As part of our SME Insights series we’re keen to help small businesses manage their time and that of their organisation’s effectively. One area that can often be overlooked is how much time is spent managing our inbox and reading/responding to emails – especially those pesky internal ones!

In our recent LinkedIn poll we were surprised to see that 45% of respondents could go a whole half a day without checking their email, whilst 25% of respondents couldn’t last 5 minutes with out checking. How often do you check yours? Contribute to our poll here.

No matter how often you check your emails, the key to being efficient is to make sure you’re not trawling through spam, circulars and irrelevant emails when you do.

6 quick ways to keep an efficient inbox

1. Keep only email in your inbox if it needs acting on – read it, complete the action, then file or delete it.
2. Stop saving messages for future reference – save important emails in subfolders and clean out your inbox and sent folder, then set your email settings to delete anything in your Trash or Junk folder after 30 days.
3. Unsubscribe – it can be that easy. Remove your name from newsletters, blog feeds and anything else you no longer read or have an interest in receiving.
4. Don’t check your emails unless you’re ready to respond, act or delete – reading your emails could be a waste of time if your not ready to act, you will only have to re-read them when you are ready
5. Make the rules – create rules that send email from a particular address, with a particular subject line or containing a certain word to your subfolders so you can categorise your messages easily.
6. Educate your senders – try to make sure the people sending you emails know to only copy people in if necessary, not ‘just in case’. If you need someone to act on your email send it To them, if they need to know about it but don’t have an action then Copy them in.

Our recent survey, conducted with heads of 100 UK small businesses, revealed that SMEs are setting their 2012 budgets with growth in mind, and deploying a strategy of investment in Marketing, Sales and IT to achieve it. 

Results show that SMEs, many of whom are expected to be major contributors to future growth in the UK economy, are using their strengths of agility and flexibility to take a proactive approach to planning and budgeting for the year ahead.

Findings from the survey include:

• 79% of respondents said the economic forecasts for 2012 had not affected their budget
• 54% of respondents will be increasing their 2011 budget for 2012
• Increased investment will be in marketing (67%), sales (63%) and IT (50%)
• Respondents either agreed or strongly agreed that email marketing (63%), website development (58%) and social media (54%) were marketing priorities for 2012
• 30% respondents said they would also consider outsourcing as a means to reduce 2012 overheads

If you need help with budgeting for the year ahead, download our White Paper: Budgeting for 2012 which has been developed in conjunction with The Supper Club as part of our SME Insights educational series.

  ]]> http://www.iconnyx.com/2012/02/09/smes-budgeting-for-growth-in-2012/feed/ 0 http://www.iconnyx.com/2012/02/09/cloud-expo-europe-2012-dispels-fears-over-cloud-computing/ http://www.iconnyx.com/2012/02/09/cloud-expo-europe-2012-dispels-fears-over-cloud-computing/#comments Thu, 09 Feb 2012 12:51:21 +0000 RHannan http://www.iconnyx.com/?p=3837 More]]> Iconnyx recently attended Cloud Expo Europe 2012, an event for businesses and public sector organisations seeking insight into cloud computing strategies.

Businesses still hold concerns over the adoption of cloud computing. Research carried out by IT integrator Fordway found that the key issues preventing organisations adopting cloud computing today involve the management of risk. Cloud industry experts at the event clearly wanted to show businesses that these concerns should not hold them back from moving into the cloud.

The demand for cloud based technology is growing; research conducted by Cloud Industry Forum found 53% of businesses had already adopted at least one cloud service. More importantly, 95% said they were satisfied with the services and intended to expand their adoption of cloud services quickly. It is clear that cloud computing is meeting business needs as a flexible IT model that is suitable for businesses in times of economic uncertainty.

Data backup was a key priority for those surveyed (42%), then email management (39%), data storage (39%), collaboration tools (26%) and IT operations management (25%). A majority of businesses are now using cloud technology for disaster recovery promoting the technology as a secure platform.

Roger Bearpark and Richard Blanford at Cloud Expo looked at a case study from the London Borough of Hillingdon. They discussed how a hybrid solution of public cloud for less critical services and private cloud for critical services gave them huge cost and energy saving of 80% less power consumption and a 20% reduction in carbon footprint.

There are a range of cloud solutions now available; whether businesses choose to move fully into the cloud or a hybrid solution, the solution chosen needs to be the tailored to that business’s specific needs to ensure the full benefits of cloud computing are received.

Published: 07/02/2012

The outlook for UK small business looks positive, with 54% UK small business increasing this year’s budget from last year. The survey, commissioned by Iconnyx, a fast-growing provider of managed IT services to the business marketplace, was conducted among heads of 100 UK small businesses and revealed that for 79% of respondents the economic forecasts for 2012 had not affected their budget.

Major areas for increased investment include marketing (67%), sales (63%) and IT (50%), demonstrating an offensive strategy to economic uncertainty. Marketing activity for the year focused on online activities with respondents either agreeing or strongly agreeing that email marketing (63%), website development (58%) and social media (54%) were the priorities.

30% respondents said they would also consider outsourcing as a means to reduce 2012 overheads.

“It’s really positive to see the strategy of investment despite all the doom and gloom out there,” said Tim Walker, Managing Director. “It shows that smaller businesses are more resilient to current economic uncertainty, and the government should recognise and reward them as a major contributor to the future of UK growth.”

As part of the SME Insight education series, Iconnyx and The Supper Club – a group of some of Britain’s most successful entrepreneurs – have developed a whitepaper guide offering businesses advice on how to forecast effectively and set an accurate budget, read the whitepaper in full by downloading it here.

