Ten Great Strategies For Today’s Climate

This is a challenging time to be in business but there lies the opportunity. I’ve listed 10 specific characteristics of downtimes and 10 positive strategies that embrace and capitalize on them.

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More time to create a focused business: Use this slower paced market to revisit the business you are in – what defines you. This is the perfect time for repositioning, selling off non-core subsidiaries, sharpening up product road maps and value propositions.
Flight to price and quality: Now is the time to revisit your product mix and pricing strategies. Buying behavior changes dramatically in a recession. Lower priced versions of your product or subscription based business models may be relevant to ease customer cash flow pain.
Measuring the signals is vital:> Mistakes made in downtimes can prove fatal.
Convert your Accounts Department into a Metrics Center. Trap and visualize your key performance indicators. Audit the signals and constantly interpret the significance to your strategies.
Acquisitions just got cheap: PE ratios of the majority of public companies are in single digits and the valuations of private companies are low. Consider a proactive approach to acquisitions by building a robust acquisition process that is proven to work.
The “C” level suite just got a free pass to visit their customers: Never has there been a better time for the inner cabinet to visit their customers to understand the specific issues challenging them. It’s not only productive, it’s essential for shaping strategy. Define your engagement strategy and get on site.
Value Propositions must improve a customer’s performance: Receiving a purchase order, confirming a big deal is very satisfying but it’s not enough. You need to be invested in the improved performance that will be achieved because your customer uses your product. Does your sales process achieve this?
Curiosity & Urgency of managers dramatically increased: Well it certainly should have. This new level of alertness (perhaps it’s fear) needs to be channeled to produce results. Difficult projects shelved in better times are prime candidates for this energy. Staff want to be effective and busy to get things moving again. Tap into this momentum.
People and tasks are mis-aligned: Now is the time to think like a start-up. The key –Define Performance Profiles that your company needs to be executed, not job specs but tasks that need to be done well. This will cause old jobs to be merged and new jobs to be created.
Silo Management is broken: Urgent initiatives will fail without cross-functional support. Company visions need to inspire and flow across functions. Build cross functional teams to execute top priorities.
Competition thins out: It might be difficult to create double digit growth but you can grab market share. The best companies don’t just survive bad times; they grow and develop into more robust and valuable businesses.

As an experienced business leader, Ian Smith is passionate about maximizing the potential of fast-growing companies. The Portfolio Partnership offers Corporate Development Services on an advisory, operational or investment model. Specifically we execute growth strategies by repositioning companies organically and/or by acquisition.

Ian was educated in Scotland, earning a BA degree from the University of Strathclyde and qualified as a Chartered Accountant of Scotland with Grant Thornton. Post qualification he joined Thomson the publishing giant and became one of their youngest divisional Finance Directors at 26 and was awarded the prestigious, UK Accountant of the Year ahead of many experienced FDs. From 1988 to 2000 he successfully built up two major boutique M&A advisory firms, Livingstone Guarantee and Capita Corporate Finance. During this period he completed over 40 acquisition, disposal or finance transactions, many cross border, many in the technology sector. He assisted dozens of entrepreneurs execute their vision.

In late 2001 he moved to the states to successfully reposition and grow Teamstudio, an IBM business partner with HQ in Beverly, MA and offices in the UK and Japan. During the next 5 years the top line was grown by over 45% and losses were turned into EBITDA of over $10m. high achiever, Ian expects the highest performance from his staff but always mixed with a Glaswegian sense of humor!

Larger 15-in. MacBook Air 'makes sense' for Apple, say analysts

Apple will launch a 15-in. MacBook Air in the first quarter of 2012, according to a report from a Taiwanese publication that cited unnamed sources in the component supply channel.

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A larger MacBook Air -- Apple currently sells 11.6-in. and 13.3-in. Airs -- makes sense, analysts said today, noting that the company will face competition from new "ultrabooks" next year sold by, among others, Hewlett-Packard (HP).

HP is set to start selling its first ultrabook, the name given by Intel to lightweight, thin laptops that will compete with the MacBook Air, on Dec. 7. The HP Folio, which will sport a 13.3-in. display, will sell at prices starting at $900, or $99 under Apple's cheapest MacBook Air.

"I don't have confirmation on a 15-in. MacBook Air, but logically thinking, it does make sense," said Brian Marshall, an analyst with International Strategy and Investment Group (ISI).

Marshall cited the impending debut of HP's Folio -- and the follow-on systems that others will release in early 2012 -- as one reason why Apple would want to extend the Air lineup.

