We are so much used to waking up every morning, getting ready to go to work. Nobody knew that a time would come when we would all be forced to stay at home and work from there. Many were confused on how, we would be able to work from home especially when we are all working in different fields. Thanks to Google, all answers that we need are there. There are so many tools that we can use while working from home to accomplish the same goals that we try to achieve everyday while going to work. Some of these tools are discussed below;
Stable Internet
Stable, strong Wi-Fi at home is an important thing at this moment. A reliable Internet connection is no longer a frivolous wish, but an increasingly necessary tool now that so many employees are working from home.
With stable Internet You can check email without delay. You can go to websites and not run into unexpectedly long loading times. A stable connection is a lot like a road without traffic. With unstable Internet you could lose out on potential customers, miss important emails, or slow your employees’ efficiency down to a crawl.
Email
Imagine you walk into your office in the morning and the first thing you do is check your emails. What makes it different while working from home? It makes it easier to communicate to clients and colleagues via mail as compared to making a phone call or sending a text message. Unlike other forms of communication, emails are more reliable when it comes to passing official communication to people. They can easily be accessed at the convenience of the recipient and are not bias to the time of day that one should send an email. It’s also fast to send official documents via email since just clicking a button does it. Emails also are more economical to use since one only spends very little to communicate.
Online document filling
We fill documents in order to store vital information for future reference. It becomes hard to fill these documents manually while working from home and send them to relevant people on time. While this is the case, filling these documents online is the easiest and most effective way of storing information. It saves on costs of printing and filing, the information is safer online since its free from loss, the information can be easily retrieved by just clicking a button and it also saves people time by sharing the document to as many people as possible using emails.
Online accounting to enable generation of Quotations, Invoices and Receipts
Most of us think that it is only people who are in the field of IT are able to work from home. Coming to think of it, technology has not only advanced in the field of IT but it cuts across all fields accounting being one of them. There are many existing online platforms that enable the generation of quotations, invoices and receipts among other things entailed in accounting. These tools can be accessed by anyone across the globe so long as they are connected to the Internet.
Online meeting applications –Zoom
The sudden and unexpected coronavirus, or COVID-19, pandemic has had a drastic impact on the way people work in just a few months. Many organizations are relying on technology and application such as a Zoom to allow their employees to work remotely and stay safe.
Zoom is the current go-to videoconference platform, and has the best video webinar functionality. It also allows users to record meetings and has group collaboration capabilities. Users can create groups and instantly send text, image, or audio files to the members of those groups.
Online and Integrated payment Mpesa and online banking system
We are very fortunate to be living in the era where Mpesa has become the norm instead of using paper money. This has made businesses work more efficiently since one can send money through Mpesa to purchase a product regardless of where they are. Many online platforms that people use to sell and market their products have integrated payment through Mpesa, which has increased security of the money and has also made businesses grow at a very high rate. Online banking as another feature of transferring money, has saved so many businesses since one doesn’t have to go to the ATM in order to purchase a product. Both Mpesa and online banking system are very useful in enabling people work from home in a more efficient and effective manner.
Cloud hosted business applications
Just as the name “cloud” suggests, these business applications can be accessed from anywhere so long as one has Internetconnection. What this means is, even while working from home, one is able to use these applications to grow their business and share information with fellow colleagues and clients.
Conclusion
As an organization we have had first hand experience with most of our employees working from home and we can attest its experience, which has given us a whole new perspective.
Being an IT firm we can help your organization set up all the tools discussed above and enhance your employees to efficiently work at home be productive and observe the much needed social distance as we fight the Corona virus
Throughout the world, startups have come up and thrived, and existing businesses have reworked and fine-tuned their operating models to better serve their customers, be more efficient and increase their revenues.
Often, though, businesses make the mistake of assuming that good ideas just happen; or even worse, we get caught up in the mind trap that creativity is an aptitude where some people are born with it while others just don’t have it. Then, there is even another self-defeating belief that makes success even harder to grasp; “I am not intelligent enough to come up with good ideas.”
Well, for the many of us trapped in this whirlpool, an emerging way of thinking reassures that, to prosper, enterprises actually require a unified business model generation tool that combines the experience of the entire team through structured, tangible, and strategic conversations around new business ideas, shared on a common canvas.
