IT Services
From Entrepedia: The Entrepreneurship Wiki
IT Services have rapidly become more and more crucial to the daily operations of any venture. Fortunately, there are countless options available, from web services to software, that will help your enterprise run as efficiently as possible. Best of all, many of these services are getting cheaper; some are even free or have free alternatives. Even mobile phone service providers are beginning to focus on products that offer specific rates or plans for SME's.
Sometimes the jargon can be confusing, however. Hopefully our list of IT Terminology can help you weed your way through to find the cheapest and best option for your venture. Please note that anti-virus software and anti-spyware software are not included in this article, and neither is any screensharing or web conferencing software. For more information on where to find downloadable retail software packages or freeware for a variety of general daily operations tasks, see the Entrepedia article on software suppliers.
If you are having issues with your PC, you may need to consider some PC Performance Software & Tips that can help your PC run more smoothly and efficiently.
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Web Services
Some services will be useful for pretty much any venture. For example, Large File Transfers can pose a tricky problem, but such websites as YouSendIt.com, TransferBigFiles.com, MailBigFile.com, and SendSpace.com can make it a lot easier. There's also DropSend, which will allow you to back up and store files online.
Another helpful service is the SproutIt Mailroom, which allows your entire team to manage all your website email, respond to customer email faster, and make customer conversations more productive.
In addition, creating professional looking PDF documents will probably be a must in most startups and SME's, and there's no reason to pay for the service when there are websites such as CutePDF.com, Gymnast (which can convert both text and HTML documents to PDF files, and PDF-O-Matic, which can convert HTML documents to PDF files. There's also PrintToPDF, a PDF writer for Mac users. Furthermore, the Word Processor program in Open Office – a free alternative to the Microsoft Office software package – enables the user to export any word processor document as a PDF quickly and easily.
Other web services that you might find useful include:
- Invoice Tracking
- If you are tracking invoices that you send to your customers, you will find that the difficulty in tracking increases as your customer base grows. There are online services that can make it easier, such as Bamboo Invoice, a free Open Source invoicing website intended for small businesses and independent contractors, or FreshBooks.com, a website that offers a quick and easy way of tracking not only your invoices, but also your time. BlinkSale.com, on the other hand, is a website that allows you to send invoices online, quickly and easily, and to customise the design of your invoices if you prefer.
- Online Entrepreneurship Toolkits
- There are a couple of websites that offer entrepreneurs and SMEs an online toolkit to help them manage the launch and growth of their business ventures, such as SME Toolkit, which offers software, business forms, training, and more. It also boasts several regional sites for regions all around the world.
- Accountancy Websites
- If you don't like any of the accountancy software solutions available, then you might be more suited to an online service like that provided by Xero, which gives users easy access to bank transactions, invoices, reports, VAT, etc whenever its needed and from anywhere in the world. Xero's features include a central dashboard; invoicing, banking, and reporting; and contacts, payables, and expense claims management. Xero offers a free trial of their services, but it is not a free service itself. A similar website is Vebio, an online billings management system that combines corporate-class invoicing capabilities with a web-based interface to provide a solution for time and expense tracking, billings management, and automated invoicing, amongst other features. Like Xero, Vebio is not free but does offer a trial account.
- Scheduling
- Don't like Google Calendar? There are other calendar and scheduling websites, like Acuity Scheduling, which allows you to create appointment types, custom forms and set your availability. Your clients then visit your scheduling page and choose an appointment type, date, and time - when its all done both you and the client receive confirmation emails. Acuity Scheduling is a free service that can help you organise your time. However, you may prefer a service like Calendar Hub, a free website service that allows you to create an online calendar for yourself or a group, which you can then choose to either keep private or publish to the public.
- Networking
- Social networking websites aren't limited to the likes of Facebook and MySpace: there are several, like Linked-In, that are designed specifically for a business networking platform. For example, YouNoodle is designed specifically for entrepreneurs to share information about their startup and follow the progress of other startups, whether competition or because they are interested in the product/service. There's also Spoke, a similar social networking website that lets users share their professional information to reconnect with former colleagues or employees, or to connect with potential partners, employees, or even customers. Similarly, Partner Up focuses specifically on helping users find business partners, co-founders, executives, etc, while networking with other entrepreneurs and small businesses.
- Payroll Management
- There are online services to help you build a payroll service for your employees, and even to calculate paychecks, such as PayCycle, a website on which you can build your payroll that will then calculate paychecks instantly and even lets you print out paychecks from your own printer, a great service for startups or SMEs with a small employee base.
- Shipping
- Your venture will probably need a shipping service at some point or another, and there are a couple of helpful online services like Shipwire, the E-Commerce order fulfilment service which will help you easily store and ship your merchandise for an online business. Even if you're not an online business venture, you might need a service like UShip.com, an online shipping marketplace that connects customers with Transportation Service Providers to make shipping more affordable and efficient.
- Funding
- If you're looking to get some funding to launch your startup, there are even websites that can help you find where to look, such as GoBigNetwork, which can connect you with angel investors and venture capitalists, and Venture Deal, a venture capital database.
- Consider outsourcing any software programming to an external engineer to save costs.
- For more examples of online tools specifically designed to help you organise and run your venture, have a look at Mashable.com's list of 230+ online tools and resources, or Blogtrepreneur's "101 Useful Resources for Online Entrepreneurs"
Available Software
- Spyware not only collects information from the user's computer, it can also perform harmful functions, such as downloading and installing additional software, redirecting websites, and thereby increasing the user's computer's vulnerability to viruses and more spyware. Fortunately there are programmes available to detect and remove spyware from your computer.
