Twitter update logos, rules: the "T" logo information use, screen and Capital Tweets screenshots

Today on the Twitter blog, the company has written an post that was all three phrases showcase their new logos. Yay!

But there are actually quite a bit more it then it appears.

If you follow the link they provide in the lines guidelines page, you will find a few tidbits intéressantes.Parmi them:

No: "use any other than the most recent versions of logos Twitter." No: "use profiles screenshots or Tweets other people without their permission."

Both are interesting because both are broken all the time. In addition, good first not enough account yet because Twitter has just officially launched their new logos. But hundreds, even thousands of websites have been using old or false Twitter logos to represent the company for a long time.

The last rule is certainly more troublesome.Tweets are known to be public elements, but Twitter says that you cannot use screenshots of them without permission.We have to do this all the time.Is true of almost all other publication.Nous have never been said is bad, it seems reek of fair use, but now Twitter is saying, it is a perceived (Update below for Twitter).

A few months ago Twitter has tried to reach their own solution to this with their own tweet Blackbird Pie incorporate the tool it is interesting that in their position on it, they never said that this tweets entry screen was done erroné.En, they note "above all, we think simply that it is a pain do screen extract tweets." Note what they call a "pain", not "bad".

Twitter said it's fine to use other tweets that you are authorized to utiliser.Mais isn't even once, not it already public?

Also interesting: 

: Make sure that if the reference to "Tweet", include you a direct reference to Twitter (for example, "Tweet with Twitter") or display Twitter marks with the reference to "Tweet."

This seems to be all about Twitter wins the mark for the word "tweet", which they attempted unsuccessfully to do so. They note also later, "Please remember take advantage of T to Twitter and Tweet!" As a commentator, notes, it's funny that they would even operate it in their own logo!

Last updated: agreement, we clarified some things with Twitter.

Their spokesperson concerning the new logos:

The purpose of the update was to provide access to our new resources and to better define guidelines.

We encourage people to use the new brands.It is perfect for them to continue using the old, but we hope people will use the new.We said it before, that this is not the first time our brands have changed.

And as regards the screenshots:

This is not a new part of the policy and stated in the guidelines before.It is used primarily to protect users from being used as references in their insu.Tweets publiques.Mais if you intend to use in static form tweets tweets public (for example, in a publication), you must have the permission of the author/user.For example, if someone famous tweet to love something, then it has been used on a billboard.

This does not apply to broadcast - there are display policy to this sujet.Nos guidelines will also attempt to monitor the appropriate use of tweets in reporting.

It is a bit confusing (and I asked for clarity), but it seems as is they to apply the rule to persons (including journalists) take screenshots of tweets .c ' is for advertisers trying to use tweets as entries without permission.

Update 2: more clarity of Twitter:

News, whether on-line or printed, it is correct to use screenshots of Tweets .the ' permission applies more goods, billboards, etc.Rights of users are essential.

In other words, bloggers rangement.Qui screenshot is good, but basically, they say just what they will do the rules b.c ' is still a little worrying for the future .they could apply anytime, why do not just make clearer rules specific? this reeks of the legal department covering the asses here just in case they have to abandon a hammer.

As regards the capital "T" tweet:

We consider content sense on Twitter, rather than a word générique.Avec Tweet it, should be capitalized when it comes to a nom.Ce is not new, and it is not something that we apply.

Yet again, which seems to be all about copyright - and especially when it is used in publications.

View the original article here

My personal information and computer repair shop security identity?

What you are about to read can you alarm. If you take the repair your computer, your privacy is at risk of having the wrong hands, and you can become a victim of identity theft!

Most people do not think that this topic and some are granted, but really how safe is your personal information when you use your computer for repair.

Hello, my name is the own my own professional computer repair bill Arnoldi.Je and have more than 18 years experience in the management of t. I...

It is a question to me my consumer and client businesses over the years.

Not every repair technology or company comply with ethical in the boating industry practices only step around computer client.Il exists steps, you can take to reduce your exposure to your personal information and confidential data compromised, but in General, there is always risk.

Here are a few tips on reducing the chance that your personal information and personal identity stored on your computer get unscrupulous hands.

There are two key elements to consider when addressing procedures to improve the security of your personal information when you place your computer in the hands of a computer repair technician or service provider.