This tool resembles a painter’s canvas, pre-formatted puzzle with the nine blocks, which allows you to paint pictures of new or existing business ideas. The Business Model Canvas (BMC) works best when printed out on a large surface so that groups of people can jointly start sketching and discussing business model elements with sticky notes or board markers. It is a hands-on tool that fosters understanding, discussion, creativity, and analysis.
Central to any successful business is the customer. We complete the puzzle by pairing the BMC with the Value Proposition Canvas (VPC), that which persuades customers to choose your products or services over another. Each Value Proposition consists of a selected bundle of products and or services that caters to the requirements of a specific Customer Segment. In this sense, your Value Proposition is an aggregation, or bundle, of benefits that your enterprise offers customers. Some Value Propositions may be innovative and representative of new or disruptive offers, while others may be similar to existing market offerings, but with added features and twists.
It therefore goes without saying that Value Proposition is all about the customer. Intimately knowing your customers is the first key step towards capturing their aspirations. Appreciating the things that block them from completing their jobs, herein referred to as “Pains”, the reasons they are seeking a new solution; the positive effects the customer yearns to realize by completing their jobs or from using a product or service, herein referred to as “Gains”, including their larger ambitions and desires; and finally the customer’s functional, emotional, social and supporting ‘jobs’, herein referred to as “Goals”, form the guiding principles of what products and services you ought to provide, to relieve the pains of the customer and create the gains they desire.
‘Magic’ will then start to happen when businesses find the perfect balance for the customer needs and expectations on the one hand, and the supplier’s products and solutions on the other hand.
Evidently, BMC and VPC have had many early adopters across the developed world, and the influence continues to grow in these regions. In African, and at DewCIS in sessions delivered through our workshops, we believe that with increased interest towards entrepreneurship and innovation, both the BMC and VPC would be useful tools for startups as well as for established firms in their search for the ‘Magic’.
Rapidly changing social and business environments create a need for software development methodologies to be adaptable and produce high quality software in a very short time. This means that developers need to be thoroughly trained not only in technology but also in project management techniques. Some of the project management techniques used in modern software development, such as Agile methodologies and Scrum, can only be learned by hands-on experience. Opportunities for many software developers in Kenya to gain skills by participating in projects using these techniques are limited.
Two Kenyan companies have teamed up with a Dutch software firm to overcome this problem through a training scheme called CodePamoja.
What is CodePamoja?
CodePamoja is a vocational training program where Kenyan developers learn how to work to international quality standards using the latest project management techniques. The training focuses on complementing technical skills acquired from undergraduate level training with up-to-date project management experience and exposure to Enterprise Software Development techniques.
A unique opportunity
CodePamoja trainees learn by collaborating with developers in the EU on real projects. This is a unique opportunity to gain experience in the latest project management methods and software tooling by working with more experienced developers – people who have worked on some of the largest software development projects in Europe.
How it works
CodePamoja uses a buddy system where Kenyan developers collaborate with developers in the Netherlands in Virtual Teams. The emphasis is on knowledge sharing and there is no set training agenda or syllabus. People attending CodePamoja can work part-time or full-time, with reasonably flexible hours. Typically someone will attend CodePamoja for around three months depending on skills levels. Multiple projects can be in progress at any one time, people may work on more than one project simultaneously and may join projects at any stage in their lifecycle from design to deployment. The virtual teams and projects are coordinated using Scrum, which means regular meetings and discussions to review project progress.
What can you expect at the end?
After attending the CodePamoja program developers will understand how modern systems are built using Enterprise software development techniques. An understanding of the importance of teamwork will have been developed. Attendees will have learnt how to produce high quality software and keep up with rapid development cycles by making use of Agile methodologies and Scrum. Technical skills will be enhanced through exposure to tooling (e.g. git, Grunt, Gulp, SASS). Programming skills will be enhanced depending on needs and wishes of the individual.
The Ideal Applicant:
Candidate trainees are recent graduates with a BSc. Computer Science or Bachelors in Business IT (BBIT Degree) from a reputable university. Applicants must possess basic skills in one or more programming languages (Java, JavaScript, PHP etc), a scripting language, HTML & CSS and/or database management.
