Powering Your Business with HPC

HPC (High Performance Computing) cloud environments have fast become the premier Infrastructure as a Service (IaaS) model for successful business. Setting the scene, they create the following benefits over an in-house IT architecture:

• Optimally responsive servers can handle high demand and create awareness.
• Efficient data warehousing connects big data with business analytics.
• Resilient hardware structure eliminates downtime through improved availability.
• Migrating to cleaner data structures in the cloud empowers all stakeholders.
• Optimising IT as a function connects people, processes, operations and services.

Companies cannot remain idle when it comes to deploying IT that will serve them today and elevate them as a leader in their industry tomorrow. Every business sector today is highly competitive. Success can only be achieved if you handle the volumes and complexities of data at your disposal, with speed and agility. HPC cloud hosting not only helps businesses keep pace with new technologies, but breaks through boundaries that are created by an increasingly globalised and technologically reliant society.

HPC in the cloud therefore becomes a game-changer in the way a business can outperform its competitors. Because of the advancement in computer processing power, collaborative software and cloud storage capacity, those that have the right IT base will be able to differentiate and innovate because they can handle pervasive users and an avalanche of data requirements better than anyone else.

This is essential for any business trying to meet the stringent requirements placed upon them in 2013. For information governance, energy consumption, customer retention, etc. transitioning to cloud based HPC offers far greater scalability for your business. Certainly when considering the challenges of maintaining a traditional IT infrastructure that gradually fails to meet user demand, fails to deliver real-time insights and fails to provide a continuously available service.

HPC is all about data movement

The movement of data can transform your business. As the rapid increase in data volume, velocity and variety (the 3 V’s of big data) challenge every level of an organisation, HPC offers significant opportunities to accelerate business.

Whether as an outsourced ‘managed’ or internally ‘self-serviced’ platform, HPC cloud environments create the foundation upon which reliable and scalable business can evolve. Supporting staff, engaging customers, nurturing partners, in a technology obsessed world, revolves around data movement that transforms then resonates around you. Thereby improving your ability to make critical decisions in the right order, at the right time and with the right people.

HPC offers the essential components to making IT an enabler, not a disabler, for your business. Whereas traditional IT is fast becoming a major bottleneck to success, with an HPC cloud IaaS, companies are better equipped to handle data, workflow and resources through a consolidated and modernised technology base that is flexible at scale.

In every regard these are challenging times for business. IT budgets are tight, expertise is hard to find. HPC cloud hosting unequivocally solves these problems, through high-speed performance and reliability of IT that drives down TCO and allows businesses to maximise ROI. The right HPC cloud environment has that kind of power.

Top places where to get attention for your brand

Handing out free gifts to members of the public is a fantastic way to publicise the launch of new products and/or campaigns, as well as raise brand awareness of your business. However, if this is a promotional strategy you are thinking of adopting for your business, you need to act carefully to ensure that it will be successful.

While distributing promotional products – whether they are memory sticks, caps, pens or T-shirts – is almost a surefire way to boost an organisation’s profile, it would be a mistake to think you don’t have to put in any effort or time into thinking how exactly you will distribute them. As obvious as it probably sounds, you should look to give out products in places where there will be a significant audience to receive them. After all, what’s the point in having items to hand out if there are not enough people to give these to?

Here’s a rundown of some of the best places for organisations to hand out promotional gifts.

Train stations - Distributing free items near train stations is a great way to appeal to commuters – both in the morning when they are on their way to work, and also when they are going home. Bear in mind that stations tend to be less busy during the middle of the day, so by midmorning you may want to consider handing out free gifts in other parts of town until the start of the evening rush hour.

Shopping centres - As shopping centres tend to have lots of people in them throughout the day – and especially during the weekend – they provide a fabulous opportunity to promote your company. Whether you choose to set up a stall and encourage shoppers to come to you or have a team who wander around and proactively hand out branded items to passersby, there should be a wide audience to market your brand to. Giving away products such as promotional USB sticks and pens in a shopping mall can prove a particularly good way for retailers and food vendors that have stores situated elsewhere in the outlet to improve footfall.

Sports stadiums - If you are looking to promote your brand among sports fans, consider distributing promotional items at stadia. Having a team of staff give away promotional items close to a sports ground in the build-up to a game (as well as after the match has finished) should ensure a winning start to your promotional campaign.

