The top industry sectors in the region has always been tourism and agriculture, with building and property development coming third. Recent economic changes has seen the building industry shrink, and the ongoing drought has made agriculture less sustainable. The economic profile of the region needs a change in order to sustain growth and employment.

Repositioning the region as a technology destination is not only a smart economic move, it is also the ideal move given all the region has going for itself already.

It has the infrastructure, the people, political will and the ability to make it happen.

Infrastructure

• Airport servicing all key centers, well established roads network
• Reliable power and other municipal services
• Fast and stable internet connectivity to other key centers
• Already well established Call Center industry

People

• Top class world experts in technology are already based in and operate from the region
• Lots of well educated and articulate matriculants and students are available locally, making it easy to recruit a high tech workforce
• Many highly skilled people have retired to the region, bringing with them a wealth of experience

Political Will

• Provincial government is adding its weight behind the various initiatives and creating the framework for economic development through technology.
• Regional government is willing and able to bring technology and innovation to the lives of all the region’s citizens.
• Local government is able to make it happen by creating the environment that makes technology investment more attractive.

Key Enablers

• The Garden Route IT Consortium is leading the way in bringing the local IT industry together and joining forces with local, regional and provincial government to market the region as a technology destination. The IT Consortium is also attracting new technology business to the region by allowing multiple local companies to pitch for national business as a cohesive unit.

• Digital Village is creating the next generation wireless backbone that will service the entire region and enable innovation and entrepreneurship to flourish. Digital Village is a non profit section 21 company and is already connecting the region’s schools and communities to the network, and the world.

• Western Cape Provincial Government‘s Economic Development department  is working closely with the Garden Route IT Consortium to explore various initiatives that will promote and strengthen the region’s technology focus.

• The Regional Innovation System is a Department of Science and Technology initiative. It brings businesses, institutions and government (Triple Helix)  together to jointly and individually play a part in promoting innovation processes within a province, and have a key role to play in economic development and regional and national competitiveness. In the Garden Route the Regional Innovation System has the backing of local government and local business, and is a key driver in redefining the technology destiny of the region.

A consortium of Garden Route based companies is ready to launch an IT technology hub in George which will create jobs and train up new skills.

George’s IT company owner Imel Rautenbach is currently drumming up support for the initiative at provincial and national level.  The consortium aims to use the Western Cape Province’s business arm to market and develop in order to get launched nationally and internationally. IT technology and electronic centred businesses will be the engine that will drive this local initiative. “The idea behind pooling resources and skills is to keep all our software and hardware developmental work in the Garden Route. We already have around 30 businesses on our data base that have all the necessary skills and technology to form the nucleus. “

“We plan to link up our efforts with that of the Province. By collectively marketing and taking on projects jointly we can land contracts which may otherwise have been outsourced to companies outside the region. With the skills data base we now have we can take on big contracts, and the risk of one small company folding, is eliminated because collectively we can pool our skills to ensure continuity” says Rautenbach who was recently elected the Vice President of the George Chamber of Business.

On www.gardenrouteconsortium.co.za you can read more about their quest to “Provide project management and quality control services during the full lifecycle of large and complex projects. To define, enable, and manage key technology growth areas in the region.”

Provincial government support

Rautenbach has just returned from a very successful round of meetings with Western Cape Government on how the IT Consortium can link in to and benefit from the Western Cape’s own IT strategy and marketing initiatives. Alan Winde, MEC for Finance and Tourism is very excited about the potential the consortium holds for the Garden Route region. He has committed to bringing a high powered delegation of provincial officials to the region to further explore this potential.

”This initiative fits perfectly with our own plans for the growing of the Technology industry within province”, said Jo-Anne Johnston, Western Cape’s Chief Director of Trade and Industry Development.  She has committed her department’s full support for the initiative and is exploring ways of bringing other government departments onboard as well.