How to Apply
1.Click on https://portal.dewcis.com/hr/application.jsp?view=1:0 2. If you have created your credentials before, login and apply for the post. 3. If new applicant, fill in details in Applicant, save all the details. After saving, a login username and password are sent to your email. 4. Login to the Dewcis portal with these credentials. 5. Fill in all details as required: Applicant’s details
Address
Education
Employment
Seminars
Projects
Skills
Referees
Save all these details
6. Internship – > Internship posts -> Click on ‘Apply for internship’
7. You will get an email confirming the application
NB;In case you are stuck on your application process please go to the
“Innovation is the calling card of the future…” Anna Eshoo
The world is on the move. A report by World Tourism Organization (WTO), estimates that by 2030 a global population of 8.5 billion people will take approximately 2 billion international trips. People are travelling more than ever, further than before, and faster!
The travel industry has had to transform itself to adapt to this shift. The basic unit of the travel industry, the travel agency, has had to forge itself afresh from the agent of ‘yore’ to a forward-thinking, innovative travel partner of the modern age. The biggest catalyst for this reinvention has been the emergence of a savvier consumer. One driven by passions, influenced by and adaptable to whims and trends and who is harnessing the power of technology.
The modern traveler has more control over their travel. Technology has bridged the gap between those with information/experience, and those seeking it. The modern traveler is leveraging this tool, search engines, social media, aggregators and apps.
The modern traveler wants a more personalized, tailor-made travel experience. With content that speaks to individual needs. Their demands cut across conventional travel and tour packages where. For the most part, the modern traveler is calling the shots. He is a master negotiator; he does his homework on every aspect of travel. The travel agent is no longer dictating the terms. He is now a travel partner expected to facilitate the traveler’s needs.
Technology as a Tool in a Travel Agency
Like any tool in any other profession/industry/craft, wielding the right technology, the right way and harnessing it’s potential to the maximum makes all the difference. You would be hard pressed to find a business process that has not and cannot be digitized or automated. While technology has made all this possible, it is constantly adapting to consumer needs and trends.
Adopt Environmentally responsible travel: “…I’m am Green…”
Technology gave us a paperless environment. The world is embracing eco-friendly, sustainable, renewable, recyclable, green business practices more and more. No more paper airline tickets, boarding passes and hotel vouchers. E-tickets and E-vouchers, QR codes and NFC. The new traveler abhors waste and will pay more to save the planet and reduce his carbon foot-print. Technology allows us to buy and check-in online. No need to commute for this. Airbnb’s beat a hotel in that the running costs for the owner are lower, and the experience is more ‘home-like’ & cheaper for the traveler.
Adopt Cost and Time saving practices: “…Click-Click-Cash…”
Online transactions mean we save time otherwise spent commuting to the travel agency. The traveler saves time and money that they could very well put back in the travel package. The agency too no longer needs to set up shop at every corner up every street. This means a leaner staff, lower wage bill (medical, insurance, benefits etc.) Running costs are lower for the agency so they can afford to offer their customers discounts.
Diversify. Language is no longer a barrier: “…Hello World…”
The modern traveler no longer considers language a barrier to selecting a travel destination. Technology exists that allows for easy translations of text in books, speech, signs, etc. This means the travel agent can offer up any destination as a choice the customer.
The travel agency would be wise to market itself with packages covering regions beyond the usual destinations. The more off the beaten path, the better. They should also build capacity to handle clients from these destinations too, because they are coming.
Offer a Seamless Experience: “…From Hero-to-Home…”
The modern traveler demands a travel experience devoid of interruptions. There are apps to notify them how long their cab will take, they get mobile alerts when their flight is delayed, they have directions to their hotel from the airport, seaport before they set off. They expect that bus or airline ticket to be a guarantee that everything has been put in place to ensure their safe and comfortable travel experience. And should any glitches arise, the turnaround in solving them should be fast. Only way this is possible is by maintain contact with the traveler at all times. Not just to fix problems for them, but also to gather feedback from them concerning their experience on real-time. The traveler is left to do the most important part of the process. Enjoy a worry-free trip.
By designing a platform that provides real time information on flights and other travel arrangements, travel agencies can help business travelers save time.
E-Commerce: “…a moment of silence for fanny packs… : -\”
Electronic payments are fast taking over commerce. They are safer, more reliable and faster. Online banking, money transfer apps, mobile payment platforms, all these and more should be modes acceptable and embraced by the modern travel agent.
Partnerships with financial institutions to assist their clients do business with them is a definite plus. Build a secure platform for online commerce with customers, and you will keep them. The technology for this is mature; tried and tested.