As well as deciding which places are most effective to hand out free products, it is worth considering what particular items are best to give out. This will depend on exactly who your target audience is and your budget, but as a general rule you should hand out items that are small enough to be easily carried around. Pens and badges certainly fall into this category, as do caps, teddy bears and balloons.

What are your opinions on the most effective ways to develop a buzz about a business? Share your thoughts by leaving a comment below.

Stay away from payday loans! Payday loans are among the worst financial products out there. They may seem like a good idea because they are relatively easy to get, but there are some very good reasons to stay away from payday loans. A payday loan is simply a short term loan that companies such as Wonga offer to people, with the idea that it is to help people out who are perhaps short of money at the end of the month or have something unexpected they need to pay for. One such example they gave was: “When your mates tell you about finding a deal on plane tickets to the Canary Islands, you’ve got some options. Maybe you don’t have the money to pay for the whole thing now, but you will when you get your wages at the end of the week. Enter, Wonga” This may sound reasonable, what may to not be reasonable is the cost of taking out the loan. If a loan of £400 is taken out over a period of 30 days, it will cost £125 in interest and fees!!

The ease of renewal is another reason to avoid payday loans. It is so easy to get trapped in the payday loan cycle of debt.Payday loans have extortionately high interest rates. It’s important to be aware of what you are paying for and how much you are being charged so you can look at cheaper alternatives.

Payday lending can be extremely expensive with charges of up to £30 per £100 borrowed. Some even have an APR of around 2,000%! Interest can rapidly build up if payments are not made on time and soon become more of a debt than the original loan. More often than not there are additional fees – such as paying more to have the loan within a shorter amount of time. In the short term I hope people can be made aware of the practices of these lenders but in the long term we need to see better regulation by Westminster and an effective cap on the rates of APR running into the thousands of percent.

Instead of blindly sending out cv to every help-wanted ad in your field, target companies and positions that are the right match and tailor your cover letters accordingly. Job seekers take note: While employers still use headhunters to vet candidates, especially for senior positions, increasingly they are relying on cv scanning software and online “assessment” tests to do an initial sort of the wheat from the chaff. Here are some top tips to incorporate into your job search approach to get you ahead of the crowd.

Firstly be prepared and decide what types of companies would suit your interests. Think about any contacts that may help you. Get organized. Does your industry or line of work offer little promise of employment in the coming months? If so, now is a good time to step back to identify the projected top performing industries and jobs. The best place to find this info is on the web through Google or Yahoo.

Also dont just rely on clasified ads. Most experts believe that very few job openings are advertised through classified ads, so if you’re pinning all of your job hopes on the few weekly help-wanted ads in your area, you might be searching a while. Do your homework. Find out about companies that are hiring and do some research on these companies. Also Be sure to have a cv that is specifically tailored to the industry in which you are searching. Make it stand out, such as by adding a photo or design elements. Many companies now use software that searches cv’s for keywords specific to the qualifications they’re looking for. So if you ensure your cv addresses the specific skills and experience required for the position, it’s much more likely to pass through for further evaluation.

So there are new fears that the future of free cash withdrawals is under threat after a nationalised bank barred one million of its customers using cash machines belonging to rivals. The Royal Bank of Scotland, which is 83 per cent owned by the taxpayer, will soon stop its ‘basic’ RBS and NatWest account holders from using other banks’ ATM machines. Already, up to two million customers with ‘basic’ accounts at Lloyds Banking Group, which is 41 per cent owned by the tax payer, are prevented from using other banks’ machines.

Not only that, but Natwest and Royal Bank of Scotland (RBS) have created a set of new over-the-counter cash withdrawal charges and both part of the RBS group, will soon charge fees to take out money at rival bank counters in the UK and abroad. Customers will even be charged when withdrawing at an RBS branch counter, and RBS customers will be charged at a Natwest branch, despite both being part of the same organisation. Natwest Visa debit card holders will pay 1.5% of any amount withdrawn (minimum £2, maximum £4.50) at a non-Natwest branch counter. Historically banks have reimbursed each other to the tune of 25p-30p every time a customer uses another banks’ machine. But if banks start to pull out, the entire system could collapse. It is feared that customers could be forced to use cash machines that charge or that banks will pass the costs of withdrawing money on in the form of higher charges.

