
<(( In This Month's Issue! The new iPhone 3G: Toy or Business Tool? Ask Mike: Why do i get spammed so much? How can Software as a Service Help Businesses?	WELCOME to the new edition of the SpiderGroup Newsletter! From snazzy hand-held devices to the latest business solutions we want our knowledge, thoughts and reviews to help you recognise the best opportunities for your business in these turbulent times!
The new iPhone 3G: Toy or Business Tool? Dan Rowlands Head of Software email Dan As you probably know Apple recently released the latest version of their smart phone, the iPhone 3G. Having been one of the people who queued up early in the morning to receive their new shiny toy I have had one for over a month now and thought it was time I shared my experiences. I have been looking forward to owning an iPhone since it was first unveiled in January 2007 but refused to buy one until it supported 3G. Luckily a year later my wish came true and in general I'm very happy with it. I have always liked Apple for their simplicity of design and the attention to detail that goes into user interfaces, the iPhone is no exception, however I'm afraid to say that cracks are starting to appear in their reputation for quality... read on	<(( Director's Comment Dan Hancock Sales and Marketing Director I know from experience that one of the first things to go when money gets tight is the poor old marketing budget. Why? Well have you ever read a marketing proposal with a clearly stated return on investment? However difficult it is to quantify, cutting your marketing budget is not the answer, some of your competitors will see this as an opportunity and you should too! Those that don't, well there's your return. Instead look to invest more wisely, don't be afraid of the internet, look at search engine optimisation and e-marketing as cost-effective routes to market. Revisit your existing clients, treat them fairly and they'll help you - remember that they got you where you are today. Rather than cut your budget, review where it's going - take a hard look at existing campaigns - without constant revision they often go stale. <(( Announcements New Website We have just given our website a facelift to help support a new communication campaign that will drive sales across our entire range of services into 2009 - Take a peek and let us know what you think. iPhone 3G The new iPhone 3G works so well with spider office™ we've offered all our staff iPhones and we recommend this amazing device to all those spider office™ users out there who want more than just email on the move - and it looks fantastic! IT Support The troubling economy forecasts have inspired us to innovate new ways to help UK businesses, by combining traditional IT support and cost effective Hosted Services we're already cutting IT spend for Bristol and South West businesses with a view to expand eastwards in the New Year.
ASK Mike... I am constanty getting bombarded with email from all sorts of people I don't know, I'm worried that i'll get a virus and not even know about it, what should I do? The golden rule with email is that if you don't click on anything, you can't catch a virus. This may sound very unhelpful but how many emails do you receive where you actually need to click on a link or open an attachment? Probably not as many as you think - sure you're going to need to open that contract sent over by your solicitor, or that invoice from your supplier, but by this point you've already answered 3 critical questions: Does this email want me to click a link or attachment? Do I know who sent it to me? Was I expecting something from them? In both cases (the Solicitor and the Supplier) you could probably answer yes to all three of these questions and confidently open the attachments and if you're in any doubt, pick up the phone and give them a call to check. This is all for now but next time I'll give you some tips on what to look for in malicious links and attachments.	How can SaaS (Software as a Service) Help your Business? Paul Griffiths Product Manager We provide a number of solutions via the SaaS model. There are a number of easy to understand benefits although a provider must be chosen carefully. 1. Lower costs with Pay-as-You-go Subscribing to a SaaS application removes the overhead associated with implementing conventional software. Traditional software implementation would involve purchasing and maintaining servers, housing them securely, and installing and maintaining the software. The upfront investment in hardware, specialist IT skills and the software itself can be huge, whereas using a SaaS provider means paying a PAYG subscription. This point is particularly prevalent in these financial times, business is still going but large upfront cash investments are best avoided. 2. Quicker deployment Since a SaaS provider (or hosting company) will already have the infrastructure waiting and be able to speedily deploy new instances of the software a business could be up and running in a far shorter time that if they decided to implement it themselves.. read on

<(( In This Month's Issue!

