Blog entries from Kelvin Lawrance

HTC Desire, Server 2008 & Sage! In no particular order...

Tue, 25 May 2010 11:55:04 +0100

It's been a funny old couple of weeks. As the month end approaches its time to update the blog but I'm really not sure what to write about this time. It's not like I haven't been busy!

I could talk about the HTC Desire. I'm a month into a new contract with T-Mobile and feel I am finally getting close to having the perfect device. The Desire has done everything I have asked of it. I have fully integrated access to our corporate gmail based platform plus anRead More...

SharePoint and filling the gaps

Wed, 28 Apr 2010 14:50:59 +0100

I've been fortunate enough to have some time to do a little more detailed evaluation of Microsoft's SharePoint recently and I've been pleasantly surprised how much it's come on since the last version I looked at in detail. I don't get the time to do any 'proper' programming these days but I like to keep my hand in with various technologies just so I understand what developers are saying to me in progress meetings.

I guess I had taken my eye off the ball for a couple of years and only Read More...

The iphone debate & the importance of a balanced approach

Tue, 13 Apr 2010 12:17:04 +0100

Here at Continuity we have always had a bit of a thing about remaining impartial. This has led to us turning down some lucrative 'deals' to recommend suppliers products and is a key reason that we haven't travelled the road to Microsoft partnership.

The issue arises again when looking at smartphone platforms.

For those of you who remember the days of video recorders: that was a prime example of the best technology losing out. The ultimate victor in that platform war Read More...

If ever anyone needed a CRM - B&Q customer service

Tue, 20 Oct 2009 11:33:58 +0100

Back in April I removed a dilapidated shed from my back garden and decided to replace it with two smaller bike stores. Two suitable bike stores were purchased but six months later one of them remains in pieces and I am continuing a battle with B&Q to obtain the missing fittings kit for one of them. This isn't a moan about quality of the product or price - with sheds I find you get what you pay for - but I have been stunned that in these days of technology B&Q's custoRead More...

How will Google Wave circumvent the challenge of the corporate firewall?

Tue, 06 Oct 2009 12:32:43 +0100

There is clearly a fuss about Google Wave. People appear desperate for an invite to the 100,000 user trial as they assume it will be the next big thing. For me it's a nice idea that will unfortunately not surmount my greatest issue for on-line collaboration - the corporate security policy.

Let's be clear, I'm a big fan of Google. GMail has revolutionised the way I manage email and instant access without the need for synchronisation combined with excellRead More...

Frustrating weekend - Adobe AIR problems on a Lenovo netbook

Mon, 05 Oct 2009 12:58:18 +0100

I spend a lot of time on the train. Not as much as some but more than I care for. Anyway, when all the email is processed and I feel I can work no more I have been known to catch up on a little TV courtesy of the BBC's iPlayer. As long as I've remembered to download something of interest in the last 7 days I can pass the time with a little light comedy or something more educational. Or at least I could until the BBC felt the need to improve things and therefore upgradeRead More...

The business networking experience and finding the right network for you - part 1

Fri, 02 Oct 2009 17:44:08 +0100

If you're familiar with the criticism of some 'Z list' celebrities that they would turn up at the opening of a paper bag then you may think it applicable to my business networking strategy of old. If there was a networking event going on then I'd be there, even if there was no free lunch.

Thankfully age and experience has now made me a little more fussy about the events I will attend.

I should stress at this point that some of the views expressed here are dRead More...

Autotweet engaged captain!

Thu, 01 Oct 2009 11:45:06 +0100

As the Continuity marketing machine gathers pace I've now added an auto tweeting feature to the site ...

As each new article or blog entry is added here at conty.co.uk, a tweet informing our followers of the new edition should automagically appear at twitter.com/contyebusiness - I guess this entry is the first test....

Off the shelf mythology

Tue, 29 Sep 2009 11:42:10 +0100

It's a shame there are so many good salesman out there or should that be it's a shame there are so many naive customers for them to feed on!

One constant battle that I come up against is based on a reticence to build a bespoke application for a business. As an example let's look at a recent conversation I had with a senior (non-technical) manager at one of our clients. It started with the complaint that we shouldn't be building a bespoke CRM solution when there were so manRead More...

Windows 7 - Now there's a surprise

Mon, 28 Sep 2009 15:14:04 +0100

After the disaster of an OS that was Vista it was with some scepticism that I started the install of Windows 7 onto my faithful netbook.

Obviously, it was running XP rather than Vista and thus there was no upgrade path but that little hiccup aside, all went rather well much to my surprise.

It's early days but my Lenovo S10e is back up and running and I can continue to be productive on those extended commuting trips into the city.

I'll post an update here oncRead More...

The blog plan...

Sat, 26 Sep 2009 14:29:58 +0100

OK, so here we are. I've finally added a blogging feature to the site so now we need some content.

There's lots of things I've been wanting to get off my chest recently so I guess this is the place to do at least some of that. Obviously, client confidentiality needs to be respected so I'm planning to stick to comment and observation on general technical issues rather then getting into specific problems but hopefully there'll be some interesting points Read More...