Planning to fail

I wonder how many South African and African users are affected by the failure on the Seacom cable.  We were not unaffected (we use MWEB Uncapped ADSL too) but we also have backup in the form of SAIX and Web Africa (powered by SAIX) accounts, so failure simply meant changing accounts on the routers. Many users do not have this option, as bandwidth is still expensive, and they simply cannot afford to run multiple accounts. How many small and medium businesses are affected? Who knows? And how many of them knew to have multiple access accounts? Which brings me to the point I wanted to make. For years South Africans have been complaining about Telkom and how crap they are, and how expensive they are. A lot of this complaining was justified, as Telkom’s grip on our infrastructure did hamper us in many ways. But, it seems as if they did put of hard earned cash to good use, as they have never really had a complete and utter failure like this that I can recall. Sure, there’s been cable failures, DSL failures, but we are least get these issues resolved and in general, ADSL performs way better than any of the competing wireless offerings from the mobile providers, Neotel or iBurst.  But, the biggest sinners here are the ISP’s who take our cash on a monthly basis, providing us with Internet Access solution while failing to plan for failures in the network. Now, it may be that the Seacom 99.999% uptime SLA had something to do with it (as well as their cheaper access link prices), but surely a company providing access to thousands of users must know that networks do have failures, and that it will happen to them at some point or another. But, the so called 5 9’s uptime promise of only 26 seconds of failure per month looks as if it was so alluring, that a number of high profile ISP’s missed the boat, chucking all their eggs into one basket.  Nett result? If you are an MWEB Uncapped customer, good luck in trying to access anything, not to mention anything out of country. So a heavy cloud computing based company such as ourselves, is stuffed if you do not have alternative access accounts.  Good time to then invest and buy some load balancing kit too (we sell Peplink, you can buy them from us), as ADSL failure is probably going to happen too. In that case, the Peplink device will fail over to 3G, and we simply have a prepaid account that we keep active, so that we can load it with bandwidth if we need it in case of failure. So, multiple ISP access accounts, load balanced links with failover and you are set, suffering only in your wallet ;-)

 

And I am not picking on any of the ISP’s here, but I hope we all learn a valuable lesson, as failing to plan in this case clearly is a case of planning to fail.

Small business guide

I am planning to compile a small business guide to show small business owners and start-up companies, how to leverage locally (South African) available tools, services and companies to improve the performance of your IT/Business systems, while lowering your costs.  I have had tremendously positive feedback from people after hearing how we do things, and I’d love to do my part in stimulating economic growth, by sharing this info. If you have questions you’d like to see answered, or have ideas that could be included, pop me an email to “irengineer at gmail dot com”. Looking forward to hear from you.

Google, the gift that keeps on giving

When you run a startup company, it’s very hard to ignore the price of free.  And, if the free stuff is good stuff, well, then you are in startup heaven. Let it be said, that for all their occasional bad press, privacy concerns from countries/users, and Steve Jobs rubbishing their “Don’t be evil” motto, I really do love Google. Allow me to explain. 

Let’s start with your business basics. You need email, badly. It’s the way the world communicates, and you need to get hooked up. Enter Google Apps. If you already have a domain, and used a decent provider that gives you some sort of “control panel” web application, you are in business. No domain yet? No problem. For my South African readers, I do love Host4Africa, they will do a new .co.za domain for R100, and annual renewal is R 75, all fees included. So, domain done, scoot over to the Google Apps homepage, and sign up for the Standard Edition. That gives you a me@mydomain.co.za email service for free (domain setup for MX records etc. will be required, get your IT guy buddy to do it), and you also get shared calendar, an online office suite (Google Docs) and plenty of other free goodies.  These services are well documented on the web, getting it going is a doddle. The point here is getting all this amazing stuff that works not only with your desktop systems, but also your BlackBerry, Android or iPhone mobile phone. And yes, your dang Windows Mobile phone too.

