The Cloud - battle of the Titans

Read this article in Bloomberg.  A long article, it looks at some of the strategic and structural issues of moving to the Cloud.  I like the analogy at the end - computing is like electricity generation.  Most companies now have their computing power in-house but soon they will realise that it's better to get one of the big suppliers to do it so them - it gives more capacity and ultimately, is cheaper and more reliable.  Includes brief mentions of data security concerns.

First impressions of Microsoft Office 365

See my main blog for this post.

The no nonsense business case for cloud accounting AccMan

Read this interesting article about Cloud Accounting - strategic in nature and looking at possible future of big players including Microsoft.

The no nonsense business case for cloud accounting AccMan

Skills for getting a job

A CIMA hosted event run by Robert Walters and Kimberley Clark

Key points:

• CV should emphasis achievements not just responsibilities
• COGS analysis is experience that people often have but frequently omit from CVs
• CV should state that driving licence is held
• Consider adding totallyfinancial.com to watchlist
• Business Partner is latest financial buzzword. Incorporate this into CV
• "Create value and manage risk" is part of Kimberly-Clark's mission statement, but seems like a good phrase for adding into a CV
• Market for part quals and newly qualifieds is quite active.

Notes about Robert Walters:

• Worldwide coverage but office for Guildford office covers an enormous patch covering the whole of the south of England from Reading downwards
• Their main focus is blue-chip companies although they also cover SMEs when they can
• Ben Davies is their man covering interim work

Notes about Kimberly Clark

• Wherever possible they recruit from within
• Where this is not possible, they highly value referrals from employees
• When they have to recruit from outside, they prefer people with a big company background and specifically try and avoid people with SME background because of their concerns that people will have problems with cultural adaptation
• KC has a long recruitment process with many different levels. This includes telephone screening by an HR person as an initial check that the boxes are ticked (rate ambition etc). This is followed by a telephone interview by a line manager. Success at this stage leads to a first formal interview with normally two line managers. A second interview is usually with two further line managers.

1.5 hours CPD