Taiwan-based DigitTimes claimed that supplier sources hinted Apple will ship a 15-in. MacBook Air in the first three months of 2012.

"The sources noted that related upstream players have already started pilot production of the MacBook Air models and will add a 15-inch model into the product line to expand its reach in the ultra-thin notebook market," said the newspaper.

DigiTimes also said that the same sources maintained that Apple will reduce the price of its existing MacBook Air line to prepare for a refresh next year that would presumably include Intel's newest CPUs from its Ivy Bridge architecture.

Those processors, Intel said in September, will double battery life compared to the current Core chips that power the Air line, combine the CPU with the graphics processor, and provide a performance boost to boot.

Some online retailers aggressively cut prices of the MacBook Air on Black Friday, a possible sign that DigiTimes is on the right track. Amazon.com, for example, sold the 1.6GHz 11-in. Air for $850, 15% under list, last Friday.

Ezra Gottheil, an analyst with Technology Business Research, also thinks a 15-in. MacBook Air is a sure bet.

"The Air's popularity is driven in part by the iPad," argued Gottheil, taking a different tack than Marshall. "Interest in the Air is not just in thin and light, but like tablets, in instant on, portability and longer battery life."

Other factors that make an expanded MacBook Air roster not only smart but inevitable, said Gottheil, is the jump in hard drive prices, which have skyrocketed because of flooding in Thailand, where nearly half the world's hard disk drives are manufactured.

Some small PC makers have had to raise prices as much as 20% to account for the increase in hard drive costs.

Apple is in a good position to shift sales to notebooks based on SSD, or solid-state drives, because it locks in supplies of the flash memory used in SSDs by pre-paying billions to chip makers, said Gottheil. "Apple will definitely do a 15-in. MacBook Air," he said.

If Apple does expand the MacBook Air to a 15-in. model, neither Marshall or Gottheil expect the company to dump the MacBook Pro line, which comes in 13-in., 15-in. and 17-in. screen configurations.

"Personally, I don't think of the MacBook Pro as really portable, but more of a desktop replacement," said Marshall, who added that the audience for the Air and Pro lines are different enough that Apple will retain the latter.

"They'll sell them until the market says, 'No, thank you.' Apple has shown quite a bit of loyalty to their big machine fans," said Gottheil, pointing to the retention of the poor-selling Mac Pro desktop.

Apple's emphasis on online delivery of software -- in July, it launched Mac OS X 10.7, aka Lion, as an online-only upgrade -- also points to more emphasis on the Air, which shuns an optical drive.

"The optical drive is a thing of the past," said Gottheil. "[In computers], they're now used almost exclusively for playing CDs and DVDs."

Apple currently prices the MacBook Air starting at $999 for the 11-in. model and $1,299 for the 13-in. notebook. The least-expensive 15-in. MacBook Pro lists for $1,799.

PSD to HTML conversion is so important

Today PSD to HTML and PSD to XHTML play very significant and critical role in web design and web development. Success and failure of any website or web application can also sometimes depend on these basic PSD to XHTML/CSS conversions. If your XHTML code is not perfect or not up to the mark users will move on to other service provider or may be to your competitor. As web design is important as it shows your customers first impression so its XHTML code to search engines like google and yahoo and not to forget even to your customers. If your site does not look good on your customer’s browser, you could lose a customer forever and even sale.

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There are many tools which automate your PSD to XHTML conversion, but so far none of them could produce good results why? As no tool can read your design, these tools can’t understand importance of HTML tags and parts of your design that can be one of the critical things that search engines may see. It’s always recommended to go for manual PSD to HTML conversion services.Today we even saw automated PSD to Wordpress converters and we did tested one of them and it gave us worst code.

PSD to HTML conversion services are low cost services like $45 for index page and $25 or 50% for each inner page. You don’t redesign your website every day, do you? So this small investment can bring down your SEO cost if done in proper way. Your XHTML code should be valid and more importantly should be search engine friendly, should be all latest and one step down browser compatible. Should have proper comments and CSS should be in separate files, all java script should be in separate files, your code should be neat and easy to understand. There should be no unwanted code or unwanted CSS. Your page loading should be very less and this can be only when your code is perfect. Your page loading has major role to play in search engines, SEO and more to your sales. If your page takes longer to download due to bad coding, your customer will not wait he will move on.

