Recently the auto industry has been rocked by engine emissions scandals and technology products have been withdrawn from markets due to battery malfunctions.

Whatever the reason for these failures of quality control and the subsequent consequences to the organisations involved, it highlights the need for quality assessment, starting at the point of product procurement. Analysing requirements and subsequent performance expectations can be determined by a pre-qualification process in order to find the appropriate level of quality required.

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The beginning of a New Year brings with it the tradition of New Year Resolutions. It is often the case that they are decided upon without any real consideration of the changes that will need to be made, and the effort involved in order to keep them. It is estimated that over 80% of people who make resolutions have failed to keep them by the end of the year.

So it is worthwhile to consider the concept of change and how it can be successfully achieved, especially when it comes to choosing new processes and software tools in our businesses. Resistance to change, looking only to the past and the present, means the future will remain the same or will happen without us. This is the meaning of a quote taken from an address given by President John F. Kennedy on June the 25th 1963 in the Assembly Hall in Paulskirche, Frankfurt in Germany. “Those who look only to the past or present are certain to miss the future”.

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Reminders of the impact that a compromised website can have on users and on an organisation’s reputation surface regularly in the News. What factors should users and organisations be mindful of in selecting the right solution provider?

For the user, a data breach ignites fear that their personal details have been obtained and possibly used. For organisations, it is the loss of credibility, financial recompense or loss and legal liabilities.

Some hacks have been blamed on infiltrations from associated services where users have used identical credentials to gain access, most commonly the same password. Others cite phishing campaigns as the source of taking the necessary details to access accounts. Whatever the reasons for these unauthorised attempts at access, security breaches of this kind can lead to a loss of confidence in the organisations involved.

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Time is universally accepted as one of the most valuable assets, but we frustratingly and unnecessarily waste so much of it.

If the average adult is awake for 15 hours 45 minutes, it is estimated that an average of 8 hours is spent in front of a screen of some sort. For 45 to 54-year-olds, this jumps to over 9 hours. With much of our weekday time spent at work, user friendliness of applications is much more than increasing utilisation. The easier the range of tools we use are, the more efficient our completion of tasks. We all know that time can pass by at such a rate that the day, weeks and months seem to vanish into thin air – software should not be a contributing factor to this.

Technical downtime, such as computer crashes, unexpected operating system updates, loss of connectivity, or network breakdown are somewhat inevitable. Measures can be put in place to limit the disruption, but with this often happening at an enterprise level, individual users have very limited influence. A user’s approach to selecting software, however, can positively affect their efficiency and productivity. User-friendly, in this case, signifies the selection of a product that helps the user to complete the range of tasks required without being inhibited by the software design itself.

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On June 8th the DVLA will no longer issue paper counterparts for new and replacement driving licences, with existing counterparts no longer having any legal status.

Not only is the DVLA scrapping an antiquated system of recording endorsements, but are also helping to force the issue of fleet management responsibility.
 
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