Foster First Solutions Corp

Newsletter – May 2009


"Secure 24/7 Global Access to your Business"		May 2009
BUSINESS COMMENTARY So, just what the heck is Collaborative Management Online (CMO) and how can it make a difference to your operations in this current market? May 28, 2009 - Mark Foster I had an interesting opportunity to explain this to new friend I met in a Starbucks the other day. When my creative juices are stifled (and they certainly were that day), I often take a book and head to the beach or a coffee shop to unblock/cleanse those creative passages. My friend was retired and had a great grasp of business operations as he could clearly see the power and potential implementations contained in a CMO environment. So... imagine for a moment that you need a top down view of all operations contained within your business, broken down by division/dept and by projects contained within each. You want to have all contacts and calendar appointments/meetings & events within each of them listed. You might also need specialized custom forms that you currently use, available for your team/teams. You want to provide access to all of this to your team/teams with permission levels set according to the level of access you wish to provide for the team member. This can be in-house and/or consulting team members. So for example(s) your accountant maintains all record here (accessible to perhaps you and your partners only); your legal counsel provides all revisions of a document(s) (accessible to perhaps you, your partners and a few of the marketing and sales team - and your angel investor too); your Project Managers can either use Project software or use the compatible system within to provide all project schedules/milestones/resources( again accessible to you, some of your partners, contractors to this project & suppliers if you like). Some of the latter team members in the last example could have limited access that allows them to view only a select area you have pre-determined. Timing couldn't be better. In the present economic rebuild, what you would have available is a method of tightening controls/costs/budgets, by providing you a top down, dashboard view of all areas of your operations.You can even convert all tasks allocated within each division/project into categorized lists, auto-emailed first thing each and every morning, to all predetermined team members. It has teeth! Accountability! And…what’s more, the edge over your competition. And then... imagine the ability to access all of this on holiday (only if you really had to, of course), in Tuscany perched on a deckchair, in the sun - while the teams update all data in real time. All possible! Lastly, it’s very easy to implement. You can be initially up and running in about 48 hours! Not too shabby huh? To my new friend, thank you very much for providing me with a nugget of inspiration for a topic - other than the ebb & flow of the economy/markets. (as you requested you have been added to the monthly newsletter email )J - Mark FEATURE ARTICLE Building Talent in a Time of Layoff! May 12, 2009 - DeAnne Aguirre, Laird Post, and Louisa Finn Companies need to assess their workforces today, but they should also look at their likely needs as conditions change. Traditional layoff tactics may serve to cut costs, but they often cause damage both inside and outside the company that is hard to repair. A more thoughtful and strategic approach to layoffs will ameliorate the short-term impact while leaving the company poised for growth in the next few years. As the economic crisis unfolded and the need for cash became vital, corporate leaders had no choice but to rapidly and decisively reduce their workforces. This has led to numerous rounds of layoffs in many industries in North America, Europe, and elsewhere, and continuing uncertainty about the economy is likely to lead to more. But many executives also remember the lessons of past downturns. Layoffs are difficult and gut-wrenching and often fail to deliver expected cost savings or improved performance. In many cases, slashing jobs en masse serves only to weaken a company, leaving it vulnerable to competitors and constraining its ability to lead its industry in the future. That was problematic in past recessions, but it will prove particularly untenable in this period of dramatic discontinuity, when whole industries are shifting and the dominant players may well change.MORE >> OUR FAVOURITE LINKS Financial Markets Monthly - May 2009 Project Management Best Practice The 7 best ways to exercise - Get Fit The Wine Detective DIY Tips For Gardening! "1001 Books You Must Read Before You Die" BlackBerry tips from the top!		COLLABORATIVE MANAGEMENT INFO A handy Checklist/Questionnaire is now available to help you consider your needs! NEW CHECKLIST/QUESTIONNAIRE If you are operating a business and/or a number of projects within a business - across the hall, the continent or around the world - there is a fundamental need for a collaborative management environment - online, with secure 24/7 access. By centralizing all project data and defining your key indicators you have a quicker view of the performance of your projects. "Are projects on schedule and within budget?" is one of the questions that can be answered at a click of a button. We provide centralized project schedules, tasks, issues, calendars, contacts and documents - secure 24/7 worldwide access - on a collaborative management platform that takes the desktop method of management we have become accustomed to - moves it to a highly secure online location - bringing the business of the business back to one centralized and controlled location. Foster First Solutions strives to deliver a comprehensive yet timely solution, whatever your needs! 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		BUSINESS NEWS Information Leakage – the enemy is within © LockLizard Ltd 2008 Increasingly, businesses are becoming painfully aware that whilst there are plenty of outsiders who would like to steal some, if not all of their information (people’s views as to what is the good stuff vary rather), those with the greatest access, the insiders, are the biggest threat. This is what is called, rather pleasantly, information leakage. It’s a bit like picking up a handful of dry sand. It’s difficult to stop it slipping through your fingers. And information leakage is like that, because important information usually comes in little bits, glued together with lots of unimportant information. Information leakage has been going on for years, sometimes with tacit acceptance by management – mainly because in the paper world you couldn’t readily walk out with a lot of information because it was too heavy to carry! Enter the 32 Gigabyte flash drive. That’s got enough space on it to hold all the movies you want to see for a while! And if you want to steal a bit more information they will soon come in 1 Terabyte (1,000 Gb no less) sizes as well. Fits in your wallet or purse, and holds as much information as a small mainframe computer. MORE >>
		QUOTE OF THE MONTH "It is surprising what a man can do when he has to, and how little most men will do when they don't have to." - Walter Linn
INTERESTED IN AN ONLINE PREVIEW? A 20 minute Online Presentation can provide you a clear picture of just how a Collaborative platform can benefit you and your team! Request a presentation.	Foster First Solutions utilizes GoToMeeting for meetings, demonstrations, extensive training & support!
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© Foster First Solutions 2009
mfoster@fosterfirst.com Tel: 604.495.1876

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