There are number of companies like Convert2xhtml.com which provide low cost high quality PSD to CSS/HTML conversion services. Remember as site owner or designer your job is not just to go online with best design, it has be to best coded as well. If you ignore this at starting stage you will have to pay a lot in terms of SEO, sales, customers and one or other day come back to recode and pay more then what you would have paid initially. Your XHTML code speaks to your customers and it speaks to search engines. It acts like sales person for you and you know a bad sales person not only loses sale for your site but results in customer lost as well. When you select any PSD to HTML Conversion Company like convert2xhtml give them proper details make sure you and Conversion Company are on same track. Don’t rush, as its just initial phase a small delay in coding is acceptable then fast coding with hidden issues.

Learn To Add Bluetooth To Windows 7 Ultimate

The Bluetooth wireless technology is in demand for a range of PC networking products and understanding this demand Microsoft has provided native Bluetooth support to all the operating systems. Windows 7 Ultimate users will find that setting up Bluetooth devices is not a very daunting task. You always can ask for the services of a PC support United Kingdom provider whenever you are unsure of a step or get stuck anywhere while following the steps that are required.

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The first move the user has to make is to get the cable for the Bluetooth adapter connected to the USB port that is available on your system. This is to be done in case the computer does not have an adapter already built into the system. Usually users have to install an adapter in a desktop computer prior to a Bluetooth enabled device being installed. In case of laptops, these devices come with an integrated Bluetooth adapter.

You have to insert the CD with the software driver in your optical drive and then wait for some time; the setup wizard will automatically start and you are just required to go by the on-screen instructions. Now, after the driver has been installed, the computer must be rebooted, if you get a prompt to do so. If there are any problems, you have to get in touch with a computer support United Kingdom provider for help

At the next level, the users have to turn on the Bluetooth device. If you cannot locate the device in the system, you have to press the designated button for it or just set up a switch for positioning the device in the Discovery Mode. You have to go through the product documentation for the instructions pertaining to your Bluetooth device.

Now click on the Start menu at the bottom left side of the screen and go to Devices and Printers. This will open the Devices and Printers window for you. Look for the tab labeled Add a device visible at the top of the screen and click on it. You have to wait for the Windows 7 Ultimate operating system to find the discoverable devices that are near the system or simply connected to the system. From the list, you must click on the Bluetooth device that you want to install. Now click on the button called Next. If you have difficulty in following the instructions, then you can get in touch with the computer repair services United Kingdom.
Now wait for the operating system to configure the Bluetooth device. When you are prompted to enter a passcode, you must look for the default code that is listed in the manual of the owner of the Bluetooth device and enter that code. In majority of the cases, the default code appears to be 0000. Ultimately, try closing the Device and Printers window after the Windows 7 operating system verifies the installation of the Bluetooth enabled device. Whenever you face any problems, and things go wrong, contact a computer tech support United Kingdom provider without hesitation.

There are several Windows support United Kingdom providers offering their assistance to PC users who have issues in using their computers running on Windows operating systems. The Windows 7 upgrade United Kingdom services can offer effective services in the shortest time possible.

Microsoft: We won't update others' Windows apps

Microsoft on Tuesday slammed the door on updating third-party software via Windows Update in the upcoming Windows 8.

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One security expert said the company was missing a big opportunity to improve the overall security of Windows PCs.

The new operating system will not update non-Microsoft software, said Farzana Rahman, the group program manager for Windows Update, in a blog post.

"The wide variety of delivery mechanisms, installation tools, and overall approaches to updates across the full breadth of applications makes it impossible to push all updates through [the Windows Update] mechanism," said Rahman said. "As frustrating as this might be, it is also an important part of the ecosystem that we cannot just revisit for the installed base of software."

Rahman's statement was the clearest ever by Microsoft that it would not take other applications under its update wing.

Currently, the company offers customers updates to Windows drivers -- third-party files required to run the OS -- via Windows Update, and occasionally disables third-party ActiveX controls in Internet Explorer (IE) at vendors' requests. And that's how it's going to stay, Rahman said.

She did add that Microsoft feels its customers' pain.

"People clearly find the experience with multiple updaters on the system less than optimal, and we agree," Rahman said. "Each application updater gives you a different experience, you have to remember to go visit each updater to install updates, you never know when or how updaters will run and what they might do, and so on. People would like one updater for the entire system."

Yes, they would, said Wolfgang Kandek, chief technology officer for Qualys, and an advocate for Microsoft's updating other companies' Windows software.

"I understand the thinking," said Kandek of Microsoft's reasons for not pushing third-party updates, "but at the same time, it's a little disappointing. Microsoft could collect a huge amount of goodwill by doing this, and it would be a huge leap for security."

Kandek argued that although even Microsoft doesn't have the resources to validate every application's update, it could certainly focus on the most important vendors whose products need to be constantly updated. His examples: Adobe's Reader and Flash Player.

