smtp.Send($emailFrom, $emailTo, $subject, $body)
}

This script can simply be copied into notepad and saved onto your server as a ".ps1" file. This can then be run straight from the servers "run" command by entering "powershell {scriptname}.ps1" and it will create a backup file, this in turn can be used to created a scheduled task on your server to be run each day/week etc.

Credit where due though, this script is a combination of the following 2 sources:

http://thecommunicator.co.cc/2010/12/07/automated-powershell-script-to-backup-sharepoint-farm-or-site-collection-with-email-notification/

http://www.toddklindt.com/blog/Lists/Posts/Post.aspx?List=56f96349-3bb6-4087-94f4-7f95ff4ca81f&ID=191&Web=48e6fdd1-17db-4543-b2f9-6fc7185484fc

Hopefully this will help others out there

- Rob

Some time ago I was doing some work with a good friend of mine who is an expert where marketing is concerned, Kirsty Cambers from Fresh Marketing Solutions, and we were talking about the solutions that we offer to our clients. She asked me to explain each of the services in a ‘sales tone’, not my favourite position, so I did. As I began to explain about the service I went into great detail about what we would deliver to this client as part of the service, i.e. all onsite time included etc. By the end of my piece she turned round to me a said ‘So what?’, I admit I was dumbfounded by this response and truth be told a little hurt. So I fumbled my way through explaining in more depth what this service would do for the business while trying not to make it too obvious that I was staggering around like a teenager on prom night. I finally came to the end and looked over expectantly at her, she replied back at me ‘So what?’. Now this was starting to really rag me up now and clearly this showed in my face as she then explained to me what she was doing.

Essentially, as a business owner we create products and services for our clients that we believe deliver value to them based on the package that is supplied. We are so wrapped up in how wonderful this thing is that we have created and so proud of it because we know what it will do to help a business that we do not stop to realise what that actually means to the business owner. Nor do we take the time to explain what this wonderful new creation will actually do for the business and it’s owner. Let me give an explanation.

Joe sells commercial vehicles to businesses. Joe knows his trade like no-one else in his industry; I mean he lives it, eats it, breathes it, dreams it….I mean he even talks about it in his sleep. Nobody and I mean nobody knows about commercial vehicles like Joe does. One day Bill comes in to his office to speak with him about buying a van for his fleet management business. Bill’s team travel all over the country repairing commercial vehicles such as lorry's and buses so they have a lot of equipment that they carry with them. Joe listens to him explain what his business does and what he is looking for. Once Bill has finished Joe thinks it over and feels that the van that Bill has been looking at is not going to suit his purposes as he will need a greater carrying capacity and, given the mileage, another vehicle will suit him better. So Joe starts to explain about the other van which has a long wheel base and can easily carry around much more weight than Bill’s choice. This van also uses a lower revving engine which is much better when travelling at higher speeds on the motorway. After spending 15 minutes going through this Bill is quite annoyed as Joe had not even spoken about the van he had requested in first place and he leaves not ordering anything and feeling that he had not been listened to by Joe. What Joe had effectively done was the following:

• Failed to address Bill’s original request that he came to him with
• He explained to Bill all of the features of the other van
• Failed to explain why Bill should be looking at the other van
• He failed to explain the benefits for the business of choosing the other van

Had Joe have explained that the extra capacity of the long wheelbase van would have been better suited as each of his team would have been able to carry more equipment which in turn would mean that they would be able to handle more jobs without coming back to base. Also, that the lower revving engine means that the vehicle would use less fuel than his first choice which over the year would save his business around £200 per vehicle and help towards his business being ‘greener’, which he may want to do in the future. Had Joe have done this as well as discussing Bill’s original requirements then he would probably have made a sale, albeit it may have been Bill’s first choice but more likely Joe’s suggestion.

By going through the ‘So What’ process for yourself you should be able to quickly identify, usually about 3-5 times, what the real value to your client is of the product or service you offer. If you can do this honestly then you will be able to connect with your clients and offer business solutions that their business can see the benefits of, not just products and services.

If you need some help with this then I would suggest that you contact Kirsty as all I know on this subject is what she has taught me.

As always, if you have any thoughts on the subject please drop in a comment below.

