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Contract negotiations

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Strategies for Contract Negotiations & 6 Mistakes to Avoid
Planning for contract negotiations is the first step to success. Often the outcome is decided before any face-to-face negotiations occur.Negotiation is one, but important, step in the contractual process.

Start planning early at Request for Proposal (RFP) stage.
This is the point at which you need a strategy to achieve your preferred outcome.Ideally the contract terms and conditions should be drafted and attached to the RFP or tender and the prospective supplier should be requested to comment. The issues, which you now know about, can then be discussed in negotiations.

Research the other party in advance.
Knowing what the other party expects to achieve will assist with your strategy. Negotiate from strength because knowledge is power in contract negotiations. Is their aim to get the best deal on price, is it to gain market share, expand into new markets or defeat their opposition? Find out if they have a walk-away position and what it is.

Structure your negotiating team
It sounds obvious that the interests of all the team members should be

aligned but often they are not so. Finance want to get the best price,lawyers was to make the contract watertight, procurement want to see the cost savings secured, others may want to close the deal quickly and go home. Contract negotiations can fail if each persons loyalties,preferences and priorities are not voiced.

Before and at the table
Preparation is vital – conclude your own internal team negotiations before you engage with the suppliers. Undisciplined behavior and emotional outbursts can undermine even the best thought-out strategy.Simulate the negotiation with rehearsals including role plays using a lead negotiator and allocate individual roles to eliminate surprises.Overall, negotiating as a team has been more successful than using a sole
negotiator despite the inter-personal challenges.

Negotiation mistakes
Sometimes contract negotiations are undermined by one of your own team.Here are six common blunders, according to HBS professor James K.

Sebenius*:

1. Neglecting the other side’s problem.
2. Letting price bulldoze other interests.
3. Letting positions drive out interests.
4. Searching too hard for common ground.
5. Neglecting BATNAs (“best alternative to negotiated agreement”).
6. Failing to correct for skewed vision.
An aspect often overlooked is the disbanding process and the necessity for a debriefing. Its important to schedule a “lessons learnt” session and it is a good idea to make this outcome available to other teams in the Company.

T1 Internet Service – When Is A Business Internet T1 Justified

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This piece provides an overview of T1 Internet Service for those businesses that need higher reliability and availability. Since T1 Internet service comes with a service level agreement (SLA), usual uptime is much higher than DSL or cable. Also, with T1 Internet service, the upload and download speeds are a constant. This is vital for critical information needs, where limited downtime can be tolerated and productivity depends on consistently fast Internet access. Also, for voice applications a T1 can include quality of service (QOS) to ensure the access speed and consistency required for quality voice traffic.

Many small business use low-priced Internet links, such as DSL, cable, and fios. To keep costs down, all of these methods use sharing techniques to connect users to the Internet itself. Also, reliability is not assured, athough a “best effort” is made to preserve connectivity. A business Internet T1 data line, although using technology identical to SDSL, is given a higher value by the telcos. A T1 failing will be repaired within hours whereas a DSL, cable, or fios user could possibly experience a 5 day turn around time for repair.

Telecommunications vendors provide higher-end services, such as business Internet T1 service, in order to address higher reliability and consistency needs in some companies. As a business grows and adds employees, the value of an Internet connection increases and the business often needs higher availability. Often, the usage and reliance on the Internet also increases after services such as voice, and shared data services are moved to the “cloud.” In the neighborhood of 10 employees, a company will find it’s telecommunications needs more feasibily served by a business Internet T1 service.

Voice over IP (VOIP) has become widespread as well as various shared data services. Examples include popular applications such as SalesForce.com, GoogleApps, and many more. Generally, the quality of information available on the Internet has improved over time, causing more extensive dependence on connectivity to applications and online data sources. Changing business operations and usage all require additional bandwidth and reliability. Sales revenue and productivity of employees can be affected for each minute of downtime. How many businesses would survive with no telephone service for several days?.

Although hard to measure, timely information or lack thereof can make or break many small enterprises. This is especially true for companies using “cloud computing,” where online collaboration and information for daily operations in office calendaring, documents and financial data are only accessible through the company Internet link.

With business Internet T1 service, the SLA offers a “guarantee” of reliability and availability of crucial Internet services. Although many don’t realize it, a company’s Internet connection is an essential resource as more business functions and information needed for daily operations now must have reliable access. Loss of connectivity even for hours or a few days at a time can be fatal to daily operations or even the enterprise.

