According to Peter Howells of 365 IT Services Limited it plans to be the ” Trusted IT Services Supplier to Corporates ” ( see more details at the end of this post – About Us ).

If you are going to trust your IT Services to a partner then you want to know that that partner has the experience and knowledge to provide that service and also you would like to think that they are going to be around for a while.

Lets take the last point first shall we ??

LMS Capital plc, the company that funded the management buyout from 365iT, supported by Peter MacLean, the Chief Executive  of 365iT plc and now the Chairman of 365 IT Services Limited aswell ( complicated eh ?? ) is actually on a break up strategy !!

Yes, that’s correct, the company that wants to be corporates ” Trusted IT Services Supplier ” will soon be broken up !

The story here is quite complicated but if you look at the LMS Capital website ( Our News section )

http://www.lmscapital.com/Ournews/tabid/64/Default.aspx

there are two relevant Press Releases:

1. The ” Concert Party Request “.

2. Proposed change of Investment Strategy and Convening of General Meeting.

The gist of these is that shareholders representing around 37% of the shares of LMS Capital don’t believe in LMS Capital’s strategy of buy and build. They want to see the company broken up and sold. These ” rebel ” shareholders are led by the ( until recently ) Chairman of LMS Capital plc, Robert Rayne.

Whilst Peter Howells is an experienced Managing Director, Peter MacLean has been a miserable failure at trying to build up first of all Impera plc and then 365iT plc. The companies in 365 IT Services were, until very recently, in 365iT, missing is Fox I.T. which still remains in 365iT but has the Sword of Damacles hovering over it’s head while Peter MacLean decides how he is going ” wind down ” 365iT.

Strangely then the ” Services and Consultancy ” business is left in 365iT whilst MacLeans, clearly lacking, hands are in both pots.

http://www.365itservices.co.uk/

How long is it going to take for a company, thinking about partnering with 365 IT Services, to due proper due diligence only to find that 365 IT Services is to be broken up ” as soon as possible ” ??

It is a ludicrously badly thought out strategy that is doomed to failure. Competitors to 365 IT Services are going to have a field day. Their salespeople will cast F.U.D. ( Fear, Uncertainty and Doubt ) all over the deal and in many cases 365 IT Services Limited will fail to win business.

This does not even take into account the competitiveness of the market at the moment and the lack of investment by corporates in this type of service offering.

The world is moving towards managed services and cloud computing but 365iT shut down it’s ” managed networking ” arm and also closed it’s ” Cloud Computing ” business ( selling off the remains to someone with more vision and competence ).

About Us

365 IT Services Limited is a new company formed by a management buyout, backed by LMS Capital plc, of a number of business divisions from 365 iT plc.

These business divisions deliver a range of technology solutions extending from unified communications to network and system infrastructure, security, business continuity and managed services.

http://www.365itservices.co.uk/

The new company, 365 IT Services Limited is managed by Peter Howells who was the Managing Director and co-founder of 5i Limited, the unified communications specialist. Peter MacLean, Chairman and Chief Executive of 365 iT plc who also joins the board as Non-Executive Chairman will focus on corporate strategy and acquisitions.

Peter Howells, Managing Director of 365 IT Services said “Our aim is to become the trusted IT services supplier of choice for corporate businesses in the UK. Bringing together the separate divisions under one banner will provide us with one of the strongest portfolio of technologies and services possible and allow us to work closer with existing and new customers and business partners to achieve this goal.”

Howells added “Working with LMS Capital will not only ensure that we have the capital to fund organic growth but also provide access to a greater source of investment capital to acquire other businesses that will further strengthen our overall proposition in key areas of technology and services delivery.”