4IR is rapidly changing the tourism and travel industry. Consumers are in the driver’s seat and they are flexing their power by dictating terms and imposing their tastes and needs. Travel agencies are faced with better informed consumers, with more power and with higher expectations in relation to what they expect from providers.
“Everything is personal these days.
Technology has allowed us to seek out customizable travel experiences as opposed to going for prepackaged ones. Search engines, aggregator websites, internet bloggers and critiques with their reviews and insight. There is a vast pool of information about almost every imaginable travel destination and experience out there.
Millennials want their experience to be as unique as they are. There are real-time reviews on Websites and people get to post their genuine experience regarding their travel experience. The Agencies online presence can incorporate these via social media platforms and websites.
Connections: “…networks & partnerships…”
Social media is a tool of both trade and lifestyle. Leveraging this for business is no longer just a good idea. It is a requirement. Apps to connect the destinations to the agency and the traveler help track and gather feedback necessary to make smarter and more accurate/relevant decisions. Reputation translates to revenue. Shares, Likes, Follows, Tweets-Retweets, Hash-tags, Live etc. are the new currency. #travelenjoyrespect
Artificial Intelligence, albeit still relatively new, will assist with the creation of feedback loops allowing travelers to comment and rate different aspects of their trip, thus improving future experiences. Watch out for Blockchain technology too and its potential to revolutionize the industry by providing better data communication.
Big data for those that can process it is a gold mine. Access to more and more information about the tastes and activities of travelers at destinations, recognizing trends in the seasonality of demand, and other key factors of tourist behavior are fundamental in the development of product linked strategies. A travel agent and or service provider can use it to better understand trends, predict outcomes and develop more personalized services for their clients. The processing and management of Big Data by smart destinations helps to enrich the visitor experience and compete more effectively.
A recent report from the World Travel and Tourism Council and Travelport revealed that business travel accounts for $1.3 trillion of global travel spending annually, and is set to rise at 3.7% per annum over the next ten years.
One key reason for this impressive growth has been the industry’s adoption of pioneering technology. Leverage this market with some after-work leisure travel and you are a travel partner with vision.
“A dream will not become an innovation if there is no realization…” Ciputra
In a wrap, travel agencies have to adapt to the modern traveler by harnessing modern technology and looking out for emerging ones. Then use these tools for intelligent data gathering and management, analyzing the market in real time, studying and predicting travel trends, adapting business processes to change in the shortest time, all these practices are vital to stay afloat in the new travel world.
Facilitate cold and warm calls to prospective leads
Constantly communicate with leads and customers via email(follow ups)
Answer all lead and customer questions accurately
Prioritize and/or escalate lead and customer questions as needed
Create and deliver client presentations, especially power points
Perform cost-benefit analysis for prospective customers
Promote specific products as directed by upper management
Inform leads and customers of current promotions and discounts
Maintain positive business and customer relationships in the effort to extend customer lifetime value
Develop strategies for more effective sales, both individually and as part of a team
Source for new customers and follow up on referrals
Track all appointments, sales, complaints, status reports, etc. thoroughly for manager review
Provide customers with quotations
Negotiate the terms of an agreement and close sales
Gather market and customer information and provide feedback on buying trends
Represent DewCIS at trade exhibitions, events and demonstrations
Identify new markets and business opportunities
Record sales
Review their own sales performance and aim at exceeding their targets.
Requirements
Academic
Bachelor’s degree or a diploma in sales and marketing
Personal
Excellent interpersonal communication skills, both verbal and written
Impeccable customer service skills
Motivated, driven attitude
Sales-driven, results-driven, and target-driven attitude
Aptitude for persuasion and negotiation
Expert in time management
Organized work ethic
Proven track record in sales environment
Skills Required.
Presentation Skills.
Communication skills
Critical thinking.
Persistence.
Client Relationships.
Emphasizing Excellence.
Negotiation.
Prospecting Skills.
Creativity.
Sales Planning.
Independence
To Apply Please Follow the steps below
1.Click on https://portal.dewcis.com/hr/application.jsp?view=1:0
2. If you have created your credentials before, login and apply for the post.
3. If new applicant, fill in details in Applicant, save all the details. After saving, a login username and password are sent to your email.