- Anti-Virus / Content Filtering
- There are several anti-virus services available to protect your computer against malicious software, or malware, such as viruses, Trojans, keyloggers, hijackers, and other code that compromises the security of your computer contents.
- Free services such as AVG, Avira, and those provided by Avast and Panda Security can protect your computer, but may not be as reliable as paid-for services such as Norton, Kaspersky, or McAfee. Each of these offer a free trial version, so you can decide what works best for your business.
- In addition to anti-virus and anti-spyware software, there are a number of other security software options available to you, many of which are Free/Open Source Software solutions. These services include applications which will allow businesses – in addition to blocking viruses, spyware, and other malware – to block spam or phishing attempts, filter out inappropriate web content, control unwanted protocols like instant messaging, provide remote access and support options to their employees, create security reports, and set up a firewall or a VPN.
- CAD Software, or Computer-Aided Design Software, is software typically used by engineers, artists, architects, and others to create both 2D and 3D designs and models. It is also used to to design products – for example, circuitboards – for a variety of uses. There are also some CAD programmes available free online.
- .NET
- The Microsoft .NET Framework is a programming model for building applications that is available with several Windows operating systems. It is desgined to help users build applications for the Windows platform more easily and according to their own specifications, and provides a library of pre-coded solutions to common problems (Wikipedia entry on the .Net Framework)
- Mono
- The Mono Project framework is a Free, Open-Sourced implementation of the .NET framework. It offers the same features as Microsoft's proprietary framework, but it allows applications built with it to be run on non-Microsoft operating systems as well, such as Mac OS X and GNU/Linux. (Wikipedia entry on the Mono Framework)
- There are a number of professional software solutions available to help entrepreneurs and small business owners cope with the difficult task of managing their daily operations such as their financial statements and accountancy needs, or organising their HR department. Even if your staff only consists of a few individual employees, keeping track of all of these things, in addition to your customer relations and all of your enterprise operations information, is a huge handful. Fortunately, accountancy, enterprise resource planning, and customer relations management software solutions are available.
- Spam Filtering
- For corporate level solutions, Barracuda Networks claim to be the worldwide leader and have a capacity based licensing model rather than per-user. Free evaluation version available. For personal, small business and enterprise, Vanquish networks have a solution which won the PC Magazine Editor's choice award in May 2006. There are also available e-mail software programmes which can prevent your e-mail from being entered on spam blacklistshttp://flossmetrics.org/
- VoIP (Voice Over IP)
Freeware
According to FLOSSmetrics, a guide to Free/Libre Open Source Software (FLOSS), "Free/Libre open source software is one of the most important trends in IT since the advent of the PC and commodity software, but despite the potential impact on European firms, its adoption is still hampered by limited knowledge, especially among SMEs that could potentially benefit the most from it." [1]
Independent review websites for technology can provide a great deal of information regarding what new software is available that is either free or cheaper than the existing retail software, and how it compares. Have a look at review sites such as PCWorld, CNet, and FirewallGuide.
FLOSSmetrics also provides an extensive guide to Free/Libre Open Source Software solutions that are specifically designed for SMEs or startup enterprises. The guide can be accessed via their wiki or through a PDF download available on their homepage].
ISP Hosts
One very highly recommended ISP host is Rackspace, however it is very expensive: £1,000 per month. Fortunately there are also cheaper options available. Some more ISP hosts in the UK include Lumison, who are very well respected in Scotland because of their excellent customer service. You may also want to look at Serverstream – they run a shared hosting service called Register 1 – or Xcalibre, based in Livingston, Scotland, who offer competitively priced and reliable web hosting as well as very good customer service.
Mobile Phones
Some mobile phone companies offer deals or packages specifically designed for businesses, and some offer even more specified plans for small businesses or customers who are self-employed. It is a good idea to consider what it is that you are looking for from a mobile phone plan for your business, and from there to do some research into the offers by different providers. Maybe the general contracts will suffice, or maybe a business- or small business-related contract would be more appropriate. For example, Ciao recommends Mobilephones.com
- UK Providers
In the UK, there are several different business plans to consider.
- Orange offers both Pay Monthly and SIM Only business packages. Their Pay Monthly packages - Orange Solo, Venture, and Infinity - offer plans for businesses from 1-5 employees, with an option to add more phones to the plan. In addition, Orange offers two SIM Only plans, with Orange Single designed for sole traders and companies with one employee, and Orange Group designed for small-to-medium sized businesses. Orange also offers mobile broadband for laptops, as well as business customer support.
- O2 offers more solutions for larger businesses, whether for small-to-medium businesses from 1-199 employees or for larger corporations with over 200 employees. O2 offers a line of 24 month Best for Business tariffs, as well as a Business Super User contract. They also offer SIM Only contracts for business sizes from small to large, as well as a Business Simplicity tariff.
- In addition to offering two Pay Monthly contracts, Business 600 and Business 900, 3 also offers a Mix n' Match deal for business contracts, as well as a flat rate. Alternatively, they have a business share tariff which allows users to share a collective 'pot' of minutes between them. Like Orange, 3 also offers mobile internet broadband for businesses.
Other Providers
- Other mobile phone providers like T-Mobile and Virgin Mobile do not have information as freely advertised, but that does not mean that they do not have similar offers or tariffs. As always - even with providers that do advertise business contracts - it is worth contacting a local store location or customer service to ask directly about their offers for small business, to ensure that the plan you sign up for is the one that will work best for you