The first component is limiting the amount of personal information that you are in possession of a computer, service provider when you give your computer for the repair.You make for one or two of these procedures.

Give their first lieu.Si, you can keep your hard drive, take your computer and ask to use another player on their own to carry out the technician service réparation.Cet really only works when the problem is not on your hard disk, such as corruption data, the possibility of failure or infection by viruses, malware or spyware.

If your computer starts once more and you can access your programs, disable all your usernames and passwords for all your programs, e-mail and web browsers.Move all your personal data to an external backup as a flash or drive.Then hard drive device files, you can use a utility to wipe firmly all information removed from your hard disk to make sure that it cannot be recovered.Remember you that, simply by removing the information once does not really removes the data, you need special software to make the data completely unrecoverable.

If the deletion of your hard disk is not an option, try connecting to another computer to temporarily remove your data to another drive while your computer is in repair.Also do not forget to remove any temporary files that may contain personal information, such as the web browser and other locations in the temporary file cache.

If none of these procedures are convenient for you, you must establish trust in your service provider.

The second component to ensure your personal information is safe with your individual computer repair is to determine their integrity and establish the level of confidence and comfort with them.

Here are a few ways to make feel you comfortable with your computer service provider.

Find out how long they repair computer detail mieux.En theory, if they are dishonest and lacked integrity, they would probably not be providing services.

What have they been responsible in the past? will they experience the service of companies, then they probably have a good record of client data protection monitoring because companies require the security of their data until they let someone perform repairs on their systems.

What are the procedures have been put in place to prevent flight data or their business espionage? is not necessarily applicable to each technician where they are the only person doing computer services, but is no longer applicable to multiple techniciens.Ils companies should have policies and measures in place to limit the ability of a person absconding with truth client.en data, these protections are not 100% effective, but they can be used dissuasion.En ultimately means in my opinion, the only truly safe method would probably get undressed research each technology before leaving the lieux.Qui is not the case, there is little risk regardless of protection in place.

Obtaining evidence and Internet.Voir références.Google if there are complaints about their personal recommendations manutention.Obtenir friends or consult a technician that someone else has successfully used references.

The sum of all this is that you need to do enough research or surveys facilitate you your computer with your personal information on it for them.

Using these practices is not infaillible.Je may not emphasize enough how bulletproof only to verify your identity and personal information is not compromised exception is to ensure that computer repair company does step access first reality lieu.La that in most cases, it is simply not practical or possible, especially when the correction of problems on the hard disk to restore functionality is what is needed.

Finally, remember that the majority of repair and computer service providers is usually on the top - and - until his some sour grapes in the bunch, but the rest of them are quite good.

Bill Arnoldi owns the computer simulation of Tucson Tech repair and Core Business Strategies Internet Marketing, a former leader of the computer with more than 18 years of experience in the design of systems, networking and marketing Internet, including the WSO SEO, SEM.

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See original article here

See original article here

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LinkedIn strengthens its Board of Directors of certain information

If I were a man IRAP, I would wager on LinkedIn goes public sometime in 2011. But I am not, so I will just share with you that the social network service provider has been considerably strengthened its Board of Directors this year.

Species: this morning, LinkedIn has announced the appointment of his seventh member of the Board, Stan Meresman.Nous'll pardon if this name is ringing the bells with you immediately, but suffice it to say that he is a man with plenty of experience serving on the Board of Directors of and advising public companies in his belt.

In addition to LinkedIn, Meresman is a member of the riverbed, Meru Networks and HyTrust.Auparavant Board, Meresman has been on the Board of Directors of Polycom, VMware software sea stars and Lightsurf, as well as an advisor to Silicon Image, Inktomi and Real Networks.

Meresman also have management experience, who was Senior Vice-President and Director financial Silicon Graphics from 1989 to 1997 before moving his attention to invest.

LinkedIn in a statement, said that he has decided to expand its Board of Directors for the third time this year membership and operations continue to evolve globally - it boasts 80 million members around the world — and as a means "to position themselves to long-term growth.

And prepare a public offer for the next 12 months, I bet.

Last may, LinkedIn added Netflix com Leslie Kilgore to its Board of Directors, and a month later he expanded again with the appointment of former CEO of Ask.com George "Skip" Battle.