Jenny McKinnel, Executive Director of the Cape IT Initiative (CITI), is equally excited. Citi is a non-profit organisation established in 1998 to develop and support the information and communications technology (ICT) cluster in the Western Cape. “CITI is keen to support the Garden Route IT Consortium as their goals are directly in line with our own”, said McKinnel.  CITI are going to be working together with the Garden Route IT Consortium to unlock government funding and help promote the region as an IT destination, especially focussing on the impressive line-up of currently supplied services and R&D projects the various consortium members are working on.

Research and Development

The Consortium also has a strong focus on Research and Development (R&D), with several innovations currently in the works. These includes projects like fridge magnets that will show the current water level in your rain tank, a stock theft project that tracks animal and vehicle movements on farms in real time and alerts the farmers the moment the animal’s movements indicates distress, as well as a project to track hikers in remote mountain hiking trails.

CITI’s McKinnel is putting her full support behind the formation of a new R&D Lab in the Garden Route, which will help accelerate these R&D ventures. The Western Cape Agriculture department has also been tasked to get involved in some of these projects. DTI and other government funding for R&D spending will be applied for to cover the lab setup and initial phases of some of these projects. Talks with the Small Enterprise Development Agency (SEDA) on how it can assist the consortium in its R&D and marketing initiatives is ongoing.

Wireless technology is ready to be unfolded

As part of the R&D venture a state of the art wireless network is being set up. This network will eventually cover the entire Garden Route but is currently being rolled out in the George area. The network uses the latest wireless technology which promises much faster speed than traditional networks.

The network will be non-commercial and completely free to join. The network will not supply internet access but rather will be a backbone for R&D projects and educational programs.  Through wireless technology business can monitor activities through CCTV camera link-ups and WEBCAMs. Regional weather and water consumption monitoring can be done for instance through wireless technology.  “The potential of the new network is limitless. With remote monitors farmers can even check-up on where their cattle is grazing, or see what vehicles are accessing their farms.” said an excited Rautenbach.

Western Province Government is busy drafting a policy on City based networks and will be liaising with the consortium to learn from the initiatives taken in the Garden Route.

Training
On of the consortium’s major aims is to boost education in the Southern Cape. The Massachusetts Institute of Technology (MIT University) in the USA, has made available to the consortium around 2000 online programs focussing on science and technology. These programs will be made available to local schools completely free of charge, once they have connected to the new network.  ”The beauty of this is that it is all so achievable. Video conferencing can be set up so that children in a small rural school can also listen to and view someone in the USA giving a lecture and so be brought into the world of science and technology.” Students can do courses as well through internet. Ms Johnston from Western Cape Government is currently exploring ways of unlocking government funding to get all the region’s schools connected to this initiative.

Virtual hub

“By creating a virtual hub, we want to create a momentum which will bring about enough technology based work here in George which will mean that those people who are currently commuting to bigger centres, and living in George, can in future work here as well.
“We are having a road show to launch the roll-out and we are pleased that Western Cape Finance and Tourism Minister Allan Winde’s revitalization programme happens to coincide and slot in with our initiatives, and we hope to tap into those being rolled out.”

For more info contact Imel Rautenbach on 044 802 0402 or visit the consortium website at www.gardenrouteconsortium.co.za or send an email to info@gardenrouteconsortium.co.za

Thanks to the huge surge in online applications and cloud computing, combined with more affordable and faster  broadband connections it is now possible to make full use of online apps in South Africa.

These days I rotate between a office Laptop with a big screen, a desktop at home, an ultra portable netbook and an iphone. Each device has its time and place, but it has always been a nightmare keeping everything in sync, from contacts to emails to passwords to documents.  This was even more of a pain every time I had to re-install any of these devices.

Well, now it is a different story, and those about to re-install as part of their Windows 7 upgrade should take note.

