It Audit and it Inventory Management – Knowing Which Assets You Have

Knowing which IT assets you have and how they are used has become a challenge in today’s complex and ever evolving IT infrastructure. A typical IT infrastructure has many different assets of various types, and new IT projects are deploying additional assets to support the business objectives. These challenges includes tracking IT assets across multiple offices and IT platforms, detecting software installed and used, and discovering new devices that are on the network.

The Challenge

1. Knowing which IT assets you have, where they are, and their current configuration.

2. Audit changes to your assets, such as new computers or software installations across your network.

3. Planning IT migrations and new IT projects.

4. Correlating IT assets against business financial records such as contracts and licenses.

IT Audit – where is the business benefit?

An updated computer inventory can help reduce the cost of administrating your IT assets, improve security and ensure you are always ready for your next IT audit.

1. Reduce IT costs by better managing and administrating your IT assets.

2. Ensure software license compliance by knowing what you have and what you use.

3. Align IT with business goals to support business decisions such as license purchasing or renewals.

4. Improve productivity by empowering the IT administration team to easily track and manage assets and their changes.

5. Detect risks to your computers such as unauthorized and illegal software by adopting a software usage policy and easily detecting any policy deviations.

6. Audit Automation – every organization is facing an IT audit, whether its taking place every year or every month. An updated IT inventory can save you from manually tracking your assets and managing spreadsheets.

Effectively Managing Software Licenses

Did you know that many companies are still using a spreadsheet to keep track of their software licenses? Whether you are a 10 person company or a large enterprise, software licenses are a business asset (and a rather under-utilized one) and deserves better care.

Like many other business assets, software licenses can and should be optimized to extract more value to your business.

Optimizing software licenses can help you reduce your software costs by only renewing the licenses you use, and better prepare for license renewal negotiations. It can help you stay compliant with license agreements by making sure you have sufficient licenses for all the software that is used across your company.

To effectively optimize software licenses, a company has to align its financial records (software licenses) with its inventory (what software is used). This can become a challenge in today’s modern IT world, when your software inventory is rapidly changing as new computers are purchased and more software gets installed. It becomes an even bigger challenge when you want to optimize software licenses as part of your ongoing business process, and not as a one-time event.

Certain IT Asset Management services can help you optimize your software licenses as part of your IT Asset Management strategy. These tools help you organize your software licenses in one place, remind you when renewals are due, and easily correlate licenses to your inventory at any time, so you know what you have and what you need. Other benefits include:

Organize your software licenses in a centralized repository, keep track of proof-of-purchase, resellers and purchase records.

Monitor renewal dates and notify you when license renewals are due, so you could better prepare for an upcoming negotiation, and only renew what you need . You can even use the service to plan and consolidate multiple licenses into a single agreement as part of your renewal.

Reconcile software licenses against current inventory, to detect any under or over license situations. You need a tool that can help you reconcile your data when your inventory changes, so you know your status at any time, and could incorporate this process into your IT Asset Management plan.

Using an IT Asset Management tool will help you eliminate the “license spreadsheet” and better manage your software licenses as a business asset.

Exhibitions Management Provides an Impressive Environment for Business

The success of your exhibition and meeting much relies on your preparation, arrangements and management solutions. A well planned exhibition pulls the attention of your targeted audience and also increases the profitability to your organization. Now, most events like, exhibitions, meetings, conferences, wedding parties, etc are organized by taking the help of professional planners. These planners take care of little things right from the colour scheme at the venue to the food and drink catering and the amusements. Moreover, exhibition management solution helps to manage exhibitions, conferences, meetings, etc from start to finish and offers you a number of services such as:

•    Evaluates the requirements of your targeted audience and exhibitors and ensure that the show will fulfill their needs
•    Helps to make the exhibition the most beneficial part of your meeting
•    Manages and arranges the exhibition set-up, timings, site inspection, venue liaison, etc
•    Provision for marketing and sales of exhibition space
•    Makes a dynamic plan to provide an impressive environment for business
•    Promotes exhibitions for growing revenue and volume
•    Collects payments and keep you informed with financial updates to measure the exhibition’s financial success
•    Makes a link between exhibitor and organizer

Exhibition is intended for demonstrating new brands and products to create huge awareness, while exhibition management is vital to make an exhibition unique and successful from start to finish. Put simply, it is a management solution that identifies the targeted audience, creates event concept, and determines the density of brands, not to mention the commitment of making the exhibition successful and memorable. It is considered as one of the planned advertising and communication tools used by businesses, corporate houses and organizations of all sizes. Whether it is exhibition or meeting, management solutions has gained great importance. Exhibition and meeting management is the latest trend as it not only helps to arrange all exhibitions and meetings successfully, but also saves a good amount of time and money.

