Month: October 2010

Bid support: is it worth spending money on help?

Annie

Business proposal writing does not come easily to everyone, even professionals with a natural gift for selling.  Constructing a complex bid for a client is such a key part of modern working life, that companies are increasingly choosing to employ consultants to ensure that their proposals are as effective as can be.  In addition, many people are surprised at how educational sales presentation training can be.  A consultant with lots of experience providing bid support to different companies will really have the insight to help you look at how you can adapt your style to outperform the competition in your field.

Many sales teams find that they are stuck in a rut, having been creating business proposals in the same way for ages, with varying degrees of success.  If you are pitching to similar clients year after year, then it is often a good idea to surprise them with the kind of proposal they may not expect from your business, so that they regard you as a firm with the capacity to grow and develop; after all, the client is likely to want to work with a firm that is able to think creatively about its own projects.  This is where an outside opinion can be invaluable; it can be almost impossible for people in a business to challenge old ways of thinking that have been ingrained in a company for years.

Indeed, winning an important bit of work is not necessarily a matter of changing your approach to constructing the proposal itself, but about how you present it in the short time you have with the client.  It may be a sad thing, but these days, presentation is crucial.  People seem to have less and less time on their hands, and will not do you the service of listening attentively to every word of your carefully written bid.  This is why it is important to make sure you can convey the key points in the first minute – something which is easy to do once you think about it, but some teams need a little help to make sure this is achieved.

There is no reason to feel inadequate for asking for bid support or some professional help with your business proposal writing.  Rather, your boss is likely to be impressed that you are so keen to improve your skills.  He or she may decide that your entire team could do with some sales presentation training, and you might be the one who takes the credit for the business success that it creates.

Please visit http://www.salesengine.co.uk/ for further information about this topic.

http://www.salesengine.co.uk/

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Vulnerability assessment and your online security

Annie

It can be a bit of a bother making sure that your IT system complies with information security standards as effectively as possible.  Surecloud has the aim of making the internet a low risk place for companies and organizations of all sizes, and as such, is a good place to look at if you are in need of penetration testing or vulnerability management.  As the internet is ever more vital to our business lives, online security should be very high on our list of objectives.  It should not be only large companies who enjoy protection, and this is why it is advisable to opt for vulnerability assessment so that your security solution is relevant to your risk profile.
With vulnerability management, you can automate the management of your security system across your business, which provides you with network asset discovery, asset impact ratings, vulnerability detection, reporting and analysis, and remediation management.  It will also guarantee you immediate online access to security professionals who can help you with remediation issues.  There are a few different options available in terms of managing your security.  You can opt for external scanning, to discover and manage vulnerabilities on your network perimeter, or if you would like to discover and manage vulnerabilities on your internal networks, you could choose internal scanning.  If it is your web applications you are concerned about, an App Scanner will allow you to identify and manage web application vulnerabilities.
It is important to make sure the provider of your protection has a sizeable knowledge base which incorporates many different vulnerabilities and advisories.  Such information will be derived from industry sources such as the Common Vulnerabilities and Exposures list and the NIST National Vulnerability Database.
In terms of penetration, to ensure a comprehensive test, a holistic approach will ensure that all available devices are included in the scope of the test.  This will include live devices that might not be currently used within your organisation’s daily business operations, to make sure all potential risks are highlighted.  The testing will mirror the behaviour of an actual hacking team, leveraging vulnerabilities discovered in one system to attack another, and adapting throughout the testing process.
If you are an IT manager trying to find a company to provide you with vulnerability management, it is certainly highly recommended to ensure that the security provider you choose uses the most comprehensive approach possible.  Given the potential risks involved in internet security, it is worth investing time and money to ensure that your penetration testing and vulnerability testing are as effective as possible.

Please visit http://www.surecloud.com/ for further information about this topic.

Always Be Certain

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Document processing: a time saving strategy

Charlie

A lot of the time in business it can feel like you are swamped with document management paperwork. It can get to the stage where it seems as though paperwork is the main activity of the company, rather than playing a back-up role to the business’s main lines of operation. Of course, many people have got so used to this that they maybe do not even see the need to revolutionise their document processing. This can be the effect of having fallen into a comfort zone, or, perhaps, having a tendency to want to oversee everything; fundamentally a tendency to micro manage, which can end up holding your firm back and result in a reduced level of competiveness. Nevertheless, invoice processing and similar operations can be revolutionised, making your company more dynamic, efficient and competitive.

With automated document managing, costs are reduced in the first place by the simple matter of reduced stationary costs. And this kind of cost, in companies beyond a certain size, can add up a lot over the course of, say, a year. But this is only the beginning of the implications that revolutionised document processing can have for the success of your company.

Reduced paperwork means not only less paper related costs, but lower costs in terms of the working hours of your staff. Ultimately, if there is paper to be filled in, somebody clearly has to fill it in, and this takes time. As the famous saying goes, time is money. It is true, also, in the sense that the time your staff spend on processing this paperwork could be spent on more productive activities, thus increasing the productivity of your company. But, as we all know, the paperwork needs to be done in any case, so until your company adopts an automated system for invoice processing, the time of your employees will always be eaten up by these demands.

Another way in which automated document management can benefit your business is by improving your relations with both clients and suppliers, and ultimately boosting you company’s image as an efficient and dynamic force. It may be difficult to see how automated document processing can achieve this. Human paperwork, let’s be straight, is slow when compared to that of a computer. When computer software is assigned to, say, invoice processing, invoices are then processed in an instant, and this, from the point of view of a client or of a supplier, is impressive.

Please visit http://www.bottomline.co.uk/ for further information about this topic.

http://www.bottomline.co.uk/

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No need for a credit card if you can get a short term loan

John

After finishing university, I moved out of my parents’ house immediately, as I was keen to maintain the independence I had gained there.  Sometimes, though, it was quite a struggle to keep up my rent payments when I was still feeling the strain of student debt.  Last May I became rather anxious because I just did not know how I was going to pay my rent.  It was so frustrating because I knew that as soon as my next payday came I would be alright.  I started looking for a short term loan.  All I neededwas a cash advance that would see me through until I next got paid.  Luckily, I found a company called Cash Genie who were able to give me instant loan approval and transfer the loan into my account really quickly.

I was able to borrow between £75 and £750 – I was quite glad that the amount wasn’t higher as I knew I would have been tempted to take out a bigger loan, which I might not have been able to repay as easily.  The application was fairly simple, as the only conditions I needed to fulfil were being over 18, employed, and earning over £500 per month.  These small loans provide money for people who do not have access to mainstream credit.  I could have applied for a credit card, but I was anxious that as I was struggling with money a bit, I could end up with a large credit card bill that I wouldn’t be able to pay back.

The company stressed that they are a short term solution.  Indeed, you can only borrow from them for a 30 day period.  The speed was certainly a good thing as far as I was concerned though, as the instant loan approval was just what I needed.  After the money was transferred to my account, I paid my rent quickly so I knew how much money I had left, and then worked out a careful budget for what I would be able to spend until my next payday, when I would have to pay back my loan.

I definitely think that for me, a short term loan was a better choice than getting a credit card, which would probably have left me in amounts amounts of debt.  The ease of getting a cash advance to last me through until my next payday made things really easy, and I didn’t have to fill in lots of forms.  And getting instant loan approval really gave me peace of mind, and saved my relationship with my landlord.

Please visit http://www.cashgenieloans.co.uk/ for further information about this topic.

http://www.cashgenieloans.co.uk/

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