 Lee Kirkby on
Technology
Databases are a marketing tool
One of the key trends of marketing is the
development of what is known as “one to many”
personalized marketing. When this tactic is employed
a mass
marketing piece is created but customized to match
up to the contact and market specifics of an
individual. The strategy has been used in direct
mail for many years, with financial institutions
being one of the biggest users. It is also becoming
much more common in e-mail marketing since it is one
way to improve the chances that an e-mail will reach
the intended recipient.
Large organizations have the
resources to contract for advanced mailing systems
that can produce this kind of custom product.
Smaller organizations have not had the access to the
capability as readily, although personal contact
management software like ACT or Goldmine does
incorporate many of the required tools for effective
campaigns. Microsoft Outlook, the most widely used
e-mail and address management software has generally
only provided limited capabilities and since many
small businesses used this product they found the
creation of specialized marketing campaigns more
difficult. It was even more problematic when network
users needed access to the same contact list. Using
the mail merge features of word processing and
desktop publishing software made the development of
print-based projects possible, but there are only
limited tools for tracking and managing the campaign
once it is created.
With the recent release of Office
2007 and the attendant tools included, the situation
for small and medium-sized businesses wishing to
develop focused, personalized database driven
campaigns just became much easier. If the included
Small Business
Contact Manager is deployed both stand- alone and
networked users of Outlook 2007 and the Office Suite
of programs can design, merge and release very
sophisticated marketing campaigns in print and
e-mail. The program even includes a fairly robust
tracking mechanism so you can see what the results
of your campaign might be. Once the database of
contacts has been designed and compiled an
individual sales rep or a marketing department can
use filtering tools to select the appropriate
contacts that might be suitable for a given
campaign. While the program does not include all of
the advanced features of some dedicated CRM
(Customer Relationship Management) software, this
database-focused component of the new Office Suite
can meet all of the needs of many businesses. It
could also be the starting point for learning and
designing a database-backed marketing process that
might then be expanded into a more sophisticated
package in the future. Either way, database
marketing tools can help the smaller business access
on a cost effective basis some of the tools which
have proven to be invaluable in large businesses for
many years.
(L. Lee Kirkby is Vice President
of Leppert Business Systems Inc., a Burlington based
company specializing in assisting
companies with better managing their important
business documents.)
50 new job openings kick off 10th
Anniversary year for DependableIT
BURLINGTON—DependableIT
is riding a wave of fast-paced growth fueled by its
innovative approach to monitoring and servicing
computers for residential and business customers.
The company’s focus on innovation created 80 new
jobs in 2006, and another 50 new positions will be
filled early in 2007.
The boom in employment
opportunities at this fast rising Canadian
technology company stems from a decade of experience
built under the name of CanCable, which began in
1997 offering onsite computer modem installations
for two major cable companies.
Burlington-based company one of Southern
Ontario’s largest outsource service providers
Ross Jepson, President and CEO,
is leveraging DependableIT’s roots into several
new product and service categories. The
Burlington-based company has become one of Southern
Ontario’s largest outsource service providers of
Technology Help Desk solutions. Its work with Rogers
and Cogeco has grown into providing online technical
support for businesses and homeowners. And, it has
also launched a Managed Services division, which
offers complete monitoring and pro-active repair of
computers, networks and peripherals.
Jepson’s vision for growth is
working. Since he assumed the helm in 2003, annual
sales at Dependable IT have increased steadily,
helping boost overall company revenue to a projected
$35 million for 2007. Factoring in the company’s
success formula is an expansive fleet of service
vehicles, a leading edge technical call centre,
knowledgeable and friendly staff, and superior
technology for remote monitoring and pro-active
maintenance of computers, networks, peripherals and
devices.
The majority of the workforce
growth is related to professional staff expansions
in the Technical Help Desk workforce division, where
highly-trained staff support the software and
hardware needs of consumers and businesses.
Executives say it takes six weeks
plus to fill IT positions
TORONTO — For information technology
(IT) departments already stretched thin, six weeks
may be too long to wait for reinforcements.
But according to a recent survey
of chief information officers (CIOs), that’s how
much time it can take to hire a new IT employee.
CIOs polled said it takes an average of 48 days to
fill a staff-level position and 74 days to bring a
new manager on board.
The poll includes responses from
more than 270 CIOs from a stratified random sample
of Canadian companies with 100 or more employees. It
was conducted by an independent research firm and
developed by Robert Half Technology, a leading
provider of information technology professionals on
a project and full-time basis.
CIOs were asked, “How long does
it take, on average, to fill a full-time staff-level
position within your IT department?” The mean
response was 48 days.
Executives also were asked,
“How long does it take, on average, to fill a
full-time manager-level position within your IT
department?” The mean response was 74 days.
“Hiring managers often are
caught in a catch-22: short-staffed but unable to
dedicate the necessary time to recruit and evaluate
candidates due to extra duties they’ve had to
assume,” said Katherine Spencer Lee, executive
director of Robert Half Technology. “Employers
must balance the need to expedite the hiring process
with the equally pressing need to ensure a new
employee is right for the job.”
Lee cautioned that while hiring
carefully is crucial, taking too long to make a
decision has its own pitfalls. “Today’s top
professionals—even those currently employed -
often receive multiple offers to consider, and
organizations that don’t act quickly risk losing
these candidates to other opportunities.
Overburdening staff for extended periods of time
also can lead to burnout and increased turnover.”
jobsBurlington.ca offers online
job opportunities for employers
BURLINGTON — jobsBurlington.ca is an
on-line jobsite tool featuring local job
opportunities developed exclusively for Burlington
employers by the Burlington Economic Development
Corporation (BEDC). This employment tool offers
employers the ability to post jobs and has been
designed to attract skilled candidates. Employers
and job seekers are connected through an advanced
database search of resumes. The BEDC is pleased to
provide local employers with the site that will
profile the latest job opportunities from some of
Burlington’s top employers.
Through jobsBurlington.ca,
employers and job seekers are connected through a
searchable resume database. This cost effective
job-posting tool is affordable to any company
regardless of size, and free to all job seekers. For
more information visit www.jobsBurlington.ca.
This site, being launched March
23, 2007, will be managed by BEDC and will offer the
following to local companies and prospective
employees:
• List job opportunities
with local employers
• Allows exclusive
investors of BEDC to post jobs and search for
qualified candidates
• Allows prospective
employees to post their resume online
• Provides useful
snapshots of employers in the Burlington community
• Direct linkages to
Educational Partners
The jobsBurlington.ca JOB FAIR
will be held March 23, 2007 at the Burlington
Holiday Inn & Conference Centre, 3063 South
Service Road from 1:30 pm – 6:00 pm. The event is
free to attend. For information on purchasing a Job
Fair booth email bedc@burlington.ca
or visit www.jobsBurlington.ca.
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