But, here is the best bit. After buying AppJet, makers of one of my all-time favourite tools, EtherPad, Google released the EtherPad technology and code as open source! Amazing, they even provide you with instructions on how to setup your own EtherPad server! So, what is EtherPad? Let me explain using a real life example. As we run our business in such a distributed fashion, we often have to work together on project items, while we are thousands of kilometres away from each other. Recently, Hennie and I had to do documentation for a project, and instead of emailing draft copies backwards and forwards, we used EtherPad to create the document.  Using another free tool, Freemind, we created a quick outline in mind map format to guide us through what we needed. Using a hosted version of EtherPad (again, mahala, look here for links), we created the document. With free Skype calls (we were on the phone via Skype for almost 4 hours at a time, no problem, just use a decent headset) we communicated while we typed, and created a beautiful customer document while Hennie and I could see each other’s typing colour coded in real-time.  We saved numerous versions along the way, using the EtherPad tools, and could use the time slider to track forwards and backwards through our changes. Once we were happy with the content, we downloaded the document in RTF format, and emailed it to Dave, who branded the document and fixed all our bad grammar.

So, what does the future hold for EtherPad? Expect to see Google using that technology to enhance their Wave product, but for now EtherPad lives on in the safe hands of the open source community. Now I must just get Hennie to get it up and running on our hosted server….

Networks and application performance issues

A network admin that I know very well inherited a new network 5 days ago...here's what he is faced with... excuse the image quality, took these in low light conditions with my Blackberry.

To add insult to severe application injury, he has almost 600 Ethernet ports daisy chained across almost 30 unmanaged low cost Ethernet switches...so no SNMP management, no VLAN's, nothing. And, obviously there is not enough cable points and switch ports, so we found numerous 5 and 8 port Ethernet switches sitting in offices, branching out the network.


One of the worst in the unshielded and cable tied Cat5 Ethernet cables running on the outside of the building. Lightning strikes in the area have taken out portions of the network a number of times...wonder why :-)

Not only is a seriously important 2 Terabyte database being accessed across this network, but they are also running VoiP!

But have worries, our fearless admin is roping in all his connections to come and assist in getting this mess sorted and the network and users productive.  I'll keep you posted as the story unfolds...

To protect the innocent no names will be mentioned...but you know who you are :-)

A twist on my Linux Desktop story...

Hmm...there has been an interesting little twist in my life concerning my Linux system. Those of you following my tweets would have seen that I installed Office 2010 on my Windows 7 system last week. I also said that I am "almost" exclusively using my Linux system, the bit on Windows is really to sync some data (calendar, tasks and contacts) from Salesforce to Outlook, and then from Outlook to my BlackBerry. My calender is also synced via Google Calendar Sync to my online Google calendar, which is used by the rest of the guys in our company. Well, basically none of that is working, yet I am not totally screwed. It is not working, as the Google provided app to sync the Outlook calendar, does not work with Outlook 2010. The Salesforce app to sync data with Outlook also does support the 2010 version yet. But, here's how Google, Linux and my Blackberry saved me...first Evolution (the Linux email app) works great with all my Google services, so my calendar is no issue, and my email runs via IMAP, so no issue there. SalesForce makes available a "light" version of their mobile client for BlackBerry and depending on you Salesforce version, that app is free (mine is) so all data in Salesforce is available to view.The only item left to figure out is tasks...

Bottom line here is that do not upgrade to Office 2010 before you check that all your business tools depending on it works. By accident, Google, Linux and Blackberry is keeping me going :-)

Are you ready for Linux on the desktop?

Before I start, let me get something out the way...for the sake of full disclosure, our company is a Microsoft partner. We sell and support the Windows Server platform technologies as a number of our Network Management platforms run on Windows systems.

Right, on to the good stuff....  I have been playing a bit with Linux for a while now, from around the 7.0x release of Ubuntu. Prior to that, I have occasionally installed RedHat, Fedora, Mandriva and Suse, but never reached a point where I was ready to dump my Windows desktop operating system.  From Ubuntu release 9.04, I have been dual booting my system, but found myself slipping back into Windows to do my serious work. That has now changed....here's why.

Observation 1: Linux on the desktop is not for everyone.

This is an important point to get across, just because it now works for me, does not mean it will work for you.  Ask any Apple Mac user, an they will tell you that while they love and adore their Mac systems, some compromises must be made. Not all your peripherals will work 100% (we use a serious Lexmark multifunction printer in the office, mission to get basics going on Linux) so check for vendors who have fairly decent Linux support before you switch (but feel free to try). The applications you use and the systems you access is a major analysis step.  For web, email, Web 2.0 apps (FaceBook, LinkedIn etc) and 98% of your word processing,spreadsheet and presentation tool requirements, Linux works 100%.  Need to access your financial system? Hmmm, that could be an issue, unless it is web enabled, or runs something like a Java front end. Your office infrastructure must also be good, with decent quality Wifi kit and network devices, plus a decent connection to the Internet (we now have loads of great options).

