Help Needed for a new LinkedIn (LI) poll
Imagine if you are given a chance to use a new anti-virus software for your business network? And, to make the deal 'sweeter', the software is free. Would you be willing to drop your existing anti-virus software and switch over to this free alternative?
Share your vote and opinions on this LinkedIn online poll @ http://polls.linkedin.com/poll-results/80778/ntjht
Do note that you will need to login as a LinkedIn user in order to participate in this poll. Your feedback will help in my research for an upcoming blog article in the near future.
Have a GREAT week ahead. Cheers.
Johnny Ang
JANG Consultancy Services
Email: info@jangworld.com
http://www.jangworld.com/
Why you need a firewall? – Part 2
I'd recently blogged about the need for setting up a firewall for your business network (be it a SOHO or commercial office setup). I had came across a short video on YouTube that provides a short introduction to the firewall.
Actually, there's no shortage of reliable and cost-effective firewall products on the market. You just need to pick and choose one that really suits your needs. Of course, it get easier when you have some professional help and sound technical advice. 
Cheers.
Johnny Ang
JANG Consultancy Services
Email: info@jangworld.com
http://www.jangworld.com/
Why you need a firewall? – Part 1
"What's that thing you called a firewall?"
That's a very common question I'd got when casual conversations takes a detour when the other parties realized that I'd been working in IT for quite some time.
Well, actually I'm not referring to Harrison Ford's 2006 thriller with the same name/ title. I'm referring to the 'invisible' device, working behind the scenes, to help secure your network, and to some certain extent, your business' viability.
So, what's a firewall then?
Taking a leaf from Wikipedia, it's a device which exists to "...block unauthorized access while permitting authorized communications. It is a device or set of devices configured to permit, deny, encrypt, decrypt, or proxy all (in and out) computer traffic between different security domains based upon a set of rules and other criteria...." [1] In other words, it acts as the all-important security guard keeping tabs who's coming in and out of your office's network.
More importantly, the task of this 'guy' is to ensure that unsavory 'personnel' are kept out out of that proverbial door and 'they' shouldn't be allowed in at all, in the first place.
Here's an illustration on how a firewall works.
Wikipeda Illustration of how a Firewall works
A firewall can be either a hardware device on its own, or comes in a form of a software to be installed on your computers & servers. And it can even be integrated in the wireless router gateway you've bought for your home-based office, from your favourite IT shop.
And often, the next question that popped along is "Why do I need a firewall in the first place?"
Well, folks, do stay tuned for more updates soon.
Cheers.
Johnny Ang
JANG Consultancy Services
Email: info@jangworld.com
http://www.jangworld.com/
References:
1. Wikipedia's Article on Firewall
The Marketing Mix – Part 2
Following up on my recent post on the Marketing Mix, I had managed to locate some examples of online videos that will introduce the basic concepts of the Marketing Mix.
Fundamental Marketing Terms & Concepts (part 1)
Fundamental Marketing Terms & Concepts (part 2)
Happy viewing. Cheers.
Johnny Ang
JANG Consultancy Services
Email: info@jangworld.com
http://www.jangworld.com/
The Marketing Mix – Part 1
The term 'marketing mix' was first used in 1953 when Neil Borden, in his American Marketing Association presidential address, took the recipe idea one step further and coined the term "marketing-mix". A prominent marketer, E. Jerome McCarthy, proposed a 4 P classification in 1960, which has seen wide use. [1]
Here's a brief explanation of the 4'P's that make up the marketing mix:
| The 4’P’s | Explanation |
| Product | A tangible product or an intangible service that is mass produced or manufactured on a large scale with a specific volume of units. Intangible products are service-based, e.g. the tourism industry & the hotel industry or codes-based products like mobile-phone load and credits. Typical examples of a mass produced tangible products are the motor car and the disposable razor. A less obvious but ubiquitous mass produced service is a computer operating system. |
| Price | The amount a customer pays for the product, determined by a number of factors including market share, competition, material costs, product identity and the customer's perceived value of the product. The business may increase or decrease the price of product if other stores have the same product. |
| Place | The location where a product can be purchased. It is often referred to as the distribution channel. It can include any physical store as well as virtual stores on the Internet. |
| Promotion | All of the communications that a marketer may use in the marketplace. Promotion has four distinct elements - advertising, public relations, word of mouth and point of sale. A certain amount of crossover occurs when promotion uses the four principal elements together, which is common in film promotion. Advertising covers any communication that is paid for, from cinema commercials, radio and Internet adverts through print media and billboards. Public relations are where the communication is not directly paid for and includes press releases, sponsorship deals, exhibitions, conferences, seminars or trade fairs and events. Word of mouth is any apparently informal communication about the product by ordinary individuals, satisfied customers or people specifically engaged to create word of mouth momentum. Sales staff often plays an important role in word of mouth and Public Relations (see Product above). |
I'll share with you soon how a PC manufacturer can use the above 4'P's to market their products to the typical consumer (part of my Capstone Project's research efforts).
Cheers.