As T1 prices continue to decrease and businesses’ need for connectivity increases, a greater number will turn to the reliability and availability of T1 Internet service for day to day operations. The SLA distinguishes T1 Internet service from less expensive and unreliable DSL, cable, and fios services that many are using today. The SLA will be the deciding factor in order that critical operations are maintained, productivity remains high, and adequate sales and revenue is achieved for survival.

History Of The Space Hopper

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The first ever hoppity hop / retro space hopper was called PON-PON, and was the invention of an Italian who was called Aquilino Cosani. And was based at Ledragomma, Italy.

In 1968 Cosani patented the PON-PON in Italy, and in 1969 was introduced to the United Kingdom through an advert putin the Cambridge Evening News paper. Cosani patented the PON-PON in 1971 in the United States of America. The USA already had a space hopper type toy that people used to bounce on, and this toy was created by the Sun company, and was called Hoppity Hop. All hoppers of this type are called Hoppity Hop or Hippity Hop these days, which was due to the popularity of the earliest hopper distributed and produced by the Sun company.

In the Britain the Space Hopper (UK name) was distributed and produced by Mettoy, which was later to become Mettoy-Corgi. Another company created a different version of the bouncing ball, but this ball had handles that were smooth for the rider to hold, whereas the earliest had opted for ribbed handles for better grip. The other company was called Wembley.

Initially the Space Hoppers were made up of a handle in the shape of a ring on the top of the space hopper type toy which was gripped by the rider for stability, and they were constructed from rubber. These toys were supplied in a choice of just a couple of colors, either red or blue. Sun created themed versions of their Hoppity Hop during the 1970s, which had a hard plastic head fixed to the ball in the shape of some favorite fictional character. A couple of the popular fictional characters used were Micky Mouse and Donald Duck.

The hoppity hop / space hopper was very popular during the 60s and 70s, with a resurgence of interest in the UK during the 1990s, thanks to the rave culture of the time, where the balls were recognised asa neccessary part of the scene. In the United States of America due to an incursion of competition by foreign creators of the toy the Hoppity Hop’s popularity severely faltered and finally the production of the north American version of the bouncy ball came to a halt.

Initially the USA version of the hopper, known as the Hoppity Hop, was aimed at both adults and children, but due to the limited size of the biggest version, it was not really useable by adults except for those close to a kid in size.

Europe of the 1990s brought a version of the bouncy ball went by the name of the Hop, and was created by the Italian company Ledragomma. These were created from a well-liked ball used for exercise at the time called Gymnic exercise balls. These hoppers had a maximum size of 26 inches..

Modern day retro space hoppers – Sizes for adultshave become very popular in later year and can be found in sizes of 120cm, 100cm, and 80cm. They are commonly more robust than the original balls, having much thicker skins

and as a rule built from vinyl rather than rubber.

Telecom Jobs Have Many Opportunities That Beckon The Right Professional

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We are living in a world of wired and wireless gadgets, and to some extent have become slaves to them. Whether it is the cable television, the internet or the mobile phone, none of us can claim to be unaffected by any one of these gadgets and are required to spend valuable time and effort in operating any one of them for our needs.

Yes, there are huge advantages that have accrued due to the presence of these gadgets and it is thanks to them that we can communicate, be entertained, exchange pictures, shop, and even earn, online. All these gadgets work on technology spawned by the telecommunication revolution that has swept most developed and developing countries and the result is that there is a wide demand for telecom jobs in these countries.

Most companies in the telecommunication industry are looking for people who are qualified and can handle the hardware, as well as software, part of the job. Telecom engineers are required in great numbers to maintain and run the sophisticated equipment that is necessary for telecommunication, video communication, and internet services and many others.

The cell phone revolution has meant that countries are experiencing great demand for this gadget and services with more and more subscribers getting connected on a monthly basis. All of them require customer service support and that is reflected in the number of contact centres being set up, with a huge number of employees being recruited to answer calls and provide guidance to customers.

Besides customer service, sales and accountant jobs are also in demand at these telecom organisations, and anybody with the right qualifications or experience, can get the job of their choice and aptitude. It is a fact that due to the industry suddenly growing so rapidly, there is a shortage of trained professionals and it is not too difficult for the right professional to land jobs of their liking.