4. Login to the Dewcis portal with these credentials.
5. Fill in all details as required:
Applicant’s details
Address
Education
Employment
Seminars
Projects
Skills
Referees
Save all these details
6. Available Positions – > Apply for post -> Click on ‘Apply for Post’ again to confirm
7. You will get an email confirming the application
In presenting this article to your notice, kindly bare in mind certain truths, which might escape your memory on this subject of data collection. Be pleased to remember that data collection activities dates back to the 10th century and we are by no means challenging its discipline. However, we are questioning the relevance of a data that is collected and recorded by hand over a period of 6 months, transformed into digital format, verified and analyzed into useful information over another period of 8 months and published towards the end of the following year.
A thousand years and counting, you must be very familiar with walk-in visitors by the name of field interviewers from “so and so research” institution. Once admitted, the interviewer is always very swift to pull out the booklet only to be publicly embarrassed in your audience, with the sheaf of pages coming loose, the spine of the book cracked and ripped, with dog-eared corners at the pages duly equipped to start the interview. This experience of embarrassment inadvertently alerts you to the substandard data collection exercise, which threatens the beliefs you hold concerning the integrity of the research institution and the reliability of the survey outcome.
And yet, the explosive growth in the availability of mobile phones in Africa even in some of the poorest, most remote communities of Kenya does not seem to interest these institutions into adopting automation in data collection, management and delivery. You have heard it said before that if the eyes did not see, the hands wouldn’t take it; and so DewCIS Solutions Ltd has seized this opportunity to create innovative mobile data-centric applications that explore how these devices might be used effectively as part of large scale data collection efforts across various sectors including census, health, market trends and general information gathering.
DewCIS has developed a workflow-driven mobile data collection application, named dataNomads, to streamline the process of data collection and synchronization with the online central database. The application is developed on the open source android mobile platform, allowing it to run on a wide range of devices.
One remarkable feature that makes dataNomads app particularly interesting and extremely useful in the field is that it is has been written to work without network coverage. It might not surprise you that most of remote Kenya is still outside the range of most Internet service providers. So, rather than enumerators collecting information continuously to an online database, all the data is collected and stored locally on the device and uploaded to the online repository only when access to Internet connectivity is restored.
As soon as data from field crew is synchronized with the central database, managers are able to review it in an easy to use Google Earth interface. This interface also allows managers to track progress, identify errors or inconsistencies, and provide feedback to field crew in real time. By exploiting the geolocation capability, exact locations and timestamp of data submitted are displayed on the map as thematically rendered icons, and can be updated in real time to reflect the most current state of the data collection effort.
With minimal training, dataNomads application has the potential to reduce field data collection time by over 50% while its validation features significantly reduce errors providing more accurate and reliable information. More importantly, with pen and paper, you are never sure if the surveyor has really gone to the field to collect the data or if he generated fictitious data while seated under the comfort of a sycamore tree.
In today’s rapidly changing markets, business leaders must make critical decisions like whom should they target with their products or which direction should they expand? They often rely on just internal business data, such as last year’s sales analytics. While internal data gives a great picture about how your business performed in the past, it does not reveal how your business will perform in the future. Faced with this dilemma, within the limits of your own resources, the answer may well be hidden in data outside of your internal systems! With our innovative dataNomads mobile application, we promise business leaders immediate access to diverse datasets gathered from the field, to drive highly targeted business decisions.
Surely, the earth has music for those who listen. Save trees by avoiding unnecessary use of paper and care for the environment by keeping it clean. Our contribution therefore, is to collaborate with research organizations and data driven enterprises to adopt innovative mobile data collection technologies that would waste less energy and boost their credibility, save money and shape how their businesses evolves into the future.
You, too, could have hit a jackpot had you invested in Bitcoins! Have you been a victim of this kind of lecture? Well, rest easy, for the most of us, with the exception of a very lucky few, it is an endless wait.
In an effort to make our readers understand this wilderness cryptocurrency, I will borrow the analogy of reconstructing a shattered pot to explain what Bitcoin business is all about? The intrinsic value of earthenware is easy to find when watching a skillful potter put his talent at play creating functional pieces, which are also decorative and often meant to be appreciated purely as works of art.
