Welcome to B & M Bulletin, produced specifically for users of contract IT services. In this issue:
• Finding scarce technical resource
• Tech View: the rise of voice over IP
• 10 ways to help busy HR professionals
• Real Skills. Real People - B & M's Sarah Yandle
• Finding out more
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Scarce technical resource - is there anybody out there?
Jerry Smart offers some advice on ways that you can fill technical skills gaps.
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With B & M what you see is what you get
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What do you do when you haven?t found the specialist that you need to fulfil your project? Do you defer the start of the work or push back the deadline (and suffer the effect on the project and business because of it)? Do you reassign someone internally (who may not have the full set of skills) and leave a skills gap elsewhere? Do you engage a large consultancy firm to take on the project - lock, stock and barrel - and have to find a considerable amount of money in addition to your original budget? Do you repeatedly revisit the same suppliers who have already exhausted their pool?
It isn?t easy to find specific technical skills. Advances in IT and declining demographics (population decline, coupled with baby boomers now approaching retirement) means that there are insufficient people gravitating to IT (or sciences in general come to that) and particularly to non-applications (technical) roles.
One way to deal effectively with the skills shortage is to keep one step ahead of everyone else. This means that as soon as you know that you are going to need particular skills, you seek to lock them in early.
It is also a question of who you know. In key areas of technical specialisation, a niche supplier is in a far better position to know who is in the marketplace, as that is their business. But knowing a name is not the same as truly knowing the specialist. It?s all about exacting qualification. Only if your supplier takes the extra time and trouble to assess the candidate, can you be confident in the quality of the proposal.
No one can guarantee to find you that elusive specialist but B & M has a better chance than most.
Contact B & M for a measurably better approach on sales@bmeurope.com
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Tech View: is VoIP the new Rock and Roll?
Paul Smith looks at how sending voice over IP networks has matured and is now growing apace
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In 1973 the introduction of 'Network Voice Protocol' heralded the first attempts at using data networks to carry voice. This later evolved into Voice over IP as a way of using LAN/WAN networks and the Internet as telephone carriers. Early services were patchy and offered highly variable voice quality, making them unsuitable for business; but with investment in VoIP systems in 2004 having reached $3.9 billion [Source: Infonetics Research], the technology is now truly embedded in the mainstream. During 2005 the prediction is that more TCP/IP PBX exchanges will ship than conventional digital systems.
The biggest concern is security. Currently a number of VoIP systems do not encrypt voice traffic between network nodes, potentially allowing them to be open to hackers, and therefore spoofing. Products such as Skype, MSN Messenger and PeerMe rely on a PC based client using tunnels through a firewall to allow the voice traffic through. However, this can also open up the risk of other types of security breaches; consequently many businesses are blocking the use of these products based on theoretical risks.
There are also side issues like the US e911 regulations which require that emergency services have access to a geographic location of the caller, although none of these appears to be major show stoppers as vendors work flat out to resolve these problems.
The next 12 to 24 months will probably see a significant growth in the commercial exploitation of VoIP, driving an increase in demand for communications and security professionals who can help large enterprises to capitalise on the cost-saving potential of VoIP.
For information about sourcing security or communications resource contact sales@bmeurope.com
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10 ways to help busy HR professionals
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Human Resources and resourcing professionals have to juggle demanding internal clients, increasing amounts of legislation and very tight deadlines every day. B & M takes the hassle out of sourcing and securing expert technical resource in a variety of ways, including:
1. Providing an easy way to source and secure IT specialists with the right technical knowledge and team fit
2. Taking the stress out of resourcing with proven processes
3. Helping HR professionals to deliver, boosting the respect they receive from colleagues, line managers and internal clients
4. Helping them achieve value for money
5. Delivering the peace of mind that comes from knowing there is someone out there who can help
6. Enhancing their job satisfaction by enabling them to deliver on time more often
7. Helping to make the job more fulfilling by removing a great deal of the uncertainty that can surround IT resourcing through the open market
8. Enabling them to deliver improved quality of service to internal clients
9. Providing added value support through the availability of professional contacts at B & M who will help to manage the process to completion
10. Providing a prompt and timely service which enables HR professionals to deliver swiftly on business needs.
For more information, contact sales@bmeurope.com
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Real Skills. Real People - B & M's Sarah Yandle
Get to know more about our people. This month we profile HR Administrator Sarah Yandle
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HR Administrator Sarah Yandle joined B & M in 2003. Having gained a degree in Business Studies from the University of Glamorgan, Sarah began her career as Payroll Assistant for a Social Services division in South Wales, later moving into a support role for the Children?s Service Department.
Sarah moved to Hampshire in 2003 and began working for B & M. Over the past couple of years she has developed an expertise in identifying suitable specialists for our customer requirements. Sarah has succeeded in building relationships with our specialists and has helped to tailor how B & M focuses its attention to meet the needs of our specialists. Sarah is also responsible for delivering valuable and essential administrative support to our internal Account Managers, thus helping to increase our core business productivity.
In her spare time, Sarah can be found visiting family and friends and cycling in the Welsh valleys.
To contact Sarah or her colleagues, email people@bmeurope.com
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Finding out more
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Looking for food for thought when planning new IT projects in 2006? B & M has provided the resource for many technical projects in a wide variety of environments and business sectors. You can find a brief overview of the type of work we have carried out at Project Scenarios
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