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Working under a cloud |
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Negotiating a data minefield |
| Would you jeopardise your business by giving up your in-house IT infrastructure and running mission-critical applications on a server somewhere out on the Internet? The Informed Executive looks in depth at the development of
cloud computing and assesses the impact on capital and revenue expenditure by anyone taking this option - provided that the technology stands up to scrutiny. |
Electronic marketers have to consider the implications of email as a low-cost option for reaching their audience. There is a legal and regulatory minefield to negotiate before a single email is transmitted. Some limits on how information is collected, stored and maintained are probably reasonable. We assess whether the regime is more of a burden on business than the benefits justify. |
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Sourcing public sector contacts |
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Piecing together the finance |
| Whether a marketing campaign to the public sector achieves any of the results to which management aspires depends at least in part on the relevance of the proposition being set out in the communication: With 5.5 million people currently engaged in what can be termed 'the public sector', it takes a particular skill to identify the targets and ensure that they information you hold is accurate. |
Securing finance is probably the most pressing matter that business owners and anyone operating entities in the public sector have to address today.The entrepreneurial spirit can be dampened by the constant need to source funds in the early years. This feature introduces a section looking at every stage of fund-raising from the start-up to raising significant sums. |
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Negotiating the financial maze |
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Managing corporate funds |
| It would be easy to see the problem facing business executives today simply as the unwillingness of bankers to create or extend credit lines, leading to a shortfall in working capital. The Informed Executive met a trade finance specialist who was able to talk us through the factors which determine a company’s ability to secure funds in today’s difficult financial climate.
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We consider the role played by corporate treasurers in helping the medium scale and larger enterprise secure the funds it requires to sustain its operations. The ability to fund the company’s more immediate objectives has become an increasingly complex task in the past two decades. Working capital has to be sourced, managed and applied more cost-effectively across its operations. |
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Managing foreign exchange |
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Reducing banking costs |
The accumulated risk associated with international trade takes many businesses out of their comfort zone so they do not see the risk of international trading as being worthwhile. Demand for expertise in the forex arena prompted Valufin to enter the market, providing outsourced foreign exchange risk management services to companies and individuals.
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With the banking community more restrictive in its relationships with customers than at any time in the past twenty years, finance directors have no choice but to optimise the value of the banking arrangements. We examine the Bankhawk Analytics system, which claims to be able to make substantial savings in this area through an ongoing analysis of a company's bank accounts. |
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Making your business grow |
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Making your exit worthwhile |
| The Informed Executive will be carrying a selection of
features on the theme of making your business grow. In this
edition, we get to grips with funding expansion, probably the greatest dilemma
faced by entrepreneurs today after ensuring they have the cash flow to operate. You may need funds to
make acquisitions,
merge or restructure your business or
launch a new undertaking. |
While the economy as a whole has been slow to move back into top gear, the underlying trend is encouraging. Exit strategies are now being dusted down by shareholders seeking the right time to re-organise their business portfolios. Careful planning and a knowledge of the attributes desired by prospective purchasers can increase the desired valuation of your business by up to 100%. |
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A view of the Bribery Act 2010 |
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Raising board standards |
A bad law, an unnecessary law, or a rare
combination of the two? We question the
need for the Bribery Act 2010, Given that it has now been enacted, we ask a commercial
lawyer for advice on how your business can
avoid falling foul of this draconian legislation which has met with deep-felt opposition from politicians, lawyers and all parts of the business community. |
The quality of company directorship is as important to the SME as it is to the multi-national with its shares listed on stock exchanges. It was encouraging to encounter Genius Methods, a UK specialist operation whose primary objective is to improve the quality of board management through services which include the evaluation and mentoring of company boards. |
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From public back to private |
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Improving effectiveness? |
| Returning assets from the public sector to private enterprise can be a challenge whatever the line of business. When the ‘asset’ is a senior government minister who has given up the front bench for life back in the private sector, that challenge is no less significant. We follow the career of Ian Pearson inside and outside Westminster to assess the benefit of that transition. |
There is no shortage of tools to help ‘manage projects’, a term involving the co-ordination of any series of related tasks or activities. Some are checklist tools which are part of more encompassing business solutions such as accounting systems. We review Dooster, a project management and collaboration tool developed in the UK, and which its developers claim has a broad target audience. |
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