Observation 2: Prepare for a bit of a leaning curve

Linux is different to Windows. Period. If you want to use Linux, be prepared to change your thinking, and learn some new processes and tricks. The rewards however are worth it.  The Graphic User Interface is easy enough to drive, and quite intuitive, but be ready for some head scratching if you want to install other applications than those found in the basic Ubuntu repositories. Getting someone to help who has some experience makes a big difference. Our Systems Engineer, Hennie Marais (http://za.linkedin.com/in/hmarais) is a bit of a whiz kid on Linux and he's been helping me a lot.

Observation 3: Understand your applications

This is a very key point. Making the switch to Linux depends largely on the applications and systems you are using today. Unless you are prepared to change some of those applications, it could be the single biggest issue preventing you from making the switch. One of the reasons it is working for the more technical users in our business (as not everyone has switched, nor are they required too) is that we took a conscious decision when we started the business to put as many of our business apps as we can in the cloud, using the Software-as-a-Service model as far as we can.  Almost by definition, this means that our Customer Relationship Management, Financial System, Time Tracking and Shared Document repositories are all web based. Anything web based is a doddle on Linux. Our email system is provided by Google (we are a Google Apps customer) and as a result we have online shared calendars etc, all easily integrated into the standard Linux apps.

Observation 4: Be ready for some savings!!!

This is a point I cannot stress enough...running Linux can save you money. How? Well, the obvious place to start is to take a typical environment, and do a costing. We'll assume a small business with 5 users only. We'll ignore the hardware and Internet costs, and instead focus just on the desktop software and just price a single server for file and printer sharing.

All the Microsoft pricing was obtained from http://shop.xtremesolutions.co.za (a random online reseller, no known link or affiliation to me)

Quantity	Microsoft Tool	Unit Cost	Total Cost	Linux Tool	Basic Costs	Quantity	Total Cost	Saving with Linux
5	Windows 7 Ultimate Edition	R 1637.00	R 8185.00	Ubuntu Desktop Linux 10.4	Free	5	R 0.00	R 8185.00
5	Microsoft Office 2007 Professional	R 2583.00	R 12915.00	Open Office 3.2	Free	5	R 0.00	R 12915.00
1	Microsoft Small Business Server 2008 Premium with 5 Client access licenses	R 11548.00	R 11548.00	Ubuntu Server 10.4	Free	1	R 0.00	R 11548.00
5	Symantec Internet Security 2010	R 218.00	R 1090.00	None required...Linux is secure			R 0.00	R 1090.00
								R 33738.00

Saving R 33000.00 in capital costs can go a long way...we spend way less than that on our CRM and Financial system, so the savings from running Linux could be used to cover other costs.

Conclusion

Now, before the flame war starts, let me stress that this is a hypothetical example, and that your mileage may vary.  But the bottom line is, with the wide range of hardware now supported, the ease of use and the small learning curve, Linux is ready to appear on your South African small business network.

Making Web 2.0 work for us

Every time I do a search for a company to provide a specific product or service, I am amazed at how many small businesses and even sizeable companies do not have adequate online presence. What do I mean by adequate online presence? Well, the basics will do for a start, so how about a fairly descriptive website, and an email address? Now, what amazes me even more, is how little small businesses knows about branding, and how that can work for them. Seeing companies that are XYZ Plumbers, with their email address as xyz345@someprovider.whatnot drives me bonkers. Domains and web hosting services are so cheap nowadays, there is no excuse for not owning your own domain name, and making sure that you have a simple email address such as sales@mydomain.whatnot. Backing that up with a site on FaceBook etc is also very easy.

Now, I know how much work and effort it takes to keep these things updated (I run our business infrastructure and provide content for our sites) but the rewards are so great, you'd be silly not to do it.  Keeping it simple does not hurt either.  In South Africa, I blame our education system for the things I complain about over here. Has our education systems at high school and tertiary level kept pace with the speed of technological developments? Certainly not...Government does recognise the need for assisting and even incubating small companies, but imagine my surprise when I found that as a small commercial entity (entitled to assistance from our Government's Department of Trade and Industry initiatives), we are providing infrastructure and services to our small business at a much lower cost that what a government subsidized incubator could do! And we do nothing fancy, we just use amazing free stuff from Google (such as this blog service, and their Apps solution) and low cost items from virtual office and hosting providers.

