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Is now the time to move to the cloud – and what does that mean? (North Harbour)

17 October 2013

 

 

Moving to the cloud seems to be the buzz phrase of the year.  Applications and services are hosted from the cloud, data is stored in the cloud – and servers are moving to the cloud.  Everyone from your accountant to your graphic designer is likely to be using the cloud for some or all of these business processes.  So does your business need to become more cloud oriented?  What does that mean for you?  What are the benefits and what are the potential pitfalls?

Proponents wax lyrical about access from any device, reduced reliance on on-site IT management and cost savings.  But what about the time and effort to transition to the cloud?  And how about the risk of reliance on your internet service to operate your business?  And can you trust your cloud provider with the security and privacy of your data? 

How do you consider the tradeoffs between cost, security, ease of management, vulnerability to far-away providers and ease of access?  Do the benefits outweigh the costs?

For this event we have assembled a quality panel comprising two business owners who have tackled this issue in their own business – and an expert who has seen the issues as they unfold from a professional point of view:

Mark Greenslade:  Mark is General Manager of Family Law Results, whose servers, data and key business processes have been operating in the cloud for some three years.  Mark will share some of the roadblocks and successes in their journey to the cloud from the perspective of a management team who were not IT professionals when they took their first steps in a direction that was largely uncharted in the legal industry.

Philip Adamson:  Philip is a director of OutSource IT, who deliver outsourced IT support to SMEs.  Philip and his team have done quite a number of successful cloud migrations, but they are also now seeing businesses coming back OUT of the cloud in various areas because they went in without the proper information and preparation. Philip believes the media has a lot to answer for in regards the benefits and expectations around the cloud.  Philip will share some of his experiences as an IT professional in this space.

Danielle Butler:  Danielle is owner of Medical Uniforms New Zealand, whose staff operate entirely in the cloud using Unleashed, Xero and Zoho – as well as free cloud based services like MailChimp.  Danielle likes to challenge the status quo of how a business should look – and she “has her head in the cloud”.  If you’re curious about Cloud technology and finding ways of utilising it to make your business better, come and hear what Danielle has to share.

 

This event will be held at the BNZ Partners facility on Constellation Drive, North Harbour at 5:30pm on Thursday 17 October 2013 – and will run through to 7:30pm on the night.

As always for Business Owners Forum events, this session will be free of charge and completely free of sales pitches from the supporters or the panelists.  And there will be pizza, beer and wine to lubricate quality discussion.

Business Owners Forums are held monthly – alternating between Whangarei, Albany and Newmarket venues.  This event will be repeated in Newmarket on Wednesday 20 November.

If you’d like to attend this event, email Fraser Hurrell before this event fills up.  And if you’d like to be included on the invite list for future events, just add your contact details in the box to the right.

 

Proposed amendments to ECA, Part 6A

130812 - cleaners iconOne of the more controversial parts of the Employment Relations Act is Part 6A, which is intended to provide continuity of employment for vulnerable employees.  For example, if XYZ Limited loses a contract to ABC Limited, employees may elect to transfer to ABC on the same terms and conditions of employment.  In general, this applies to employees in the catering, cleaning, orderly and laundry industries.

There has been some opposition to Part 6A since it was introduced in 2004.  Business owners argue that it impacts on the tendering process and protects poorly performing businesses by removing any competitive advantage that an up and coming company may offer.  An argument is that Part 6A denies the end customer the ability to determine who enters and for example cleans their premises.

We have seen the sale and purchase of several businesses in these industries, and Part 6A does supress the value the business owner has built up.  All other things being equal, a business is worth less where extra obligations are placed on the purchaser.  Under more normal circumstances the purchaser of a business will choose which staff they want to employ depending on their actual needs.

The opposite view is that these workers are vulnerable because contracts in these industries change hands frequently, and these workers are typically paid the minimum wage with little job security.  As vulnerable workers, they should be protected to some extent from being squeezed by the price sensitive demands of customers.

The Government is considering amendments to Part 6A.  Submissions on the Employment Relations Amendment Bill closed in July and are being considered by the Select Committee – and it seems likely this Bill will then be enacted.

If the amendments are passed by parliament, these changes to Part 6A will apply:

  1. Employees will be required to notify the new employer within five working days of their decision to transfer;

  2. The outgoing employee will be required to provide certain information relating to the transferring employees;

  3. The incoming and outgoing employers will be allowed to negotiate apportionment of liability for employee entitlements.  If unable to agree, a default apportionment formula will apply;

  4. The outgoing employer will be deemed to have warranted that they have not engaged in behaviour intended to damage the business of the new employer – such as unreasonably increasing employee entitlements before the employees transfer over;

  5. There will be an exemption so businesses with fewer than 20 employees will not be required to take on the vendor’s employees on purchase of a business or winning of a contract.

From where I sit, these changes seem reasonable.  I do agree that the most vulnerable employees should be afforded some extra protection.  But I also believe that many small businesses are equally vulnerable, and Part 6A as it stands is onerous on the small Kiwi businesses in these industries.

The Select Committee is due to report on this Bill on 12 December 2013.  It will be interesting to see where this goes.

Accountants vs Lawyers

 

130812 - debate iconThis event is less serious and more fun!  Who contributes more – lawyers or accountants?