When it comes to select a meeting management as well as exhibition management solution provider, you can find it easily because there are a number of online solution providers that provide you with state-of-the art exhibition solutions, which take the load off from you. Exhibition management solution providers endow you with complete solution such as the modular exhibition kits, display panels and marketing collaterals.

Business Process Outsourcing in the Philippines through Web Dot Com

Business process outsourcing has opened the doors of third world countries like the Philippines to global business, inspiring local talent to attain world-class credentials and eligibility. Now that the country has proven its capability at providing a highly qualified pool of human resources, companies around the globe have seen the wisdom of outsourcing in the Philippines. In fact, the Philippines is one of the top recipients of outsourced business processes worldwide.

Through business process outsourcing, companies are able to streamline their operations and lower costs. Certain work processes are sourced out at a fraction of the cost of in-house counterparts. Not only are resources saved but company management time is freed up, as well, to enable them to focus their attention to core business competencies, maximizing the company’s specialization and leveraging income and profit.

Back Office and Front Office Procedures

Business process outsourcing is divided into back office procedures and front office procedures. Back office procedures are internal functions that include, among others, human resources administration, payroll, tax compliance, purchasing and disbursement, order entry, billing and collection, and cash and investment management. Front office procedures are external functions that include, among others, customer relations, marketing and technical support. This contributes to customer satisfaction, strengthens brand loyalty and increases market share.

Front office procedures are often handled by contact centers or call centers. Contact centers provide more comprehensive services beyond voice calls. Unlike call centers, contact centers use a multi-channel contact management platform where customer interaction may also be done over the web or through email, fax and even instant messaging.

Inbound and Outbound Calls

Contact centers handle either inbound or outbound calls. Inbound calls are calls from customers or employees of a client company. The calls are received by a help desk and, depending on the caller’s needs, are routed to the most appropriate persons to handle them. These calls are usually related to customer service needs, sales or technical support.

The contact center is bound by a service-level agreement with the client company, where service goals are stipulated. Several metrics are used in measuring performance, including first call resolution, average handle time and average queuing time.

Outbound calls are made by contact center associates to clients, customers or a lead list. This could involve telemarketing to prospects or current customers, or collections on overdue bills. The interaction is often recorded or tracked by special programs.

Business Process Outsourcing in the Philippines

Business process outsourcing in the Philippines offered by Web Dot Com includes software development and maintenance, animation and graphic design, back office processes, and inbound and outbound contact center solutions. Contact center associates can set appointments, do customer profiling and acquisition, conduct business to business telesales, process credit cards, manage leads, manage customer relations and provide customer support and technical support.

Aside from business process outsourcing, Web Dot Com also offers comprehensive website development services, including web design, e-commerce solutions such as online store applications for online shopping and online payment, content management systems, advanced portal development and other custom programming,  web based database programming, website maintenance and support, search engine optimization, search engine marketing and social media marketing.

Established in the Philippines in 1998, Web Dot Com has in the last ten years succeeded in positioning itself well as an ideal business partner for companies in its home turf, as well as in the United States, the United Kingdom, Australia, Germany, the United Arab Emirates, Korea, Hong Kong and the British Virgin Islands. It is committed to giving top quality service to fully support to its clients’ business growth, believing that the client’s success is its success.

Event Management Company Makes Your Event Unique and Successful

It doesn’t matter, what sort of event you need to plan, corporate event management solution is vital to make it unique and successful. From business events, conferences, meetings, seminars, exhibitions to weddings, an event management company keeps you away from stress and worries and saves a good amount of time and money as well. Organizers and corporate houses due to lack of time give preference to corporate event management companies to organize any kind of event. This is because; an event management company takes all the burdens from you and manages your special corporate as well as private event in a unique way from start to finish. These event planners also provide event concept development, budget settlement, marketing, advertising and support.

Many people still think what an event management company can do? It is simple, an event management company manages your corporate event, sales your tickets online, makes a dynamic plan to provide an impressive environment for business, promotes exhibitions for growing profits and volume and above all collects payments and keep you informed with financial updates to measure the events financial success. However, the task of an event management company is a difficult one because it needs good management skills and quickness of thought and above all patience.

