To Continue... or not to Continue

Ok, so now that Fall semester is over and I'm into Spring semester, I am no longer in my advanced writing class which was the impetus for this blog. If you've enjoyed reading my posts and would like to see more, please don't hesitate to drop me an email at bezrrk@gmail.com and let me know - I'd be happy to indulge you with some further ultra techie ramblings. 

That means YOU... sitting here reading this post - send me an email.

Exploring the Blogosquare: Because I Can

This week as I explored the blogosquare (the blogosphere was a little too crowded) I happened upon two topics that are both very pertinent to those wishing to start a business. The first was in a blog by Rea Maor. The post was titled “Linux PCs: The State of the Market.” In this post, Rea discussed the new desktop computer (right) being sold at Wal-Mart for $200, how it runs a free version of Linux customized by Google and how its entry into the market is going to signal competition for the major PC/operating system manufacturers. The second post was in a blog by Gaebler Ventures titled “Alternatives to Hiring Employees.” It suggested some forms of temporary position filling for small businesses that I found to be going out of vogue very quickly in today’s world of digital commerce and communities.


Linux PCs: The State of the Market

This is quite an interesting topic. I think it will continue to gain momentum, driven, as you said, by kids instead of adults. Though there are undoubtedly adults who would agree, a $200 computer is hard to beat, it is the younger, poorer contingent of the population that will really drive the sales of these machines up. Further down the road, however, when people realize that Linux and other open source projects like gOS (screen shot at left) are offering extremely competitive alternatives to the current bipartisan OS domination of Microsoft and Apple, there could very well be a mass movement towards the free operating systems. Part of what will convince people that these open source offerings are the way to go is their ease of use and nearly idiot-proof setup process. Like you said, what better way to bring open source technology to the masses then to spruce up a rock solid (and very popular) Linux distribution with some eye-candy and package it with the means to download for free whatever the user might need – it is the ultimate in simplistic computing.

Alternatives to Hiring Employees

This is a problem that many small businesses can run into. The suggestions made here are all good, however, seeing as how many small businesses are beginning to cater to niche sectors of highly technical industries, the traditional forms of temporary help services and employee leasing options may not be suitable for much longer. Instead small businesses will probably move to contracting and/or outsourcing for talent via online service networking websites. Services like rentacoder.com and hireacoder.net are two niche examples of the type of online business networking services that companies might employ. Both of these examples put potential employees at the disposal of employers with links to their work and references and ratings from previous employers. The beauty of these kinds of sites is that employers are not limited to talent in their immediate surrounding area, they can outsource all over the world to find the right balance of cost vs. performance for their needs.

Thin Clients: An Alternative To Expensive Office Computing

One of the biggest downsides to running a company of any size is the cost associated with IT services and maintenance. Companies can spend hundreds, thousands and even hundreds of thousands of dollars every year in purchasing and maintaining computers for their employees to work on. A relatively new breed of computer known as a thin client (seen at left) has emerged to combat this problem. A thin client is essentially a stripped down personal computer that can only connect to a monitor, mouse, keyboard and a local network. It runs its operating system and programs from a centralized server through the network. The thin client itself has no internal storage and cannot run on its own. In essence, each of these mini-computers provides nothing more than an access point or “node” to an office space that allows an employee to complete their work. All the processing for each node (whether there are 5 or 50) is done on a central server. This method of centralized processing has its ups and downs, but when properly integrated into a work environment, it can provide massive savings (in both time and money) for the company’s IT department.

Financially, thin clients are a great investment for a business because they cost a fraction of what a full sized computer, or “thick client” would cost. According to LinuxDevices.com, a Bangkok-based company called Norhtec recently unveiled a “sub-$85 mini-PC” that is claimed to be the most affordable thin client ever. This cost, compared to the average thick client’s cost of between $800-$1000 per unit, provides companies with incredible savings. In addition to the up front savings on hardware, thin clients also save dramatically on energy consumption -up to 90% over traditional computers. In a comparison between business desktop computers and thin clients, thinclient.org noted that the average business desktop consumes about 124 watts of power while the average thin client uses about 25 watts –the same as a single light bulb. This translates into a 3x power savings for the business owner per unit.

