Our "Cloud" update...

Hello again,

Over the last year we have been moving Waterwell to "The Cloud". 

We set out on this course with a view to providing a better level of service to our customers whilst saving the business money and time.

I had previously researched the idea about 4 years ago but at that time the choice of software was limited and the risk was too great. Since then though, things have moved on rapidly and when I revisited the options in the second half of 2010, I was delighted to see the possibilities unfold.

We set ourselves a challenge of introducing, testing and refining our Cloud within a 12 month period with a view to getting rid of our server before the end of 2011 if the project proved to be a success.

Initially, we introduced the iPads and our choice of CRM software to just the Maintenance Engineers who, in their work, have to visit over 500 customers in a short period of time in the Spring. We developed a simple Job Sheet app that the Engineers populated when they visited a client and was then automatically stored directly in the client's account, on the cloud. 

Buoyed by this success, we have now broadened the use to everyone in the business, everyone uses and Ipad (with iMacs in the office) and we have now introduced an accounting package to work in harmony with the CRM package. 

The reality is that when a new customer calls the business, their details are securely keyed directly into the CRM package, emailed plans are also stored along with the estimate, acceptance form, details of any customer contact, photos and anything else that relates to the client or the site. Product can be ordered via the iPad and sent to site and then, when the job is complete, the invoicing completes the cycle.

In terms of results. From a customer point of view, the Engineers have all the information at their finger tips and can answer any questions immediately. From a business point of view, because the Engineers don't now have to come into the office in the morning we have gained about 15% productivity and the guys are happy that they don't have to sit in traffic all day long. 

We are now completely committed to working with iPads and on the Cloud and we won't be turning back. For us, this has been a win:win and if you were wondering, we got rid of the server just before Christmas.

Until next time...

100% Design Show

Hello again,

The 100% Design Show is currently on at Earl's Court once again and as ever, it aims to showcase all that is new in design from around the world. It includes bathrooms, fabrics, lighting, accessories, furniture, materials, flooring, kitchens and much, much more.

Part of my job is to attend (rather than exhibit luckily) various shows both in the UK and occasionally in Europe and on the whole they could best be described as tedious. It nearly always involves traipsing up and down endless aisles hoping to find something new and interesting whilst ensuring you catch up with your existing contacts and suppliers.

To my mind, trade shows are generally, as Samuel Johnson once put it, "a triumph of hope over experience".

To be fair though, 100% Design has generally bucked the trend and managed to stay fresh and interesting when all others around it have flagged.

It started off as a slightly alternative show, with relatively small companies demonstrating their wares. Year by year, it grew quickly and took in much grander architectural elements and extra halls at Earls Court. Presumably though, they have felt the effect of the economic slowdown and 100% Design is now about the same size as when it began, a really nice size to get around in a morning.

Fortunately, 100% Design still manages to showcase the work of small companies and students too, which is a credit to the organisers. This is unlike another show which I used to actually look forward to, Ecobuild.

Ecobuild also started off as a relatively small show demonstrating alternative building methods and environmental building products. However, it is now a massive show, totally swamped by the big corporations who have seen that there is "gold in them there hills" and will try to do anything to look "green and eco".

Coming back to !00% Design, my hope is always to try and find one or two companies, in our sector, that are designing and making something new and interesting. This year, I came across a company called Kirv, a British company who are manufacturing these really nice garden seats. They are beautifully made out of bent, stainless steel tube which is then powder coated to a RAL colour of your choice. Well designed, comfortable and innovative, a great example of a British company doing their thing.

Until next time...

"Get the duck out of here"

Hello again

You've got to love a 5 foot duck haven't you. I photographed this one in the garden of a small hotel in Belcastel, France.

It made me smile

Until next time...

Spring flowers, it doesn't get better than this

Crikey, what a fabulous Spring

Hello again,

There's no doubt that spring has sprung, and sprung early. We haven't had an early period of prolonged warm and sunny weather for many years and it is quite a change. A sunny Aintree for the Grand National, no April showers, no late frosts (yet)- just wall-to-wall sunshine for about six weeks (at least, where we are).

I have to say, I haven't heard many complaints about the weather except perhaps from gardeners, who, like farmers, are never happy with their lot; it's always too cold, too wet, too dry, too windy. Like prima ballerinas, it's all tutu. And yes, I count myself in the former group (gardeners) at least, from an allotment point of view.

Instead of the usual slow start to the allotment year in which I consistently prove that I don't have the patience to wait for the soil to warm up, this season has got off to a flying start - I've been like a whippet out of the trap.

Normally, I sow seeds in pots too early and they either go leggy or I plant them out in the cold ground and they sit there and look miserable for weeks or even months. Normally, I optimistically sow on the allotment early in the hope of early crops only to stare abject failure in the face. Normally, I stand there wet and shivering, thinking "I wonder how those old allotment fellas seem to get good crops, year after year?"

This year though, it's been hectic; early potatoes in, followed by cabbage, broad beans, pak choi, parsnips, lettuce, carrots, peas and spinach. At the house, I've sown french beans, courgette, squash, sprouts, plum tomato, cherry tomato, sprouting broccoli and flowers for cutting like Echinacea and Aster. It's been all go since the beginning of March,

How's the rest of the season going to pan out? Well I have now at least learnt one thing about allotment gardening; don't try to guess, work with what you have got and do your best because it never, never goes to plan.

Until next time...

A cloud on the horizon!

Hello again,


Ordinarily, to an irrigation company, clouds are definitely a mixed blessing. 


Waterwell is a service business, part of a sector that generates a mind boggling 3/4 of the UK gross domestic product. It is vital therefore, for the economic health of the nation, that the service sector is efficient, productive and profitable.  


Over the last six months we have gone through a complete assessment followed by a total re-organisation of Waterwell. We looked at every aspect of the business and asked the questions; how can we do this better and what more can we do for our customers?


As a result of this rather brutal, cold-blooded process, we have rebuilt the business, from the ground up, hopefully to take us through the next decade. Part of that rebuilding is that our business system will be now be cloud based. 


What is cloud computing?


Think of cloud computing as something like renting your IT over the internet; a specialist company provides the server space and the software, you provide the data and your company accesses it all over the internet - you just pay a monthly premium for the privilage. 


Why do it?

• It's quick to set up, highly effective and requires no up front capital expenditure. 
• It's flexible; if you don't like the software or the company starts to waver then vote with your feet and move to another.
• It is constantly being improved; the provider wants your business so it's in their interest to keep improving their offering.
• It's ideally suited to service businesses especially if your staff are out and about and on the road

From our point of view, it will enable us to provide better service for our customers, hopefully every time.

If this all sounds a bit alien then worry not, it isn't. You are probably already using cloud computing without realising it - think Facebook, Flickr etc

Until next time...

Pressure!

Hello again

My kids want a dog, they really want a dog, they don't want to hear excuses, they don't want to hear justifications for not getting one - they just want a dog.

I have had to resist in a grown up parent kind of way, spouting on with "who's going to take it out", "who's going to clean up after it" etc but mostly I have resisted because we don't have the right sort of car to move a dog in; I have an Audi TT and my wife has a Fiat 500, neither of which can accommodate a dog cage - what am I supposed to do?

I thought that this kind of logic would make sense and that they would "understand" the point I was making. Sadly not, all they hear when I resist is "no" followed by "blah, blah, blah" and nothing except "yes, let's go and get a cute puppy" will do.

Just to ram the point home, they went to their school Christmas Fair on Saturday and returned with a little reminder for me!!

Until next time...