Meresman marks the third outsider to join the Board of Directors candidate IP offices in a few months.

The other four are founder and former CEO Reid Hoffman, current CEO Jeff Weiner, David Sze of Greylock and Marc Kvamme of Sequoia.

View the original article here

FTC end Street View Feud with Google after winning concessions for the protection of personal information

After a lot of noise, Google and the Federal Trade Commission embraced and composed. This, just a few days after Google has admitted having "accidentally" data collection private popular with its Street View car. Google had promised, in so many words, that it does would never that (to collect private data popular) once again promise satisfied with the FTC. And scene.

«Read the rest of this entry ".

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Is my personal information and the computer repair shop security identity?

What you are about to read may you alarm. If you take your computer repair, your privacy is at risk of having bad hands, and you can become a victim of identity theft!

Most people do not think that this topic and some are granted, but really how safe are your personal information when you use your computer for repair.

Hello, my name is Bill Arnoldi.Je own my own business Repair computer and have more than 18 years experience in the management of t. i...

It is a question posed to me by my consumers and client companies over the years.

Not every computer tech repair or the company comply with ethical practices in the industry for browsing only step autour on the client computer. There are steps you can take to reduce your exposure to your personal information and confidential data compromised, but in General, there is always risk.

Here are some tips on reducing the chance that your personal information and personal identity stored on your computer will get hands without scruples.

There are two key elements to consider when addressing procedures to enhance the security of your personal information when you place your computer in the hands of a computer repair technician or service provider.

The first component is limiting the amount of personal information that you put in possession of computer service provider when you give your computer for repair.You can to do so by using one or two of these procedures.

Give it their first lieu.Si you can keep your hard drive, take your computer and ask to use another player on their own to carry out the réparation.Cet service technician really only works when the problem is not with your hard disk, as in the corruption of data, possibility of a failure or infection by viruses, malware or spyware.

If your computer starts up again and you can access your programs, disable all your user names and passwords for all your programs, Messenger and web browsers.Move all your files of personal data to a device external backup as a flash drive or hard drive.Then you can use a utility to wipe firmly all information removed from your hard disk to make sure that it cannot be recovered. remember you that, just by removing the information once not really removes the data, you need special software to do completely unrecoverable data.

If removing your disk hard is not an option, try connecting it to another computer to delete your personal data to another drive temporarily while your computer is in repair.Also be sure to delete all temporary files which may contain personal information, such as the web browser and other locations in temporary file cache.

If none of these procedures are convenient for you, you must establish trust and confidence in your service provider.

The second component to ensure your personal information is safe with your individual computer repair is determine their integrity and establish the level of confidence and comfort with them.

Here are a few ways to make feel you comfortable with your computer service provider.

Discover how long they are repairing computer .more mieux.En theory, if they are dishonest and lacked integrity, they would probably not be providing services.

What have they been responsible in the past? if they have the experience of large business service, then they probably a good record track for data protection client because corporations demand security of their data before they let someone perform repairs on their systems.

What are the procedures were put in place to prevent the flight data or their business espionage? it is not necessarily applicable to individual technician where they are the only person doing computer services, but is no longer applicable to companies with multiple techniciens.Ils should have policies and measures in place to limit the ability to someone running away with the truth client.en data, these protections are not 100% effective, but they can be used dissuasion.En ultimately means in my opinion, the only truly safe method would probably get undressed research each technology before leaving the lieux.Qui is not the case, there is little risk regardless of protection in place.

Obtaining evidence and références.Google on Internet.Voir if there are complaints about their personal information of the manutention.Obtenir recommendations from friends or consult a technician that someone else has successfully used references.

The sum of all this is that you need to do enough research or surveys that you ease back your computer with your personal information on it for them.

Using these practices is not infaillible.Je can not stress enough how to bulletproof only to verify your identity and personal information is not compromised exception is to ensure that computer repair company did not access first lieu.La reality is that in most cases, it is simply not practical or possible, especially when the correction of problems on the hard disk to restore functionality is what is needed.

Finally, remember that the majority of repair and computer service providers is generally on the top - and - up it's some sour grapes in the bunch, but the rest of them are quite good.

Bill Arnoldi owns simulation Tech Tucson Computer repair and Core Business Strategies Internet Marketing, a former leader of the computer with more than 18 years of experience in the design of systems, networking and marketing Internet, including the WSO SEO, SEM.

