The Sikh Geek

What a way to start a weekend with doom and gloom and predictions of the world about to end!

Who hasn’t heard the term "Credit Crunch" recently? Like many I barely understand it but use it in casual conversation to look big and intelligent. About 12 months ago we had scenes in the UK which hadn’t been seen in post war UK, a run on a bank, with people queuing outside Northern Rock to withdraw their money. It was eventually nationalised i.e. the UK Government took control of it and propped it up with billions of pounds and added it to the National Debt. Thank you very much!

That was only a portend of things to come. While on holiday in the US in March I saw reports of Bear Stearns about to go belly up! I don’t know what the outcome of that was. Recently two of America’s Mortgage Banks, Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac, have been taken over by the US Govt. Why? Because these two banks held Mortgage loans in the trillions of dollars, yes that’s right trillions not billions. A Mortgage size which is twice the size of the entire UK Economy. Forgive me for not providing any deep financial analysis of this but I think that’s some "bad shit" going down.

Today, I’ve just read that Lehman Brothers, the 4th largest US Investment bank is about to go "tits up" unless a lass minute deal is organised or the US Govt takes over this one as well! Read the BBC Finance Editor’s blog post on this.

I’m not sure what happens when a Bank goes out of business? I think some "bad shit" happens and people’s lifes are destroyed and it’s a chain reaction effect. It’s great to know that you can run a business that will always be bailed out. I’d like one of those businesses, how do I apply to become a CEO of a major bank because I too can run it into the ground with losses mounting in to the billions. Isn’t there meant to be some sort of Financial Services Watchdog to maybe hint that the stability of these organisations is being undermined? BIG FAIL on their part!

Who cares, it’s just a world away from us, isn’t? Except that it isn’t and the only question is how bad will it really get. Confidence around the world is already at an all time low with speculation on the price of oil having driven the price way up and all the consequences that go along with that. Thanks to the Free Market Economy, thanks for fucking things up, thanks basically for nothing. Apparently there are more Banks hanging on by a thread and two smaller Building Societies in the UK are to be bought by Nationwide.

I have never seen anything like this because the fundamental basis of the Western Economies are being rocked. The failures of businesses are coming thick and fast with XL going into administration today and leaving 67,000 people stranded on their holidays.

As I said there is some "bad shit" going down and I’m off to put all my money under my mattress!!

This is a published a Case Study by Microsoft on an iQubed client Leicestershire Cares which is a Charity doing some amazing work with some really fantastic staff. It’s a pleasure for me to work with them and I’m hugely impressed in what they have achieved over the years and making a real difference in people’s lives. Leicestershire Cares is an initiative of Business in the Community. The great thing is that they value the role of technology in their organisation and how it can support them in what they do.

As they say, the only constant thing in life is change! As of today, iQubed no longer exists as a separate entity in the Microsoft Partner Programme and has been merged with Ardent iSys. This means that Ardent iSys takes on all the assets and qualifications of iQubed and the Small Business Specialist designation. I’ve also asked some of my customers for the required references for the Networking Infrastructure Competency, actually we only need one more (as it had expired). Once the references are in place we’ll pay the fee and take Ardent iSys to Certified Partner status.

We’re busy putting in plans to support our developers in India to become Microsoft Certified Professional Developers (MCPD) and then complete the Custom Development Solutions Competency. I will then be visiting the team later on this year which I’m really looking forward to.

So, iQubed is still a limited company in its own right but the growth is happening around our outsourced software development business Ardent iSys Ltd. The feedback from clients has been very positive because of the emphasis we place on building relationships and being customer focused. The fact Ashish and I are here in the UK where are clients are based puts us in a great position over other Outsourcing Companies from India. But our plans are not to remain just that because if that was all that we did the business would not survive long term.

There will be further changes as I register a new domain name for the blog and start to talk more about Ardent iSys.

If you’ve been reading Chris Rue’s blog, the Funcave, then you’ll know he’s chairing a group which will be holding a first of its kind E-Cycling event. Having read through some of his posts I saw that he’d quadrupled his business being involved in this initiative which rather intrigues me and I’d love to know more how that has come about.

This has also got me thinking about the WEEE Directive and my own responsibilities under it as one of my customers was asking about recycling some old equipment they had (not originally supplied by me). I have to say, I’m not really sure what I should be doing or what advice I should be giving but I think I’m going to have to find out.

Anyway, here is Chris’s event details in his own words and should be interesting to see how it goes :-

Most of you already know that I’m chairing the planning committee for the first electronics recycling event ever held here in my local area of West Alabama.

The public collection of E-Cycling Day isn’t due to happen until January 24.

As of yesterday, thanks to large equipment pledges from a couple of local businesses which have already been picked up…E-Cycling Day has already collected 27,000+ pounds of electronic equipment!

We’re estimating we will collect 200,000+ pounds of equipment by the end of this event.

E-Cycling Day has started to garner a TON of attention, but we (the planning committee) would like it to receive more attention even farther out than our state.

Specifically, we’d like E-Cycling Day to get some “airplay” hither and yon, as we would like to be able to share our model with folks or organizations interested in forming an e-cycling event in their area.