Unemployment across the UK rose by 118,000 in the three months to November, to 2.68 million, the ONS said, in the latest sign that the UK slowed sharply in the autumn. A surprise increase in the number of people claiming jobless benefits in May overshadowed an overall drop in unemployment, as fears over Europe’s debt crisis intensified, official figures on the UK jobs market reveal. However, the fall in jobless figures can partly be explained by the high number of people working part-time in Britain, because they could not find full-time jobs. This statistic rose by 25,000 in the three months to April, to reach 1.41m.  The government’s claim that private sector jobs growth will help to compensate for cuts in the public sector was undermined by news that 67,000 jobs were lost in the public sector in the three months to September. If you’re out of work and hunting for a job, you’re not alone. At first, that may be kind of comforting, but it also means there’s plenty of competition. Look busy and do some volunteering freelancing or consulting work while you look for a new career. That’s often easier said than done. Looking for job can be a full-time job in itself. It’s also  a smart idea to look up information on the people who interview you, as well as other power players working for potential employers. Just remember – if you can Google them, they can Google you. Also try and make your CV stand out, by adding some color, borders and headers, but also try to keep it organised. Sometimes you just need to get back in the saddle and start working again – even if you feel like the job is beneath you. So try and lower your standards and put that dream job on hold until you have something to fall back on.  One of the worst things about being unemployed  is dealing with the rejection and the stress. But guess what? “How do you deal with rejection” and “How do you handle stress” are also common interview questions! Its not easy…but you can’t let yourself get depressed about your situation.

When considering whether to use a company’s services, it’s important to be able to check their history and reputation before you do so.  Fortunately, this is made easier by the online presence of the Companies House register, dedicated to storing company information in the UK.

All British limited companies are required to register annually with Companies House, making it an efficient way of searching by company name, address or registration number. For a small fee, there are further options including purchasing access to historical records such as accounts and company reports.  If you’re eager to find this information free of charge search for Companies House direct at Duedil and view full company accounts, director search, corporate structures and more.

Having these resources out there also gives registered businesses an incentive to keep accurate records and up-to-date information. In other words, the more company information there is available, the more trust will be placed with that company.  Companies House asks for specific details from each company; forms can be downloaded from the website on returns, change of address, change of personnel and shares to name just a few. This makes sure that searchers are getting as clear a picture as possible.

Further afield, European database EBR pools together company details from all the official registers in each country. This is particularly valuable when looking at unfamiliar businesses abroad and checking the accuracy of any claims a company may make. The RM group uses Companies House and other databases to give access to company documents from across the globe, offering access within the hour in some cases.  Recently, smart phones app have also become available for receiving such information on the go. There are also websites which search credit reports and individual data for those working in the financial or legal sectors.

Whether taking on a new business partner, investing shares or simply checking out the competition, it’s good to know there are tools out there to make company information easily accessible.

Loan sharks make profit from the sheer desperation of others. They rip off people by charging extortionate interest rates and they are criminals who can threaten and even use violence to get what they want. Victims of loan sharks are often forced to hand over personal identification, such as passports as a form of security for their loan.New research suggests that 265,000 people are in the dangerous situation of knowing a loan shark and being unable to raise £200 to cover the cost of Christmas or other essential things. It is a combination which puts them under particular threat. The figures comes from Policis, a research organisation which analyses illegal lending for the government.

Half of households using loan sharks are in the most deprived areas of the country, with particular loan shark hotspots including Scotland, the north of England and the West Midlands. Anyone lending money should have a consumer credit licence from the OFT. Licensed lenders have to comply with legal obligations in dealing with customers, including the use of proper paperwork and fair collection methods. But unlicensed loan sharks will often offer cash loans without paperwork, use benefit or bank cards as security, and threaten or use violence to get money.

However, don’t worry, if you’ve been foolish enough to do buisness with a loan shark, there’s a bit of a silver lining in the cloud you’re under. This is because a loan shark has no legal right to enforce the debt. He can’t go to court and get an order allowing him to seize your car, or house, or furniture. Nor can he go after your relatives assets, even though calls to frighten your parents who do have assets are common. If he can frighten your parents into paying your debt the loan shark will get his money. But he cannot force them to pay. Because an illegal contract cannot be enforced in the courts. So no matter how much the loan shark threatens that you are going lose everything you have, in fact, he is the one on the losing end of things.