Commenting on the investment, Pieter Hooft, Managing Director UK Investments at LMS Capital, said “We are delighted to have the opportunity to be part of 365 IT Services Limited. Our due diligence has confirmed that the individual businesses are held in high regard by customers and key suppliers and we are confident that their integration into a single new company, under a management team that has a proven track record of profitable growth, will create an outstanding company that will take advantage of the rapidly changing IT landscape.”

http://www.365itservices.co.uk/

365 In The Main Steam ( ITMS ) is a global awareness service for I.T. Managed Services Updates and Information.

Having established the Managed Network Services Division of Voyager Internet and Networks in the mid to late nineties I will be posting a series here about the very latest news and information on what is happening in the Managed Services industry.

Managed Services is a 365 days a year 24 hours a day business that has evolved from the provision and management of IP Networks to the cloud based services of today.

365 In the Main Stream ( ITMS ) is about products and services that are in the main stream of the IT Managed Services business.

Managed services is the practice of transferring day-to-day related management responsibility as a strategic method for improved effective and efficient operations inclusive of Production Support and lifecycle build/maintenance activities. The person or organization who owns or has direct oversight of the organization or system being managed is referred to as the offer-er, client, or customer. The person or organization that accepts and provides the managed service is regarded as the service provider.

Typically, the offer-er remains accountable for the functionality and performance of managed service and does not relinquish the overall management responsibility of the organization or system.

Common managed services

Common managed services include but are not limited to:

• Applications
• Databases
• Transportation
• Postage
  • Courier
  • Registered Post
• Water
• Power
• Information Services
  • Backup
  • Storage
  • Security
  • 24/7/365 Monitoring
  • Network Management
  • User Management
  • Systems Management
  • Software – Production Support and maintenance
• Business-to-Business Integration
  • Supply Chain Management
• Communication Services
  • Internet (provided by an Internet service provider)
  • Telephone (typically provided by a telephone company)
  • TelePresence (provided by a TelePresence Managed Service Provider)
  • Videoconferencing (provided by a Video Conference Managed Service Provider or by a Video Managed Service Provider)
• Media
• Supply Chain Management Services

Managed services provider

A managed services provider (MSP), is typically an information technology (IT) services provider, who manages and assumes responsibility for providing a defined set of services to their clients either proactively or as they (not the client) determine that the services are needed. Most MSPs bill an upfront setup or Transition and an ongoing flat or near-fixed monthly fee, which benefits their clients by providing them with predictable IT support costs.

In general

The business model behind managed services has been commonplace among enterprise level companies. The model has also been adapted to fit small to medium sized companies by the value-added reseller(VAR) community as they evolved to provide more consistent budgeting and higher levels of service to small businesses and mid-size enterprises.

See also

• Application service provider
• Customer service
• Enterprise architecture
• Service (economics)
• Service economy
• Services marketing
• Service design
• Service provider
• Service Science, Management and Engineering
• Service system
• Web service
• Technical support

see

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Managed_services

for more information and links.

Here the “About Me ” page from the new 365 ITMS Limited website:

About Us

365 ITMS Limited is a new company formed by a management buyout, backed by LMS Capital plc, of a number of business divisions from 365 iT plc.

These business divisions deliver a range of technology solutions extending from unified communications to network and system infrastructure, security, business continuity and managed services.

The new company, 365 ITMS Limited is managed by Peter Howells who was the Managing Director and co-founder of 5i Limited, the unified communications specialist. Peter MacLean, Chairman and Chief Executive of 365 iT plc who also joins the board as Non-Executive Chairman will focus on corporate strategy and acquisitions.

Peter Howells, Managing Director of 365 ITMS said “Our aim is to become the trusted IT services supplier of choice for corporate businesses in the UK. Bringing together the separate divisions under one banner will provide us with one of the strongest portfolio of technologies and services possible and allow us to work closer with existing and new customers and business partners to achieve this goal.”

Howells added “Working with LMS Capital will not only ensure that we have the capital to fund organic growth but also provide access to a greater source of investment capital to acquire other businesses that will further strengthen our overall proposition in key areas of technology and services delivery.”

