Are you prepared for total system failure?

Having a computerised back-up plan should be top of every company’s new year resolutions, according to Affinitus.

After one of Affinitus’ customers recently lost all of its files when its server was stolen, the company took the opportunity to warn others to prevent a similar situation from happening to them.

Paul Hardy, Affinitus managing director, said: “We reacted quickly and got a temporary server up and running for them before Monday arrived. The damage caused to the business was minimal, but it could have been a lot worse.

“Throughout life, we always make sure we have a backup. From purchasing holiday insurance to signing a pre nuptial, writing a will or having a reserve chute when we do a parachute jump. Backups are a way of protecting what is most important to us, whether this is ourselves, our possessions, our loved ones or our business.

“It’s a long, laborious process to rebuild your system and the consequences can be disastrous. Business can be lost, profits could plummet and you could end up in court.”

As well as advising its customers to have back-up copies of all their systems, Affinitus has undertaken this process for them as well as investing in a large data warehouse in Canary Wharf.

“This means our customers will always have a backup off-site, so if a server is stolen or damaged on office premises, everything can be retrieved quickly and re-implemented by Affinitus so the business doesn’t suffer,” Hardy, pictured, said.

ONLINE OPPORTUNITY

Few retailers are making the most of online trading opportunities, which have become more profitable and less costly, according to e-commerce software specialist Actinic.

Its sixth annual survey showed that 90 per cent of company websites are profitable and, on average, firms that use e-commerce find it costs 40 per cent less than anticipated.

But only one in 10 retailers has a transactional website, according to the research, and only one in four firms who accept telephone orders have an online facility.

Actinic ceo Chris Barling, pictured, said: “Online stores are rarely unprofitable, because there is huge growth in the sector and overheads are far lower than their offline counterparts.

“More consumers are letting their fingers do the shopping, but still too few smaller businesses are grasping the opportunity. Given the ease with which you can set up a web store nowadays, there is no reason not to take the plunge - especially if you already offer home delivery.”

The Actinic survey, which was carried out by pfa Research on around 600 randomly-selected small and medium-sized retailers, of which 146 had websites, found that the number of retailers with e-commerce sites had risen from eight per cent in 2005 to 11 per cent in 2006.

FORWARD THINKING

US business weather intelligence provider Planalytics is expanding its offerings to the Life Sciences field, Fred Fox, president and ceo of the company, announced.

“We have a proven track record helping clients in the consumer products, financial and energy industries understand - and manage - the impact of weather on their businesses,” said Fox, pictured. “We are building on that expertise and, at the same time, significantly enhancing our capabilities to better serve companies involved in agriculture, food and pharmaceuticals.”

As part of the Life Sciences initiative, Planalytics is now offering unique causal modelling capabilities that can help clients identify and measure potential threats from pests and diseases, as well as weather events that affect food production and, ultimately, the health and well-being of humans and animals around the globe.

One example of this technology is a malaria forecasting tool developed through a strategic alliance recently formed between Planalytics and Mud Springs Geographers, Inc. Variations of the tool have also been created for use by crop producers, plant breeders and turf grass managers.

John Corbett is an agricultural climatologist and co-founder of Mud Springs who has worked in various countries around the world promoting greater understanding of the interrelationships between climate, geography and food production.

“Any farmer or livestock producer, regardless of where he is on the globe, can tell you how critically weather impacts his livelihood. But it’s only been recently that the technology and tools have existed that make it possible to utilise weather intelligence and other data to meet their challenges head on at a very granular level,” Corbett said.

“Our alliance with Mud Springs makes it possible for us to help producers and the companies they depend on for seed, fertiliser and other inputs to better manage weather risk,” Fox added.

“At the same time, we are able to advise food companies and retailers that buy what farmers produce, ensuring that they have sufficient supplies of food to meet consumer demand at the right time, at the right place and at the right price.”

Heading the Life Sciences team at Planalytics is Jed Lafferty, managing director. “With more than 25 years’ experience in agricultural products marketing, distribution and information management, Jed brings a unique perspective to our business,” Fox said.

LET IT HELP IN THE CRUSADE FOR A GREENER, LESS WASTEFUL INDUSTRY

This month Anglia Business Solutions talks us through some of the ways in which IT can help the industry in the universal drive to cut carbon emissions. By keeping track of product freshness and load planning more efficiently there are financial as well as environmental benefits to be had.

It is difficult to open a newspaper or view television today without getting the message on global warming and its effects on our environment. With food producers in the front line, they hardly need reminding of the devastating effect that unpredictable weather patterns can have on their businesses.