I can have a newly installed PC ready with all my files, emails, bookmarks, passwords, etc in less than 15 minutes. All I do is install a set of apps that (securely) shares my digital life between dives. The list includes the following:

Application		Description	Windows	Linux	iPhone
	RoboForm	Syncs web links, passwords, identities and form data amongst PCs and the iphone
	GoodSync	Syncs folders and remote locations, ideal for backing up remote ftp sites, etc
	Google Bookmarks	Syncs bookmarks across multiple browsers and PCs. All you need to do is install the Google Toolbar, authenticate, and voila!, your bookmarks appear in your browser.
	DropBox	Syncs documents  across PCs and the iphone. I also use dropbox to sync settings for apps that do not natively allow this ,for example ftp clients, etc.
	Google Docs	Google Docs are ideal for viewing or editing MS office docs without having MS Office installed. It is also great for accessing your docs when on someone else’s PC.
	Gmail	I use Gmail as my main mail, calendar and contact store, accessing it online and via Thunderbird and the iphone.  Searching for emails in your desktop mail client can take forever, with gmail you find it virtually instantly.
	Thunderbird	Thunderbird does email, calendaring and contacts. I use IMAP to connect it to my gmail account and it does the rest. Email signatures are synced across PCs by storing it in a dropbox subfolder.
	eWallet	Store and synchronize passwords and sensitive information across PCs and the iphone. Good security and auto sync feature makes this a great tool for storing all sorts of information.
	Tweetdeck	Access Twitter from PCs and iphone. Tweetdeck also syncs your search and notification settings amongst all your devices.

Now obviously when storing your life online security is a major consideration. There are some things I will never store online, like pin numbers ,etc. As to the rest, I make sure I use strong passwords and never re-use the same password for different applications and sites. Both RoboForm and eWallet contain good password generators that can be used.

As I do use Linux (Ubuntu) on a regular basis I have indicated which of these apps have Linux versions available.

There are other apps I use frequently like MS Office, VirtualBox, Photoshop, Pastel, etc, but as these are not online or synchronize their data between PCs I do not include them in the list.

One important piece of the puzzle that is still missing is an online billing, time and attendance and project management app. Although there are many out there I am still to find one with the feature set and price that I am happy with.

I know that online or cloud apps are purely web based, but in this context I am including apps that share their data across the cloud, as for me the true definition of the cloud is being free from any single PC to perform one’s work.

Install of the unit was fairly straight forward, you configure the networking, set up the extensions, and you are done. Some additional time was spent on setting up the incoming routes, voice mail, etc.

The only tricky part was setting up the SIP extensions. I used a combination of SNOM, Budgetone and Planet handsets. The Planet VIP cordless phones appeared great on paper, but are rather disappointing in real life. They are tiny, the screens are hard to read and the background wallpapers cannot be switched off.

To make matters worse, the Planet cordless extensions appears rather sluggish, taking up to 5 seconds to initiate an inter extension call, and these handsets keeps ringing for at least 3 seconds once another extension in the ring group picks up the call. To add further insult to injury, they do not seem able to display the caller id.

Overall the MyPBX is a great PBX, packed with all the features a small business would need, including call logging, intelligent least cost routing, supports analogue and sip extensions, sip trunks, etc.  The web based admin interface is easy to use, and the interface is very similar to proper asterisk implementations like FreePBX.

From a infrastructure perspective the unit is compact, low power and has a low heat signature. It can easily be run of a small UPS and be locked away in a rack. Great advantage over larger PC based installations using asterisk on Linux.

Performance and general usability is great, with no loss in call quality. The MyPBX can be upgraded to 8 FXO and 8 FXS ports, and can support up to 50 SIP extensions. Out of the box it comes with 4 FXO ports, making it ideal for small businesses.  At only R 3,200 from Scoop it is also a bargain!

I will definitely be using this product again, but will make sure not to use the Planet VIP handsets next time.