Commenting on the investment, Pieter Hooft, Managing Director UK Investments at LMS Capital, said “We are delighted to have the opportunity to be part of 365 ITMS Limited. Our due diligence has confirmed that the individual businesses are held in high regard by customers and key suppliers and we are confident that their integration into a single new company, under a management team that has a proven track record of profitable growth, will create an outstanding company that will take advantage of the rapidly changing IT landscape.”

For more information and background:

http://mandarainmaker.com/wordpress/2011/10/11/365it-365-itms-lms-capital-peter-maclean-robert-rayne-5i-and-shareholders-chat/

http://www.lmscapital.com/Ournews/tabid/64/Default.aspx

If you are a shareholder in 365iT plc ( 365it services.co.uk )  , LMS Capital, South East Growth Fund or Sussex Place Ventures then it’s been an interesting few weeks for you. As you may or may not know LMS Capital just acquired 365iT companies 5i Limited, ImperaData, Dynax and Secure Networks at a time when The Honourable Robert Rayne ( until recently Chairman of LMS Capital )  has led the ” Rayne Concert Party ” ( who own around 35% of LMS Capital ) in a bid to break up LMS Capital.

Following an earlier blog of mine shareholders in 365iT ( 365it services.co.uk ) have been contacting me to try to find out what exactly is going on at 365iT plc. All that shareholders have received is a letter from Peter MacLean that raises more questions than it answers. ( Particularly in the light of what is going on at LMS Capital ! ) Interestingly long standing ( long suffering ?? ) 365iT shareholders have said to me that the letter sent out late last month is typical of the sort of ” say quite a bit  but say nothing ” communications that they are used to.

We are all waiting with bated breath to see what the new company that comprises 5i Limited, ImperaData, Dynax and Secure Networks is oing to be called. Maybe it will just be ” part of LMS Capital ” until , if the ” Raynes Concert Party ” have their way, the LMS Capital companies are sold off again. ( I know – you are having trouble keeping up with this already !! ).

Don’t worry ! – this blog will help keep you informed on events at 365iT plc ( 365it services.co.uk ) and LMS Capital as and when they happen. I will also report on the upcoming meeting of 365iT shareholders – it will be very interesting to hear more about the history of Impera plc. Some of the shareholders have known Peter MacLean since he was at Guardian iT.

From what we can tell 365iT is now a debt free company which owns Fox I.T.

http://www.foxit.net/pages/about/investors.shtml

Here’s the blurb for investors from the ( new ) 365iT website:

Investors

365 iT plc

“365 iT plc was founded in 2005 and now employs over 120 people. Through its wholly owned subsidiaries (365 iTechnology Ltd, 5i Ltd, 7 Global Group Ltd and Fox IT Ltd), the group provides an extensive range of IT services and solutions that address ten strategic areas of IT operations and management: IT Managed Services, Unified Communications, Business Continuity, Data Backup, IT Security, Virtualisation, Networks, Storage Solutions, Infrastructure Solutions and IT Service Management.

365 iT plc designs and delivers information and communications technology (ICT) services that help organisations enhance their IT effectiveness and ROI, enabling them to better meet their business objectives. Headquartered in Basingstoke, the company works closely with its clients from SME businesses through to corporate and public sector organisations.

Commenting on the acquisition of Fox IT, Peter MacLean, 365 iT plc’s chairman and chief executive, said: “This is a very positive development for the 365 iT group and I welcome Paul Speers and his team. I look forward to working closely with them in and in particular to helping them grow their business model substantially in the coming years.

MacLean continued: “This latest acquisition represents yet another significant step forward consolidating the group’s position in the very competitive and rapidly developing IT services market.”

Paul Speers, Fox IT’s managing director, said: “The future is undoubtedly very exciting and I believe that Fox IT’s capabilities in ITSM and ITIL strongly complement those of 365 iT plc. The combined forces of both companies will establish a new benchmark in the IT Services Sector.”

This 5th acquisition in just 4 years demonstrates the strength of 365 iT and the group’s ability to exhibit continued substantial growth at a time when many businesses are doing quite the opposite. In September, 365 iT plc was ranked the 15th fastest growing technology company in the UK, according to the prestigious Tech Track league table.”

