Monday, February 15th, 2010
The Aberdeen Group released a report recently that made me shake my head in one of those “I-told-you-so” kind of ways.
The study, called Delivering Project Profitability: On Time and Under Budget, looked at project-based businesses and the challenges they face in remaining profitable inside a distressed and developing world.
While it acknowledged that a subject like this can’t be accurately painted with a single brush, given the range of corporate activity bustling out there, it does provide some strong counsel on how everyone could get a leg up in this cramped economy by paying attention to certain proven practices. (more…)
Tags: projects early, projects on budget, projects on time
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Thursday, December 3rd, 2009
Just because something has always been done a certain way doesn’t mean it can’t be done another way. A better way. Particularly if the first way has been knocked to the turf with a one-star rating and a 67% decline in license revenue in the last quarter alone.
Times are high right now and getting higher for Ontario engineers. Finally seeing some of the government funding earmarked for infrastructure trickling into their coffers from the last economic recession, these professionals are presiding over a scene that features more projects, more project management, more accountability for funds. (more…)
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Thursday, September 10th, 2009
Sometimes it’s instructive to step outside of your comfort zone and spear a fork into the uncomfortable. I recently delivered myself squarely there, with a deliberate stroll to the services buying side of the menu, instead of the services selling. It was with the aim of identifying a firm that could help us with some of our growth challenges that I lurched across the divide.
I honed in rapidly and found for myself a couple of likely candidates. I had telephone conversations with each of them, in which I described the nature and direction of our business, and explained some of the roadblocks our hurtling success has been dropping in our path. After our telephone call, I met with each of these contenders, and explained our situation further.
My experience to follow has been revealing. (more…)
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Thursday, August 13th, 2009
The concept of billable hours first drew the attention of the world around the same time nuclear power and Gordie Howe did: in the 1950s. All these years later, we still haven’t got a handle on it.
Technology—surprise, surprise—can automate this process; can help offices be more efficient, productive and profitable; can furnish hungry clients with demonstrable, auditable records of what was done for them, and when; can bypass the typical scene that sees most billables calculations taking place after the fact, rather than during; can help small firms deliver a standard of customer service generally reserved for larger ones.
Here’s How Technology Can Shape Your Billable Hours Business: (more…)
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Wednesday, July 29th, 2009
Often, the best lessons are learned in your own backyard.
When my partners and I stepped out onto the back deck seven years ago to launch 360 Visibility, convinced the market was aching for a full-service IT consulting firm without the typically attendant full-service price, we had scant grasp of just how much our own firm’s operations would teach us of the pains of our clients.
Take cashflow, for one. Always a challenge, cashflow is more of a bugbear than ever in these belt-cinched times. Keeping a firm handle on your day’s sales outstanding (DSO) as they relate to your day’s payables outstanding (DPO) is crucial. How quickly you’re collecting cheques versus how quickly you’re writing them, after all, is a delicate balance, and one we — like our customers — had to come to terms with early in our feet-finding days. (more…)
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Monday, October 27th, 2008
VAUGHAN, Ont., October 24, 2008 – 360 Visibility is proud to announce that they have recently signed an agreement with Top Solutions DK to provide their Certified for Dynamics solution to the Canadian market. Project Management, designed to work with Microsoft Dynamics NAV can be utilized as either an on-premise or hosted solution, and is a fully integrated tool that allows you to spend more time working on your projects and less time managing them. With the right combination of information and standard functionalities, Project Management for NAV delivers a flexible and functional system for effectively handling an infinite amount of projects, tasks and resources. (more…)
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Wednesday, July 16th, 2008
Copenhagen, June 26, 2008. Maconomy has signed a deal with Cossette Communication Group in Canada in collaboration with Maconomy’s Canadian distributor 360 Visibility. The deal includes a Maconomy Agency Solution for 1,350 users.
Cossette Communication Group is an international communications firm with offices in Canada, USA and England. The company provides a wide range of communication services for more than 800 clients, including some of the top brands in the world. Cossette has approx. 1,650 employees and is publicly listed on the Toronto Stock Exchange. (more…)
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