The other major advantage of thin clients is when it comes time for IT management. In a traditional environment of thick client PCs, an IT administrator has to attend to each individual machine when it has a problem. With an office of thin clients, the IT administrator would only have to manage a single server if something went wrong saving much time and energy. Thin clients are also helpful in reducing corporate theft simply by their nature of being dependant on a central server. A thief would not stand to gain much from selling a single thin client without the means to run it.

There are, however, some downsides to using thin clients. With the extreme resource and energy efficiencies of these units comes inherent deficiencies. Thin clients do not have a dedicated graphics card (right), therefore their ability to render and display rich multimedia content is somewhat diminished compared to a traditional thick client. Also, depending on the number of thin client nodes that are installed, extremely powerful servers must be purchased to run them and the setup process can be daunting even for an experienced IT manager. Thin client systems have limited flexibility when it comes to what operating system they run. Users will be required to run whatever operating system is chosen for the host server. This could mean that some employees would have to be trained to use the operating system of choice and/or they may not like using it, which could hurt productivity. Lastly, the very design that makes the thin client system so simple and easy to maintain also lends to its greatest weakness. The entire system is based on an individual thin client’s ability to connect to the central server over a network, if that network were to ever go down, every thin client using that network would be unable to function.

Despite these downsides, thin clients remain an excellent choice for any size of business that wishes to cut costs and increase productivity within their IT department. As a byproduct of saving money on electricity bills, companies utilizing thin clients will also be able to market themselves as “green” companies that are looking out for the environment –a great marketing tool in today’s politicized economy. It is advisable for any company considering the use of thin clients to maintain a balance between the use of thin clients and thick clients, this will allow for maximum productivity in the workplace, while still allowing the business to save time and money.

Instant Messaging In The Work Place: Is It A Help Or A Hindrance

Everyone has heard it, that rhythmic tapping that starts and stops as regularly and sharply as a well-executed Flamenco dance –someone nearby is having conversation on line. Instant messaging, or IM (example of IM window at left), has become an integral a part of people’s daily life as well as one of the biggest Internet sub cultures in existence. Its ubiquity extends beyond the realm of teenage time wasters into the workplace where AOL says that there are currently 135 million people that utilize some form of instant messaging while at work and by 2009 that number is expected to reach 477 million. With so many people using this service in the workplace, it is an issue that many current employers are dealing with and any future startups will inevitably have to deal with. The jury is out on whether or not IM is universally good or bad, however, one cannot argue the fact that if not properly regulated, it provides employees with the means to fritter away countless hours of time during the workday that would otherwise have been productive.

There are obvious benefits to utilizing IM in the workplace. According to Peter Alexander of Business Center, sending an instant message saves both time and effort when communicating brief messages to someone. “With IM, you type a quick message, hit ‘send’ and a few seconds later, your message pops up on the recipient's screen. Along with eliminating the lag in e-mail response time, IM cuts out the necessary "chit chat" of a phone call and often lets you avoid the tiresome game of voicemail tag.” The USC Annenberg School For Communication, for example, uses this feature of IM in its advisement offices. Receptionists alert academic counselors via IM to the arrival of a student in need of counseling. This eliminates the need to walk back to the person’s office or to pick up a phone and dial their extension. Furthermore, by providing IM support to clients or customers, your business gains the valuable aspect of “presence awareness” which can bolster the strength of a company’s client and customer relations.

While the positive aspects of IM might be enough to convince a business owner of its value to his or her company, there are some downsides that should be taken into account. The main one, as noted by Keith of the blog To-Done! is a loss in productivity. “Unfortunately it seems that more than anything else it’s a constant distraction that eats time. The biggest issue, that I can see anyway, is that there is almost no way to triage incoming messages. Sure you can block people, or set your status, but if you have it open and are receiving incoming IMs you have no way to keep from dealing with things that come in.” This leads to employees spending an inordinate amount of time chatting with friends, family and co-workers over nonsense and not getting their work done. According to Peter Alexander, “58 percent of IM users engage in personal chat at work.” This is simply unacceptable in a professional working environment.