See original article here

See original article here

View the original article here

Is My Personal Information and Identity Safe at the Computer Repair Shop?

What you are about to read may alarm you. If you take your computer in for repair, your personal information is at risk of getting into the wrong hands and you can become a victim of identity theft!

Most people don't think about it, and some take it for granted, but really how safe is your personal information when you take your computer in for repair.

Hi, my name is Bill Arnoldi. I own my own computer repair company and have over 18 years of experience in I. T. management.

This is a question posed to me by both my consumer and corporate customers over the years.

Not every computer repair tech or company adhere to the industry ethical practices of not snooping around on a client's computer. There are some steps that you can take to minimize your exposure to your personal information and confidential data being compromised, but in general, there is always some risk.

Here are some tips on reducing the chance that your personal information and personal identity stored on your computer will get into unscrupulous hands.

There are really two major components to consider when addressing procedures to increase the security of your personal information when you place your computer in the hands of a computer repair technician or service provider.

The first component is limiting the amount of personal information that you place in computer service provider's possession when you give them your computer to repair. You can do this by utilizing one or both of these procedures.

Don't give it to them in the first place. If you can keep your hard drive, take it out of your computer and ask the service technician to use another drive of their own to perform the repair. This really only works when the problem is NOT with your hard drive, such as in data corruption, possible failure, or infection by virus, malware or spyware.

If your computer still boots and you can access your programs, clear all your usernames and passwords from all your programs, messengers, and web browsers. Move all your personal data files to an external backup device like a flash drive or hard drive. Then you can use a utility to securely wipe all the deleted information from your hard drive to make sure it cannot be recovered. Remember, just deleting the information once does not really delete the data, you need special software to completely make the data unrecoverable.

If taking your hard drive out is not an option, try hooking it up to another computer to remove your personal data to another drive temporarily while your computer is in for repair. Also make sure to delete all the temporary files that may contain your personal information, such as the web browser cache, and other temporary file locations.

If none of these procedures are practical for you, then you have to establish confidence and trust in your service provider.

The second component to ensuring your personal information is safe with your computer repair person is determining their integrity and establishing level of trust and comfort with them.

Here are some ways you can feel comfortable with your computer service provider.

Find out how long they have been doing computer repair. The longer the better. In theory, if they were dishonest and lacked integrity, they would probably not be providing services anymore.

What have they been responsible for in the past? If they have experience in providing service to large companies, then they probably have a good track record for protecting customer data because large corporations demand security for their data before they let a person perform repairs on their systems.

What procedures do they have in place to prevent data theft or snooping at their company? This does not necessarily apply to the individual technician where they are the only person performing the computer services, but is more applicable to companies with several techs. They should have policies and protections in place to limit the ability on someone absconding with a client's data. in truth, these protections are not 100% effective but they can serve as a deterrent. Ultimately, in my opinion the only real sure method would probably be to strip search every tech before they left the premises. That's not happening, so therein lies a bit of risk regardless of the protections in place.

Obtain testimonials and references. Google them on the Internet. See if there are any complaints about their handling personal information. Get recommendations from friends or seek referrals to a tech that someone else has used successfully.

The sum of all this is that you need to do enough research or inquiries until you feel comfortable handing over your computer with your personal information on it to them.

Utilizing these practices is not foolproof. I cannot stress enough that the only bullet-proof way to ensure your personal information and identity is not compromised except is to make sure the computer repair company does not have access to it in the first place. The reality is that in most cases, this is just not practical or possible, especially where correcting problems on the hard drive to restore functionality is what is required.

Finally, keep in mind that in general the majority of computer repair and service providers are on the up-and-up. There are a few sour grapes in the bunch, but the rest of them are pretty good.

Bill Arnoldi is the owner of Fireball Tech Tucson Computer Repair and Core Business Strategies Internet Marketing, an former IT executive with over 18 years of experience in system design, networking and Internet marketing including SEO, SEM, WSO.

View the original article here

View the original article here

Is My Personal Information and Identity Safe at the Computer Repair Shop?

What you are about to read may alarm you. If you take your computer in for repair, your personal information is at risk of getting into the wrong hands and you can become a victim of identity theft!

Most people don't think about it, and some take it for granted, but really how safe is your personal information when you take your computer in for repair.