As you can see until very recently everything was Go, Go, Go at 365iT plc !!

Meanwhile whilst there is a lot about the ” Rayne Concert Party ” on the LMS Capital website

http://www.lmscapital.com/Ournews/tabid/64/Default.aspx

there is nothing about the acquisition of 5i Limited, ImperaData, Dynax and Secure Networks which is a bit odd when you consider that at the time the ” Rayne Concert Party ” were shouting for a break up LMS Capital were just spending a load of money acquiring new companies !!

At least all the creditors and Loan Note Holders of 365iT plc got paid out by the money from LMS Capital. Who were the Loan Note Holders – well you can probably guess ( !! ) but more on after the shareholders meeting 😉

Please bookmark and share this blog because THIS is going to be an interesting story!

P.S. More on the New Company that LMS Capital just funded here:

http://www.365itservices.co.uk/about-us.php

About Us

365 ITMS Limited is a new company formed by a management buyout, backed by LMS Capital plc, of a number of business divisions from 365 iT plc.

These business divisions deliver a range of technology solutions extending from unified communications to network and system infrastructure, security, business continuity and managed services.

The new company, 365 ITMS Limited is managed by Peter Howells who was the Managing Director and co-founder of 5i Limited, the unified communications specialist. Peter MacLean, Chairman and Chief Executive of 365 iT plc who also joins the board as Non-Executive Chairman will focus on corporate strategy and acquisitions.

Peter Howells, Managing Director of 365 ITMS said “Our aim is to become the trusted IT services supplier of choice for corporate businesses in the UK. Bringing together the separate divisions under one banner will provide us with one of the strongest portfolio of technologies and services possible and allow us to work closer with existing and new customers and business partners to achieve this goal.”

Howells added “Working with LMS Capital will not only ensure that we have the capital to fund organic growth but also provide access to a greater source of investment capital to acquire other businesses that will further strengthen our overall proposition in key areas of technology and services delivery.”

Commenting on the investment, Pieter Hooft, Managing Director UK Investments at LMS Capital, said “We are delighted to have the opportunity to be part of 365 ITMS Limited. Our due diligence has confirmed that the individual businesses are held in high regard by customers and key suppliers and we are confident that their integration into a single new company, under a management team that has a proven track record of profitable growth, will create an outstanding company that will take advantage of the rapidly changing IT landscape.”

Poundbury Systems of Poundbury, Dorchester is offering local companies advice and support on the pros and cons of Cloud Computing alongside its general computer, telephony and network support offerings.

” Cloud Computing ” is a term that gets mentioned quite often these days, usually accompanied by various general benefits of cloud computing like – lower cost, pay-as-you-go, flexibility, scalability, upgradability etc etc

Poundbury Systems believes that Dorchester based companies should look at the pros and cons of Cloud Systems solutions in relation to ” on premises ” solutions for their particular situation.

Poundbury has developed and supported Cloud Solutions via their Cloud Computing subsiduary ” FutureLine ”  http://www.futureline.net.uk/

FutureLine initially focussed on Cloud based telephony, supported over networks owned and managed by Poundbury Systems. In recent months the emphasis has been to develop a broader range of cloud  based solutions alongside the Cloud based telephony.

Whether cloud based or on premises the solutions that should be adopted should meet the customers requirements now and in the future.

Factors like performance, security, reliability, fault tolerance, risk and manageability should be discussed and the potential solutions evaluated against these criteria.

Poundbury Systems is known, within Dorchester and beyond for talking to customers in plain English and not in ” jargon “.

See below for contact details:

Contact Us

In the last couple of days the news has emerged that Ireland won the race to get Twitter to site it’s European Headquarters there. Unsurprisingly this news emerged on Twitter itself – apparently after a concerted effort by Irish Tweeps  to persuade Twitter to come to the land of the Celtic Tiger.

