No software company, even the world’s largest, has the resources to develop all the software and provide all the related services that customers require. This is why partnerships between specialist IT software and services companies that enable the best overall solution for customers, is key. When strategic partnerships are in place between suppliers, customers have access to a comprehensive range of solutions and services, all from a single supplier.

Rumour has it that Advanced Business Solutions (Advanced) is in line for another green award.

That’s right, the team’s just learned that they’ve been shortlisted for the ‘Environmental Accounting & Management Software of the Year’ category in the 2012 Green IT Awards. Advanced was selected for its new, cutting-edge carbon accounting software.

Fraud in the UK has increased seven-fold since 2003 and doubled last year, costing the country £2 billion (FraudTrack). Experts predict that it will get worse and that there will be a surge of fraudulent activity in 2012, with internal fraud and cybercrime tipped to be the fastest growing areas. In spite of the rising statistics, many businesses, particularly in the private sector, are continuing to sweep the subject under the carpet. Leaders are reluctant to proactively talk about or tackle the ‘F’ word, choosing instead to react to fraud after the crisis has occurred and the losses have already been made.

Shared services – whereby common support functions are consolidated into a single, shared service across a number of organisations – requires an underlying shared IT infrastructure.

Shared IT is key for supporting a shared service environment and is a great way to cut IT complexity and increase efficiency in cost-constrained times. Public sector bodies, in particular, can really benefit from a shared services approach to technology.

In our winter of economic discontent, it is far too easy for the green agenda to fall to the bottom of the organisational priority list. It might seem frivolous to concentrate on sustainability projects when basic survival is on the minds of many senior executives. But a failure to recognise the strategic importance of green initiatives is shortsighted.

There are a number of reasons why sustainability matters. First, the obvious demand for corporate social responsibility – continuing concerns over power use and global warming mean firms cannot afford to put profits before principles, especially if they want to create a positive perception of their brand.

It wasn’t so long ago that people used just two key forms of communication to keep in touch – landline phone and posted letters. Fast forward 20 years and a large number of people now use their smart phone to keep in touch – how times change!

Recent public sector strikes across the UK helped demonstrate the clear level of feeling generated by attempts to cut spending in the public sector.

Action concentrated on proposed changes to pension schemes, yet the sentiment associated with the strike seemed to draw on wider themes – the UK economy is struggling, conditions are only going to get tougher and public sector bodies must get a grip on spending.

Executives faced with making spending decisions face a tough job. On the one hand, citizens require a set of services that continue to meet their needs, particularly at a time when economic constraint means demands for support are likely to increase.

Money is tight and so what you probably don’t need is yet another person telling you how your business can buy new technologies to improve process efficiencies.

You’ve heard all about the cloud and how utility-based technology can help you save money through the purchasing of on-demand technology. But that’s a large-scale transformation project which requires much thought and buy-in. What about smaller technology investments that reduce process variability while cutting time-consuming and costly manual processes?

Christmas should be a time of good cheer – but pick up the paper and it seems as if the 2011 holiday season actually marks the beginning of the end for the global economy.

The Eurozone is fighting for survival, capitalism has been forced on to the back foot and some indicators even suggest fast-growing economies, such as China, are starting to see the pace of economic development slow. Merry Christmas, and look forward to more doom and gloom in 2012!

“Nothing is permanent but change”, as Heraclitus once said. This quote often comes to mind, especially in today’s uncertain world and this is a pertinent philosophy to remember if you’re considering embarking on the shared services journey.

The commercial sector embarked on the shared services journey earlier than the public sector, however, in response to budget cutbacks, the government is increasingly urging the public sector to follow suit and they are now catching up. Local authorities have been subject to especially high budget cuts in recent times and are ideally placed for sharing services. In fact, there has never been a more crucial time for them to do so.

Setting off on the shared services journey involves considerable transformation. As with any transformation, there are barriers to overcome but you shouldn’t let this put you off as long-term cost and efficiency savings make it worthwhile. Some of our local government customers that have embraced the shared services opportunity have gone onto save millions of pounds whilst maintaining and improving services.