The Internet Group Ltd (TIG) has evolved from a small DELL reseller to one of the UK’s first companies to become a DELL EMEA Certified Partner in the brand new DELL PartnerDirect Program.

Mitchell Feldman, the Director of The Internet Group says,

“This is a very exciting time for us. We have now further cemented our alliance with the world’s largest computer manufacturer. We have always had a strong relationship with DELL, but with this new level of accreditation; we can ensure that we can continuously provide our clients with the world’s best hardware coupled with our award winning managed service”.

To qualify for this level of accreditation, numerous exams have to be passed by key members of their company; from sales to procurement. These exams we all passed with flying colours within a matter of weeks of entry to the partner system.

Being an environmentally friendly company, The Internet Group is also working very closely with DELL to promote and provide energy efficient products and solutions to minimize the stress on the environment and reduce the total cost of ownership for their clients, a particularly important factor given the current economic climate.

This achievement demonstrates that The Internet Group’s service proposition to the SME marketplace is a serious one and now has the backing of the world’s largest computer manufacturer.

LOL...this is very much like the stories we hear all the time. Thankfully our service desk is not like this

The three main causes of decreased productivity in the work place are...

• • Browsing the web
• • Instant messaging
• • Employees chatting to friends via email

Did you know that the average worker spends more than 25 hours a month browsing the web during work hours? That’s over 50 minutes a day.

For example, by paying a particular worker £10 per hour, as a result, they are costing you £9 a day. Therefore a £274 a month or a massive £3,288 a year!

Keep in mind you may have 5 employees that do this all day without your knowledge, this is now costing you £1,370 a month in lost time. Over a year you are losing over £16,400 to pay your employees to surf the web generating no revenue in the process!

Another cause for growing concern is the huge growth in the instant messaging area over the past 2-3 years. Employees spend over 2 hours a day on instant messaging, while this is not as big as a distraction as web browsing it can have security concerns. The ability to send a quick message via the internet with little to no evidence can be very problematic with regards to the security of sensitive company information.

Another growing trend is for employees to chat to their friends via email. While this is easier to monitor a lot of business do not have the technology or the technological knowhow to accomplish this. It can be as equally as devastating to a company If you do not have a central email system where all messages can be tracked and backed up in case of an environmental disaster or data loss.

There are solutions around all of these problems.

For Web Browsing & Instant Messaging...
The Internet Group are Websense Gold Partner who can provide solutions that can monitor and block web browsing and instant messaging. This can be based on time conditions or the type of web-pages that people are trying to visit. It can be setup for monitor purposes for the first phase of installation which will allow you to get a feel for what is going on the network when you aren’t there to oversee them.

For Email Communications...
Microsoft exchange provides the features for a managed email system and allows you to centrally manage your employees’ mailboxes. This allows you to monitor their mailbox’s to ensure they are not sending company information home and to also ensure that they are not wasting time chatting with friends via email.

As you can see, there are many ways that productivity can drop in the workplace. With these solutions in place, productivity will stay high and you will remain in control of the workers productivity and web usage within the workplace.

1. Control – I’m watching you
   Make sure that users can only see and use data that is applicable to them. You wouldn’t want your staff seeing the HR folder for example. A constant review of the user’s permissions is highly advisable and will save you a lot of potential trouble in the future.
2. Protect – Protect you and your clients
   Nowadays the common trend for agencies is to install mail archiving software that allows the business owner to capture every outbound and inbound email that leaves the company. This will ensure that users cannot cover their tracks when emailing themselves databases or client/candidate information. As we all know this goes on all the time.
   
   Furthermore technologies like mail archiving allow you to quickly and efficiently recall all emails from all of your users saving you time and money.
3. Productive – It’s easy to look busy when you are behind a PC
   With the evolution of Web 2.0 and the community websites that go with it such as Facebook & MySpace, it is important that you have an understanding of the Web usage by your staff. Giving carte blanche access to the web is not only dangerous in terms of viruses, malware and spyware etc, but more importantly it kills productivity. A nice way to deal with this issue is to block the content that is not relative to your business i.e. Porn and Gambling and then give the users access but create daily reports out lining each user’s behaviour. You will soon see a decline in use of non-related websites when your staff know you know!
4. Lock down – Avoid the data thieves
   Most of your staff will own mobile phones, MP3 players and some even USB pens. These devices are the enemy of the work place as they are not only methods of transporting data from one place to another but also they are a threat to your network as they could carry viruses or even illegal content.
   
   To combat these enemies you will need to lock down the PC’s/Laptop’s so that the users cannot even plug these devices in. There are lots of software options to consider that will do the job. Typically this problem is referred to as End Point Security.
5. Privacy – Don’t tell anyone
   Passwords for PC’s are the simplest way to protect you and your staff. Historically staff often handed out their passwords to colleagues and in some instances even wrote it on a post-it note and attached it to the screen. In a world where data theft (aka Industrial Espionage) it rife, it is important that users only use their logon to perform functions on their PC’s. If you do take our advice and start to monitor user activity, you need to be sure that the user you are monitoring is in fact that user.
6. Compliance – Know your legal requirements
   Did you know that it was law from the 1st Jan 2007 that all limited companies MUST have their registered office address and registered company number appended to the bottom of each email that they send. Is your company complying with this and other laws regarding electronic communications? Many companies will judge your facade from the way you do business electronically. Complying with laws like this ensure you give the right message that you understand IT and take it seriously.

7. Future Proof – Stay ahead of the competition
   With the beauty of the web is that smaller companies can easily portray themselves as a large corporate by having an interactive and well designed website. More so with the evolution of Web 2.0, multimedia content features heavily on a lot of sites and things like online Video CV’s are becoming the standard.

   Have you considered how you are going to evolve and make it easier for your clients to do business with you? You need to evaluate the market trends and ensure that your business stays ahead of the competition or at least on par with them.

8. Work Smart, Not Hard – It’s not the hours you put it, it’s what you put in the hours
   If you are a smart agency you are probably using a bespoke Recruitment database such as Adapt, iProfile, Voyager to name but a few. However if you are not using one of these you are seriously missing out. These applications allow you to work smarter i.e. being able to upload CV’s to all the portals such as Monster, Jobsite etc with a single click of a button. They also allow you to manage your staff and allow you to report on their activities and sales ratios etc. If you don’t run a candidate/client database you are never going to be able to grow effectively.

9. Managed IT – Stick to what you are best at
   IT can be a mine field and for some companies managing the IT is unfortunately a full-time job. Focus on what you are good at i.e. recruitment and leave the IT to a specialist. Ensure that they have the technology, people and processes to ensure that they cannot only look after you today but also tomorrow.

   The success of your business relies heavily on the success of your IT. Treat it with the respect it deserves i.e. apportion sensible budgets to technology and ensure that whoever manages it is capable of the job at hand.

10. Education – Ignorance is not always bliss
    In order for your business to continue to succeed to you need to understand all elements of the business. IT is normally a subject when most CEO’s eyes glaze over and they start to fall asleep. However as a business owner you have a duty to understand the IT and the role it plays within the business. Take the time to understand what you have, what it does and more importantly how it needs to grow.

    We have seen it time and time again that the companies who invest the most in IT and automate a large percentage of their businesses continuously reap the benefits both in terms of bottom line profit and client retention.

If you would like to know more about how IT can help your business grow, speak to one of our specialists who will walk you through our ABC of behaviours of exceptional recruitment companies.