It was interesting timing for me because a U.S. based Hi Tech company had just asked me for my opinion on where to base it’s European Headquarters and I was also reading this article here about some ” tinkering ” that the U.K. government is planning with start-up investment incentives.

http://eu.techcrunch.com/2011/09/25/for-better-or-worse-the-uk-plans-big-changes-for-startup-investment/

I am sure that IDA Ireland would have been delighted to know that my recommendation was to look closer at Ireland. I don’t have any real connection with Ireland other than the fact that I love Ireland and the Irish people – well doesn’t everyone ???

As a former Royal Navy officer in the 80’s Ireland was sort of ” off limits ” to me – especially Northern Ireland – but when I left the Navy and joined the Hi Tech world ( e.g. Memorex and then Fibernet ) the magic of Ireland started to pull me.

Memorex had strong representation in Ireland and of course the Irish Memorex salespeople were ” memorable ” !! Fibernet also did a lot of business  in Ireland ( customers included Bank of Ireland and Allied Irish Bank ) and M.D. Charles was always being ” led astray ” by the Irish – they delighted in trying to get him to miss his plane by having ” one more Guinness “.

Guinness is of course just one reason why you have to go to Ireland.

For me there followed about 3 ” Stay on a farm ” tours with the children with so many highlights it’s difficult to remember them all – being in a country pub when a  céilidh erupted; the visit to Bunratty Castle; the visit to the Irish National Stud; the visit to the Jamieson’s Distillery. An Irish wedding in Cork. A corporate event with the U.K. Sales Director of 3Com. The occasion that I took the whole of Voyager Networks staff to Dublin to celebrate the sale of Voyager. Staying in the Shelbourne Hotel when ” The Monkees ” walked in !

This is the problem with Ireland – it’s just too much fun !!!

In fairness the Irish really have their act together at a time when the U.S. Hi Tech industry is awash with venture capital investment and many U.S. firms are looking for a base for their European Operations.

According to IDA Ireland Ireland is becoming the Internet Capital of Europe

http://www.idaireland.com/news-media/videos/index.xml

and I am not going to argue with them. Even if all the tinkerings with the Enterprise Investment Scheme in the U.K. happen

http://eu.techcrunch.com/2011/09/25/for-better-or-worse-the-uk-plans-big-changes-for-startup-investment/

the issue is more about which country has it’s act together in terms of the whole package : Country Brand & Likability Factor, Financial Incentives, Communications infrastructure  etc etc

When I was asked my opinion on where to base I said Ireland off the top of my head. I also asked a friend of mine who has a business helping U.S. companies to establish themselves in Europe – he said the U.K. I also Googled the question and came across a Linkedin answer with a lot of recommendations for Ireland. Just trying to get back to that Linkedin answer I found this:

http://www.linkedin.com/answers/international/internationalization-localization/INT_INZ/7476-1213

Reid Hoffman of Linkedin asks Linkedin where best to place Linkedin’s proposed European H.Q. !!

The answer voted best to this question summarised as follows:

” My final choices as a potential company moving there? Luxembourg, Ireland, Switzerland. “

Linkedin eventually went to ………………………. Ireland !!

http://www.idaireland.com/news-media/press-releases/linkedin-establishment-of/

and note this:

Kevin Eyres, managing director of LinkedIn Europe commented, “We now have more than 14 million members in Europe and 60 million worldwide. As our membership continues to grow quickly, this is the right time for us to establish an international headquarters. Being based in Dublin gives us access to a highly skilled workforce and enables us to coordinate our business growth across Europe and beyond to deliver the best possible service to our members.”

But also see this ( hot off the press ) in respect of Tax:

http://www.joe.ie/news-politics/current-affairs/irish-move-to-save-twitter-53-per-cent-in-tax-0016130-1

and I quote

” That, in effect, represents a saving of €140,000 – or 53 per cent – from situating its European office in Dublin rather than London.

In actual fact, though, Twitter will probably save much more than that, if they’re clever enough to deploy tactics which exploit tax loopholes all over the globe.