Hi, my name is Bill Arnoldi. I own my own computer repair company and have over 18 years of experience in I. T. management.

This is a question posed to me by both my consumer and corporate customers over the years.

Not every computer repair tech or company adhere to the industry ethical practices of not snooping around on a client's computer. There are some steps that you can take to minimize your exposure to your personal information and confidential data being compromised, but in general, there is always some risk.

Here are some tips on reducing the chance that your personal information and personal identity stored on your computer will get into unscrupulous hands.

There are really two major components to consider when addressing procedures to increase the security of your personal information when you place your computer in the hands of a computer repair technician or service provider.

The first component is limiting the amount of personal information that you place in computer service provider's possession when you give them your computer to repair. You can do this by utilizing one or both of these procedures.

Don't give it to them in the first place. If you can keep your hard drive, take it out of your computer and ask the service technician to use another drive of their own to perform the repair. This really only works when the problem is NOT with your hard drive, such as in data corruption, possible failure, or infection by virus, malware or spyware.

If your computer still boots and you can access your programs, clear all your usernames and passwords from all your programs, messengers, and web browsers. Move all your personal data files to an external backup device like a flash drive or hard drive. Then you can use a utility to securely wipe all the deleted information from your hard drive to make sure it cannot be recovered. Remember, just deleting the information once does not really delete the data, you need special software to completely make the data unrecoverable.

If taking your hard drive out is not an option, try hooking it up to another computer to remove your personal data to another drive temporarily while your computer is in for repair. Also make sure to delete all the temporary files that may contain your personal information, such as the web browser cache, and other temporary file locations.

If none of these procedures are practical for you, then you have to establish confidence and trust in your service provider.

The second component to ensuring your personal information is safe with your computer repair person is determining their integrity and establishing level of trust and comfort with them.

Here are some ways you can feel comfortable with your computer service provider.

Find out how long they have been doing computer repair. The longer the better. In theory, if they were dishonest and lacked integrity, they would probably not be providing services anymore.

What have they been responsible for in the past? If they have experience in providing service to large companies, then they probably have a good track record for protecting customer data because large corporations demand security for their data before they let a person perform repairs on their systems.

What procedures do they have in place to prevent data theft or snooping at their company? This does not necessarily apply to the individual technician where they are the only person performing the computer services, but is more applicable to companies with several techs. They should have policies and protections in place to limit the ability on someone absconding with a client's data. in truth, these protections are not 100% effective but they can serve as a deterrent. Ultimately, in my opinion the only real sure method would probably be to strip search every tech before they left the premises. That's not happening, so therein lies a bit of risk regardless of the protections in place.

Obtain testimonials and references. Google them on the Internet. See if there are any complaints about their handling personal information. Get recommendations from friends or seek referrals to a tech that someone else has used successfully.

The sum of all this is that you need to do enough research or inquiries until you feel comfortable handing over your computer with your personal information on it to them.

Utilizing these practices is not foolproof. I cannot stress enough that the only bullet-proof way to ensure your personal information and identity is not compromised except is to make sure the computer repair company does not have access to it in the first place. The reality is that in most cases, this is just not practical or possible, especially where correcting problems on the hard drive to restore functionality is what is required.

Finally, keep in mind that in general the majority of computer repair and service providers are on the up-and-up. There are a few sour grapes in the bunch, but the rest of them are pretty good.

Bill Arnoldi is the owner of Fireball Tech Tucson Computer Repair and Core Business Strategies Internet Marketing, an former IT executive with over 18 years of experience in system design, networking and Internet marketing including SEO, SEM, WSO.

View the original article here

Is My Personal Information and Identity Safe at the Computer Repair Shop?

What you are about to read may alarm you. If you take your computer in for repair, your personal information is at risk of getting into the wrong hands and you can become a victim of identity theft!

Most people don't think about it, and some take it for granted, but really how safe is your personal information when you take your computer in for repair.

Hi, my name is Bill Arnoldi. I own my own computer repair company and have over 18 years of experience in I. T. management.

This is a question posed to me by both my consumer and corporate customers over the years.

Not every computer repair tech or company adhere to the industry ethical practices of not snooping around on a client's computer. There are some steps that you can take to minimize your exposure to your personal information and confidential data being compromised, but in general, there is always some risk.

