Spedi Retail Software - EPOS for the convenience sector

Cloud Computing Is All The Rage These Days

Sunday 11th July 2010

However, that does not mean that it must therefore be right for you!

"Cloud Computing" may look like a very attractive option. It undoubtedly offers a number of benefits. No need to purchase, house and maintain your own servers. No need to back them up, either. No need for secure VPN's if off-site staff need to access the corporate systems. Additional processing power and storage can be made available "on demand" - effectively, "Hire what you need, when you need it, then return it afterwards". This is perfect for those occasions when there is a sudden, short-duration peak in demand.

It is not without its drawbacks, of course. The most obvious one is that it is totally dependent on a reliable broadband Internet connection. If the broadband goes down, there is no access to the Cloud. At home, or for emails and general surfing, this is not usually too much of an issue. If the business is dependent on the Cloud, it is a very different matter. It is certainly possible to install multiple broadband lines with each using a different ISP and path into the building. Duplicate routers can provided, with suitably duplicated backup power supplies. These issues can readily be addressed, with suitable expenditure.

There are other, more intractable issues, however. What if the company who is providing the Cloud service were to fail? What would happen to your data and applications? Even worse, there are legal and security issues. Teh Data Protection Act is very strict about the physical location of certain data - with the Cloud, you may not know where you data is being stored. This is hardly likely to impress the Data Protection Registrar! As for security, how can you be sure that your corporate data is being kept safe from prying eyes unless you keep it locally yourself?

"Let the buyer beware" may be a very old aphorism, but it is very bit as true now as it always has been.

They Think It's All Over....

Sunday 4th July 2010

By now, football-haters will surely be hoping it is all over - for ever!

Whilst football is undoubtedly popular with both spectators and participants, there is a sizeable minority for whom it is almost as interesting as a Party Political Broadcast.

Remember that, strange though it may seem, people who dislike football are still people, just like everyone else. Quite rightly, we all condemn the better-known forms of discrimination, based on gender, race, creed or age. However, are you unintentionally discriminating against those who have absolutely no interest in the World Cup? It can be easy to forget that those people for whom wall-to-wall football is the closest thing they can imagine to "Hell on earth" still need to go shopping for groceries as usual. If a store is festooned with flags, bunting, photographs, football-themed promotional posters and the like, they will probably just grab the bare minimum of items as quickly as they can, pay and leave. All the high-profit lines will be ignored in the rush to get out of the door.

Hardly good for business!

It is all very well doing up your store like the ultimate England fan's bedroom, but a more restrained approach is generally far more successful. Football fans will still buy large quantities of lager and crisps, while the football-haters will not desert you in droves - possibly for ever.

"We Value Your Opinion - Please Let Us Have It"

Sunday 27th June 2010

Commonly used words, but do they translate into action, or are they just that - merely words?

A business will sometimes try to make itself stand out in a crowded marketplace by claiming to offer a higher standard of customer care, or perhaps a better customer experience, than its rivals. The claims are easy enough to make, but What matters is whether or not they are actually true.

From time to time, one or other of the television channels will broadcast a series where a consultant is brought in to try and rescue a failing small business. Quite early in the program, the consultant will talk to customers of the business, in order to find out what they really think about it. Their responses usually horrify the proprietor, who had imagined that he (or she) was "doing everything right".

Rather than waiting until financial disaster looms, it is better to run an ongoing program of customer feedback, provided that it is coupled with appropriate, preferably high-visibility, action. For example, one of the large supermarket chains has put up a large noticeboard near the checkouts in each of its stores. The board is divided into two columns - the left side is headed "You said..." and the right side "We have...". After being printed neatly on suitable large cards, selected suggestions and comments made by customers are pinned up on the left side, with the store's response on the right. Sometimes, these may be simple - "There no trolleys with a double baby seat", which might have the response "We have ordered some, they are expected in about a month". Others might relate to out-of-stock or specialist lines.

The important part is that the customers have noticed matters of which the store management were apparently unaware.

Websites have a particular problem. If a visitor fails to find what he wants, or merely does not like the site layout, he will simply go elsewhere rather than complain or look for a "Contact Us" page. After all, he will think that his comments will probably be ignored, so there is no point in him wasting his time.

What do you think about this website or, indeed, this Blog? Love it? Hate it? Are there particular subjects you would like to see covered? We really do value your opinion - so please let us have it. We cannot guarantee to include every response, but we will publish a selection in due course.

To give us your opinion, please visit http://www.spedi.com/contact.htm and fill in the form. If you provide your real email address, we will be able to respond to you privately. If, however, you wish to remain anonymous, just use an email address such as "opinion@mailinator.com".

Quality Always Comes Bearing A Price Tag

Sunday 20th June 2010

Not at all like a free lunch, then!

Sometimes, the quality of a product does not really matter too much.

It is often said that nowadays We live in a "disposable" society, where items are intentionally designed to be used once and then scrapped. There are situations, especially where health and hygiene are concerned, where this is acceptable or even essential. Used hypodermic syringes, for example, are no longer sterilised for reuse. Instead, they are destroyed. However, they are now fabricated from cheap plastics rather than expensive metal and glass, as formerly. Similarly, disposable plates and cutlery are very popular for parties and picnics. When doing DIY, disposable protective clothing is invaluable, as it is simply thrown away after use.

There are situations, however, where products are often expected to provide a substantial serviceable life. In such cases, there may well be many competing items from different manufacturers at a wide range of price points. It is most unwise to assume that the quality, and therefore the serviceable life, of the cheaper examples will be similar to tat of the more expensive ones.

The "Total Cost of Ownership" of any product includes the cost of the initial purchase and subsequent maintenance. What about the consequential costs when it fails? If a long and trouble-free life is important, it may well be worth paying more for a better-quality product. This applies even to simple items such as light bulbs - if the fitting is inaccessible, a "long-life" bulb will more than justify for its higher purchase price.

Equipment from IBM and Cisco has a reputation for being expensive, which is undoubtedly true. There are plenty of other manufacturers whose products will perform an equivalent function, at a lower purchase cost.

However, it has another reputation - for its superb quality. In the case of Cisco, their business-class ranges have a "limited lifetime" guarantee. This means that Cisco will replace the switch or router, etc. quickly and free of charge, until Cisco themselves declare the model concerned to be "End of Life". In a similar way, it used to be said "Noone ever got fired for buying IBM", because of its superb quality.

The purchase price of well-designed, well-built and good quality equipment may be higher, but the reliability it provides will usually more than justify the extra initial outlay.

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