New online service offers free and impartial IT advice to start-ups and small businesses
Thursday, September 18th, 2008UK – 14th January, 2008 – A free service to help start-ups and small businesses increase their productivity and competitiveness through technology is now available to companies based in Yorkshire & Humber, the South East and the South West regions of England.
The Business IT Guide was developed by e-skills UK in collaboration with market leaders such as Oracle, EDS, IBM, Accenture, Cisco, Microsoft, HP, Smart421 and BT, and has been tested extensively with small businesses.
The Guide is a user friendly online tool that helps businesses access a wide range of high quality, independent advice to help them fully exploit technology. Advice includes:
- everything a new business needs to know – from complying with legislation to security;
- where to go for trusted information;
- how to properly introduce and manage technology;
- how to deal with the resource implications: cost, training, time; and
- how to plan for growth and changing needs.
There are five separate routes to advice and information via the Guide:
- a self help tool – designed to help those unsure of their ICT needs;
- facts – designed to encourage people to take action;
- hot tips – designed to have an immediate impact;
- The Guide library – with all 72 Business IT Guides listed; and
- search facilities.
Keri-Ann Davies, Business Adviser for the Welsh Assembly Government, said:
“In the past I have made use of the Business Link website and found the best practice IT advice very useful. The Business IT Guide seems to provide more advanced information than was previously available through Business Link, and also includes the built in search facilities and links. I found it extremely informative.”
“e-Learning can also greatly enhance a small businesses acquisition of skills and delivery of training”, said Sean Griffin, Co-Founder of Learn Skills, the web-based skills and compliance training company, “and it is for that reason that we are developing training programs tailored to the needs of both SMEs and new start-ups.”