The netto result of all this, is that by having access to these services, we now start building a nice and cross linked web presence, enabled for Web 2.0 services.  Are we where we want to be as a small business? No, that does take time. But getting the basics going is amazingly quick and easy.  Here's an example of something we did recently as part of our corporate social investment.

Via one of my service providers, I was introduced to an brand new Not for Profit Organisation, that provides the most amazing technology to kids with a very specific need (more details will follow in another post about this great NPO). Imagine my surprise, when I realized that they had no brand, no website, nothing. A brief discussion between the Solution Blox partners resulted in us offering a bit of my time to get them going, while we pick up the monthly associated costs.  The domain registration process was dealt with online, and apart from once off fees of less than R 200.00, there is a recurring bill for R 39.00.  Once the domain was live, Joomla was installed as the Content Management System for the website (no cost open source tool) and all the email services was moved onto Google Apps (no costs here). Our favourite web designers (Christine and the team @ TM4Y) provided a quote for the customization of a Joomla template with all the branding/logos done and the guys from Development Communications Solutions (www.dev-com.co.za) assisted us by applying their international award winning branding skills to the project.  So, for less than R 3000, the website, FaceBook pages domain etc was done.  All in all, we spent around 8 hours to get everything going.  Now, in this project, the real hard work starts when we tell the world about this NPO, and launch an integrated communications strategy to help them raise funds. And, we'll make sure all the correct info is provided quick and easy via the web.

The team members for our company are all using LinkedIn, ensuring that we never lose touch with customers, suppliers, contractors etc, even as they move around the industry. And we use a number of could based Software-as-a-Service solutions to ensure that no matter where we are in the world, our data and systems are available to us.

Web 2.0 may seem daunting, but once you get going, you just need to be diligent about keeping your content fresh. That ensures that you weave a fine interlinked web in the new web 2.0 world where we do so much online. Make sure you pay attention to your business processes, it is no use you have all this stuff, and no one owns/drives it internally. Do the basics, like ensuring that someone reads your email, so that you do not miss customer inquiries, compliments or complaints.

See you online :-)

Business Processes

Business processes and consulting around it have been popping up more and more in my field of business and expertise.  Most customers struggle to come to terms with what it means, and what the impact in their business is.  Then, while working from home today, I ordered lunch.  Here's how things happened.  I decided to order something healthy, and browsed to the corporate website of a company that sells fast food that I would consider to be "healthy" (my wife may disagree....). I was looking for the phone number of my nearest outlet, when I saw that they now have a process where I can order online. I thus proceeded to register as a new user, and based on my physical address, the system selected the closest outlet to me. Selecting the order and adding the items to my basket was very easy, and I also took advantage of a combo meal offer, that included a free soft drink. Order placed, I proceeded to checkout and waited to see what would happen next. I half expected someone to give me a call, as some of the items I ordered may have been out of stock, due to their seasonal nature, but no one called and around 20 minutes after placing the order, my lunch arrived.  The first issue was that the guys did not have the correct change (even catering for the fact that I always tip), as the online system gave me an option to select the kind of currency multiple I'd be using, so that they can have the right change on hand. Secondly, the drink for my combo meal was nowhere to be seen. Unfortunately I discovered that just as the delivery guy disappeared around the bend...A prompt call was made to the local outlet, and the in-store guy apologized, saying that they would sent the drink around...3 hours later, still no drink.

Then I discovered the email in my inbox...turns out I received an email from the service, saying that there was some "technical issue" and that my order was not processed...yet, lunch was standing on my desk!  Imagine how upset I would have been if I had ordered from a different company as a result of getting this email (leading me to believe that no lunch would be arriving) and a second lunch appeared from an alternative company and that I also had to pay for that!

Now, this is the perfect example of what having a business process means, and the impact of not making sure they work properly.  As a franchised business, the store owner is ultimately the responsible person, with the on duty manager as the process owner. A simple order checklist would ensure that a) all ingredients is in stock, and b) once made, everything is packed and ready for delivery. The impact of not doing it is that a second trip (without revenue) has to be made to deliver the drink, impacting not only on customer satisfaction for the first customer (me), but also for all other customers (all their orders will now be late, as the outlet only has one driver). Make enough of these mistakes, and you'll cost yourself a serious amount of money, plus have an unhappy customer base.

Making processes work properly is hard work, I know the challenge that it is for us in our business, but the end result of repeatable actions, with a predictable outcome, in a specified timeframe makes it all worth it.

Now let me call that guy again for that drink....