tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-18912602278325647072011-04-22T02:44:25.188+01:00Heatherhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/12505450673288643159noreply@blogger.comBlogger131100tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1891260227832564707.post-55236564556730332232009-04-08T07:03:00.004+01:002009-04-08T07:12:47.672+01:00

If your business needs to get rid of "stuff" - furniture, equipment, PCs, branded clothing, stationery, whatever - by registering with Giving World Online, you could benefit a charity or other not-for-profit instead of sending it to landfill. Giving World Online is a not-for-profit organisation which links businesses with unwanted surplus to charities and voluntary groups, and the people they

Heatherhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/12505450673288643159noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1891260227832564707.post-3733454209450899272009-03-31T22:40:00.010+01:002009-04-01T11:12:54.990+01:00

Today I joined a group of fundraisers at a workshop organised by the Institute of Fundraising on using the web for fundraising. It was given by Howard Lake of UK Fundraising, a hugely valuable resource (not least for its rich collection of news and articles pulled together from across the web).Lots of food for thought during the day, but Howard rightly spent a fair amount of time encouraging folk

Heatherhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/12505450673288643159noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1891260227832564707.post-51804255297582200702009-03-13T08:57:00.008Z2009-03-27T13:58:06.611Z

A salutary tale of a charity that has faced having to repay a £185,000 grant because it lost all its records in a flood...As reported in Third Sector, Aid & Assist, a training charity based in Suffolk, couldn't produce the evidence of what it had done with the grant income for auditors, and has been facing claims for repayment. Fortunately the Department of Work & Pensions is proving sympathetic

Heatherhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/12505450673288643159noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1891260227832564707.post-65787061987749335942009-03-04T10:45:00.003Z2009-03-04T11:33:20.432Z

A recent article in Information Week examined how buyers of IT feel about their suppliers of IT. It was a mixed review with highs and lows, with buyers disappointed in suppliers who left them with unfulfilled promises and who used irresponsible practices. Salesmen who promised much and delivered less. Products that turned out to be less than a perfect match to the buyer's requirements.But not all

Heatherhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/12505450673288643159noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1891260227832564707.post-39105081185206202482009-03-01T17:26:00.002Z2009-03-01T17:28:00.618Z

With my IT background, the CIO is a familiar concept. Chief Information Officers are senior head honchos in the IT world. One of the many so-called CxOs (Chief Something-or-other Officers) like Chief Executives (CEOs), Chief Finance Officers (CFOs) and Chief Technology Officers (CTOs).So I was surprised to see a comment about "the long-delayed arrival of CIOs" in Third Sector (a magazine for

Heatherhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/12505450673288643159noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1891260227832564707.post-32696817305373634452009-02-10T11:36:00.004Z2009-03-01T17:28:40.527Z

It's not always the technology that lets folk down. More often, it's the quality of the information held in a system that's the problem. Especially when it is a contact management system with incorrect information about your contacts in it. All the more embarrassing if your company sells such systems to its clients, and advises them on the need for clean data, which is checked and kept clean...So

Heatherhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/12505450673288643159noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1891260227832564707.post-50221992213338832172009-01-18T10:56:00.009Z2009-01-18T11:24:02.708Z

In my business, I set high standards for all Clearsight's approved suppliers and conduct evaluations with our clients of the suppliers that win their contracts. As part of developing my business, it seemed only fair then that I should taste my own medicine. So I asked Webber Marketing to conduct a survey of clients and suppliers about their experience of working with Clearsight.It was very

Heatherhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/12505450673288643159noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1891260227832564707.post-49627313062629743522009-01-03T12:33:00.007Z2009-01-03T12:43:55.201Z

In my previous blog ("Buying IT: How to end up with the wrong IT"), I picked out some of the most common mistakes that people make when they are buying IT. This article lists the ways to avoid these mistakes. They may look over-the-top, but the steps can be simplified to suit the purchase.For example, if you're just buying a printer, you still need to think about what you want it for and the

Heatherhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/12505450673288643159noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1891260227832564707.post-88056689255559506492008-12-18T10:09:00.011Z2008-12-18T10:23:51.487Z

According to research, many owners of small- and medium-sized enterprises (SMEs) consider the prospect of investing in technology intimidating. It’s not surprising. Surveys show that anything from 30% to 60% of these investments fail to deliver on time or on budget, or fail to deliver the expected business results. This article describes how this happens - next time I'll look at how to avoid

Heatherhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/12505450673288643159noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1891260227832564707.post-22021108298940706602008-12-05T16:33:00.013Z2008-12-05T17:12:23.739Z

A friend sent me a link recently to a video on YouTube called "Redesigning the Stop Sign". It made me laugh, not least because it reminded me about how system requirements can get out of control, and how it isn't always the developers' fault when the system doesn't do what it was meant to.Often clients will come up with Great New Ideas for their system, for example when they see screen mock-ups

Heatherhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/12505450673288643159noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1891260227832564707.post-67456004381343669692008-11-23T11:19:00.014Z2008-12-10T16:54:20.441Z

When I started my own business, I discovered the phenomenon that is the world of business networks. As a senior corporate escapee, I knew about networking within the business, absolutely essential to getting anything done in a large organisation. But the concept of using networking as a way to publicise your business and generate sales was new to me.Since 2004, I have attended or joined lots of

Heatherhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/12505450673288643159noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1891260227832564707.post-56219569481069218252008-11-10T16:02:00.005Z2008-11-16T11:10:24.464Z

In 1786 or thereabouts, Robert Burns said "O wad some Power the giftie gie us, To see oursels as ithers see us! It wad frae mony a blunder free us, An' foolish notion". Which roughly translates to: "wouldn't it be helpful to see ourselves the way others do? we might not make quite so many mistakes if we could...".I recently had the privilege of seeing myself from a different perspective when I

Heatherhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/12505450673288643159noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1891260227832564707.post-52971117139681526252008-11-10T14:57:00.002Z2008-11-28T09:34:10.310Z

When did "consultant" become a bad word, and a term of (almost) derision?? The jokes about consultants are almost as bad as those about lawyers... The classic perception seems to be that consultants tell you what you already know, charge you for the privilege, and walk away leaving you not much better prepared to do whatever it was you needed help with.I've been thinking about that over the last

Heatherhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/12505450673288643159noreply@blogger.com0