Know When Your Business Needs IT Consulting Services

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Businesses must ensure that only the latest technologies and software are deployed at the workplace, in order to provide quality solutions to their clients, and to be ahead of the competition. With the ever-changing technological trends in the industry, businesses find it cumbersome to adopt these technologies. Instead they can hand the entire function over to a sound IT consulting services company – who in turn will tap into their global pool of highly skilled IT professionals, who have the advantage of working in various IT environments, and have extensive experience across sectors. By providing assistance to business, IT consulting services providers free up existing resources; ensure IT transitions are smooth and problem-free; optimise key business processes; identify areas that benefit with further cost saving; build competitive advantage through IT; reduce IT complexities; provide IT strategy consultancy services, IT project management services and provide specialised programme management solutions – all of which, help the organisation achieve significant business efficiencies and cost benefits.

Choosing to work with an IT firm definitely boosts a company’s overall efficiency, which in turn decreases costs. Firms tend to look for a flexible and bespoke solution to address the client’s IT needs, thereby delivering solutions that are in tandem with the client’s goals.

The advantages listed above necessitate hiring an IT company. But how will a business know that it needs IT consultancy services?

A business may function with its existing IT architecture without knowing the benefits of such services. In order to discern the need for IT consulting services, businesses must first understand the details of their services. According to Wikipedia, ‘IT consulting is a field that focuses on advising businesses on how best to use IT to meet their business objectives. In addition to providing advice, IT consultancies often estimate, manage, implement, deploy, and administer IT systems on businesses’ behalf, known as Outsourcing’. IT consulting services firms thereby help businesses strategise and evaluate their IT functions as a whole and take the necessary steps to implement and/or deploy and then administer effective and robust IT systems in place. Businesses can seek the services of an IT firm when:

  1. IT investments regularly overshoot the set budget. Fast-paced technologies and trends warrant proper planning. When making strategic use of the allocated budget seems difficult, seeking the advice of IT consultancy services providers is imperative.
  2. A business decides to relocate or reduce staff.
  3. Projects regularly miss deadlines. Lack of specialists, complex projects and shoestring budgets lead to inefficient project management. A sound IT consulting services company designs bespoke, safe and cost-effective solutions, either full time or part time.
  4. Challenges of globalization, technical and regulatory changes arise. Business and technology management when integrated help the business survive, and therefore IT strategy consultancy is important.
  5. Programmes and projects eat into the budget. A business needs specialised programme management solutions to achieve significant cost savings. A robust IT services company provides either the co-sourcing or the outsourcing model to help businesses remain ahead of the competition, by providing tailored solutions.
  6. There is a need to change networks or when the need to shift to a new IT architecture arises.
  7. The company is in need of a robust disaster recovery plan.
  8. There are no data storage systems in place.

Availing the services of the right IT consulting services company may be a challenge. A business must choose a provider before the problems stated above get worse – and must choose a provider who is able to set in place a sound IT system in place. Therefore, a business must choose a provider who provides flexible solutions. Businesses must also remember that though they think they are able to fix small issues, the reality is that these issues must be treated at the root, and they can be properly tackled only with strategic IT solutions – only provided by an effective IT consulting services company.

Risk Management – A Domestic Parallel and Why We Can All Be Good Risk Managers

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Risk management is the identification, assessment and prioritization of risks followed by an allocation of resources to minimize, monitor and control the probably of unfortunate events and to maximize the realization of opportunities or investments. The strategy to manage risk includes transferring risk to another party, avoiding the risk, reducing the negative effect of risk, or accepting the consequences of the particular risk.

Risk management is not only a financial concept. There are many other types risk management. Schedule risk management is very common. Scope risk management is another type that has many applications.

Because this is so important, let’s take a closer look at what this means. First of all, what is considered a risk? If we are going to identify the risks we will need to know what to look for. I have heard risk defined as the effect of uncertainty on objectives. That definition is alright but a bit too vague. To effectively identify risks for a particular project or initiative I think you have to be a bit more specific to the objective.

We practice risk management in our everyday life. We do it all day long. Most of us are pretty good at it. We must be because we have made it through a lot of days without having to scrap the project of life. For example let’s look at some events in a typical day that would require some risk management. When you start to think about this, the first thing you realize is that not only do the events themselves require risk management but the interrelationship between the events requires risk management. Let’s say it is Monday so you have to get up and go to work. The process that results in you sitting at your desk at work is fraught with danger, but somehow you manage it, every day.

