Out-Source The Right Thing!
By Bob Boyles, President, Smarter Distribution

Have you ever noticed that popular management theory displays a herd mentality? Today it seems that everyone is talking about out-sourcing and the drastic effect on manufacturing companies here in the United States and the ripple effect it's having on those companies that support them and supply the shrinking manufacturing base. Yesterday is was the internet and the effect it was having going to have on re-shaping the economy. Before that we were absorbed with quality, etc, etc.

From my experience in the field out-sourcing is having a serious effect on the profitability of wholesale distributors. But the question I want to ask you is, "Is there a way that wholesale distributors can actually benefit from letting someone else do part of their work for them?" The answer is a growing yes. The surprising part of that answer is that the activities that you should be letting someone else handle are really different than what you first believe. Two areas where I have seen small companies prosper in letting someone handle some chores are in controlling spam email and backing up their business systems. These are two mundane tasks but critical none the less.

Email & SPAM
The volume of spam that is clogging our in-boxes like Bill Clinton's arteries after a "Big Mac Attack" is amazing. Current statistics indicate that 60% of the email you'll get are SPAM, of that 60% currently 10% are viruses. That means that one in every ten emails you receive daily is infested with some type of virus. The current number one virus is "netsky.p". If your computer system is unprotected it won’t be for very long. The time it takes for a computer virus to spread around the world has dropped to under 10 minutes.

Fortunately, help is on the way. Newer and more effective spam filtering systems are gradually being adopted my most MIS Managers. One the most successful spam filters that I've run across is from http://www.appriver.com. This solution is not only effective but it is also affordable. Appriver is a managed service provider, when you sign up for their service your email goes through their servers where it's filtered and then is forwarded to your in-house email server and then eventually to your in-box. This can eliminate up to 90% of unwanted spam and virus infected emails.

What about "false positives"? Being a consultant that generates an electronic email newsletter I can tell you that the number of systems that are incorrectly rejecting emails is increasing dramatically. This is having a chilling effect on the legitimate e-mail newsletter business. But with all of the available remote email filtering you have the opportunity to review the filter email and let in those emails that were filtered in error. The systems are smart enough to learn you preferences and let in future emails from your false positive list.

None of the customers that I have worked with and begun using these remote email screeners has regretted the decision and all are happy users to day. Not actively protecting yourself against spam is like having un-protected sex with the singer "Madonna". Too many people have been down that road for you to take that chance.

Remote Data Storage
Backing up the system is one of those chores that is deadly boring but deadly serious. Yes, I know you bought new hardware with raid level something or another on the hard drives but these systems can still give you headaches. So the need for backing up the system has not gone away. Today, the new trend is for you to download your data files at night to an off-site server rather than create data tapes. Services like IBackup, EVault and XDrive all offer the ability to backup your data to their servers. The costs are minimal. A sample would be 5 gigabytes for $99 per month.

Using these services can eliminate the hassle of handling a tape every day and the incumbent problems that come with that task.

Summary
These are just a sample of two of the new and innovative ways that MIS Managers are tackling their tasks these days so that we can all sleep a little easier at night and be a little more profitable during the day.

About Bob Boyles and Smarter Distribution:
Bob Boyles is the principal of Smarter Distribution in Coppell, Texas, a strategic coaching business focusing on assisting distributors in using technology. He is also the author of "Succeeding With Distribution Technology" a practical how-to guide for selecting and implementing the right technology. You may reach him at (972) 304-1180, via e-mail at bob@smarterdistribution.com or on the Web at www.smarterdistribution.com

© Copyright 2003, Robert S. Boyles Jr. All rights reserved. This article cannot be reprinted or reproduced in whole or in part, without the express written permission of Robert S. Boyles Jr.