In the African setup, before the invention of the malleable iron and the versatile plastic, our adorable mothers used to carry water in these lovely shaped and delicately baked earthenware. You will agree with me that fetching water from the well and trekking several miles to the homestead while carefully balancing a pot full of water on the head, sometimes on high winds is a recipe for disaster. One occasion, the pot would come down and crash into scattered tiny bits of pieces called potsherds dispersing all its contents along with it. My dear reader, consider this unfortunate event of the crashing of the pot to mark the invention of the Bitcoin with individual potsherd pieces numbered a total of 21 million bitcoins.
Now, we set out to reconstruct the pot based on blockchain technology by mending the individual potsherd pieces together using fillers, glue and cold glaze to its original shape and form, and build the business of Bitcoin as a cryptocurrency over the Internet. The continuous process of searching, finding, identifying the correct potsherd piece to fit the puzzle and painstakingly building the original pot is christened Bitcoin mining; and this requires enormous resources and time as you can imagine.
As far as cryptocurrency is concern, this calls for expensive investment in serious computing power to negotiate and append a new unique block of code into an already existing, fragile and growing record of transactions. Because the pieces are so scattered, the source of the next find is somewhat distributed into a sort of organized chaos by design; for nobody in particular knows where the next solution will come from. This lack of an overseeing body like the Central Bank to release new currency whenever the market demands or requires it is a core feature of the definition of a cryptocurrency.
In the case of Bitcoin, new coins are released on a steady and predictable rate using a coded mathematical formula. This rate started with 50 new bitcoins every hour and is halved until around the year 2140 when there will be no more bitcoins to release. Dear reader, at this point to understand Bitcoin mining, think of it as the process of verifying these transactions in its simplest form. In the beginning, bitcoins could be mined on home computers and were awarded at about $2 each. Now mining is a much more complicated and energy-intensive process involving giant mining farms of thousands of computers across the globe.
Now that we have a better grasp of what Bitcoin and Bitcoin mining is, let us take a deep dive into the business of cryptocurrency and explore rumours, truths and lies. As at January 2018, there are over 1,384 cryptocurrencies available over the Internet similar to Bitcoin but based on different algorithms including Ethereum, Litecoin, Primecoin; and many more are being created every day.
A cryptocurrency only has value in its exchange, which means that in itself, it has no inherent value much the same as a ‘conventional’ currency. A Shilling is only worth what someone is willing to give another for that Shilling. If everyone stops accepting the Shilling, won’t it become worthless? So it goes without saying that a cryptocurrency is only worth what someone will exchange for it.
The burning question therefore is whether Bitcoin and other cryptocurrencies are the future of digital money? Judging from what the inventors of the first popular cryptocurrency Bitcoin, Satoshi Nakamoto and others envisioned it for, it is becoming increasingly difficult to consider Bitcoing as a currency. Recent developments show that Bitcoin is becoming less of a payment network and is instead evolving into digital gold, much like when our precious 2,000-year old pot is fully reconstructed and auctioned to a collector for an antique. The initial price of a bitcoin, set in 2010, was less than 1 Kenya Shilling and as at December 2017 the value had surged to over KES 1,600,000 but has since dipped to KES 1,100,000 in January 2018.
This rally from the investment world is dampening any hope that bitcoin will mature into a means of exchange. Currencies need to remain broadly stable in their valuation to ensure that commerce can take place. Certainly, there is bound to be some shift in the value of the coins in your pocket and that is why foreign exchange trading is a business, but put simply, a shilling should buy you the same thing on Monday as it does the following Friday.
Understandably, Gold is valuable because it has many industrial and decorative uses. Its price can fluctuate due to speculation on financial markets, but it can never fall to zero. There will always be someone willing to accept gold because it’s a useful commodity. Conversely, one has to ask if Bitcoin is really valuable? It has no industrial or decorative use, and it doesn’t entitle the holder to receive interest. It was intended to be valuable as a currency that is accepted the world over, but that doesn’t seem to be happening either. Perhaps, the only major value that Bitcoin has now is its exchange value. Many people are willing to pay a lot of money today to get hold of some Bitcoin. But what they are getting for their money is simply the ‘hope’ that another buyer down the line will pay even more money for the same coins. One is therefore forgiven to hold that once the hype stops, there will be no fundamental value to prevent the bitcoins’ price from falling close to zero. To many of us, this reason definitely falls on deaf ears. We take comfort in a euphoric attitude that always leads to a bubble with some investors of initial coin offerings (ICOs) reaping big while the rest of the park is kept busy with occasional speculative and destructive busts which often leave many investors counting losses.