It was revealed last year that accounting practices known as a Double Irish and a Dutch Sandwich – owing to similarly favourable tax conditions in the Netherlands – helped Google to reduce its tax bill by €2.2bn.

The 12 per cent Irish corporation tax rate which has contributed to the relocation of so many big companies to these shores has raised the heckles of the likes of France and Germany, who are adamant that Ireland should agree to a more uniform Europe-wide tax rate as a payback for the bailout provided by the (financial terrorists) good folk at the EU, ECB and IMF.”

and the point is that you need to have ALL your ” ducks in a row ” if you are going to win the ” which country am I going to base my European Headquarters in ” game.

If London wants to win in this game it had better put the sort of effort behind it that won the Olympics for 2012.

The Irish brand and the ” Double Irish and a Dutch Sandwich “ is going prove difficult to beat !!!

btw The Celtic Tiger awakening is not just about Internet companies the same is going on in the movie industry and healthcare sectors

http://www.irishtimes.com/newspaper/finance/2011/0923/1224304573989.html

http://www.telegraph.co.uk/finance/economics/8049212/The-hi-tech-miracle-rescuing-Ireland-from-a-banking-crisis.html

In this article here

http://www.pcpro.co.uk/news/370012/dell-death-of-the-pc-is-complete-nonsense?DCMP=NLC-Newsletters

fairly predictably Michael Dell argues that HP is wrong to sell off it’s PC business, joining IBM in doing so, because the PC sales give ” volume ” purchase prices to the server side of the business.

Comments on this article are mostly in favour of the PC, or some variant of it, being around for some time.

I agree. I am always interested in what the younger generation think since they are the future. My son and his friends use iphones, ipads and laptops. Just the other day they were talking and agreeing that they saw no need for a desktop PC because a laptop was all they needed.

Despite this being a ” personal/consumer  ” view rather than a ” business ” view I see their point.

I use a Blackberry and a laptop much more than a desktop these days.

There are a few things that you want or would prefer when you are sat at a desktop. Amongst them are :

– A big screen. As with TV’s big screens are nice. Having big screens or multiple screens with a number of applications open are preferable or essential in some work situations.

Although these might be extreme work requirements there is something ” must have ” about these systems for even personal use

So we want the best visual experience that we can get.

– Speakers. We also want the best audio experience that we can get, especially for watching video or gaming.

– Keyboard. It seems beyond time that we could sit down and ” speak to our PC’s ” instead of having to type information in to the computer. But whilst the technology exists for converting voice to text it is not widely used and the keyboard is still the device of choice with the touchpad and right and left buttons being typical for the laptop and some desktops

and the mouse and keyboard being used for desktops.

The touch screen is an alternative

and most of us have seen those films where someone stands in front of a huge screen, dragging information in manipulating it and then ” throwing it away “.

So, we are probably going to end up talking to the computers with typing, touching, dragging and clicking as back-ups.

Inevitably we will STILL want print outs !!

The paperless office still seems a very long way off.

The key for the desktop PC is seamless access to the information that exists on the more mobile devices being used – the mobile phone, pda and laptop. You want to be able to bring your mobile devices to the desktop and then be able to access any information that you want to on them from your desktop.

The question is ” Is that information actually going to sit on those devices in the first place or is it, in fact, in the cloud ? ”

( If it is in the cloud then the other advantage of the desktop is that it is going to have ” landline communications “i.e. high speed Internet access ).

The answer, I think, is that a lot of it will be in the cloud and some of it will be on each device. This will mean that the desktop will need to have easy access to the other devices for the occassions where the information is, for some reason, being held on the device. Since less information will be held on any single device they don’t necessarily need to have as much processing power and memory – except that they probably will because we will keep asking each individual device to do more.

So, I think the future of the Desktop PC is quite clear – to provide an enhanced experience relative to more mobile devices visually, audibly and for input and output. Also to facilitate high speed access to the cloud and to the mobile devices themselves.

Google + Hangout set-up

You may have missed it but yesterday Google opened up it’s new social network, Google +, to everyone in the U.K.  – oh and the rest of the world too !

