What happens when your PCs become obsolete?

Technology moves at a fast pace and staying current can be a challenge. But when you do invest in new hardware, what do you do with the old stuff?

This was a recent dilemma for Howorth after we recently replaced our entire fleet of more than 30 PCs. The last thing we wanted to do was chuck them out.

Although these PCs were no longer suitable for our business, they were still operational and we were sure they could be donated to assist disadvantaged communities.

So, we contacted our client Microsoft for some assistance and they immediately put us in touch with WorkVentures.

For more than 30 years, WorkVentures has been helping make a difference to the lives of people who live with financial, social and educational disadvantage. Having recognised that employment is the key to helping individuals build their self-esteem and overcoming the fundamental causes of these problems, WorkVentures has developed numerous programs, to help improve their clients’ employability, and many of them use technology as the vehicle.

One of those programs is called Connect IT, where they take decommissioned PCs and refurbish them with software donated by Microsoft. These machines are then sold to low income households and to other non-profit organisations. In 2010, Connect IT sold more than 6,000 PCs, mainly to job seekers, disability pensioners and support parents.

“For those of us who have used a PC at work and home for many years, it’s astounding to learn there are still 600,000 Australian households with school-aged children that have no access to a computer or the internet,” said Scott Millington, Head of Connect IT.

“Research has shown that computer literacy is crucial to ensure low income households are not trapped in a lifetime of disadvantage, so making low-cost refurbished PCs available is a great way to change people’s future prospects and pathways. As a not-for-profit organisation, we need the support of the community and the business sector, so we’re truly grateful to Howorth for their kind donation.”

Find out more about WorkVentures and its Connect IT program, please visit www.workventures.com.au

What’s hot in 2010?

It is getting to that time of year when the industry analysts get out the crystal ball and start to highlight some key trends and forecast for 2010. First cab off the rank is Gartner, and this is their top 10 strategic technologies for 2010:

1. Cloud Computing
2. Advanced Analytics
3. Client Computing
4. IT for Green
5. Reshaping the Data Center
6. Social Computing
7. Security – Activity Monitoring
8. Flash Memory
9. Virtualization for Availability
10. Mobile Applications

The list is considerably different from Gartner’s forecasts for 2009 — Green IT, which was named as the number one priority in 2008, and dropped down to number 10 in 2009, is now back at number four. Virtualisation was number one in 2009, now at number nine. We assume Advanced Analytics is another name for Business Intelligence, which sees it climb from number nine last year to number two. Other technologies dropping in priority include enterprise mash-ups, servers beyond blades, specialised systems and unified communications, which all fall out of the top 10 list.

Gartner goes on to say that CIOs will be challenged to balance cost, risk and growth in 2010. The demand on IT organisations will be greater transparency and accountability. Gartner predicts few IT leaders will receive budget increases in 2010, which may mean more of the “mend and make do” approach.

It is agreed that 2009 will go down as the worst ever year for the IT industry, but 2010 will see spending increase with 3.3% growth. Gartner’s Peter Sondergaard, senior vice president at Gartner and global head of Research, said: “2010 is about balancing the focus on cost, risk, and growth. For more than 50 percent of CIOs the IT budget will be 0 percent or less in growth terms. It will only slowly improve in 2011. While the IT industry will return to growth in 2010, the market will not recover to 2008 revenue levels before 2012.”

Sondergaard adds that business intelligence, virtualisation and social media will continue to dominate IT leaders’ agendas in 2010.

How much of this holds true, only time will tell. We’ll update on what the other analysts say for 2010 as soon as the details are published.

The year that still is: IDC’s crystal ball and the IT industry

Oh what a year!

There is no doubt that 2009 will go down as a year to probably forget – Global Financial Crisis, Swine Flu, the death of pop-legend Michael Jackson, and the list goes on. With just a little over five months remaining, I wonder how the IT sector is really performing. Below is a quick reminder of what IDC said in terms of the top 10 predictions for 2009.

I wonder how accurate their crystal ball has been? Any thoughts, anyone?

1. Global IT growth will be cut in half
2. Emerging markets and small businesses IT spending will slow significantly
3. The IT industry’s expansion to the cloud will accelerate
4. The struggling offline economy will drive more shoppers to the online community
5. The telecom industry will consolidate, and expand in 2009
6. It will be a grim year for mobile gadgets
7. The crumbling of the ‘business/personal’ wall will accelerate
8. The reinvention of information access and analysis in 2009 will create a new leadership battle
9. Green technologies will have a good year disguised as cost cutting
10. Government initiatives in 2009 will catalyze massive IT investments and industry growth

The scary side of Social Networking

With the popularity of social networking sites continuing to grow at massive rates, adding thousands of new users every day, we must still tread with caution. Every week we see experts step forward to advise us that platforms like Twitter and Facebook can easily ruin our reputations.

One such recent report is by Zatz Publishing’s editor-in-chief David Gewirtz, which was reported by the Bulldog Reporter’s Daily Dog.

In the article Gewirtz says that when it comes to social networking, it’s not what you know, or even who you know, it’s who knows you. The report is aptly titled: “The Dark Side of Social Networking.”

Gerwitz adds: “social networks like Facebook, Twitter, MySpace and LinkedIn are the increasingly popular community services that are designed to help people stay in touch.”

The Bulldog article cites research from Nielsen Company that “more than two-thirds of the world’s Internet population visit social networking sites at least once a month, and nearly 10% of all time spent online is devoted to social networking.”

Due to this popularity and growth, and an army of undisciplined users, Gewirtz adds that “social networks are attracting scammers and criminals. The bulk of social networkers are between the ages of 18 and 49 – prime employment years, and ages where a mistake today could haunt them for many years into the future.”

Gewirtz’s report explores the following issues:

• Employment: how social networking can lead to career suicide
• Reputation: how something you say now could haunt you for years into the future.
• Malware, phishing and identity scams: how using services like Facebook and Twitter without caution could cause you serious financial loss
• Physical security and stalking: how social networks give stalkers and other scary people an almost minute-by-minute update on your habits and haunts

As for physical risks, Gerwitz says “the potential for horror is enormous. If a criminal can easily find out where you are, what stores you frequent, what your daily habits are, who your friends are, and even what your personal food, entertainment, and beverage preferences are, you can be targeted with a level of ease never before possible. I worry that there is a deep and dangerous dark side to social networks and I worry about the potential victims.”

Yikes, scary stuff. You have been warned!

(Acknowledgement: Gerwitz’s quotes and observations sources from the Bulldog Reporter’s Daily Dog article)