"I would argue that there are certain organizations, and Adobe is one of them, where [Microsoft taking on updating duties] would be possible," Kandek continued. "There are only a couple of [vendors] that they would need to address, and they're mature companies with well-tested updates."

Both Flash Player and Adobe Reader have been patched multiple times this year: Adobe has issued nine security updates for the Flash Player and five for the Reader so far in 2011.

Others, including Danish vulnerability tracker Secunia and some readers of Rahman's blog, have called for a unified update mechanism for all Windows software.

Two years ago, Secunia pitched an updating standard but couldn't drum up any support. Instead, Secunia released PSI 2.0, a utility that scans a Windows machine for a wide range of software, detects when that software is out of date, and leads users to relevant update sites where they can download the newest editions.

Rahman's readers weighed in, too.

"You could focus a new third-party update functionality on these relatively few, incredibly common programs," said someone identified as "JustSomeWinGuy" in the blog's comments. "A relatively small bit of new effort by Microsoft could pay huge dividends for many millions of end users."

But Microsoft has spoken.

"Microsoft's doing some great work [with Windows 8]," said Kandek, talking about some update streamlining the company revealed Tuesday. "But it's really too bad they're saying we won't integrate other applications in Windows Update. It would be a real boost to everyone's security."

IBM to build e-commerce research labs for Chinese retailer

IBMhas reached a deal with Chinese electronics retailer Suning Appliance to build research centers in China and the U.S. meant to develop e-commerce products for the company.

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IBM, already a provider of internal management systems for Suning since 2005, will now help the Chinese company expand its e-commerce site and services, said IBM spokeswoman Harriet Ip.

As part of the plan, IBM will build a research center in the Chinese city of Nanjing that will be staffed with 15,000 Suning employees over the next three to five years. Some of the products the center will develop include applications to allow household appliances to connect with the Internet and mobile handsets.

IBM is also establishing a joint development lab with Suning in Silicon Valley. The planning for the lab is still in the preliminary stages, but it will also focus on developing e-commerce services, Ip said.

Suning made the deal as the company is aiming at a greater presence in China's burgeoning e-commerce sector. While Suning has 1,700 physical stores, the company has to compete with the likes of China's Alibaba Group, which operates two of the top online retail sites in the country.

Suning has launched its own business-to-consumer (B2C) site, which now has a 2.4% market share, according to Beijing-based research firm Analysys International. In contrast, Alibaba's Taobao Mall has a 35.5% share.

"There is no question that we live in a time of rapid change that calls for the transformation of organizations in many industries," said Frank Kern, an IBM senior vice president in a speech last Friday.

Suning's goal is to build an e-commerce platform that will better personalize the shopping experience, by recommending appropriate products and providing better search. Financial terms of the detail were not disclosed.

Suning could not be immediately reached for comment. The company's president Zhang Jindong said in a statement that his company was moving to a business model that could leverage both e-commerce and physical retail shopping.

"With this innovative business model, consumers, suppliers and businesses along with society can all benefit," he said.

Where Linux crushes Windows likes a bug: Supercomputers

Linux is tiny on desktops, powerful on servers, mighty on Web servers, and rules over all on supercomputers.

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The faster a computer goes, the more likely is to have Linux at its heart. The most recent Top500 list of supercomputers shows that, if anything, Linux is becoming even more popular at computing’s high end.

In the latest Top500 Supercomputer list, you’ll find when you dig into the supercomputer statistics that Linux runs 457 of the world’s fastest computers. That’s 91.4%. Linux is followed by Unix, with 30 or 6%; mixed operating systems with 11 supercomputers, 2.2%. In the back of the line, you’ll find OpenSolaris and BSD with 1 computer and–oh me, oh my–Windows also with just 1 supercomputer to its credit. That’s a drop from 4 in the last supercomputer round up in June.

Digging deeper, we find that various customized Linux distributions account for 414 of the supercomputers. AIX, IBM’s house brand of Unix, takes a distant second place in individual operating system distributions. It’s followed by various versions of SUSE Linux Enterprise Server (SLES) and a variety of Red Hat Enterprise Linux (RHEL) variants including the RHEL clone CentOS. Compute Node Linux is the last significant solo Linux distribution on the list.

Other operating systems that just make the list includes Oracle’s all but dead OpenSolaris with one entry. The sole Windows entry, Windows HPC 2008, placed 58th.

So, while Linux has only a minute share of the desktop, a big chunk of the server market, is the platform for most Web servers, when it comes to one arena: the fastest of the fast, supercomputers, Linux absolutely rules.