All entries for October 2009

Opportunity to take part in Department for BIS Case Studies

Writing about web page http://business2dot0.com/blog/7-business-opportunities/38-bis-case-studies

SMEs are Invited to Particiapte in Department for Business Innovation and Skills (BIS) Case Studies

The Department for Business, Innovation and Skills (BIS) is updating the ‘Winning the Contract’ procurement eLearning course, and is looking for SMEs to participate in case studies to use as examples of the procurement process.

You only have until Monday 9th November 2009 to respond, so head over here for the invite

PS: This invite came from BiP Solutions … so I am being even handed after my last post !

Grant’s Rant © 2009

: 31 Oct 2009 00:24 |  Tags: Bis Business Sme |  Comments (0) |  Close comments |  Report a problem

Prepare for London 2012 : Update

Writing about web page http://business2dot0.com/business-opportunities/london-2012-tenders

What has happened to the Free Prepare for 2012 Workshops?

For the last couple of years, until the spring of 2009, I have presented at free Prepare for 2012 workshops around the West Midlands – Birmingham, Coventry, Solihull, Stoke, Stafford, Hereford, Worcester, and West Bromwich, to name a few.

The free workshops were provided to help West Midlands companies get access to the tenders for London 2012 Olympic related business opportunities.

This was a collaboration between Advantage West Midlands, the West Midlands Business Council, various Chambers of Commerce, Business Link West Midlands, and of course The University of Warwick.

I talked about using IT to help track down these 2012 business opportunities – A 2012 Business Radar if you like!

The University also hosted www.ready-for-business.co.uk to sniff out and provide free access to these tenders.

So what has happened since Spring 2009?

Advantage West Midlands awarded a new contract to carry out this work with Business Link, a consortium of the Chambers of Commerce, and BiP Solutions Ltd.

So I can tell you the West Midlands Business Council were none to pleased about this. As I supported the West Midlands Business Council, it doesn’t look like I will be presenting at any future workshops either.

But the show has to go on, doesn’t it? Well I haven’t seen any publicity for these events yet!

The ready-for-business.co.uk site is still alive, and I have also put up a page on my website about London 2012 related business opportunites and news at http://business2dot0.com/business-opportunities/london-2012-tenders

I believe BiP Solutions will provide Procurement Training Workshops, and they also provide the www.supply2.gov.uk procurement portal, and the www.CompeteFor.com London 2012 contracts portal.

But more about that in another rant, as I suspect we (the public purse) have essentially paid £multi-millions for the same software that was already being provided.

Grant’s Rant © 2009

: 30 Oct 2009 11:21 |  Tags: London Olympics Paralympics Tenders |  Comments (0) |  Close comments |  Report a problem

WMG MSc Project Fest for Young Scientists

Writing about web page http://business2dot0.com/blog/13-warwick-msc-projects

With a record number of MSc students this year I have published a range of projects across several disciplines – eBusiness, Project Management, Supply Chain & Logistics, Engineering Business Management, and Digital Manufacturing.

Here is the list which I hoped would appeal:

1. Comparison of on-line marketing using Google and Yahoo
2. Is it possible to manage a business / engineering company with free / low cost software?
3. Using Twitter to launch a new product
4. Using Social Networking to encourange & manage collaborative projects
5. Using CRM or ERP software to manage operations and logistics in a SME / Engineering company
6. Best practice for Projects, Supply Chain and Logistics in the London 2012 Olympic & Paralympic Games
7. Web based user interface / dashboard to manage logistics and operational control within Healthcare
8. What is the best Web Content Management System?
9. What is the best Shopping Cart for today’s e-Commerce requirements
10. Improving web-site design using eye tracking / mapping analysis
11. New desktop technology to improve file, document, and Enterprise Content Management productivity
12. Scientific testing of the Isaiah Effect in Internet Marketing

Well I guess it worked. 37 interview requests. 10 Interviews. 8 Applications. I now just need to decide who to accept. I wish I could accept them all.

Grant’s Rant © 2009

: 30 Oct 2009 09:52 |  Tags: Masters Msc Wmg |  Comments (0) |  Close comments |  Report a problem

Crikey – 12 months since my last blog

Is it really 12 months since my last blog?

That’s not so good. I think a need to be given a good (public) thrashing with birch twigs. So here is an early new years resolution – must blog at Warwick more.

Grant’s Rant © 2009

: 30 Oct 2009 09:14 |  Comments (0) |  Close comments |  Report a problem