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Why Businesses Operating in Non-Tech Industries Should Hire a Fractional CTO

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The popularity of the Internet has opened a number of possibilities for entrepreneurs and large corporations regardless of whether they belong to the tech or the non-tech industries. These days, businesses can now attract customers not only from their own locality but from around the world as well. Targeting and gaining more customers, though, involve more than just advertising the products and services of a particular business. For a business to gain better leverage across markets, it has to use technology-based processes that may require a lot of hard work and enough knowledge on the latest technologies.

For instance, a start-up business needs to have a strong online presence in order to reach a wider range of customers. To achieve this, the business has to put up a website and create social media accounts. The creation of a website may seem like a simple task, especially with all the free platforms available online. But what many do not know is that websites, particularly those used for business purposes, should be created with proper planning and with the right designs and features for it to work as intended. For this purpose, business owners should forego using a free platform and instead have a professionally created portal designed specifically for their needs. Apart from website design, business owners also must consider getting all the right extras that will help protect their business and their customers as well. Websites, as everyone may already know, are prone to cyber hacking that put business owners and their customers in danger of privacy breach.

But what if the business is a start-up and do not have the means to hire its own manpower to handle the technological aspect of the business? What if the business owner is not techy enough to understand the technological advancements required to keep the business running smoothly? This is where hiring a Fractional Chief Technology Officer (CTO) comes in handy.

What is a Fractional CTO?

A Fractional CTO is just one of the many types of CTOs that can be hired to help with the technological aspect of running a business. Other types include interim CTO, part-time CTO, and full-time CTO.   

Unlike all other types of CTOs, the Fractional CTOs can be hired by companies for only a fraction of the project duration and for a fraction of the project’s entire cost. This means that they can be hired only as the need arises. This type of CTO is best for start-ups and small businesses and even for large organizations that do not have a need for a full-time CTO.

What a Fractional CTO Can Do for Non-Tech Businesses

It does not matter whether the business is in the tech or the non-tech industry. Any type of business that needs to use technology in its operations can make use of a Fractional CTO to help achieve its objectives. Below are just some of the many responsibilities that these professionals can handle on behalf of the business owners or the management:

  1. Collaborate with developers and the IT department regarding the best actions to take to improve the websites, online presence, and other technological processes required for better business operations
  2. Oversee the maintenance of computers and computer-related operations
  3. Establish a solid technological strategy that can help the business reach its objectives
  4. Create and manage product road maps
  5. Develop a scalable product
  6. Manage company infrastructure
  7. Map out strategies that may help solve technological problems within the organization
  8. Ensure that technology is properly distributed not only among the company’s internal IT teams but also among customers
  9. Establish partnerships with technology vendors
  10. Ensure that the right technologies are used and utilized by the right staff

Overall, a Fractional CTO can offer a cost-effective management of the company’s entire technological department.

A Fractional CTO is perfect for small businesses and start-ups. They are also good for large organizations that have less experienced top-level managers. These professionals can help mentor newly hired executives and can assist in creating an efficient IT team. 

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Technology

Why Small-to-Medium-Sized Businesses Need Orchestration Cloud Software

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Small-to-medium-sized businesses (SMEs) are crucial in the creation of jobs and earning opportunities. They are considered as drivers of economic growth and development. They help people across varied levels of society to find self-gratification by earning for themselves and their families.

Problems Faced by SMEs

Despite the continuous growth of SMEs, it cannot be argued that they face certain challenges that make it difficult for them to grow. Below are some of the challenges that most SMEs face:

  1. Lack of funds. Most SMEs have difficulty raising money. It is often hard for them to gain access to finance. Most, if not all banks often prefer to offer financial help to large corporations because of they have lower risks of default.
  2. Limited resources. Most SMEs have limited access to the right markets, technology, skilled manpower, and market information.
  3. Subject to instability. SMEs often bend during hard times. Most may not be able to continue when met with certain issues.
  4. Lack of entrepreneurial know-how, zeal, and capacity. Most SME owners are still in the process of learning different strategies of the business. Since they are mostly on their own, they may not be able to continue once they are faced with serious issues.
  5. Cannot compete against larger firms in terms of product innovation, technological processes, organization, and R&D expenditure. This is because they do not have ample funds and resources to spend on innovation, organization, technological processes, and many more.

Most SMEs also have limited information structure. They also face high market competition.

How SMEs Can Tackle Development Challenges

Small-to-medium enterprises may face a number of challenges that deter them to grow as much as they would like to, but this does not mean that they cannot go past these hardships. There are ways to tackle these challenges and some of them are the following:

  1. Diversifying their finance channels. Most banks stay away from SMEs because of their unstable cash flows. Banks, however, are not the only means for SMEs to gain financing. They can get financial assistance from other sources, such as the government and credit companies. Governments often have programs designed specifically to help SMEs with their financial issues, helping them get to their feet and gain momentum. Private credit companies also offer SMEs financial assistance.
  2. Collaborating with other businesses with better access to resources. Collaboration is also key to gaining new knowledge on business processes, technological advancements, and many more.
  3. Gaining more knowledge about the industry. This helps them keep track of the changes and latest market trends in the industry.
  4. Automating repetitive tasks and consolidating business processes. Automation helps in keeping processes easier. It also helps SMEs keep track of everything business-related without too much difficulty on their part.