However, with politicians now getting in on the act in a very big way, it is inevitable that new legislation will be introduced to penalise those seen to contribute towards the production of greenhouse gases. So how can information technology help?

One of the major issues within the food production industry is the large amount of waste produced by inefficient practices. This is before it gets to consumers in the developed world, who waste up to 20 per cent of purchased food items.

Large quantities of food are sometimes transported around the world simply to be dumped or used as animal fodder. The cost in terms of transport and handling is substantial. From an environmental perspective, the cost in CO2 emissions is high. In business terms, the lost revenue in low-margin operations can be significant.

IT can help in a number of ways and the contribution can quickly add up to substantial business and environmental gains. For example, getting a better handle on supplies through more accurate forecasting can help to reduce product waste. Improved forecasting can also help to refine packaging needs in line with demand. The trend in fresh produce towards pre-packaged rather than loose products will inevitably drive up the amount of packaging material in the industry. Pressure groups are already highlighting the environmental impact of over packaging.

The transport sector is also in the front line when it comes to CO2 emissions. The vast majority of fresh produce is moved by road to reach retailers. With fuel charges so high, improved load planning can help reduce the number of trips and therefore the accompanying fuel bills. This has got to be good for both business and the environment.

Losing track of perishable items until past their sell by date is another well known industry issue. Not only is the revenue lost but the company picks up the tab for disposing of the unsaleable goods.

Dynamic information systems linked to mobile devices can significantly reduce the risks of losing or misplacing goods. Alerts can be incorporated that are triggered by dates that highlight the goods at risk. The result can be reduced losses on write-offs while improving the efficiency of product handling.

How about the high costs and inefficiencies involved in handling massive volumes of paper? According to new research by the Butler Group, more than 50 per cent of all staff costs are now allocated to employees who spend the majority of their time on “information work”. They spend up to a quarter of their day searching for the relevant information to carry out given tasks. Much of this time is spent transcribing the information onto other pieces of paper which then has to be read and filed.

In addition, a significant volume of paper is still stuck into envelopes and sent by post. While incurring additional handling and postage charges, it also creates more road journeys to deliver. Not only can modern systems make it simpler to locate and use data, they also facilitate the sending and sharing of information.

Most people in business today have access to email and the internet. What’s wrong with emailing invoices, statements, letters, and proof of deliveries etc. to your customers and suppliers directly from your central information system? Its quick, efficient, cheap and eco-friendly.

Why not securely share relevant information with your suppliers and customers using the internet? It means that they can keep up to date on what’s happening to their orders or produce while helping themselves to relevant information 24x7. It also releases your staff to focus on more productive activities.

If all of this appears a little futuristic, the reality is that the technology to facilitate all of this is now becoming mainstream. Modern solutions incorporate internet and mobile ready applications while addressing more sophisticated and flexible functionality now demanded by dynamic businesses.

As a result, medium-sized organisations can become more efficient while using IT to become more eco-friendly. Not only will the resulting savings help the environment, it also makes very good business sense.

RFID TAGS IMPROVE CA GRAPE QUALITY

The quality of grapes at a Californian farm has been improved with the use of passive RFID tags, active wireless sensors and geographic information systems (GIS).

The Lake County-based biodynamic farm, Ceàgo Vinegarden, which promotes biodiversity by raising a number of different crops and animals, has adopted a number of high-tech farming methods alongside its environmentalist principles.

These include handheld RFID readers linked to Google Earth, wireless sensor pods that measure air temperature, humidity, solar radiation, soil moisture and temperature, as well as software applications that can calculate grape ripeness. The tags and sensors have also made its operations more efficient and reduced the environmental impact of the crop on the surrounding area.

Owner Jim Fetzer is working with Californian consulting firm Geovine, which specialises in geographic information systems related to natural resource management, and Denver-based engineering and construction firm CH2M Hill.

Some 500 passive RFID tags have been attached to posts at the ends of the vine rows at Ceágo Vinegarden.

Geovine president Josh Metz said: “As workers document various processes, such as checking the grapes’ progress, they use handheld readers to interrogate the tags to identify the row. Traditionally, they would go down the row, grab bunches of grapes from different parts of the rows and then check them for sugars and acids.”

But workers using the tags and sensors can record when samples are taken and identify the row from which each bunch came, Metz said.

He added: “We can also document if a row was pruned, and then link that with the person who did the pruning, and how long it took.”