The European Union Stability and Growth Pact (SGP) gains new force, effective Tuesday 13^th December 2011. Proposed by the European Commission and approved by all 27 member states and the European parliament last October, this legislation grants the EU council the power to impose financial sanctions upon a member state on the basis of a Commission recommendation. Currently, member states enter “Excessive Deficit Procedure” (EDP) if they fail to keep budgetary deficits below 3% of GDP and government debt below 60% of GDP. Of the 27 member states, 23 (including the UK) are currently subject to EDP and must comply with correctional recommendations and deadlines decided by the EU council. Member states failing to comply with the recommended corrective action may be subject to in-depth reviews (the results of which will be made public) carried out by the EU Commission in collaboration with the European Central Bank.

Report Criteria (according to www.europa.eu)

· 3 year backward moving average of the current account balance as a percent of GDP, with a threshold of +6% of GDP and -4% of GDP
· Net international investment position as a percent of GDP, with a threshold of -35% of GDP
· 5 years percentage of change of export market shares measured in values, with a threshold of -6%
· 3 years percentage change in nominal unit labour cost, with thresholds of +9% for euro-area countries and +12% for non-euro-area countries
· 3 years percentage change of the real effective exchange rates based on HICP/CPI deflators, relative to 35 other industrial countries, with thresholds of -/+5% for euro-area countries and -/+11% for non-euro-area countries
· Private sector debt in % of GDP with a threshold of 160%
· Private sector credit flow in % of GDP with a threshold of 15%
· 3 years percentage change in nominal unit labour cost, with thresholds of +9% for euro-area countries and +12% for non-euro-area countries
· Year-on-year changes in house prices relative to a Eurostat consumption deflator, with a threshold of 6%
· General government sector debt in % of GDP with a threshold of 60%
· 3-year backward moving average of unemployment rate, with a threshold of 10%

This legislation comes into effect only two days after British Prime Minister David Cameron’s veto of the latest EU treaty proposals, which include a cap of 0.5% of GDP on countries’ annual structural deficits, “automatic consequences” for countries whose public deficit exceeds 3% of GDP, and a requirement of member states to submit their national budgets to the European Commission, which will have the power to request that they be revised.

The Independent Commission on Banking has published its interim report which has been met with disappointment from some quarters & sighs of relief from others.

Under new proposals announced by the Independent Commission on Banking – set up last year by the coalition government – the Lloyds banking group was told it should sell off “substantially” more branches than the 600 already agreed upon, in order to increase competitiveness on the high street. The report also suggested that banks should be compelled to ring fence their savings operations.

The commission was established last year to look at competition issues in the wake of the Lloyds/Halifax rescue package during the financial crisis, to promote financial stability & to try & ensure there would be no repeat another taxpayer bailout.

“Getting the taxpayer off the hook – limiting, curtailing the chance and the scale on which that kind of bailout would be needed in any future crisis – that means that the banks’ cost of capital is going to go up, because investors are going to have to take the risk that we, the taxpayer, have been taking,” he said.

Lloyds’ currently has a 30% share of current accounts; 24% of mortgages – more than any other bank; and a 23% share of small business banking. Following the sale of the 600 branches to be determined by the EU it will still have 18% of savings and 25% of current accounts.

More radical measures that had been put forward such as a total separation between the high street & investment banking operations were ruled out on the grounds that they would be too costly for the sector. As a result more than £1bn was added to the stock market value of three major banks following the report.

In its report he commission said: “There is cause for regret that the government in 2008 amended competition law to facilitate the Lloyds TSB/HBOS merger but the facts in 2011 have to be taken as they are. In light of those facts, reversing the merger does not appear to be a sensible course to pursue.”

António Horta-Osório, – chief executive of Lloyds since last month, – commented: “This option appears to be based on limited evidence and may paradoxically potentially delay a new competitor coming into the UK market,”

David Fleming – national officer for Unite – expressed his disappointment at the report: “We have waited for too long for these recommendations on banking reform, yet today we have been presented with nothing more then merely tinkering at the edges.”

Sir John Vickers – chairman of the commission – reacted angrily to some of the suggestions & comments that were floating around: “I absolutely reject any notion we’ve bottled it. We’re absolutely independent from the banks and government,”

The interim report presents the commissions current views & options & seeks input via consultation which it will consider before making its final recommendations to the Government in September.