Solutions for SMBs into IT/ITES

Many people ask about how IT can enable their businesses to be more efficient and more productive. In this article, we will be discussing the challenges of IT/ITES  and the best possible solution available  for them.

Security Challenges

In a typical contact center scenario, processes are outsourced from different organizations. This also means that contact centers should be having vital information of their customers that cannot be leaked out by any chance. Therefore, security of such data becomes a major concern for CIOs and IT managers. There can be two ways one can leak data outside a contact center:  mail it across to someone or  physically take the data on a portable media.

Now take in account the first scenario of  mailing the data to someone. This kind of challenge can be solved by implementing some proxy server in-between your Intranet and Internet, or in other words, having a HTTP or HTTPS filter for your organization. This allows you to restrict the site that you would think   might cause data loss. For example you could block Gmail or Yahoo mail, from which employees can actually send critical information to anyone across the globe. Some such free and Open Source proxy servers are Squid, hottproxy, etc. Now for the second scenario of taking away data on portable devices, one way is to stop your employees from bringing such devices inside the office. This solution can work for some organizations, but not for all. There are software solutions available which allow you to control the portable media connectors of the employees system.

These solutions can prevent users from taking data on portable media. Apart from these, there are software which enable you to allow users to take data which they are authorized to. Apart from the data loss from the organization, there are other challenges also. For example, there can be a virus outbreak within your organization which can finally lead to the loss of productivity and time.  Hence, to combat this, there are number of solutions available. The very basic thing which almost all do is install an anti-virus on each and every machine. But apart from that, you can also add protection at gateway level too. Products commonly known as UTM (Unified Threat Management) are available from different vendors such as Cyberoam, Zyxel etc for SMBs. This device scans the Internet traffic of your organization for any viruses, spam, Internet attacks, etc, and if found they try to stop it else they notify the IT admin about the issue so that immediate remedy can be taken. UTM can also act as HTTP or HTTPS filter, hence it can also be used as proxy server. So, instead of deploying separate appliance for anti-virus, anti-spam, anti-malware and IDP, you can simply deploy all in one UTM. Which will cost lesser than  the added sum of all appliances.

Reducing Costs

Another challenge faced by such organizations are OS and office application costs that are running on employees PC. The OS and office application would cost you a significant amount, even for small organizations having only 10 to 15 people. If you don’t have any financial issue right now, then going for MS Office 2007 would be a great option. But looking at the current scenario, it seems that organizations are not even willing to spend a penny. Hence the only alternative left is to look for some free software that fulfil the requirement.

Linux is considered to be the best alternative to Windows. The first and foremost reason for opting Linux is that it is free. That means no cost for the OS, you just have to bear the cost of the hardware. Now the question arises, what about the support? Well the free Linux distribution doesn’t provide support. But there are Linux distributions available from different vendors like RedHat or Novel which provide support for the OS with extra cost with added functionalities, such as proprietary device drivers.  The second thing is to look at is the application that runs on the system. Of course people do use MS Office due to its feature and stability. But now, new investments on such application wouldn’t be a wise decision. Hence there are quite a few alternative solutions available to this. For example OpenOffice is a free and open source office suite which provides most of the feature that you would find in MS Office, such as Word processor, Spreadsheets and database. Similarly, Sun’s Star Office is also one of such office suite which is paid, but costs you far less that MS Office 2007.

We must learn from China about this. They encourage local manufacturing and locally developed solutions/products whereas our government prefers costly products developed by/in other countries. A classic example is Huawei and ZTE. They have been successful due to support given to them by accepting their products/technologies and giving them a chance to perfect their technologies in high stake areas. They are now competing against best in the world with proven record.

--Bhuvnesh Thakar, Chief Executive, Megastar Computer Services

ERP

The perception of most of the CXO/ IT managers  is that ERP is only meant for large enterprises. Well that’s not true. Managing and planning out your business properly and, tracking all the issue and solving them are the basic need of any business. For all these, you need to have a proper application that takes care of all such issue. Earlier every department use to have application that was customized to their need. But when it comes to integrating two or more application of two or more department, for getting the bigger picture then it would have been very difficult.

Now with ERP package you can store the data at any centralized location, for example accounts data and customer data at one place. Hence, now you don’t need to have a separate application to manage or view the data, therefore reducing the pain and time. ERP package consists of different modules such as manufacturing, supply chain management, financial, HR, etc. So, you get the option to choose the module that you want to use . There are a number of Open Source and free ERP solutions available such as Compiere. You can find details on how to implement at the following link http://pcquest.www.ciol.com/ content/search/showarticle.asp?artid=71059. OpenBravo is also one of such free solution for which you can visit http://pcquest.www.ciol.com/ content/topstories/2008/ 808010301.asp.

Well, these free softwares are well enough to be deployed, but the only thing is that you need to have workforce that has the expertise in such software packages. Because deploying is only one part, the other part is to customize it to fulfil your business needs. If you don’t have the needed expertise then you should opt for other solutions, such as hosted ERP, where the vendor first understands your business needs and then configures the ERP to suite you equipment. The cost will be on usage or subscription basis and it would cost you lesser then hosting an in-house ERP solution. Because that may require new hardware, and work force with expertise in handling ERP. 

Availability of suitable infrastructure, which we are even ready to buy at reasonable costs, has been our greatest concern so far. 

--M K Singhal, Director, Eclipse Systems Pvt Ltd