Today, private as well as corporate events need proper management and arrangement to make them successful and unique. However, arrangements and managements depend on the nature of event and the targeted audience. In simple words, Event management company manages your corporate event, sales your tickets online, makes a dynamic plan to provide an impressive environment for business, promotes exhibitions for growing revenue and volume and above all collects payments and keep you informed with financial updates to measure the events financial success.

These companies also have the proficiency to handle all the points of special corporate events such as right venue, cuisine and entertainment. In simple words, an event management company is outfitted to manage all the event related problems. These professional planners are adapted to handle the details of a major event and have doubtless experience. A corporate event management service provider manages and arranges state-of-the-art services that a corporate event requires. Industry sectors like award ceremonies, fashion shows, sports, music, cultural gatherings, etc have become the essential options in the event management sector because event management companies endow you with skillful administration from beginning to end.

Unresolved Tension: the Quandary of Revenue Management Versus Service Management – Parts 1 & 2

Chris, from the International College of Management Sydney addresses the challenges of balancing revenue management and service management in a 6 Part Q & A series – in this article, he explains the revenue management strategy and addresses the issue of hotel pricing policies and their associated ethics.

1. What is your opinion on revenue Management in hospitality today?

Revenue Management is a multi-faceted strategic approach to pricing that can be very effective at promoting the bottom line. It works best for the overall sustainability of a hotel when it takes into account existing hotel standards and systems and especially when it can be flexible to loyal customers.

Do you think that all this heavy discounting and yield management really works (more retention of revenue)?

Discounting is a sometimes effective short-term strategy, but it is unsustainable because it can have long term impacts. Look at the recent closure of the Fairmont Resort, Blue Mountains , a hotel with competitive rates, as one example of a good hotel that priced itself under its market. I prefer value-add strategies for luxury products like hotels (keep the price the same but add-on indirect costs like upgrades and valet parking and shoe-shining), because I think customers equate low prices with poor quality and that has a negative brand impact, which does not sustain them.

In support of my discount-wary philosophy, the Observatory Hotel on Kent St, Sydney, has a ‘no discount’ policy that has seen it consistently able to charge high rates and generate revenues which are, by my observation, then invested in its people, these people then produce better service, which in turn adds value and can then be reflected in even higher prices… and so the virtuous cycle continues. It is a phenomenon particular to hotels and airlines and other luxury items.

Do you think that hotel pricing policies are giving fairness and satisfaction to all customers?

No, but the nature of service and hotels is that all customers are different and have different needs so this does not concern me so much. What does concern me is the opposite point of view. A lot of RM strategies rely on shifting market trends and movements that classify all people arriving at a certain time as one particular group. Therefore, I am no longer Mr Smith, regular customer who always gets a suite with a beautiful view for a consistent rate, but now I am Mr Smith arriving on a busy Thursday night and so now I must pay more or less than before because that’s economics. That is economics, but not service. This is not honouring his loyalty nor rewarding it.

What is your opinion on all this cost cutting which is going on at the moment? Do you thing that employees are working in very “tough” environment, understaffed, stressed….?

Cost Cutting is vital but managers need to see themselves and their departments as ‘profit centres’ and emphasise revenue generation as well, as this will empower staff to see themselves as part of the success of the business= more motivation= better service. Furthermore, the old adage, you need to spend money to make money, is as apt as ever.

Stay tuned for parts 3-4 from the International College of Management Sydney

MBA, BBA College in Indore Management Institute

Indore Management Institute (IMI), one of
the premier management institute in the
country, Indore Central India announces
admissions in

- Two year MBA program for residential students.
- One year MBA program for the working professional.
- Customised MBA program for the corporate.
- 3 Years Full Time (Regular) BBA & B.Com

courses. The details are as follows:

Contact details
Indore Management Institute
M 4 Mishika Tower Sapna Sangeeta, INDORE M.P.
0731-2478888, 9301230074, 9926023232
Email: info@imi.ac.in  www.imi.ac.in

MBA Courses:
•    MBA – Core (Dual Specialization in Hr, Finance, Marketing)
•    MBA – Banking & Insurance
•    MBA – Retail Management
•    MBA – International Business
•    MBA – Information Technology
•    MBA – Hospital Administration
•    MBA – Educational Management System
•    MBA – Training & Placement
•    MBA – E Commerce
•    MBA + PGP in Pharma

