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Gates spells out future to UK corporate IT leaders
Microsoft chairman Bill Gates presented his vision of IT's future to a gathering
of IT directors from the British Computer Society's Elite group in late October
and then brought them down to earth by plugging the next versions of Windows and
Office.
Bill Gates in £28m boost to Britain's war on malaria
A TEAM of scientists from Liverpool is to be brought to the front line of
the global fight against malaria as the recipient of a multimillion-pound
grant from Bill Gates, the Microsoft tycoon.
Telefonica to Buy U.K.'s O2
Spain's Telefonica plans to acquire the U.K.'s O2 PLC in a deal that values
the cell-phone firm at about $31.4 billion.
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10.31.05
EBusiness - Small Business Necessity
 By
Rick Hendershot
The rapid growth of the internet commerce in recent years presents established
small businesses with a serious dilemma. On the one hand, they can stick with
the business model that has worked for them for the last number of years. On the
other hand, they can make the shift to serious eBusiness.
Choosing to stand pat is usually much easier in the short term. But in the longer
term this almost certainly means they will be left behind by technology, and lose
many of their most important clients to more aggressive competitors.
But shifting to eBusiness may involve committing substantial resources to developing
a new game plan. That usually means refining product lines to make them easier
to sell online, upgrading computer systems and websites, and training personnel
at all levels to be more web savvy. It also means developing or hiring staff to
handle the administration of new marketing, sales, and delivery systems, and working
with outside consultants and service providers to handle the technical aspects
of the new program that cannot be handled by your own people.
Is adopting an eBusiness Solution worth the effort?
Are the short term difficulties involved in making the transition to eBusiness
worth the effort?
In virtually all cases, Yes.
It is like any other investment in your business. Some businesses look at the
cost of upgrading production equipment or of renovating their office or retail
space and decide it is simply not worth the cost. They decide the future is too
uncertain to risk moving ahead, so they opt to tread water until either circumstances
change, or they simply cannot continue any longer in business.
In this sense, choosing to stay abreast of technological changes is a business
necessity. And these days, deciding to get involved with eBusiness is the most
important technological decision many current businesses will ever make.
Advantages of eBusiness
Here are some of the more important advantages of moving to eBusiness.
You can develop a more cost-effective Communication and Marketing Strategy
- The most obvious advantage of "upgrading" to eBusiness is that it gives you
a vital web presence. In an upgraded "eBusiness environment" your company web
site becomes the focal point of your communications and marketing strategy. And
in an era when an increasingly large number of people are using the web as their
first source of product and service information, "being there" 24/7 is extremely
important.
You can reach New Markets World Wide - The internet
offers exciting ways of reaching new markets that could only be dreamed of in
the past. There are methods of promoting your products online that allow you to
precisely target the customers you are after whether they are in your town or
on the other side of the world.
You can reach Local Customers and
Prospects more effectively - Until recently, companies offering a product
or service to local customers could not see the benefits of having an online presence.
But as more and more people become comfortable with using the internet instead
of traditional advertising sources like classified ads or yellow pages, having
an aggressive web presence makes better business sense even for local companies.
This may also offer a springboard to developing new markets further afield.
You can cut Advertising and Marketing Costs - Online advertising is not
only more efficient, but it is often less expensive than traditional advertising.
After sales training expenses can also be reduced by utilizing online seminars,
training videos and tutorials.
You can streamline the Ordering Process
by taking orders online - Implementing an online ordering system allows you
to eliminate manual paper work or telephone order taking. It also offers the possibility
of integrating your sales order system with order fullfillment and delivery so
customers can be up to speed on the progress of their orders at all times.
You can cut Communications and Telephone Costs - While the costs of
voice communications using long distance telephone services have been coming down
rapidly over the last few years, switching to an eBusiness model offers the possibility
of totally eliminating many of these costs. Of course there is traditional email.
But beyond that, there are systems like "Live Help" where customers can chat live
with support or sales staff. And the most recent development is VoIP (Voice Over
Internet) which promises to completely revolutionize telephone service.
Finding the right eBusiness Solution
Every business is unique, so every business will require a unique eBusiness solution.
Chances are most small businesses will not have the resources inhouse to make
the move. In that case they should find an eBusiness solution provider that takes
a comprehensive approach to each situation. Rather than offering a pre-packaged
program, they should be able to look carefully at a business and make recommendations
based on its specific needs. That includes the ability to provide staff training
and ongoing support long after the initial system is put in place.
About the Author:
For more information about eBusiness Solutions, see Diggy eBusiness Consultants
==> http://www.diggy.com/profile.htm
|| Rick Hendershot is a writer and creator of Linknet Promotions ==> http://www.linknet-promotions.com
|| See Power Listings for low cost effective advertising ==>http://www.linknet-promotions.com/power-listings.php |