G+ or g+ has been on ” a very limited field trial ” since June 2011 and I was fortunate enough to be invited to participate in this limited field trial ( by some kind people in my network ) and so can count myself as a first generation G+ user.

I am not sure that I had any room at all for another social network in my life but I certainly do have an interest in search, internet marketing and Google and therefore really felt that I had to take a look at G+.

Depending on whether a social networks content is ” open ” to search engines or
” closed ” to them ( Facebook’s content is mostly closed to the world outside of Facebook but e.g. Ecademy’s content is quite open ) social networks are powerful e.g. blogging platforms.

If content on G+ was linked to Google search results then there would be at least one very powerful reason for participating in the production and sharing of content on that platform.

There were some interesting aspects to the time that I spent in the G+ ” field
trial “.  i.e. from June to date.

Since G+ had essentially emanated from Silicon Valley on the West Coast of America my first connections ( On G+ you ” circle ” the people that you want to follow and those that want to follow you back circle you ) were U.S. West Coasters. Unsurprisingly many of these were involved in the High Tech. industry but perhaps more surprising was that there were many artists and photographers – who produced and posted some interesting and even stunning work.

There were also lots of marketing people and quite a few Silicon Valley entrepreneurs, business angels and venture capitalists. ( It may not be well known but Silicon Valley has been booming with new start-ups and slightly older ones getting more funding ).

So, from a social point of view I felt right at home in G+.

G+ rolled out across the U.S. and the Western world – but I should mention that there were a lot of Chinese and Far Eastern members of G+ in the early days aswell.

One of my tests for any software and certainly any social network is that it is easy and intuitive to use – which G+ certainly is.

I also found the people on there amazingly polite ( they had definately been trained in ” netiquette ” ! ). How long this will last now that it has been opened to “the masses” has yet to be seen. Certainly there are a number of 1st Generation G+ users who are dreading a massive decline in the quality of the content and the friendliness of the members.

Opening up G+ to everyone in the U.K. and the world is regarded as G+’s 100th ” new feature ” and the demarcation point between ” field trial ” and ” beta trial ” – yes – even though everyone can now join G+ it is still in
” beta “.

Another thing that I noticed with G+ was that the G+ Community Managers were very good at telling us all about new features and plans.

Recently a feature was launched whereby if you clicked on the G+ symbol on a piece of content ( one not on G+ as far as you knew )  not only were you ” voting ” on this content but also you were able to ” share ” it on G+.

It seems very likely that content that comes up high in a Google search in the future will be influenced by those that G+ and share that content.

I suppose that rural, regional, countryside airports are in my blood although in my case they are military ( Royal Air Force ) airfields.

I was born on R.A.F. Wattisham ( an R.A.F. and  U.S.A.A.F. –  479th Fighter Group – airfield ) near Stowmarket in Suffolk, England because my father was an aircraft technician in the R.A.F. and then moved with him and my mother to various R.A.F. stations in the U.K. and Germany – e.g. Colerne, Hullavington, Gaydon, Oldenberg, Geilenkirchen, Gütersloh , Church Lawford.

These were just a few of the many R.A.F. stations that existed in the U.K. ( http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_former_RAF_stations ) and Germany ( http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Royal_Air_Force_Germany ) in the 1950’s and 60’s.

Many of these airfields became private when the Ministry of Defence disposed of them. ( http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_airports_in_the_United_Kingdom )

My reintroduction to the world of the private, countryside airfield came when building my I.T. company, Voyager, and we had our first office in Wellesbourne House , Warwickshire near which was Wellesbourne Airfield (   http://www.wellesbourneairfield.com/ ).

Wellesbourne House became the centre of operations and Head Office for our growing I.T. company.

and we gradually took over a large portion of the business park with our main offices in Wellesbourne House itself. Wellesbourne House had a very appropriate U.K. and U.S. connection as we expanded our operations to London and New York. ( Wellesbourne House had belonged to  http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Juliette_Gordon_Low – the founder of the Girl Scouts of the U.S.A. ).