Update: I have since the initial installation managed to configure a SIP trunk between the MyPBX unit and a remote Asterisk server, allowing for pure IP based inter-branch calls.  Again the setup was fairly painless, with the MyPBX unit allowing the incoming and outgoing routing via any of its trunks to be as flexible as you need it to be.

What follows is a simply breakdown of the many hats worn day to day:

The audience listens to the client, sometimes the message is clear, concise and to the point, other times it is passionate but vague, other times it is simply dreary. Everyone needs to have there say, as truly great clients can come out of small beginnings.

The assessor then needs to read the viability of the task at hand, and decide the way forward.  Knowing what it takes to please the customer is a skill the assessor cannot do without.  Sometimes it is better to walk away from a seemingly lucrative deal when the client needs are simply above what is practical or realistic. Trying to please everyone never works.

The negotiator cuts to the chase, turning a need into a price. These days costing web design is a black art, as the price seems to be more based around the desire than the effort.  For me at least it makes no sense trying ot compete on price, as webdesign should not be judged on cost but on result. Having said that, it would be stupid not be be price realistic.

The manager takes over, breaking the process into chunks and dishing out the work. This is not only a case of breaking the effort apart, there are the issues of timeline, complexity, etc. Knowing when to do it yourself and when to outsource is a critical component.

Then there is the heavy lifter, the person that makes the mechanics of the websites work. They put the framework together, install the CMS, set up the shopping cart, the payment gateway and the user registration system.

The designer steps into the ring, bringing light to a otherwise dreary looking result. Common sense needs to be kept in check though, as often budgets and time-lines can be blown by trying to constantly improve a design. Its a bit like gambling, nowing when to draw the line is key in walking away with the planned profit.

The showman has the job of selling the final result back to the client. The better the result math the expectation the smaller the costly tweaking will be, so getting it right in the delivery is as important as getting the execution spot on.

The tutor needs to be patient as the client is shown how to do what needs doing. Being prepared for the typical questions not only puts the client at ease, it results in real synergy.  I often find that it is the service that wins gold referrals, not the design.

When it comes to delivering truly solid work, thinking with different hats certainly helps put things in perspective. 

Being the best or the fastest or the cheapest does not work for me, and probably not for you either; rather, being consitent makes life a lot simpler, for me as well as my customers.

eBox Platform is a unified network server that offers easy and efficient computer network administration for SMBs. It can act as a Gateway, an Infrastructure Manager, a Unified Threat Manager, an Office Server, a Unified Communication Server or a combination of them. These functionalities are tightly integrated, automating most tasks, avoiding mistakes and saving time for system administrators.

I have a fairly complicated home network, which includes several desktops , a linux server, laptops, media centre, x-box, nintendo, wifi access point, wifi phones, etc. All of these gadgets connect to the internet for email and other connectivity based stuff.

To make matters worse, we also run a B&B on the same property, so have guest access into our home network via the Wifi access point (via WPA2 encryption).

Bandwith costs have been spiralling out of control, and it has become impossible to keep track of where it all goes. At the same time the growth in desktops / laptops meant that files and pictures were being duplicated all over the place, with no clear network sharing or backup structures. As we use a combination of windows, mac and linux it is real hard to share stuff reliably.

Then came eBox. I installed it from the ISO image onto a fairly old desktop pc with dual network cards. It essentially becomes the new gateway, sitting between the internal home network and the internet.  It comes with a transparent proxy so caches all thoses sites, images and files accessed from multiple computers.  It gives me clear reporting of what traffic is used where, and it keeps the Wifi users fro mthe B&B out of the private network.

I have now defined SMB based file shares for the various desktops to use, automated backups and print shares. Finally it is possible to print form the Mac to the printer on the windows.

Ebox comes with a easy to use GUI but I have dived into the linux side to set up some custom apps.  For one I have installed ntop for extra reporting. I have also added some custom rules to allow incoming traffic from outside into the network.

The next project is to connect the asterisk module in the ebox into my asterisk server in the office, allowing for integrated comms between the two.

