The Advisor from Dedication Group

In this Issue

	Welcome to The Advisor from Dedication Group
	Do You Eat Your Own Dog Food?
	Did you know?
	Project Management Tip

Dedication Group

Dedication Group are business technology advisors.

Do you require impartial technology direction? Are you planning to implement systems into your business but don't know where to start? Do you have an IT Strategy to complement your Business Strategy?

Flying Solo

Greg Pritchard is a Featured Contributor for Flying Solo; the online magazine for solo and small business owners www.flyingsolo.com.au

Did you know?

Latest statistics (1), (2) highlight that Apple Mac OS market share is heading towards 10% and Linux is nearing 1%. "So what?" you may ask.

Similar to competition in the browser market; companies developing desktop and server software for a particular platform need to recognise that there is a slow, yet noticeable shift in the adoption of alternative operating systems. As the heterogeneity in server and desktop environments grows; the client's preferred operating systems must now be factored into the requirements gathering and design processes.

The Advisor from Dedication Group for February 2009

Hi,

Welcome to The Advisor from Dedication Group. With the challenges facing all businesses in the current economic environment; it is imperative to not only take every opportunity to connect with current and prospective customers, but also undertake a bit of quality assurance on the products and services we provide. We explore this process in this month's article. We hope you enjoy the read.

'Til next time!

Greg Pritchard
Managing Director, Dedication Group

Do You Eat Your Own Dog Food?

There is a saying in technology circles, that if you truly believe in your product, you should use it in your own business. Its called: Eating Your Own Dog Food. For service-based businesses; it's Practising What You Preach. Your mum probably calls it The Plumbers Pipes. Either way, the most important consumer and critic of your business' services and products should be you.

This month, the Kapersky Labs website was hacked by an anonymous hacker. Having one's website hacked is an unfortunate, and potentially costly event. What's different here is that Kapersky Labs is an internet security services and products business. Simply, they should have known better, and they should have been applying the best of their skills to their own website. Clients turn to Kapersky's products to protect their business from these very sorts of attacks, and this attack raises doubts in the clients' mind that maybe Kapersky's products or technicians aren't as good as they claim. Kapersky's reputation in the market has been almost irreparably damaged by this essentially preventable attack.

Why Eat Your Own Dog Food

The trap we often face is that our own work is never good enough, or we analyse it to death without ever starting. It is often these perfectionist qualities which end up holding us back. However, it can't be underestimated how important it is to use your own products or service methodology. For example:

You will find bugs and opportunities to improve or enhance products before your clients
You gain direct knowledge and experience in your product or service from a client's perspective. Often products are built with features in mind; rather than how intuitive they are to use
You display to your clients a level of confidence in your product or service

What To Do About It

For businesses selling products; the process of eating one's own dog food is relatively easy. For example, if your business builds and sells a Content Management System (CMS); build and deploy your own website using it. If you sell those hand-made chocolates with the gooey fudge centres; get yourself a good treadmill!

Your products should do everything you promise to your clients, and if you can't easily factor your product into your business or life; then chances are, your clients won't be able to either.

Similarly, if you run a service-based business; follow these steps to practice what you preach:

Go back to fundamentals and look at your work from the perspective of a client
Take the time to clearly document what you're trying to achieve; even though you may have all the information in your head and you understand it completely. Write it with the assumption that someone else will do the work
Put together a detailed plan of how you're going to achieve the end result. Document all the things to be done and the level of quality you would expect; making sure you include all those things that you would normally do implicitly as part of your delivery. This plan will form a checklist of all the things you expect to be delivered; regardless of who is doing it
Now that you have the requirements and plan documented; undertake the work yourself, but check off the items on the plan as you go
Lastly, and this is the most important step, have a trusted friend or advisor critique your work as if it was for a client. Would they honestly buy from you if this was an example of your best work?

At the end of the day; demonstrating commitment to your own products or services will tell your clients more about the quality of your offering; than the best marketing campaign ever will. As a wise friend once said: who should be your first pick when choosing a financial advisor? The wealthy one!

As your own best customer; are you satisfied?

Dedication Group Virtual CIO

Project Management Tip: Stakeholder Map

As part of Stakeholder Analysis; the Stakeholder Map is an invaluable tool in managing project communication. It is a visual matrix showing individual stakeholders or groups of stakeholders and their particular communication routes relative to the Project Manager.

By drawing up a Stakeholder Map; you are able to highlight critical lines of communication, as well as identify indirect sources of requirements, clarifications or misunderstandings. Visually mapping how stakeholders relate to each in other in the project will help you define strategies for dealing with diversions from the plan agreed with the client.

For example, in the attached graphic, any communication between the Web Designer and Software Developer should be documented and distributed to both the Project Manager and the Client. Any decisions or assumptions made between these two parties could have significant impact on the project scope or cost.

Email Dedication Group at info@dedicationgroup.com or call us on +612-9280-4443