This question will be hotly debated at The ASB Great Debate at Auckland’s SkyCity on Saturday 31st August 2013.  This will be an engaging and entertaining fundraising event with the proceeds going to Starship and Kidney Kids.  Platinum and Gold tables and tickets are sold out, but some Silver tables and seats are still available here >>>. 

A team of Accountants will debate with a team of Lawyers the (obviously incorrect) moot “Lawyers contribute more than Accountants”.  

The Accountant’s corner will be led by outspoken, intelligent and not always politically correct Bruce Sheppard supported by Lyle Irwin from RSM Prince and Mary Jane Daly, formerly of IAG and BNZ.

And he Lawyer’s corner will be led by high-profile Otago university law dean Mark Henaghan supported by public law specialist Mai Chen and Auckland Crown solicitor Simon Moore, QC.

The adjudicator will be broadcaster and comedian Paul Ego, who will ensure maximum entertainment – and who is sure not to allow either side to take themselves too seriously!

See the full team profiles here >>>

No, Elevate CA Limited is not earning a quick commission on these tickets.  We’re promoting this event brought to you by our client International Entertainment Limited because Starfish and Kidney kids are great causes – and because we have a vested interest in seeing the right outcome from the question being debated!

Recognising viable business and product ideas (North Harbour)

15 August 2013

 

“Good ideas are a dime a dozen … its execution that counts”.  So once said an unnamed but wise person.  But of course in order to execute successfully, the business or product idea must at least be viable.

Many a fortune has been lost in pursuit of a business or product idea that was never a winner.  And many a great idea has never been executed for fear of failure.

So how do you recognise whether your business or product idea is a winner?

This is a very good question, and one which our panel will explore at the 15 August Business Owners Forum.

This event will be held at the BNZ Partners facility on Constellation Drive, North Harbour at 5:30pm on Thursday 15 August 2013 – and will run through to 7:30pm on the night.  Our three panellists will cover the spectrum of expertise in intellectual property, on the ground success in commercialising great ideas – and battle scars from unsuccessful ventures.

 

As always for Business Owners Forum events, this session will be free of charge and completely free of sales pitches from the supporters or the panelists.  And there will be pizza, beer and wine to lubricate quality discussion.

Business Owners Forums are held monthly – alternating between Whangarei, Albany and Newmarket venues.  This event will be repeated in Newmarket on 18 September 2013.

If you’d like to attend this event, email Fraser Hurrell before this event fills up.  And if you’d like to be included on the invite list for future events, just add your contact details in the box to the right.

 

Finding the Right Person to Manage your Business (Newmarket)

 

17 July 2013

Most Kiwi business owners are also directors – and also provide day to day management.

In the early stages – and while your business is relatively small, this can be perfect.  After all, no-one will care about your business and work it like you will right?  But for business owners with ambitions for growth, you may at some point find that you’re not the ideal person to manage your business.

It may be that you are a brilliant founder with great technical and entrepreneurial skills – but not a great manager.  It may be that your business needs specific skills in order to grow – and you just don’t have those skills.  It may be that your business needs a separation between governance and management.  It may be that you wish to retain ownership of your business – but not direct involvement in day to day operations.

In any of these situations, you will be faced with finding the right person to manage your business.

This is a process fraught with problems – and often they rest fairly and squarely with the business owner him or her self.  At this event we will assemble a quality panel comprising two business owners who have successfully or unsuccessfully tackled this issue in their own business – and an expert who has seen the issues as they unfold from a professional point of view.

This event will be a repeat of the June Business Owners Forum event – and will be held at the BNZ Partners facility on Broadway, Newmarket on Wednesday 17 July 2013 – and will run through to 7:30pm on the night.

 

Greg Murphy.  As founder of high-growth software as a service company Unleashed Software, Greg has been through the process of relinquishing direct control of the business he founded in 2009.  Greg has some valuable insights to share from his own journey through this process.  Often the most powerful insights at business owners forums come from business owners who have negotiated their way through the topic of the month – and Greg’s story will be of great interest to business owners embarking on this journey.

Allen Mackay.  As a partner at People Partners  – and in his previous life in executive search and recruitment, Allen has made a profession of finding the right person to manage his clients’ businesses.  There are ways that you can increase your chances of finding the right person to manage your business – and Allen knows most if not all of these.  And the good news is that he will be on the panel at this event to share some of this intellectual property with the Business Owners Forum.

Damien Grant.  It’s always good to see Damien at the Business Owners Forum, but as an insolvency practitioner most business owners would prefer to avoid meeting him professionally.   One of the ways to increase the odds of Damien’s crew taking possession of your business assets is to take your eye off the day to day management of your business.  The dilemma is that’s probably exactly what you intend when hiring someone to manage your business.  Damien will discuss ways to mitigate the risks from stepping away from the day to day management of your business – and will share some chilling reminders of what can happen when this doesn’t go so well.   

 

As always for Business Owners Forum events, this session will be free of charge and completely free of sales pitches from the supporters or the panelists.  And there will be pizza, beer and wine to lubricate quality discussion.

Business Owners Forums are held monthly – alternating between Whangarei, Albany and Newmarket venues.

If you’d like to attend this event, email Fraser Hurrell before this event fills up.  And if you’d like to be included on the invite list for future events, just add your contact details in the box to the right.