Business IT

Data backup is arguably the most critical function in IT. If you can’t recover your data when systems crash, malware strikes or disaster occurs, your business may not recover, either.

The COVID-19 pandemic is affecting recent merger and acquisition (M&A) activity, but in ways you might not expect. Yes, the number of merger and acquisition deals is expected to decrease due to stock volatility and increased business risk. However, savvy dealmakers can often find merger and acquisition targets at lower premiums during an economic downturn. M&A deals can also provide opportunities for growth when revenue streams are uncertain, and the cost efficiencies that come with consolidation and economies of scale.

We all know how important it is to start any significant effort on the right foot. This is particularly true for projects in which, as is often the case, either the project manager or the customer liaison (who I will refer to as the “customer”) are not the same people who negotiated and signed the contract. The very beginning of the project is the time for both parties to review the project documents together, make sure they both agree on what is to be done, and uncover and resolve any undocumented expectations that either party has. 

The customer often does not understand the interrelationship between a project’s budget, time, and scope. Early in the life of a project, a good project manager should discuss this relationship with the customer, and ensure that everyone understands how attempts to adjust one or two of these automatically adjusts the third.