SubscribeInnovations in e-information -- what does it mean for small businesses?
I’ve spent the past two days at the UKeIG’s excellent Innovations in e-information conference in Manchester. With great speakers and equally thought-provoking attendees, I learnt a good deal about developments in e-information.
Inevitably there was a bias towards issues in large organisations, since that’s where there’s most activity in Information Management. As someone who’s been working to improve information management in smaller organisations, I was keen to pick up any tips from our larger counterparts that could be of use to our small business clients.
Following two days of intense information discussions, I still believe that small businesses using appropriate technology, like OneIS, can achieve much better results than large organisations in organising and utilising their information.
So, here’s my impressions of what current innovations in e-information mean for small businesses.
You’re great. Tell the world.
Managing information and creating the right environment for sharing and creating knowledge can make a phenomenal difference to a business. But explaining the benefits of information or knowledge management, or some of the finer details of IT, to a business can be almost impossible.
We’d like to help Information, Knowledge and IT Consultants to communicate the benefits of the skills and knowledge they bring to a business. So, we’re hosting a Marketing Masterclass on Tuesday 7 July, and you’re all invited.
10 point checklist for choosing a hosted provider
It’s a Catch-22 situation. Hosted services are a good option for smaller companies – they don’t have in-house IT staff and don’t want the hassle and expense of maintaining expensive servers. But because they don’t have in-house IT staff, they often don’t have the expertise to properly evaluate an external hosting provider.
Calling Information and IT Professionals
We’ve just launched a mini-site for Information and IT Professionals, which tells the technically minded amongst us what lies underneath OneIS’ easy to use interface, plus a little about how we’re working with Information and IT consultants to help small businesses.
One month after launch
We launched OneIS one month ago. What have we learnt in our first few weeks?
We learnt that:
- the sign up process works well! You’ve told us it’s quick, straightforward and easy.
- word has got around. At a drinks reception recently, I got talking to a group where all four people had signed up and tried out OneIS!
OneIS goes live!
Today, we launched OneIS. Browse our web site to take a look at how OneIS can help you share documents, manage your contacts, and make your working life easier. Then sign up for a free account and try it out for yourself.
OneIS helps small organisations take control of their information—but what do we mean by information? We mean all the information you use and produce every day in your work.
Of course, you use documents and files, but not all the information you rely on sits neatly in a document. The ideas, contacts, and nuggets of valuable know-how that circulate around, in and out of your organisation every day is what keeps your business going.
OneIS gives organisations a secure online space for sharing and storing all of their information. It helps you get organised, work efficiently and take control—getting your information working for you.
Website relaunch
Earlier this week we relaunched our website. Thanks for all the encouraging comments we’ve had about the redesign.
We thought hard about how we could help our website visitors to easily understand OneIS.
Although we loved the clean look of our previous design, we didn’t think it did enough to excite people about what a dynamic and innovative product we were building.
We are Twittering
Follow us on Twitter: Ben, Jennifer
First we had the static web, then came the read-write web, now we have the real-time web. Twitter is a way to interact with other people in real-time over the web. Follow our tweets to find out what we’re doing to prepare for the launch of OneIS.
Introducing ONEmarketplace
Using a good information management system can make a big difference to running an information-intensive business. But sometimes you need the extra help that only a person can provide. As every small business has different needs, we wanted to help bridge the gap between small businesses and the Information Professionals who can help deliver bespoke expert assistance to help them manage their information better.
We realised it’s pretty hard for a small business to find the right Information Professional or IT Specialist. So we decided to do something about it.
We’ve quietly launched ONEmarketplace, and are slowly but surely collecting professionals from the Information and IT worlds who, like us, have an interest in helping small businesses prosper by managing their knowledge and information properly.
OneIS review at SmallBizPod
David Tebbutt has just published the first review of OneIS at SmallBizPod: Information at your fingertips: really
It really captures the essence of what we’re doing with OneIS. Do have a read!
Talk at Online Information 2008
Yesterday, I spoke at Online Information 2008 about Information Management and small businesses. Online is the largest gathering of the information profession in the UK so I was delighted to have the opportunity to speak
I talked about the new opportunity for information professionals to bring their skills to the small business sector. I wasn’t sure how much interest there would be as Online, and the information industry, has historically been dominated by large corporates. So I was relieved to see so many people in the audience, and reassured by how many of my colleagues from the information profession are interested in this sector.
Business libraries for small companies
I had the pleasure last night of meeting Neil Infield, Manager of the Business and IP Centre (BIPC) at the British Library. I’ve long admired Neil for making the British Library relevant, accessible and welcoming to small companies. I’m particularly chuffed when small business owners, unaware that I’m a librarian, rave to me about the resources available in the BIPC and how knowledgeable and helpful the staff are.