Here is a list of things you might do to get to work in the morning:

Shower
Shave
Get Dressed
Get the Kids Up and Ready
Make Breakfast(Let’s pretend we do this every day)
Drop the Kids off at School
Drive to Work
Park the Car
Walk from the Car to the Office

Each and every one of these events is important and impacted by different outside influences. To make things a little bit more challenging, your spouse is out of town on business. You must accomplish this all by yourself. I know you may be thinking about bailing out already but hang in there, you can do it. Besides I will walk you through it.
The first step is to identify your objective. We know your objective is to get to work so we have a good start. Defining the objective is not always so easy. Before you jump right into the shower you have to first make a plan to meet your objective. You have to have a plan! If you don’t, trust me you will be getting a call at about 9:30 from your wife asking why the kids were late for school and your boss will be waiting at your desk when you get to work wondering where that report is that you promised to deliver first thing.

Now about that shower, but wait, if you start to wake the kids up before you get into the shower maybe by the time you are out of the shower they will be ready to get up. At least go turn the lights on in their rooms. I like to flicker it a few times. It really bugs them but is an effective move. You could start the coffee brewing before you get in the shower as well. Every little bit will help. And don’t forget to let the dog out to go to the bathroom. If you don’t you may be sorry.

I think it is safe for you to get in the shower now. You have a few things started that will be working while you are taking your shower. You could take one of those long lazy showers but that would carry some schedule risk so it might be better to wait until Saturday for that. Finish your shower. Before you start to shave, go flicker the lights in your kids rooms again because they likely are not up. Raise your voice and use the angry dad tone when you tell them to get up this time because now it is time to get serious. If they don’t get up now you will be late for sure.

You can go shave now and get ready for work. The risk involved in shaving is pretty low unless you are still using a razor and haven’t switched over to an electric. Hopefully you remembered to charge your electric otherwise you may need to proceed to work with a 1 day shadow or three day if you like to let it go over the weekend. Getting dressed can carry some risk depending on what type of work you do. The risk is mostly in selecting what to wear. For most people, in this day and age, this is a low risk area.

Remember to keep the kids on task as you are getting ready. You decided to take a little longer to get ready. You have a big meeting at work so you had to iron a shirt and get you suit on. Because of this breakfast is going to be cold cereal, again. You could decide to read the paper during breakfast but feel the need to keep the kids on task. You want to find out what they have going on so you can keep tabs on their activities. You are managing their development. You have a plan for them and your plan does not include a call from the police department one day.

It is time to get the kids off to school. One of them catches a bus. You will have to drive the other two to their school. Thankfully they attend the same school. There are plenty of risks involved in getting your kids to school and they begin before you get into the car. You had better make sure they have all of the necessary tools for education in their respective backpacks. If you don’t, you risk having to turn around and go back to hand deliver a math folder to the school. Traveling in a car carries many risks other than the obvious risk of getting in an accident. Choosing the correct route may be the difference between getting there on time or not. Hopefully you remembered to gas up the night before because you didn’t plan for the extra eight minutes at the gas station.

You are a good driver so I’m sure you’ll have no trouble getting the kids dropped off and getting to the parking lot where you face a new set of challenges. Unfortunately there typically aren’t enough spaces in the lot so it is critical you get there early otherwise you will be stuck in the overflow lot which is a long ways from the entrance to the building. You have lots of materials to bring into the office for a big presentation. It looks like rain and you don’t want to get you graphic boards wet. If you are stuck in the overflow lot your presentation is doomed for sure. You have to watch out for kamikaze drivers in the parking lot. The competition for the final spots is heated and you don’t have time to bring the car to the repair shop so you stay back and take what you can get.

Luckily you find a spot in the main lot but it is starting to drizzle a bit. You try to cover up your presentation boards with your suit coat. It works well enough and you make it to the office but some of the ink from the boards gets on your jacket. You will either have to run the jacket out to the 1 hour laundry or go it without. You decide to go without a jacket so you can put the finishing touches on you graphics. Thirty minutes before the presentation you find out the presentation has been changed to a video conference. You have just minutes to compose the electronic files into a presentation and send it off to the client.

You did it! You made it to work. Again. You are an expert at risk management.

Most people are pretty good at risk management. We all get a lot of practice. The dynamics of business risk management are similar dynamics to those that we encounter every day. The nature of impacts and influences is also the same. As progress along the path to meet our objective we are bombarded with adversity. In the process of putting together our risk management plan, we identify the risk areas, assess the impacts and decide how to manage and control the risk areas. This initial planning gives us the ability manage the adversity.