BBA Courses
•    BBA- Bachelor of Business Administration
•    BBA-FT – Bachelor of Business Administration in Foreign Trade

B.Com Courses
•    B.Com (Computer Application)
•    B.Com (Foreign Trade)
•    B.Com (Tax Procedure)
•    B.Com (Advertising & Sales Management)
•    B.Com (E-Commerce)
•    B.Com (Office Management)

Affiliation:
IMI – the top management institute in
Indore, central India has affiliation with
Sighania University for post Graduate
programmes and affiliated with Devi Ahilya
University, Indore aka DAVV, Indore for
under graduate programmes.

Facilities:
•    Free Laptop to every student
•    Free Singapore Study Tour to each student
•    Free 7 Additional diploma/certificates in the fields like SAP, 6 Sigma, ERP, Oracle, E.I., MDP, EDP, IFAIM etc.
•    Prayaas – The Scholarship Program for meritorious students more details..
•    Free Lunch & Bus Facility etc.
•    International Certification from (Management Development Institute of Singapore) MDIS Singapore
•    Regular Industry visits.
•    World’s first Management Lab in which you can do practical of your management theories.
•    CEO of the month activity in which CEO/manager of different companies interact with students.
•    Air Conditioned classrooms.
•    Wi fi Campus
•    Well stocked Library and E Library
•    Sports facility includes: Billiards, Snooker, Basket ball, Table Tennis, Volley Ball, Badminton and many indoor/outdoor

games.
•    Open air Cafeteria
•    Communication lab for language improvement.
•    World’s first institute to publish an

International Management Journal – IMI DISHA within 6 months of its inception.
•    Conducting CEO Roundtable conferences to enhance the placement opportunities for students.
•    Conducting Academia Industry interface to update the course curriculum.

Scholarships
Scholarships are available for All Female students and meritorious male students.

Contact Details
School of Business Indore Management Institute
M 4 Mishika Tower Sapna Sangeeta, INDORE
M.P.
0731-2478888, 9301230074, 9926023232
info@imi.ac.in www.imi.ac.in

With so many facilities and benefits for
students Indore Management Institute has
earned a distinct reputation in central
India. The institute provide 100% placement
assistance to its students. They are
maintaining excellent infrastructure and
educational quality standards. It has
become a well known destination for
management studies not only in Indore but

all over India. Even students from other
countries are joining management courses at
IMI.

Business management : Understanding Company and Business Environment

Realistic appreciation of business environment, its market and business are of paramount importance for company management to form the right company strategy and derive the right decisions. Personal emotions however frequently interfere, blurring the view, and affecting managers’ ability to judge reality.

April 6, 2009, an earthquake, hits L’Aquila, Italy, killing over 260 residents, injuring over 1,000 and leaving 28,000 homeless.

Out of numerous personal tragedies, which the cameraman brought to our homes, two less severe stories shed light on our perceptions of Reality.

The camera shows a family, parents and two girls, lucky enough to leave home on the disastrous day in order to visit friends, standing shocked in front of their house. What used to be their home is now only a heap of stones. Their apartment is buried deep under the walls and columns piled one on top of the other.

Their entire wealth is buried. Precious belongings, photographs, things they are attached to, will never be restored. Their faces express the pain, despair and hopelessness of people seeing their world collapsing before their eyes.

The camera shows another scene on our TV. The background looks the same, another pile of stones quite similar to the first one, but here a rescue team is trying to save a child buried under the heap.

The cameraman focuses on the hands of the people trying to clear a path for the little girl. She is slowly pulled out, and eventually finds herself in the arms of a rescue team member.

Out of nowhere, the father of the girl appears on the screen. He embraces the little child carrying her to her mother who stands nearby. The father, holding his little daughter in his arms, seems to be the happiest man ever lived; the mother sheds tears of joy.

Eventually, both families find themselves in the same position. They have been thrown out of their homes, both saved their family members, and both have to start rebuilding their lives.

The first family is in despair, they seem not to know where and how to go on. The horror, which the second family did go through, however, until they could hug their daughter again, and the relief felt when the girl was rescued, made them lucky. They are not miserable any more. They seem to evaluate the lost property as a minor incident.

The future will probably look different for both families. Although, the situation seems similar, each one has a different prospective. Each one has his own truth, which is hundred eighty degrees apart.