Ends (248 words)

Notes to Editors:

Iconnyx is a fast growing provider of managed services to the business marketplace, including business internet, MPLS VPN, Hosting and Managed IT. Iconnyx has a reputation for delivering high quality value-for-money solutions that fit the requirements of business customers.

www.iconnyx.com @iconnyx

PR Contact:

Thea Parnell: tparnell@clever-touch.com, 01962 677 000 or 07872 464 469

The Supper Club is a members-only club supporting Britain’s most successful entrepreneurs and has been running since 2003. It has hosted over 800 events providing unique face-to-face experiences as well as providing behind-the-scenes support in a range of high-value, innovative ways.

It believes success breeds success so the Club is a vetted peer group of entrepreneurs who are leaders, award-winners and innovators in their industry. Members feel comfortable that they are amongst a high quality of peers and can openly share ideas, challenges and opportunities.

http://www.supper-club.net/

http://twitter.com/#!/TheSupperClubUK

As part of our SME Insights campaign we have partnered with the Email etiquette experts, Emailogic to deliver a webinar on email inbox best practice. Time is wasted everyday reading unnecessary emails and yet we don’t do anything about it, that is about to change.

Supporting SMEs

Our webinar will teach you ways you can make back 30 minutes a day to spend on more productive tasks.

The webinar will include:

• Best practice advice and practical tips for inbox management
• How to reduce the stress of overflowing inboxes
• Improving staff productivity
• Reducing email traffic by 40%

SMEs, which need to focus on their strengths rather than fighting with an overflowing inbox, will leave with practical tips that they can pass on to their team to improve productivity cross the company. If you’d like to attend the free webinar on Thursday 16th February 2012, 10am, register here.

Companies have been warned by an expert that it is “imperative” for them to plan their use of disaster recovery solutions.

Writing on the Silicone Whisperer blog, IT writer Ernest de Leon claimed that a full idea of what a company needs will allow management staff to ensure they select the most suitable platform.

He explained that the range of solutions available mean it is vital for some forward planning to be made.

“There are a plethora of backup, archival and restoration solutions on the market, and they vary greatly in cost and complexity,” he wrote in the column.

“Some include features that many enterprises will not need, and some are missing in areas where a more robust solution is often warranted.”

Don Norbeck of Virtual Strategy Magazine recently claimed in a column that the best disaster recovery plans, particularly those based on virtualised technology, tend to focus on a single solution.

An expert has called on the government to scrap its plans to introduce universal broadband services.

Peter Bazalgette, non-executive director of syndication company Myvideorights.com, has claimed that the introduction of faster internet connections is currently more of a priority than ensuring everyone across the UK is online.

He explained that quicker connections could act as an “economic stimulus” due to the benefits it would offer business broadband users.

“There is a conflict, in my opinion, between having fast broadband and having universal broadband,” he outlined at the Westminster eForum and Media Forum keynote seminar the Future of Content Online.

“I don’t believe we can have both at the same time at the same pace.”

Recent research published by the Organisation of Economic Cooperation and Development claimed that the UK is 21st out of 30 developed countries studied in terms of broadband speed.

It was found that most subscribers have access to broadband DSL rather than fibre.

All businesses should have plans in place to support their disaster recovery strategies, it has been claimed.

Stephanie Balaouras of Computerworld has claimed in a column for the website that while technology undoubtedly supports preparations for business continuity and recovery, it “doesn’t constitute a strategy of plan”.

“You need to have a framework in place to manage disaster recovery preparedness as a continuous process, not a one-time event,” she explained.

“Processes have to be in place to ensure that disaster recovery plans are continuously updated as a part of change and configuration management and are regularly tested.”

She added that documentation like risk assessments and business impact analysis needs to be considered by companies so they can develop specific and detailed plans.

Don Norbeck of Virtual Strategy Magazine recently suggested that the best disaster recovery plans are focused around the use of a single solution, although many firms may need to use a tiered approach due to differences in IT environments.

Small and medium-sized enterprises (SMEs) could improve their disaster recovery plans by using virtualisation, research has suggested.

The study by VMWare found that the use of such IT platforms has help such firms to improve their data backup and protection plans, as well as their business continuity preparedness.

Such figures could be a huge boost to many SMEs, as it was revealed that 33 per cent of them have had an outage within the past two years.

Joe Andrews, group manager of product marketing at VMWare, said firms often fail to “appreciate the risks of permanent damage” that an outage can have.

He added: “The good news is implementing virtualisation can greatly improve disaster preparedness and recovery so businesses can more easily meet customer demands and maintain their business operations.”

Figures published by PricewaterhouseCoopers found that just 47 per cent of UK executives have disaster recovery plans in place at their organisations.

Home and business broadband users in Basingstoke are to benefit from new plans to introduce super-fast web services across the town.

Basingstoke and Deane Borough Council has agreed a deal which will see new telecoms cabinets featuring fibre optic-based technology rolled out across the area so over 27,000 homes and businesses can enjoy quicker broadband.

Connection speeds of up to 40Mbps will be available to those affected by the first phase of the project, which is expected to be completed by the end of this year.

Councillor Keith Chapman, the council’s cabinet member for IT and telecommunications, said many people could go “straight from ‘no performance’ to ‘high performance’”.

He added that the plans were “a great step forward” that would help to support the town’s “future prosperity”.

Recent figures published by UK communications regulator Ofcom found that nine out of ten companies with five or more employees now have internet connections in place.