The new iPhone 3G: Toy or Business Tool?
Ask Mike: Why do i get spammed so much?
How can Software as a Service Help Businesses?

WELCOME to the new edition of the SpiderGroup Newsletter!

From snazzy hand-held devices to the latest business solutions we want our knowledge, thoughts and reviews to help you recognise the best opportunities for your business in these turbulent times!

The new iPhone 3G: Toy or Business Tool?

Dan Rowlands
Head of Software
email Dan

As you probably know Apple recently released the latest version of their smart phone, the iPhone 3G.

Having been one of the people who queued up early in the morning to receive their new shiny toy I have had one for over a month now and thought it was time I shared my experiences.

I have been looking forward to owning an iPhone since it was first unveiled in January 2007 but refused to buy one until it supported 3G. Luckily a year later my wish came true and in general I'm very happy with it. I have always liked Apple for their simplicity of design and the attention to detail that goes into user interfaces, the iPhone is no exception, however I'm afraid to say that cracks are starting to appear in their reputation for quality... read on

<(( Director's Comment

Dan Hancock
Sales and Marketing Director

I know from experience that one of the first things to go when money gets tight is the poor old marketing budget. Why? Well have you ever read a marketing proposal with a clearly stated return on investment? However difficult it is to quantify, cutting your marketing budget is not the answer, some of your competitors will see this as an opportunity and you should too! Those that don't, well there's your return.

Instead look to invest more wisely, don't be afraid of the internet, look at search engine optimisation and e-marketing as cost-effective routes to market. Revisit your existing clients, treat them fairly and they'll help you - remember that they got you where you are today. Rather than cut your budget, review where it's going - take a hard look at existing campaigns - without constant revision they often go stale.

<(( Announcements

New Website
We have just given our website a facelift to help support a new communication campaign that will drive sales across our entire range of services into 2009 - Take a peek and let us know what you think.

iPhone 3G
The new iPhone 3G works so well with spider office™ we've offered all our staff iPhones and we recommend this amazing device to all those spider office™ users out there who want more than just email on the move - and it looks fantastic!

IT Support
The troubling economy forecasts have inspired us to innovate new ways to help UK businesses, by combining traditional IT support and cost effective Hosted Services we're already cutting IT spend for Bristol and South West businesses with a view to expand eastwards in the New Year.

ASK

Mike... I am constanty getting bombarded with email from all sorts of people I don't know, I'm worried that i'll get a virus and not even know about it, what should I do?

The golden rule with email is that if you don't click on anything, you can't catch a virus. This may sound very unhelpful but how many emails do you receive where you actually need to click on a link or open an attachment? Probably not as many as you think - sure you're going to need to open that contract sent over by your solicitor, or that invoice from your supplier, but by this point you've already answered 3 critical questions:

Does this email want me to click a link or attachment?
Do I know who sent it to me?
Was I expecting something from them?

In both cases (the Solicitor and the Supplier) you could probably answer yes to all three of these questions and confidently open the attachments and if you're in any doubt, pick up the phone and give them a call to check.

This is all for now but next time I'll give you some tips on what to look for in malicious links and attachments.

How can SaaS (Software as a Service) Help your Business?

Paul Griffiths
Product Manager

We provide a number of solutions via the SaaS model. There are a number of easy to understand benefits although a provider must be chosen carefully.

1. Lower costs with Pay-as-You-go

Subscribing to a SaaS application removes the overhead associated with implementing conventional software. Traditional software implementation would involve purchasing and maintaining servers, housing them securely, and installing and maintaining the software. The upfront investment in hardware, specialist IT skills and the software itself can be huge, whereas using a SaaS provider means paying a PAYG subscription.

This point is particularly prevalent in these financial times, business is still going but large upfront cash investments are best avoided.

2. Quicker deployment

Since a SaaS provider (or hosting company) will already have the infrastructure waiting and be able to speedily deploy new instances of the software a business could be up and running in a far shorter time that if they decided to implement it themselves.. read on