The first family being a victim, the second is in luck.

The second family will probably be much sooner on track again. The wounds will heal very slowly for the parents of the first.

“All our yesterdays have lighted fools The way to dusty death”, says Macbeth in Shakespeare’s play. There is not much we can do when we are in sorrow. It takes time until we become accustomed to the situation, able to repress emotions and evaluate logically our next steps.

But many fall in the trap where emotional experience, does light the way. Many managerial decisions are based not on logical evaluation of present condition or long term future strategy, but on embedded emotions, prejudices, rules of thumb, loyalties, promises and old habits. Past experience does affect our decisions causing us to deny reality.

If you were a newcomer to your company:

Would you continue to distribute your products in the same territories, with the same reps?

Wouldn’t you eliminate the product lines that do not contribute?

Would you continue to push the new “promising” idea, in spite of negative market feedback?

Would you continue with the same managers in the same positions?

Would you continue with the same customers, all of them?

Would you continue to manage other operations the same way?

If you are the founder, or if you manage the company for years, the company probably reflects your character, beliefs, commitments and personal connections.

If you do accept the idea that major changes are required, consideration should be given whether you should lead the transformation. Help from a consultant or a manager able to devote the required time may be preferred. Even so, whoever is in charge should be given authority, or at least a sincere attentive ear.

Leadership and Business Management Training

Running a successful business is incredulously rewarding as well as challenging, and challenges can tax your enthusiasm. Keep your energy, confidence and enthusiasm high and build some of basic business skills in yourself as well as in your employees or co workers. Some of the basic business skills like leadership qualities and management development is a key source of any successful business. 
<a onClick=”javascript:pageTracker._trackPageview(‘/outgoing/article_exit_link’);” href=http://www.jimclemmer.com/>Leadership Development</a> enhances the learner’s capacity to lead people, set a direction and guide others to follow that direction. Some people are born to be the leaders while those who want to be a leader can develop leadership ability and many qualities of effective leadership, like confidence and charisma.  Business leadership development is extremely important for business executives and those trainings to assume the role of a business executive. Various organizations and institutes run sessions and classes for Leadership Business Training to transform the work of an individual or group into a highly inspired, motivated and polished team. Management Development is also important for any successful business and is best described as the process from which managers learn and improve their skills not only to benefit themselves but also their employing organizations. Good managers guide leaders through an effective and proven execution process for turning strategies into results. Managers also learn to evaluate behavior and conduct significant performance reviews. 
Companies grow and evolve as they mature and after that they want leadership and <a onClick=”javascript:pageTracker._trackPageview(‘/outgoing/article_exit_link’);” href=http://www.jimclemmer.com/>management development</a> skills to create interdependence, communication, leadership and incredible productivity from their employees, even people have a passion for success and are willing to achieve their goal want to develop these important business skills in them.

Time Management For Busy Dads

If you are a stay at home dad, and are trying to find the best ways to manage your time with a busy schedule, or if you are working and need to find the time to take care of your kids and balance a heavy load of work each day, you are also probably looking for advice to manage your time the best. There are tips and advice available online for you to use to learn how to manage the time you need to spend at work, or at home, with your kids and still manage to find time for yourself.

Many busy dads, who are full time guardians for their children, need to try to find the balance for work and time with their kids. It is not always easy to find time to get to all the kids activities and do all of the work. If you are looking for some of the best tips to help you get start managing your time the best and have the time that you need to spend with your kids, check out busydaddy.com. This web site is a great place for busy dads to get some great advice on managing time. There are other dads who offer tips and ideas on what has worked for them in managing their own time, and you can read what others have to say.

You can learn how to make the most out of your work schedule, time off and busy days to get in all of the activities that you want to do with your kids. This web site is great if you are a dad who works outside of the home, or if you are a dad that stays at home with your kids. You can find a lot of great information that will help you learn the skills to manage your time and get a chance to be a part of all of the activities that your kids are a part of. When you are needing help to organize your time and schedule and want to get the most time in with your kids as you can, while still having some time for yourself, check out the web site and learn effective ways that you can manage your time.

When you learn how to save time with planning ahead for activities, meals and other schedules for your kids, you can learn how to enjoy the time that you spend with your kids and with work. You can find ways to manage your time and enjoy all of the things that you enjoy doing with your children by going online and learning tools to help you get organized.

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