Monthly Archives: March 2014

I won’t bother training, it’s a waste of money!

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trainingOur parent company is a training organisation and they are always astonished at companies and peoples response to training or lack of training.

During times or recession one of the first things that companies cut alongside staff is training. “How can we train staff when we are paying people off?”

Well to be honest that’s exactly when you should be training your remaining staff to keep up moral and make them more effective at what they do.

Here are 10 reasons you should train your staff.

Ten Important reasons why training and investing in your staff is more important at this time than ever:-

  1. Training boosts morale. Staff will feel better and more motivated about working with your company if you show belief that they can improve.
  2. Training highlights priorities. In financially difficult times, the needs of the current staff can be directed toward specific training.
  3. Training is not expensive – compared to recruiting and hiring new staff. Whatever the challenges your company is facing, reducing your training budget isn’t going to improve things.
  4. Training is a stimulant, while cancelling training can enforce mediocrity.
  5. Training helps keep pace with a changing business. You need to keep up to date with new developments in order to remain competitive.
  6. Training encourages teamwork. If you’ve got fewer admin staff than you’ve had before then a refresher course on office apps or Project can help the existing team focus on the essentials and work together more effectively.
  7. Training encourages the good habits of your staff and produces your best work.
  8. Training creates revenue. Focused training can pay for itself over and over again by raising morale, encouraging efficiency and working at high standards.
  9. Training treats your staff like professionals. Staff who believe they are valued enough for you to invest in developing their skills might stay with your company a little while longer.
  10. Training helps maintain and improve quality and productivity.

What are your thoughts on training and sharpenning up your employess skill base? Remember as much as your organisation may produce a product or service. without the employees you produce nothing!

Let us know what you think.

 

Who has the lion’s share?

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touch screenWho has the lion’s share?

In this post I thought we could have a look at who has the lion’s share of the Operating system market. That’s not such an easy question anymore, as the idea of sitting at a desk and performing all your duties has changed drastically over the last few years.

 

The operating systems we use daily are now spread over the following device types:

  • Desktop Computers and laptops
  • Tablet computers
  • Smart Phones
  • Server machines

Gone are the days of the Microsoft Windows revolution, the massive change in how we used computers that made us all want one, and then get really frustrated with it as the technology kept changing. In the pursuit of progress, the Operating system was continually transformed into something else just as soon as we were just getting to grips with it. Our parent company, IT Turning Point, exists primarily to educate and inform. This keeps everyone using their systems and software correctly, and ensure they always work to their benefit.

Let’s look at the Desktop

 

Desktop operating system browsing statistics on Net Applications
Windows 7

47.53%
Windows XP

28.53%
Windows 8

10.68%
OS X

7.68%
Windows Vista

2.10%
Linux

1.48%
Desktop OS Market Share as of February 2014 according to Net Applications

 

Microsoft still has a massive share in the desktop market, primarily because of their prevalence in the business world and enterprise companies. They have the history of targeting this market successfully, and that past success really what made them who they are today. It is interesting to note the various incarnations of the Windows operating system still dominating the desktop marketplace.

When it comes to mobile, things are different indeed

Microsoft did not see the mobile market as their main thrust, and as such they left their entry into the arena a bit late. By the time they made their move, Apple had introduced us to the touch screen smart phone, and the mobile landscape had changed. Google entered the market with Android, its operating system for mobile devices, and the landscape changed once more. Let’s look at the picture for mobile devices as things stand:

Worldwide smartphone sales to end users by operating system in 2013
Android

79.0%
iOS

14.2%
Windows Phone

3.3%
BlackBerry

2.7%
Other

0.9%
Mobile OS Market Share as of 2nd quarter 2013 Gartner

Mobile operating system browsing statistics on Net Applications
iOS

52.96%
Android

36.14%
Java ME

4.44%
Symbian

3.50%
BlackBerry

1.42%
Kindle

0.93%
Windows Phone

0.45%
Other

0.16%
Mobile OS Market Share as of February 2014 Net Applications[1]

 

As you can see, the companies in the mobile arena are very different from those on the desktop, and it’s still evolving – these mobile devices also include tablet computers as well.

Android have swept the floor with their OS, a large amount of key hardware manufacturers signing up and skinning the core Android to make it their own. Layers such as HTC’s Sense and Samsung’s Touchwiz enable these devices to stand apart despite the same underlying core. Google have kept their hand in with Android devices running an unskinned version of Android – these devices are all part of Google’s Nexus range. See our recent posts for articles on these devices.

The current statistics vary drastically, but it is now being suggested that around 72% of Internet traffic is coming from mobile devices. A very interesting statistic, and again as we mentioned at the beginning, this changes the way we do computing in a big way.

The second table above shows the Operating systems we are browsing with in the mobile market, as you can see Windows is at the bottom and Microsoft are now desperately playing catch-up.

Conclusion

Microsoft have still got a lot to offer, and they still have the main desktop market sewn up for now. They have moved late for the mobile market however, and the writer has to wonder whether they will continue in this arena or pull back and concentrate on what they do best. Considering that we are moving more towards mobile working, and more tablet computers are being bought every day, that may not be a move they can afford if they wish to maintain their own future growth.

 

What OS do you use and what devices do you have? Let us know your thoughts.