Telecom jobs are available not only in one’s own country but also in other developed countries, and it is quite convenient to apply for them using the internet. The best thing about the process of selection is that candidates can be interviewed through video conferencing and need not travel all the way for an interview.

The world indeed is shrinking and distances are losing their significance thanks to technology improving by leaps and bounds. The internet has enabled people to work from home and earn money. Flexible working hours have become possible due to the facility of laptops and the fact that people can stay in touch over the phone. That has not only opened up opportunities for working people but also for homemakers who can now attend to family (as well as work) as per their convenience and requirement.

Just a word of caution though. Along with opportunities, there are also threats due to some of the jobs shrinking. It is therefore necessary to be on the right side of the industry to survive for a long time.

Types Of Telecommunications Networks

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ETKjide Area Networks. Telecommunications networks covering a large geographic area are called remote networks, long-distance networks, or, more popularly, wide area networks (WANs).

Networks that cover a large city or metropolitan area (metropolitan area networks) can also be included in this category. Such large networks have become a necessity for carrying out the day-to-day activities of many business and government organizations and their end users.

Thus, WANs are used by manufacturing firms, banks, retailers, distributors, transportation companies, and government agencies to transmit and receive information among their employees, customers, suppliers, and other organizations across cities, regions, countries, or the world.

Local Area Networks. Local area networks (LANs) connect computers and other information processing devices within a limited physical area, such as an office, a building, manufacturing plant, or other work site.

LANs have become commonplace in many organizations for providing telecommunications network capabilities that link end users in offices, departments, and other work groups.

LANs use a variety of telecommunications media, such as ordinary telephone wiring, coaxial cable, or even wireless radio systems to interconnect microcomputer workstations and computer peripherals. To communicate over the network, each PC must have a circuit board installed called a network interface card.

Most LANs use a powerful microcomputer having a large hard disk capacity, called a file server or network server that contains a network operating system program that controls telecommunications and the use of network resources.

LANs allow end users in a work group to communicate electronically; share hardware, software, and data resources; and pool their efforts when working on group projects.

For example, a project team of end users whose microcomputer workstations are interconnected by a LAN can send each other electronic mail messages and share the use of laser printers and hard magnetic disk units, copies of electronic spreadsheets or word processing documents, and project databases.

LANs have thus become a more popular alternative for end user and work group computing than the use of terminals connected to larger computers.

Internetworks. Most local area networks are eventually connected to other LANs or wide area networks. That’s because end users need to communicate with the workstations of colleagues on other LAN’s, or to access the computing resources and databases at other company locations or at other organizations.

This frequently takes the form of client-server networks, where end user microcomputer workstations (clients are connected to LAN servers and interconnected to other LANs and their servers, or to WANs and their mainframe super servers).

Local area networks rely on internetwork processors, such as bridges, routers, hubs, or gateways, to make internetworking connections to other LANs and wide area networks.

The goal of such internetwork architectures is to create a seamless “network of networks” within each organization and between organizations that have business relationships.

such networks are designed to be open systems, whose connectivity provides easy access and interoperability among its interconnected workstations, computers, computer-based devices databases, and other networks.

The Internet. The Internet is the largest “network of networks” today. The Internet (the Net) is a rapidly growing global web of thousands of business, educational, and research networks connecting millions of computers and their users in over 100 countries to each other.

The Internet evolved from a research and development network (ARPANET) established in 1969 by the U. S. Defense Department to enable corporate, academic, and government researchers to communicate with E-mail and share data and computing resources.

The Net doesn’t have a central computer system or telecommunications center. Instead each message sent has an address code so any computer in the network can forward it to its destination.

The Internet doesn’t have a headquarters or governing body. The Internet society in Reston, Virginia, is a volunteer group of individual and corporate members who promote use of the Internet and the development of new communications standards or protocols.

These common standards are the key to the free flow of messages among the widely different computers and networks in the system.

The most popular Internet application is E-mail. Internet E-mail is fast, faster than many public networks. Messages usually arrive in seconds or a few minutes, anywhere in the world. And Internet E-mail messages can take the form of data, text, fax, and video files.

The Internet also supports bulletin board systems formed by thousands of special interest groups. Anyone can post messages on thousands of topics for interested users to read. Other popular applications include accessing files and databases from libraries and thousands of organizations, logging on to other computers in the network, and holding real-time conversations with other Internet users.