One of our salespeople was also a private pilot and had a share in a Cessna single engine plane. We had decided that we would entertain some of our customers from London City Banks J.P. Morgan and Merrill Lynch by taking them to the iconic sailing event,Cowes Week, based from the Isle of Wight ( 2 of the Directors of Voyager were keen yachtsmen ).

Whilst most of our customers would make their own way to Cowes we would fly down to Elstree ( http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Elstree_Airfield ) pick up one of our customers and then fly on down to Sandown ( http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Isle_of_Wight/Sandown_Airport ).

Elstree Airport

Sandown Airport

Sandown Airport is right by the sea.

Elstree Aerodrome originates from the 1930’s and 40’s when there was a Country Club and polo ground on the Aldenham House Estate and many of the polo players had their own aircraft (  http://www.firecrestaviation.co.uk/documents/History%20of%20Elstree%20Aerodrome.pdf ) like the Puss and Leapord Moth.

Leopard Moth

The flight from Wellesbourne to Elstree and then on to Sandown and back is a story in it’s own right and part of the folklore of Voyager.

As we drove from Wellesbourne House to Wellesbourne Airfield you could imagine Juliette and her husband doing the same thing ( in a slightly older vehicle ! ). They often travelled from Wellesbourne to London.

Certainly they loved horses and polo. Maybe they also like yachting

so a trip to the Isle of Wight was not out of the question either. Elstree is of course famous for it’s film studios ( http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Elstree_Studios ) and in the 50’s were owned by Douglas Fairbanks Jnr ( http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Douglas_Fairbanks_Jr ) so it is likely that famous film actors and actresses flew into Elstree Airodrome.

The use of regional private airports is being boosted by new initiatives like those of

https://socialflights.com/

and

http://ejone.net/

who are encouraging people to try private flights from regional airports instead of the present norm of travelling to huge airports and packing like cattle into ever bigger jets.

Bring the romance, beauty and mystery back into your flight plans !!!

http://www.terminalu.com/travel-news/fly-on-a-private-jet-for-150-with-social-flights/9550/

http://mashable.com/2011/05/24/social-flight/

http://www.fastcompany.com/1753756/social-flights-puts-private-flying-within-reach-of-the-everyday-traveler

Sunday Times Tech Track 100 company 365 iT is set to further accelerate its growth with a new office in the City of London .

February 2011

365 iT was recently ranked 15th out of the fastest growing technology companies in the UK according to the prestigious TechTrack league table.

It now starts 2011 with further ambitious expansion plans by opening a new London office to meet the accelerating growth opportunities in the financial, legal and property services sectors.

With a growing portfolio of managed service offerings, backed by best-in-class vendor partnerships which include Cisco, Microsoft, Citrix,

Verint, Zeacom, IBM and VMware, 365 iT is excellently positioned to deliver IT solutions that are relevant to the needs of both existing and

new clients in key market sectors.

Commenting on the new offices Peter MacLean, 365 iT plc’s chairman and chief executive, said: “Based on our success with London clients

last year it has become evident that many companies are increasingly looking for a technology services partner that can meet all of their requirements whether it is a new communications system or a virtualization solution. Furthermore local service and support is key to these businesses hence the new offices.”

In addition to providing a base for a new sales and support team the new office in the heart of the City at Old Broad Street will offer clients an excellent venue for technology briefings, business seminars and demonstrations.

The key focus of the new team will be to work with clients to help them understand and justify how technology investments can significantly support business initiatives such as security and compliance, client service, real-time collaboration and business continuity.

MacLean adds: “An experienced team has already been recruited and  the office is open for business. The next stage is to work with our supplier partners to deliver a series of seminars and workshops at the offices which demonstrate the  true business benefits of the technologies and services we are proposing. The first seminar: Collaborative communications that meets FSA compliance is scheduled for March. Others scheduled for later in the year which will focus on critical issues in the legal and property services sectors.”