Overall ebox is a great solution, coming with a comprehensive list of modules, and allows inexperienced admins to configure all these options. It also allows experts to log into the linux side and make manual configuration changes.

I am a webafrica fanatic.  I have used them since my return to South Africa three years ago, and have converted countless friends and family into webafrica fans.  I run an internet based business and have invested close to R100K in services with webafrica over this time.

I love the simple yet powerfull control panels and account management tools.  Whenever I  have an issue I just fire up the instant message client and talk directly to one of the support people.

Then it all changed….

First the instant message client was discontinued, with the promise that this would streamline customer support.  No more realtime conversations.  What used to be fixed in a five minute instant message conversation now takes a few hours of ping pong via email, often having to deal with multiple support staff as issues are rarely resolved during a single shift.

Next came bugs in the new version of the Plesk control panel software.  Adding email redirects randomly fails. Creating new domains randomly fails.  Creating email aliases randomly fails.  Creating additional DNS entries randomly fails, etc.  The list goes on and on. Now, I come from a software development background and know that software is never perfect, especially when new versions are released, but for a hosting company the Control Panel is the most important cog in the machine. To make it fail repeatedly is like running a transport company on secondhand tubeless retread tyres.

Then came the indifference from the support staff.  Whenever I raise an issue with the Control Panel it is quickly pointed out to me that it worked for the support guy when he tried.  (So the problem is with me, the customer, end of story).  Time after time I have to point out that it is not a once of, I have done their testing for them, from numerous machines, etc.  Eventually it gets sorted as I have the issues bumped back and forth.

Then came the over utilization (exploitation?). I host many many sites on the webafrica servers.  All my sites started running slower and slower, until I (and my customers) could bare it no longer.  I was told the server my sites were on was old and I needed to migrate them over to a new server. After baulking I was enventually assisted (thanks Matt for your help that time) in the process of recreating all the domain email accounts, copying databases, etc, from the old to the new server.  Guess what happened a year down the line?  Yes, once again the “new server” is overloaded.  It has  become so bad that some sites that loaded in under 5 seconds now takes 30+ seconds to load,  due to mysql and php performance issues on the hosting server.  How do I know this?  The support staff blamed my inefficient code,

I finally wrote a simple monitoring page to track the overall server utilization, so as to prove the server was being overutilized.  What solution do they have to the position I am now in?  Easy, support says, all I need to do is migrate all my clients, their sites, email accounts, databases, etc, over to the new new server, and webafrica will assist if need be, at R100 per item (website, database, email, whatever).  All just to be in the same boat again a few months down the line?  Why are shared hosting servers loaded to the point of deteriorated performance?

Now, in the beginning I used to be able to send Matthew Tagg (MD of webafrica) an email and get my issues sorted.  These days webafrica has turned into a burocracy,  nothing is simple or direct anymore.

I aim to provide a first class service to my customers, but can no longer do that by relying on webafcrica to support my underlying infrastructure.

What are my options now?

• Migrate to a new shared server and repeat the whole process again in a year or less?
• Switch to a dedicated managed server, ensuring no over-utilization?
• Switch to a managed dedicated server with another supplier like hezner (which offer a better spec’d managed server for half the price) ?

I have not decided which way to go yet.  I know I need to make a change, but do not want to end up being held ransom by deteriorating support again, so need to choose carefully.

edfaDesperately seeking a way to save your business? Make use of the admin and office services supplied by Office Reliance and cut your overheads to the bone.

In these taxing economic times, turnover and profits are taking a nose dive and business owners must do everything in their power to keep expenses to a minimum.

Salaries, administration and office space are three areas that tap your business and can easily suck dry the diminished cash flow still generated when times are tough.

The Municipality has decided to stop the funding of the tourism office with immediate effect, which will result in the office closing by the end of the month and all the staff losing their jobs.

