In 2001 Australian insurance company HIH folded leaving thousands of customers stranded and wondering what had happened to millions of dollars paid into insurance funds over the years. Families were left without insurance and although customers survived and moved on and took up new insurance, it shattered the perception that insurance companies were solid foundations that people could trust.

Perhaps this is why when I hear some managed IT service providers refer to their IT agreements as IT insurance, I cringe a little.. After all, insurance is a product designed to help you (the customer) after a disaster – insurance is the insurer betting against forces of nature and the likelihood you’ll encounter a crime against you or your property at some stage. Insurers for the most part, doesn’t offer any prevention strategies. [...]

Microsoft, Your Potential, Our Passion? That’s an inspiring brand message but after spending the past few days at Microsoft APC 2010, Microsofts big shindig for Australian Partners I wasn’t left feeling so sure.

Today I am inspired to write about passion.

During the 3 day conference codenamed “Infinite Possibilities” delegates are invited to attend a series of breakout sessions to help us grow our businesses or so one might hope.

Perhaps it was the session labelled “Building Global Channels – Ten steps to world domination” where the presenter pulled up a slide with a picture of a sleeping dog [...]

They say if you’re travelling anywhere by plane there are some things you should be doing to keep yourself as comfortable as possible and prevent jetlag.

Some of those things include drinking lots of water because the high altitude dries you out leaving you feeling run down. They say you should eat light meals and snacks regularly and if possible, eat less airline food because the high salt coupled with low cabin pressure makes your intestines become swollen. They say to avoid alcohol because of the dehydration and to stretch regularly to prevent muscle tightness. You can also suck or chew on Vitamin C and Zinc tablets since your dry mucous membranes are much more susceptible to bugs when you are in the air.

Now you might ask me what on earth does this have to do with IT support? [...]