Here are some tips on reducing the chance that your personal information and personal identity stored on your computer will get into unscrupulous hands.

There are really two major components to consider when addressing procedures to increase the security of your personal information when you place your computer in the hands of a computer repair technician or service provider.

The first component is limiting the amount of personal information that you place in computer service provider's possession when you give them your computer to repair. You can do this by utilizing one or both of these procedures.

Don't give it to them in the first place. If you can keep your hard drive, take it out of your computer and ask the service technician to use another drive of their own to perform the repair. This really only works when the problem is NOT with your hard drive, such as in data corruption, possible failure, or infection by virus, malware or spyware.

If your computer still boots and you can access your programs, clear all your usernames and passwords from all your programs, messengers, and web browsers. Move all your personal data files to an external backup device like a flash drive or hard drive. Then you can use a utility to securely wipe all the deleted information from your hard drive to make sure it cannot be recovered. Remember, just deleting the information once does not really delete the data, you need special software to completely make the data unrecoverable.

If taking your hard drive out is not an option, try hooking it up to another computer to remove your personal data to another drive temporarily while your computer is in for repair. Also make sure to delete all the temporary files that may contain your personal information, such as the web browser cache, and other temporary file locations.

If none of these procedures are practical for you, then you have to establish confidence and trust in your service provider.

The second component to ensuring your personal information is safe with your computer repair person is determining their integrity and establishing level of trust and comfort with them.

Here are some ways you can feel comfortable with your computer service provider.

Find out how long they have been doing computer repair. The longer the better. In theory, if they were dishonest and lacked integrity, they would probably not be providing services anymore.

What have they been responsible for in the past? If they have experience in providing service to large companies, then they probably have a good track record for protecting customer data because large corporations demand security for their data before they let a person perform repairs on their systems.

What procedures do they have in place to prevent data theft or snooping at their company? This does not necessarily apply to the individual technician where they are the only person performing the computer services, but is more applicable to companies with several techs. They should have policies and protections in place to limit the ability on someone absconding with a client's data. in truth, these protections are not 100% effective but they can serve as a deterrent. Ultimately, in my opinion the only real sure method would probably be to strip search every tech before they left the premises. That's not happening, so therein lies a bit of risk regardless of the protections in place.

Obtain testimonials and references. Google them on the Internet. See if there are any complaints about their handling personal information. Get recommendations from friends or seek referrals to a tech that someone else has used successfully.

The sum of all this is that you need to do enough research or inquiries until you feel comfortable handing over your computer with your personal information on it to them.

Utilizing these practices is not foolproof. I cannot stress enough that the only bullet-proof way to ensure your personal information and identity is not compromised except is to make sure the computer repair company does not have access to it in the first place. The reality is that in most cases, this is just not practical or possible, especially where correcting problems on the hard drive to restore functionality is what is required.

Finally, keep in mind that in general the majority of computer repair and service providers are on the up-and-up. There are a few sour grapes in the bunch, but the rest of them are pretty good.

Bill Arnoldi is the owner of Fireball Tech Tucson Computer Repair and Core Business Strategies Internet Marketing, an former IT executive with over 18 years of experience in system design, networking and Internet marketing including SEO, SEM, WSO.

Breaking the Growth Barriers in the Information Technology and Software Sector

There's nothing automatic about corporate growth, particularly in the information technology industry; build it and they will come is a myth. In the real world there is either a structured, process-driven growth cycle, or stagnation--and stagnation is automatic. Inherent to growth cycles are barriers, real-world business challenges that put some software companies out of business and spur others on to break through those barriers to higher levels of success. Overcoming those barriers is the very definition of growth; when you break through a barrier, you've achieved growth.

You're a software or information technology company, prosperous in 2005, which means that you have a good product, you've made some smart decisions and you've already broken through some growth barriers. You're successful. Now what?

Any company, regardless of age or size can experience barriers to growth: if you find it hard to develop and maintain market momentum; are tied to your entrepreneurial management style and unable to scale; have reached a level of revenue or income and stagnation is settling in; or if your revenue is generated from one product, service, client, or industry, then you're at the next growth barrier, you need to be able recognize it, and you need to prepare to cross it. This overview discusses the typical growth barriers that confront many IT and software companies, and how external consultants can be used effectively to break through those barriers.