… link to the official event website at www.tuscaloosachamber.com/ecycle

… links to a couple of the Funcave write-ups about E-Cycling Day:

http://www.chrisrue.com/funcave/2007/12/where-have-i-been-and-what-have-i-been-doing.html

http://www.chrisrue.com/funcave/2007/12/mo-media.html

http://www.chrisrue.com/funcave/2008/01/27000-pounds-and-what-do-you-get.html

This is the result of some of the new stuff that I’ve been working on with my business colleague Ashish. The London Technology Acceleration Services is backed by Ardentisys (our software business) and Hubworking. Its aim is to provide support to start-up and early stage technology/software businesses with high growth potential. The deal is simple is that a business gets the physical infrastructure and subsidised development support for a period of time along with our support in areas such as technology roadmap, business support, etc. The office base is situated in Central London in a prime location. This is an exciting phase in my business life and we’re actively looking for partnerships which will be of mutual benefit. One of our customers is TV Genius, who develop online TV Guides for the likes of Sky and ITV. You’ll notice that on their website it says their development team is based in Mumbai - that’s us! There’s more to come, so stay tuned or get in touch if you want a chat.

I’ve waited a while before blogging on the recently held Westcoast Small Business Forum. Susanne and the rest of the Westcoast team did a great job in engaging with the Small Business Partners in an open and honest way. There were some really interesting discussions, particularly in the pre-event roundtable where Westcoast’s Chairman, Joe Hemani, and MD, Duncan Forsyth, participated. There were two ideas which I think could really benefit SBSC Partners, Westcoast and Microsoft (…and anyone else who gets involved).

The first idea was around building a community/buying group with Westcoast so that the SBS Community could use its collective strength to get more competitive pricing. Now, I’m not going to speak on behalf of Westcoast and say they definitely committed to doing this but there seemed to be a real willingness to look at this idea seriously. I know sometimes that in the excitement and energy of the moment everything seems possible but when you get back into the day to day business, momentum can be lost. What I would say is that if Westcoast are willing to support us in this way then we as SBSC Partners should be willing to step up to the plate as well.

The other discussion area was engaging in end customer focused events and something I’m very keen on. There doesn’t seem to be the enthusiasm on the Microsoft side for this with the usual arguments that it’s far too expensive, doesn’t get the reach of online campaigns and partners don’t engage. There is a talk of ROI on events but Microsoft recently spent a considerable amount of money on some high profile Startup Business Events with high profile speakers such as Rachel Elnaugh and others. Were SBSC Partners linked in with this? What was the ROI on these events as many participants were pre-start businesses who felt that engaging with a Microsoft Business Partner was not appropriate for them. Also, Emma Richardson of Microsoft said that end user satisfaction with Microsoft had dropped significantly recently. There is nothing like engaging face to face with potential customers in regional events showing that Microsoft and its network of qualified partners are able to serve the needs of Small Businesses. This is something that I’m going to keep pushing on and to say to Microsoft to work with those proactive Partners who are willing to support such activities. I don’t really want to know what we can’t do but what we can do.

This is just great which I had to post up. It’s some interviews that were done at one of the Creative Coffee Club meetings and Sam Young has incorporated those into a Machinma video using Moviestorm (I sound like I actually know what that is but I don’t!). I love it and I love the Creativity in it, which is pretty apt for the “Creative Coffee Club”. Great views and comments from Toby Moores and others on the video as to what the events are all about.

Nice one Sam

The Merrill Lynch CEO, Stan O’Neal, has left his job because of the exposure of the company to bad debts of $7.9 bn and reporting a third quarter loss of $2.3 bn as reported by BBC News Online. Now what do you expect is going to happen to Mr O’Neal? Well, he’s retiring with immediate effect and probably a multi-million pound payoff. Job done, thank you and good bye! It really is a win-win situation being a CEO for a major corporate. If you’re successful, then big bonuses and if you mess up big time, big payoff anyway! Is there no sense that it’s actually success that should be rewarded? I saw recently (…and I can’t remember where), how little Steve Ballmer was actually paid but had good stock options which is fair because if Microsoft do well and make profits then his shares are actually going to be worth something.

The next time you make a mistake (I know we never do !!!), try asking your customer for some more money just to walk away from the mess into the sunset and see how they react??

[update] Read Robert Peston’s (BBC Business Editor) blog on this and then the comments. So, Small Businesses have no business plans or strategies? Well, compared to Merrill Lynch I would say our business strategies are like a masterpiece!

So, the news is that I’ve also become a Partner in Adent Informations Systems which is a software solutions company. My partner and colleague Ashish Raina has been doing an amazing job in developing Ardent into a successful software outsourcing company over the past 3-4 years. The company has 30-40 experienced software developers which are mostly working with SME Technology Companies based in the UK. Ardent enables companies to bring their technology products to maket quicker and more cost effectively. But it’s not about being the cheapest because I’m sure you’ve been contacted by endless companies in India looking for a route in to the European market. Ashish and myself understand Technology companies and we’re based right on your doorstep, so no awkward phone calls over a crackling line to someone who doesn’t understand your frustrations. It is about Customer Service as Susanne eloquently presents on! We’re backing this up by developing an integrated strategy with Microsoft and Ardent is in the Microsoft Partner Programme and looking to progress very quickly. We’re able to deliver solutions such as hosted MOSS 2007 (based in the UK) using SPLA backed by people who have many years of advanced infrastructure development and the quite often overlooked part, TESTING! In terms of software skills the developers have skills in ASP.NET 2.0, .NET 2.0, C#, VB.NET, SQL Server, XML, Java and Oracle. We’re in the process of signing a deal with a Business Support Centre based in Central London to support startup/early stage ISVs with complete software teams. They’ll be a new website soon but I wanted to get a heads up to people because were very much Community/Partner/Collaborative working focused. We’re looking for long term relationships where we can add value to each other’s businesses. If you’re going to the Westcoast Business Forum on 29th November then Ashish and I will be there if you want to have a chat.

I’m really excited about this!

Rather than repeat myself, here is my post on today’s Creative Coffee Club blog.

If you’re interested in starting one in your area then let me know and I’ll put you in touch with the appropriate people. Apparently one is launching in Silicon Valley! Cool or what!