Like when you decided to skip the full breakfast we can choose to avoid risk. We can choose to minimize the negative effect of risk like you did when you decided to go without your jacket rather than spend the time to bring it to the cleaner and carry the risk of not completing the presentation. You could have transferred some risk to another party if you would have called your sister who lives down the street and asked her to bring your kids to school. Of course there would have been a cost associated with that. You would have had to mow her lawn or something like that.

Risk milestones are interrelated and connected by chronology or timeline. You reduced the risk of getting your kids ready by turning the lights on before your shower. Likewise you started to brew the coffee before you show as well.

The key to effective risk management is to have a system that has measurable results. Risk management for property development can be tied into a milestone schedule to assess and measure risk as it applies to scope schedule and budget.

Risk management is a key to success in business. Most of us are very well equipped to manage risk effectively. Our everyday activities prepare us well. You can find numerous parallels in everyday life.

Make a plan for risk management. You will be glad you did. Check out my upcoming articles and I will outline for the primary levels of risk management and provide you with detailed description on how to build a risk management plan to help you succeed in the new economy.

Tips on Benefiting in Online Casinos

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The world economy is doing poorly every passing day. This is what has forced people to use any means possible to achieve their financial goals. All in all, care has to be taken when going for any of the options. Most of the methods used result in poor results. However, with the consideration of online casinos, one can make a considerable living doing something enjoyable. Care has, however, to be taken to enable one reap the most from the alternative.Reputable Site
The first thing that one needs to do when thinking of gambling is to choose a reputable site to play the games on. This is the secret to reliable performance. The Internet, today, avails a large number of casinos online that one can turn to. However, not all of them are dependable. This is what makes it imperative for one to conduct a research on the best casino before signing up. A reliable casino must have garnered a reliable reputation over time and must have a wide selection of games to choose from. In addition to that, the bonuses on the casino have to be exceptional.Budget
Once the right casino has been found, the next thing that one needs to do is to come up with a budget. This is a very important tool when it comes to gambling. Most casino games are addictive. This means that one can end up spending more than he can afford. To avoid such incidences, the player is advised to set a limit to govern his personal expenditure. A budget can help one avoid getting into financial strains thereby enabling him to reap the most from the activity. A player has to have a preset budget based on personal financial reach.Choose familiar games
Choosing the right casinos online and coming up with a budget to monitor expenses does not create a way for one to make a great amount of living. The money made in casinos is determined by the number of wins that one makes. This means that one has to choose the game he is well familiar with. This is the secret to dependable performances online. When one goes with a game that he does not understand, chances are that the amount of money made will be unreliable. To achieve the most in gambling, one has to choose a game he is familiar with. Additionally, practice has to be done to help learn the tips and tricks that will help in winning.Timetable
As aforementioned, most of the casino games are addictive. This is what calls for the need of a timetable. The more that one plays, the better the chances of winning. However, it is important to understand that when more time is spent, one can easily forget about the family members. To avoid becoming detached with the family, time has to be spent in creating a timetable. Most of the online casinos operate round the clock. This means that one can easily incorporate the playing time during his free time. All in all, adequate time has to be set for the family.