In addition to this obvious danger in employee productivity, there are also legal and security risks to be aware of. “The number of IM attacks, including viruses, worms and phishing scams, has risen from 20 in 2004 to 571 in the second quarter of 2005 alone, according to a study by the IMlogic Threat Center. As with many e-mail viruses, worms and spyware, IM attacks can steal confidential information from your computer, turn your PC into a spam zombie, and more.” These are serious problems for a company to deal with. Losing private company data to IM hackers could cause irreparable damage to a company’s reputation or industry advantage. As for the Legal aspect, Scott M. Gawlicki of InsideCounsel says that many companies –in both regulated and non-regulated industries- are at risk of civil litigation due to the possibility for sexual harassment via IM in the workplace. In most cases, “the simplest way to avoid the IM risk is to ban its use altogether.”

So what does the future hold for IM in the business world? If AOL has anything to say about it, IM will become an integral part of the business world. The company is offering new products like AIM Pro (seen at right) that are targeted to business professionals touting higher security standards and more “professional” settings. Products like AIM Pro will definitely up standards for security, but the risk of loss in employee productivity still remains extremely high. Any business owner or senior executive should make sure they weigh the pros and cons of this powerful tool before deciding whether or not to make use of it in their place of business.

To Be An Entrepreneur: Do You Have What It Takes

Starting your own business can provide you with unique opportunities in life, but it can also provide many headaches. A privately owned business can give you the ability to make your own schedule and take days off when you don’t feel like working -it can also drive you mad with inconsistency of income or workload. A very specific personality is required to be an entrepreneur; a personality rich in things like unwavering self-confidence, a burning passion to prove yourself, and a bitter distaste for the mundane finality of a typical “nine-to-five” job. In short, you must be multi-talented and driven to succeed (as can be seen in the image at left).

According to Greg Watson’s blog, DNA of an Entrepreneur, there are many characteristics that comprise the “genetic make up” of an entrepreneur, “one characteristic… is that of seeing or identifying an opportunity.” Without the ability to actively see opportunity in the marketplace, there is little hope of becoming successful in your own business.

There are many people who wonder and ask themselves “do I have what it takes?” Most successful entrepreneurs don’t have to ask themselves this question; they are simply ingrained with the drive to make sure they have what it takes. They usually spend their time questioning things like whether or not they should undertake a venture -if it will be worth the risk and the time investment they put into it.

Once you as an entrepreneur make a decision however, there’s no turning back. You cannot brood on negativity. You must always be confident and optimistic –and at times be overly optimistic. You must “train your mind” turn on your “success thinking” as Romanus Wolter says in his article Proof Positive. This internal locus of control and ability to filter through negativity is the difference between success and failure.

Patience is another key attribute of any successful entrepreneur. You need to be able to fight past problems, barriers and failure. You must be like Thomas Edison (right) when he said; “I am not discouraged, because every wrong attempt discarded is another step forward.”

Smart entrepreneurs will always surround themselves with people who know more than they do about specific topics. It is much more efficient to organize teams of specialists than it is to try and master every nuance of your business. Nancy Michaels of BusinessWeek wrote that many small businesses are held back because “they are not hiring people who are smarter than they are in certain areas and not surrounding themselves with a good team… Nobody can do it alone.”

This does not preclude, however, the necessity for you to have a working knowledge and understanding of every aspect of your company. Nothing is more important than for you to be completely aware of why and how everything is taking place. According to Colette Georgii, a successful entrepreneur “knows enough about accounting to do his own accounting or supervise an accountant he has hired… because he must be able to look at the work of his accountant and know that his accountant is doing the job right and the very best job possible for his company.” In most cases, it is simply more expedient to have specialists accomplishing specific tasks, allowing you to focus your efforts on the larger picture.

When you take these things into account and you deem yourself capable and desiring of such a life, there are few things more rewarding than the sense of accomplishment afforded to those who push their way through all adversity and create a successful business. It takes hard work and dedication, but most importantly a burning desire for success and a willingness to go the extra mile to accomplish your dreams.