Strategy Constrained

At this point your company or product is in the early stages of its evolution. You've landed a handful of key accounts, and you're encouraged by your early success. Now you need a plan, a strategy, a concrete agenda that will move your information technology company from being a collection of talented people with a common goal, to being a team with a common goal and a battle-tested strategy for achieving that goal.

This stage is characterized by:

o Perpetual realignment of company strategy

By delivering guidance on corporate strategy, a marketing strategy consultant may be able to help a company like yours to:

o Define untapped solution areas
o Make technological platform decisions
o Select appropriate geographic markets
o Write actionable business plans
Capital Constrained

You've taken your software company or product as far as you can on your savings. Or perhaps you've made a few key sales that have kept you afloat. In order to move your company on to the next phase of development you need an infusion of capital to hire skilled employees, make key acquisitions and fuel your growth. Technology is your specialty, not prospectus writing for venture capitalists.

This stage is characterized by:

o Inability to fund business strategies
o Decision-making based upon short-term cash-flow issues rather than long-term strategy

Through road-show ready business plan development and introduction to network of VCs and angel investors, a strategy consultant may be able to help a company like yours to:

o Author compelling investment prospectuses
o Define immediate and long-term financial requirements
o Execute successful finance road shows
Skills Constrained

Typically a company finds themselves at this stage of development with a great product built on sound technology aimed at a particular industry, and their first round of financing secured. They also find themselves with a weak or non-existent positioning statement, a reactive product management process, exhausted or ineffective sales skills, and a strictly opportunistic business development strategy. Company growth is limited in part by the notion that the product will sell itself because it is superior to any other on the market--indeed, it may be the only offering. Revenue growth is limited because the product is defined in terms of its functionality, not its value to the customer.

The offering, and by extension the company, is still being defined by technologists; it has yet to be married with a solid business development plan, marketing or sales acumen. More worrisome is that the very success of your company has brought you to the attention of major players who do have personnel and strategies dedicated to driving you out of the market; they view you as a threat. Your days of flying under the radar are over.

This stage is characterized by:

o An attractive market
o A compelling product
o Adequate financial resources
o An inability to develop market momentum

Through sales, marketing, product management and business development acumen, a sales and marketing strategy consultant may be able to help a company like yours to:

o Recruit and manage skilled personnel
o Craft compelling product and company positioning
o Create effective sales vehicles and sales strategy
o Recruit and manage appropriate and motivated alliance partners
Process Constrained

A company at this stage of development is typically successful, no longer a start-up, is being run by a management team, has been accepted in the market, and is competitive. However, fundamental product development and sales and marketing management processes have not yet been accepted within the foundation of the corporate culture. This means that the solution to most situations are human-based, usually hand-crafted by the management team; the foundation of proven processes is absent.

This stage is characterized by:

o Market acceptance
o Ability to compete with established players
o All actions are hand-crafted, typically by the senior management team

By introducing repeatable, best-of-breed processes for sales, marketing and product management, a sales and marketing strategy consultant may help a company like yours to:

o Introduce effective and repeatable product management, marketing and sales processes
o Reduce day-to-day reliance on senior management resources
Innovation Constrained

Organizations at this stage of development have achieved a great deal of success; processes are ingrained, product development is streamlined, and sales and marketing systems are in place. But by definition the market keeps shifting: your product is being eclipsed by younger companies with products that perhaps even capitalize on your R&D and experience; your market may be saturated to the point that the double-digit growth rates your investors have come to take for granted are a thing of the past. You need a new product or a new market or both.

This stage is characterized by:

o The management team no longer involved in all decisions
o Stagnation beginning to creep in with respect to products and markets

By introducing fresh thinking about new markets, products, and channels, a business strategy consultant may be able to help a company like yours to:

o Author innovative channel strategies
o Leverage existing products into new vertical and geographic markets
o Capture requirements for nascent product lines
o Embrace change as the source of competitive advantage

Ash Seha is a partner at The Launch Factory LLP, a consultancy specializing in marketing, sales, and product management strategy for software and IT companies. Their expertise, garnered from such IT highflyers as i2, webMethods, SAP, and Baan, is focused on breaking the growth bariers that stand between high-growth software and IT companies and their revenue and marketshare goals.