Top 5 Vegas Casinos

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1. The Bellagio – 3600 Las Vegas Blvd. Strip, Las Vegas, NV 89109Folks, there’s a reason why this casino was featured in the film Ocean’s 11. It’s the jewel in the crown of Las Vegas casinos, and it will provide you with an elegant and upscale experience which is second to none. The poker room is luxurious and has become a hotspot for fans of 7 Card Stud. Many of the gaming tables are set off in semi-secluded rooms, giving players a more intimate setting in which to gamble. From the elegant light fixtures to the expensive upholstery on the furniture, everything about the Bellagio is high class.2. Caesar’s Palace – 3570 Las Vegas Blvd. Strip, Las Vegas, NV 89109This classic casino has two wings to meet the needs of the wide variety of gamblers who pass through her doors. The older wing caters to experienced and high-priced gamblers, while the Olympic Casino appeals to the player on a budget. But whatever your taste, Caesar’s will more than meet your gaming needs with over two-thousand slot and video poker machines, blackjack and craps tables, as well as roulette wheels and many other games. Their sports book room accommodates over 650 people, with 38 high-tech screens covering the walls. And then there’s the architecture. With its famous marble columns and vaulted ceilings, Caesar’s Palace draws in many people who just want to look around. Whatever category you fall into, you will not be disappointed.3. Paris-Las Vegas – 3655 Las Vegas Blvd. Strip, Las Vegas, NV 89109If you’ve always wanted to visit Paris, France, this casino is the next best thing. The interior of the building matches the streets of Paris with exacting detail. There are over 2000 video poker and slot machines, as well as over 100 tables games such as roulette and blackjack. And for high rollers, there’s even a special area where the limits are through the roof. There are musical shows to watch, plus you can ride to the top of their 50-story Eiffel Tower replica and enjoy a breathtaking view of the Las Vegas strip.4. MGM Grand Hotel and Casino – 3799 Las Vegas Blvd. Strip, Las Vegas, NV 89109The MGM is divided into four distinct gaming areas, each with their own unique theme (Emerald City, Monte Carlo, Sports, and Hollywood). As the largest casino complex in the world, the MGM boasts 171,500 square feet (50,000 square feet more than the next largest). There are 3700 slot machine and video poker games, as well as 15 craps tables, 76 blackjack tables, and 17 roulette wheels. There’s also a youth center for the kids, multiple showrooms, and a fun 33-acre theme park. This hotel and casino literally has something for everyone.5. The Venetian – 3355 Las Vegas Blvd. Strip, Las Vegas, NV 89109With frescoes on the ceiling, the Venetian perfectly captures the spirit of the Renaissance period. Couples will especially enjoy being serenaded while taking a gondola ride through a recreation of Venice’s Grand Canal. Restaurants can be found all along the perimeter, and don’t forget about the wonderful 30,000 square foot wax museum. In addition, there are over 2500 slot and video poker machines, 115 table games, and a high-stakes area with more than a dozen exclusive table games.

The Casino Has The Only Safe Bet

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At one time, casinos were only present in certain specific locations, such as Las Vegas, Reno, the Islands, Monte Carlo, etc., and on cruise ships. The next major entrant into the casino locations was Atlantic City. Today, however, there are casinos in many, many locations. There are Native American/ Indian Casinos all over, some of which have become amongst the largest in the world. Now, even the casino cities have multiple competitors.Cities such as Las Vegas, especially along the “Strip” have upscaled many of the hotels and made several others more family friendly. It used to be that the hotel rooms at casino hotels were relatively reasonably prices, and now, many of them have become quite expensive. So, why are casinos so very popular?The odds of winning at a Casino have certainly not improved. Certainly, there are more governmental controls and authorities, and they are no longer dishonest and/or rigged. Yet, slot machines, which are the biggest profit center for a casino, set their machines at a certain, specific payout ratio, so that over time, each machine, as well as the machines as a whole, return a specific profit to the casino. In fact, casinos can predict the percentage profit they will make from their machines. That is why all the casino rewards programs value slots players far more than table players, because while table players may often play more money, the casino does not have the guaranteed return on the table games that it has on the machines.Have you ever noticed that certain machines seem to payout more often? It is not your imagination, but a fact that many casinos set different machines at different payout ratios, and set machines located at certain specific locations to payout more often, so as to maximize the individuals that pass by to stop and be enticed. It is also a fact that certain casino table games are far more profitable to a casino than others. The odds at winning at roulette, wheel of fortune, etc., are far worse that at Craps or Blackjack. Casinos realize that each specific game has its own odds, and the casinos fully realize which ones pay off the best. Even in Craps and Blackjack, the Casinos odds and percentages are improved because of the number of players who play far less than perfect basic strategy, and thus improve the Casinos percentages.Certain casinos have different rules for the same games. For example, the rules governing Blackjack in Puerto Rico are far less favorable to the player than they are elsewhere. In Puerto Rico, for example, the dealer begins the game by taking only one card, instead of the two taken in most casinos. By doing this, the dealer’s odds improve under certain circumstances. For example, in the scenario where the dealer is showing a card such as a 4, 5, or 6, the dealer will “bust” far less often when he must take two consecutive cards, than when he needs to only add one, because there is less statistical probability of a dealer dealing himself two consecutive high cards than only one.If someone goes to a casino for recreation and to have a good time, and sets personal affordable spending limits, the casino experience can often be an enjoyable one. Those players who are enticed by the “comps” they receive because they gamble so much, and who believe it costs them nothing to go to a casino, the casino experience may sometimes prove economically ruinous to the individual. We should all remember that casinos are in business to make money!

