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This is first of a series of newsletters intended to provide a perspective on how current technology presents opportunities for the SME to reduce costs or make your business more efficient. They are intended to be generally useful, not simply a sales pitch for Steam technologies although of course we hope they will stimulate interest in talking to us to find out more. They are intended to be in plain conversational English, not tekky speak, and if this is not the case please let us know !

They will be stored as a library on the back of our website. We have eight in the pipeline, if you have any specific topics you feel would be interesting please let us now, if practical they will be included.

Data Convergence

What is Data Convergence? Well, it used to be that you needed different bits of kit to access different bits of information about your business. Here’s an example. Twenty five years ago you may have given your sales staff a pager so you could keep in touch. Then mobile phones came along and included text messaging. Five years ago you may have had a mobile phone and a PDA, (like a Palm Pilot or Blackberry). Now most phones as standard do both functions. Wireless technology means traditional ideas of networks are changing. Basically, modern technology is converging into fewer systems to do more, with less hassle.

Data convergence is a simple idea, that linking things together helps them to work better. Speed of access to the internet and increased power and functionality on handheld and remote devices has opened up opportunities for every SME to reduce costs, improve efficiency and get a better return on investments.

This allows the SME business owner to rationalize the technology you have to have and simplify how you get at your business information. Data convergence can be the key to making cost savings while staying competitive.

Your data may currently sit on multiple sources. Accounts packages, Outlook contact databases, maybe Excel spreadsheets, sales staff mobile phones, Access databases, PC based marketing systems, on line shop databases, PC based stock management / ERP systems. These may be accessed from PC’s, laptops, remote dial in from home, and telephones. Typically none of these talk to each other, simply because when they were installed the technology didn’t exist at a sensible price to get one view of what is going on. Competitive pressures mean you have to make better decisions more quickly and drive better decision making from your staff. The problems start when you want a single simple view in real time or close to it, of what’s actually going on in your business.

The current state of Internet technology means that the hassle of tracking where staff are working from and making data available for them to work on securely has largely (but not completely !) gone away. Protecting your valuable data is now much easier, as with modern systems data can be accessed across the internet realtime with no data downloaded onto the viewing machine, without expensive technology needed for VPN’s (virtual private networks), Terminal Server licences, the very latest PC’s…. For many small businesses a significant reason to explore data convergence is the ideal of a single view of many different databases accessed from anywhere, without expensive network technology, with sales staff being unable to steal your data.

Steam software have a range of rented, genuinely web based modular technologies, that can reduce your infrastructure costs and help you make better business decisions by making customer and stock information available realtime. An initial face to face consultation is free.

Reasons to talk to us

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