-Rob

I first heard this quote from a good friend of mine Neil Harvey from resQ Management Resources, it's a favourite saying of his as it reflects what he does for businesses all over the country. He specialises in Lean Manufacturing processes and the essence of the Lean principle is to look what a business does and do it more efficiently. What this quote does say is what we in the IT industry inherently do without even consciously doing. If you ask a IT service business why they do something a particular way you will generally get a blank look saying, "that's the way we've always done it". Now that really doesn't mean that what they are doing is wrong but if you can remove yourself from the situation then you may actually find that there is a better way of doing thing. This industry is full, as are many others, of people that are averse to change and really like to stay well within their comfort zone. But as the title suggest, the only thing that is constant in life is change and everyone needs to have a plan in place which deals with 'change management'.

Now that seems to be really formal and probably sounds quite boring but the fact is that if something unexpected happens in your life, whether in your business life or your personal one, then it can really knock you for six and can disrupt your life. However, if you have some process that allows you to deal with change in a constructive and logical way then it will help you to move forward with minimal stress. One of the great books that I read recently was Notes from a Friend by Anthony Robbins which really helps you to change your perspective on life and the things that life throws at you. I would highly recommend anyone who has not read any of his work to start with this as it will really help to change the way that you look at the challenges in your life and is very light but powerful reading.

Here are some of the points that I picked up from the book:

• You can make things happen - by changing the way that you look at things in your life you have the power to control what happens but you have to change the way you see the things that happen
• Your past does not equal your future - what you did yesterday does not matter, after all there is nothing you can do to change yesterday. What matters is what you do right now and in the future
• Never focus on the problem - you should never focus on the obstacle in front of you, but instead focus on how best to overcome it so you can move closer to your goals

Those who know me already know that the last 4 1/2 years have been difficult on our family, for those not familiar you can read here, and those years of struggling really did take their toll on me. During that time I had a roller coaster of emotions which, if I'm honest, affected me on every level so changing my thinking from a negative thought trail to a positive one was not an easy thing but it is very possible to do.

I am no expert on the subject, in fact I have had a tremendous amount of help from a very good friend of mine who over the last 3 years has helped me to change the way I look at what life throws my way. But it is a slow and steady change which is ultimately worth the effort. So the best advice I can give is that the only true failure in life is to give up trying.

- Rob

You also have a wealth of sessions which allow you to see some of the best people in the industry tell you how things are shaping up for the future. The main theme for the entire conference was 'the Cloud' and how this was going to influence clients buying habits and requirements moving into the future. But the discussions were also about the challenges that this would bring moving into the future along with the objections that may happen along the way. There was some great sessions from industry leaders such as Dave Sobel from Evolve Technologies and Susanne Dansey from Purple Cow Ideas Management both of which shared some great insights into our futures and what can be done to influence things.

I was fortunate enough to have been invited to join in a panel discussion which involved both vendors and resellers about how the landscape for the resellers look moving in to the future and how that can be improved and enriched through deeper relationships with vendors and other IT partners. I explained how I believe that the future of the IT reseller laid in the ability to provide specialised skills but as smaller IT shops this is not possible as it will narrow the market. In order to do this they need to work in partnerships in 'coopitition' so that specialist skills can be brought into your business without narrowing down the scope of your business.

All of this represents a fantastic opportunity to spend some quality time working on your business and now working in your business...sound strange let me explain. When you are doing the work of you business, i.e. fixing networks etc, you are working in your business. When you are learning new things about what is coming and ways to develop that business you are working on you business and that is so important.

For me though the true value comes from the networking that you do outside of these organised sessions, what is traditionally known as the 'p*** ups'. Let's be honest that is what they are but they are also *much* more than this. These session represent the opportunity to really get to know that people beyond what they preach and this is where real relationships start to take shape and where some of the best discussions will take place. During the organised sessions you are likely to be taking notes and the breaks between sessions are very hurried coffee breaks which make it hard to enter any in-depth discussions. However, once the time restraints are removed you can relax and really speak with people and one of the best discussions I had was with Vaughan Shayler from Accredit UK which was only brought to an end when the cleaners threw us out. This in turn will lead on to more conversations in the future which will benefit us both.

I would like to say thank you to Adam Harris from the TCA, Matthew Poyiadgi from CompTIA, William Linard again from CompTIA and all of the other people involved in organising this fantastic event which brought together so many great people from across the globe. I'd also like to make a special thanks to Vlad Mazek from OwnWebNow who, not only supplies us with some fantastic services, he also shouted a group of us for dinner on Wednesday night..thanks Vlad!

So if you are considering going to industry conferences, regardless of what industry you are in, I would strongly encourage you to do so as there is tremendous value in doing so.