Johnny Ang
JANG Consultancy Services
Email: info@jangworld.com
http://www.jangworld.com/
Reference(s):
1. Wikipedia article on "Marketing Mix"
Looking back at the memory lane
I was checking up the online media hype over the new tablet device that Apple was supposed to announce this week, when I stumbled an online article by David LaGesse on US News Online (first published on 26th Jan 2010).
While I reserve my comments on the writer's 5 top reasons for a potential major marketing failure by Apple for the time being, I was more concerned about an online article he had mentioned, the Top 10 Tech Flops of the Decade.
Make me chuckle at some of the so-called "coolest' devices when they were introduced to the world. Jokes aside, it reminded me of some of my prospective clients falling head over heels in chasing the latest tech gimzos they either hear or read online, just for the sake of showing the latest and "coolest" devices to those around them. Never mind if these devices did not deliver all the "bells & whistles" needed to solve their real business' IT problems.
For the time being, I think I'll stick with my current phone. It's not as sexy as the latest devices but it sure get the job done for me: keeping tabs with all my contacts.
Happy surfing. Cheers.
Johnny Ang
JANG Consultancy Services
Email: info@jangworld.com
http://www.jangworld.com/
Common Sense in IT Security (Watch out for your password)
The New York Times had just published an insightful web article on password security and,... on the importance of using common sense in choosing your password.
Ashlee Vance, the author of the above article first published on 22 Jan 2010, reported that, 1 in 5 web-users still decides to leave the digital equivalent of a key under the doormat: some common examples include "abc123," "iloveyou" or even "password" to protect their data.
As I had always emphasized in my client discussions, it is pointless to spend time setting up the most sophisticated e-commence system that money can buy, only to have "password" configured as the admin password. It is like having an imposing-looking steel gate for your house, only to have the key dangling from the keyhole.
Hope you have found this blog post useful. Remember common sense is a valuable ally in securing your business' IT security.
Have a great weekend ahead. Cheers.
Johnny Ang
JANG Consultancy Services
Email: info@jangworld.com
http://www.jangworld.com/
An IT tip for the day – Microsoft Word
Hi everyone,
As part of my New Year resolutions, I'll be posting useful IT tips on my blog on a regular basis.
To start the ball rolling, here's the IT tip for today. Imagine you are preparing a detailed report for your management in Microsoft Word. The report contains multiple charts and tables which you have to include references throughout the document. Now you are done with the first draft, how do you ensure that all the references are updated accordingly?
Here's a quick & easy 3-step process:
- Select a point in your document. Press <Ctrl> + <A> to select the whole document.
- Press the function key <F9>.
- Follow the on-screen prompts by Microsoft Word if there's any.
There you go. Hope you will find this useful for your reference. Cheers.
Johnny Ang
JANG Consultancy Services
Email: info@jangworld.com
http://www.jangworld.com/
Statistics settings used for my Capstone Project’s Web-survey
Hi everyone,
As requested by some of you, I am pleased to share the following statistics settings with all of you:
| Term | Value | Description |
| Confidence Level: | 95% | A percentage or decimal value that tells how confident a researcher can be about being correct. It states the long-run percentage of the time that a confidence interval will include the true population mean (Zikmund, Zikmund-Statistics, 2003). |
| Confidence Interval Estimate: | 9.7 | A specified range of numbers within which a population mean is expected to lie; the set of acceptable hypotheses or the level of probability associated with an interval estimate (Zikmund, Zikmund-Statistics, 2003). |
| Population: | 4,700 | A complete group of entities sharing some common set of characteristics. For this study, the direct LinkedIn connections serves as the population and share some common characteristics, e.g. age-group, industry, professions(Zikmund, Zikmund-Statistics, 2003). |
| Sample Size needed: | 100 | The number of observations or cases specified by (1) the estimated variance of the population, (2) the magnitude of acceptable error, and (3) the confidence level (Zikmund, Zikmund-Statistics, 2003). |
Do let contact me via email if you are interested in finding out more on my Capstone Project's Management Consultancy Report (MCR).
Cheers.
Johnny Ang
JANG Consultancy Services
Email: info@jangworld.com
http://www.jangworld.com/
References:
- Zikmund, W. G. (2003). Determination of Sample Size: A Review of Statistical Theory. In W. G. Zikmund, & J. Calhoun (Ed.), Business Research Methods, 7th Edition (pp. 419-430). Mason, O, USA: South-Western Cengage Learning.
- Zikmund, W. G. (2003). Sample Designs and Sampling Procedures. In W. G. Zikmund, & J. Calhoun (Ed.), Business Research Methods, 7th Edition (p. 369). Mason, Ohio, USA: South-Western Cengage Learning.
Update on my Capstone Project Web-Survey: Consumers’ feedback
Hi everyone,
Previously, I'd blogged about my Capstone Project's Web-Survey..
After analysing the data gather, I'm pleased to share my summary update with all of you.
Many thanks to my fellow LinkedIn contacts for helping out in the web-survey. Your feedback is valuable in providing me with a refreshing perspective from a consumer's point of view.
Have a GREAT start to a new week. Cheers.
Johnny Ang
JANG Consultancy Services
Email: info@jangworld.com
http://www.jangworld.com/