Play Yourself, Not Your Opponents in Online Poker

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Winning a large online poker tournament is a weekend goal for many poker enthusiasts, and the rewards are usually pretty high… if you win. If you don’t win, you have probably spent close to two entire days trying, gotten frustrated and in the end went all-in with a bad hand, because your bankroll was so low it wasn’t fun to keep playing at the tournament any longer. This has got to change.First, let’s optimize your winnings
Had a bad day? Probably. Did it feel good when you won your rare good hands on the bad day? Probably not, because if you are like I was when I started playing online poker, my opponents just didn’t call when I raised with a good hand. Why? I raised predictably and it was exactly my raise which didn’t work. I learned that I had to figure out other ways to make my opponents call a raise, or even make them raise themselves. I learned things like check-raise, which I only thought worked professionally, but no, it works pretty well everywhere. Just remember to play like you have a bad hand or are trying to make a bluff, then the chances that one of your opponents has a hand he or she thinks is better than your bluff hand, is high, so he raises and he’s all yours. Trapped with no exit doors.Don’t try to play like a pro, at least not when you aren’t
But online poker bonus codes are not the solution to everything. Neither is rakeback nor just spending a lot of time playing. If you want to become as good a poker player as the pros, and are playing online, you need to study your play all the time. Don’t play large tournaments if you don’t truly believe you can be the best, not just among the best, but win the tournament and get the 1st prize. Play smaller tournaments, Sit & Go, Freerolls and even cash games, and find out why you are not the best at the tables if you are losing. Why did your opponents make it better than you? Did they attempt to bluff less? Did they play less predictably, or was it just pure luck? It’s never just pure luck, of course, but if you get bad hands in a long period of time, do you then try to play them anyway (bluff) because Gus Hansen did it yesterday on television, hope for the best, or do you simply fold?The professional poker player Phil Ivey is one of the most talented poker players in history, and though many try to reach the same profitable success as him, with live tournament winnings which exceed $10,000,000, only very few can. But they can eventually learn from him to become better poker players, and since you can now get a Full Tilt Bonus, you can increase your winnings drastically to achieve more profitable online poker play. So when you win, you win more, get happier for your winnings and keep on playing because the bonus will just add itself naturally to your bankroll as you play.But online poker bonus codes are not the solution to everything. Neither is rakeback nor just spending a lot of time playing. It’s all a matter of education and discovering your weaknesses before your opponents do. When you’ve learned all about your own style of play at the tables, you can start researching new strategies and how to read your opponents, but the primary thing is that you really have to know yourself, before you try to know your opponent.

A Review of the 100 Nexgen Las Vegas Poker Chip Set

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If you are in a place where you love the idea of giving your poker buddies a great time, it is time for you to look into ordering the woo Las Vegas Edge Spot Nexgen Poker Chips With Mahogany Case. The truth of the matter is that poker is a game where appearances definitely matter, so if you want to host a great poker game, think about what you are having your guests play with.If you have put some time into installing a great poker table and if you are ready to take your play to the next level, the chips that you purchase and the case that you keep them in can make a huge difference to the kind of effect you get, so consider what your options are going to be.What makes this set so different from the ones around it? In the first place, you will find that the chips stand out from your normal run of poker chips. Even after you have graduated from using pretzels as currency during your games, using the standard poker chips can leave a lot to be desired.Take some time and make sure that you consider what your options are going to be when you are thinking about the chips that you use. For instance, think about the weight of the chips that you use. These chips are 39 mm in diameter and you will find that they have the style and weight of a real casino chip.You will also find that these chips have the unique edgespot design and that on top of that, they also have the soft feel of the clay surface that lets them have the sound and coloration of a real casino chip. You’ll find that these chips have a great look and feel, as well as a recessed center that allows you to insert a custom designed 1 inch label. You will also have your choice of seven assorted two tone colors. The chips that you choose can make a huge difference to the game that you play.Another reason why you will love the 100 Nexgen Las Vegas Poker Chip Set immediately is due to the fact that it comes in a beautiful dark wood case. The mahogany finish gives your chip set the look of a fine cigar humidor and the wood itself and its construction are very solid. With the smooth finish, you will find that it can be a lovely item that sits in your home and allows you to enjoy yourself as though you were at the casino itself!Remember that there are many great options when you are thinking about purchasing yourself a poker set. There are a number of different options for you out there, but one of the best ones that you can find is going to be the 100 Nexgen Las Vegas Poker Chip Set. This set can be an amazing way for you to move forward in the realism of your poker game!