It has since become known that the Municipality is intending on taking the tourism function in-house. If we look at how the DEAT grant of 2.6 million was hampered to the point of failure by Municipal non-commitment then Tourism will clearly not benefit from going this route.

The real crisis is not only the local Tourism office and their staff; it is the entire community of George that will suffer from the Municipality’s intent to take over the tourism function. Every B&B, petrol station, restaurant, cafe, supermarket and all their staff depend on tourism. In fact, every business in the area depends on tourists in a direct or indirect way. This in turn means that many families would be affected should tourism become an administrative function within the bowls of the Municipality.

On hearing of this development the George Business Chamber has pledged their full support behind the Tourism office, as no-one wants to see a decline in tourism and the subsequent economic effect this will have for the entire region.

Can the Municipality please step forward and explain why they are dropping the ball only weeks away from our busiest season and a mere 600 days away from the 2010 world cup?

If the Municipality is so intent on running things itself, where is there succession plan and where are the experienced and qualified officials and councilors that will champion tourism?

The George Tourism organisation would like the George Municipality to finally step forward. Let’s plan a way forward together that works for Tourism, the people of George and the region. Oh, and let’s try and do this before the Tourist office has to let all their staff go and close the doors on a promising season ……

Generating sales is the key to a successful business. Often companies offering mediocre products and services are successful simply because they are good at converting leads into sales.

Investing in your sales force is one of the most important aspects of any business, and could well be the difference between a good and a successful company.

This is not always easy for a small or struggling business, as sales staff can be expensive the long term commitment associated with employing staff may well not be the right strategic solution for the company. Employing part time or contract sales staff may well be a viable alternative, but beware, it is not that straight forward….

Any company’s sales force must fulfill some basic criteria:

• Product knowledge -Know what you are selling and know your company. Being unable to answer basic questions about your product, service or company will turn a potential customer into a critic in no time at all, and bad news spreads fast. Part time staff needs to receive proper training to ensure they can cover all the basics. They need to know about the company as well, as often the customer needs to be sold on the company as well as the product.
• Enthusiasm – If your sales rep is not exited about your product then how will customers be motivated into buying? It is said that some people can sell ice to Eskimos. This age old saying simply means that enthusiasm and energy can go a long way towards making a poor product seem very attractive.
• Professionalism – Sales reps are walking billboards for your company. Their behavior when selling is as important as their sale pitch. Often even when not on duty they are associated with your product, so choose carefully, as their behavior will often be the key to a customer buying into your company’s credibility.

The pitfalls when employing part time sales reps are plentiful. Some of these are:

• Making the quick sale – Sales reps are driven by commission, so for them the bottom line is making sales. It will come as no surprise then that part time or contract staff will be more interested in hooking customers on sales by making promises that may not be realistic – anything to get that quick sale, at any cost. This could cost your company significantly in the long term, as you reputation is being eroded.

• Loyalties and Priorities -Part time staff are loyal only to themselves, and need to prioritize their life according to multiple jobs. This often results in conflict, with clashing priorities and agendas. If you appoint part time sales reps then make sure you understand what their other commitments are and how this will impact on their ability to perform for you.
• Motivation - How do you motivate part time staff? Money alone will not do it. They need to feel a sense of pride in the product and company they are promoting, and it needs to show.
• Empowerment - Give your part time reps the tools to do what they do best. Train them on the products and services, and make sure they understand your company, its ethos and strategy. They will have to sell the company as well as the products.

Remember, part time reps may not be loyal, dedicated or motivated. This will show and will damage your reputation, so make sure you get the right people and give them the right tools to do their job.

Contact Imel Rautenbach at imel@OfficeReliance.co.za should you wish to know more about the pitfalls of part time staff.  To see all the letters in this series visit Imel’s blog at imel.co.za

Next week’s topic: 10 small business marketing tips (by guest blogger and web 2.0 entrepeneur FeistyFemale)