Orchestration Cloud Software and Why Small-to-Medium Enterprises Need Them

An orchestration cloud software is a tool that helps ease the day-to-day operations of businesses no matter their size. This software is especially beneficial to SMEs as it can take loads of work off their staff who may already be swamped with various responsibilities. The use of an orchestration cloud software offers the following benefits to SMEs:

  1.   Enhanced efficiency in the workplace. Workers no longer have to manually perform certain tasks. Processes, such as work scheduling and initiating plans can be automated, allowing both higher management and their staff to have more time on the more important aspects of the business. Automation also increases efficiency because it reduces the potential of workers to commit mistakes.
  2. Automatic monitoring of conditions in the workplace. The software can automatically give alerts and reports when unexpected conditions happen in the workplace. It can also help find the problem and formulate solutions.
  3. Simplify data integrations across channels. It can also automatically apply the right governance and security policies.

Overall, an orchestration cloud software can help SMEs manage their various business operations better. Even if they lack the know-how on certain processes, they may still gain the potential to grow their ventures when their processes are automated. Automation keeps loads of work off their shoulders. It also helps them to become more competitive. It can even help them keep track of their finances, allowing them to find better solutions to problems that they may face along the way.

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Product Review

Rade Store Philippines: Legit or Scam?

Two years ago, August 7, 2020 to be exact, I sent Rade Store Philippines an inquiry about their dashcams. You see, they have wonderful ads on Facebook, and they even use celebrities and influencers in their advertisements. With known personalities advertising their dashcams, one would think that this store is legit and trustworthy. But are they really?

Since I have read many complaints about Rade Store in social media, particularly on Facebook, I thought of writing my own review about the business. In this review, I will talk about my own experience with Rade Store and the dashcams they are selling.

Rade Store Philippines

Based on their Facebook page, Rade Store Philippines is a provider of car accessories complete with home installations in the following areas: Cavite, Bulacan, Laguna, Rizal, Manila, Batangas, Pampanga, Pangasinan, Nueva Ecija, Quezon Province, Tarlac, and Subic. They also claim to offer COD deliveries nationwide. More than 200 thousand people follow their page, and probably a good number of these followers may have already purchased from them.

Rade Store Dashcams

My first inquiry may have been sent on August 2020, but it was not until October 2021 that I finally decided to buy dashcams from them. I bought two units: an F11+ and a Q11Pro. Before I made that decision, I sent them several inquiries to make sure that they are legit and that the products they will be providing us will be of high quality and will give us value for money. For each inquiry, they were always quick to respond. The page admin or whoever was responding to my queries was patient enough to go through the details of my inquiries and to give me a clear description of each dashcam’s features. The quick response and the fact that they seem to be a trustworthy business because of their use of known personalities to advertise their business made me seal the deal. I was excited to finally be able to install a dashcam for our cars. So, I made the purchase.

Dashcam Installation

The dashcams were delivered three days after I confirmed my order. The installer was patient enough to explain how the units work. He also made sure to orient my husband on how to go about the different features of the dashcam. Installation went well and we were able to use the dashcams afterward with no problems whatsoever.

After Sales Experience

I was told that both the QCY F11+ and the QCY Q11 Pro dashcams have a 30-month warranty. Warranties are always included in my considerations before I purchase any device or appliance. I am in the belief that products that have longer warranty periods are high quality and can withstand years of proper use. Rade’s 30-month warranty seemed like a good deal, so it further helped in convincing me to purchase their dashcams.  

In April 2022, the dashcam installed in one of our cars encountered a problem. It stopped recording and showed an “insert SD card again” error. I contacted Rade via messenger and I was told to hard reset the unit. The problem persisted. After two days, I contacted Rade again and told them that hard reset did not work. I received no response for a few days. A week after, Rade told me to contact their warranty team via phone, email, or FB account for immediate assistance. I was given two phone numbers for this purpose. I tried all three options. All three options failed. All my messages were ignored. I tried calling by phone, but those numbers were either unattended or my calls were simply ignored. Text messages were also not answered. By August 9, I finally messaged them with an ultimatum. I told them I would write a review of their service in my blog and social media accounts.

Finally, I was able to get through them.

A Rade Store representative contacted me and asked what the problem was. By this time, the unit was also overheating. The representative insisted that overheating was normal, to which I disagreed. After a few discussions, she sent a technician to check my unit.  

Problem Solved

Both the “insert SD card again” error and the overheating problems were caused by faulty SD card according to the technician. I have tried changing the SD card when I received no response to my assistance requests from Rade but all those SD cards did not work for reasons I do not know. Fortunately, the technician had an extra SD card with him and it solved the problem.

Verdict

Despite the problem I encountered with Rade Store, I can say that the store is legit. The only problem I encountered with them is their lack of after sales support. So far, other than the problem with the faulty SD card, the dashcam units are working just fine. They have been installed in our cars for almost a year now.

Overall, here are the pros and cons of using Rade as your dashcam provider:

Pros:

  • Fast installation service
  • Free home service installation around Cavite, Bulacan, Laguna, Rizal, Manila, Batangas, Pampanga, Pangasinan, Nueva Ecija, Quezon Province, Tarlac, and Subic
  • COD deliveries are available

Cons:

  • Hard to contact for warranty claims. Their after-sales support service is almost non-existent. You have to contact them repeatedly if you have a problem with your dashcam units. You have to have exemplary patience if you encounter problems with your dashcam as it can be quite frustrating to get their attention before they send a technician on your way.

How about you? What is your experience with Rade Philippines? Share your experience with us in the comment section.

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