For the bold and wild investors, it may do you good to keep watch of the upcoming G20 meeting in March 2018, where policymakers will discuss tighter regulations or possible crippling of cryptocurrencies all together. For us in the technology industry, we must thank Bitcoin and the other cryptocurrencies not for their elusive ‘currency’ and emerging pyramid schemes but for the supporting technologies borne of these inventions. When I think about cryptography and blockchaining technologies, several opportunities stir my fancy including; cheap almost free money transfers methods, universal ID for every person alive, smart contracts, voting, Internet of Things (IoT) and many others.
I once went to a building in Nairobi town to look for an office space to rent. At the main entrance, I found guards who directed me to the property manager’s office and on the door there was a plate that read, “We deal with honest money only; gold, silver or shekels”. Because I was very much in need, I inquired if there are any tenants whose leases are about to expire at the end of that year 2017, and how much rent a square foot would cost? The office holder responded that the offices would be vacant when the property owner says so and the rent depends on your relationship with him as well.
A simple survey of investors with property in Kenya found that two out of five self-managing landlords interviewed had experienced tenants defaulting on rent. It also found that landlords who used Property Managers to manage their relationships with tenants faced fewer problems.
In our society today, property managers handle an array of responsibilities that come along with this business, more importantly minimizing vacancies in rental properties and ensuring that landlords receive the maximum return on investment while helping the rental business run more smoothly.
Commercial property management for retail, industrial and office space have distinct needs from residential properties. An effective property management software such as this offered by Dewcis Solutions Ltd would help property managers create detailed financial projections, automatically calculate rent increases, create recurring charges for each tenant and communicate critical leasehold notices in time, among other things.
These days, the ability to always be connected to the Internet, ease of use and technological advancement are among the primary reasons why automation is the key to business. Our property management system exploits all these three elements and enables property agents to access the solution online from any location, which reduces the operational costs and enhances the flexibility of management.
One of the fastest-growing trends in the Kenya market today is the ability to accept payments online. With the rapid growth in the number of online transactions and purchases, tenants expect an automated cashless payment system such as what is implemented in our property management software to be an integral part of the hosted application.
A comprehensive and commercial-oriented accounting application inbuilt within our property management software, can drastically reduce the amount of time spent calculating figures at the end of each month and thereby boost efficiency and freeing up valuable time for other essential tasks.
The reason to pen this write-up could not be more obvious, which is to encourage adoption of our state of the art property management software; to improve speed and quality of service, manage costs, improve tenant satisfaction, and ensure quality and safety in equipment and the property itself. While our property management solution provides the tools and insights needed to do just this, we have gone a step further to elevate your business above your competitors by incorporated SMS and email notifications of various critical lease related actions to keep you, your tenants and landlord compliant.
The comfort of Living is a very serious matter in Kenya. After all, aside from the car we drive and the company we keep, the places in which we live are the biggest indicators of our status within the culture. And so, it goes without saying that when an issue arises with the living conditions, tenants demand prompt response from their property managers.
Over the past few years, mobile and web technology has grown by leaps and bounds. While this is undeniably true, the same cannot be said of the property management sector in Kenya where the use of technology is still a foreign concept.
DewCIS, a software solutions company has recently unveiled Baraza Properties, a hosted online application for the benefit of property managers to run their businesses more effectively and streamline operations; make life more enjoyable and less costly for everyone – tenants, managers, property owners.
There is a general notion that “systems” are usually complicated tools that are a preserve of the few. Well aware of this ill-conceived narrative, DewCIS was particularly keen to design and develop a simple to use product with very little learning to do. The design idea was “beauty in simplicity”, with a compelling interface easy to adapt and use within the shortest possible time with very little computer exposure.
The ever-unpredictable daily nature of property management environment means it’s easy to spend the majority of your time firefighting issues instead of planning ahead and creating long term solutions. Baraza Properties can help by automating manually intensive processes, meaning you and your team have got more time to focus on the tasks you can’t wish away.
Taking on more properties to manage as your business grows traditionally, meant more work and therefore recruiting more staff to run around. Thanks to DewCIS, the technology that is now available to property management teams using Baraza Properties means this doesn’t have to be the case. Automated notifications and streamlined workflows will make it easier to efficiently manage and keep track of your portfolio and check on costs.
Attempting to keep track of critical property dates such as rent reviews, routine maintenance, insurance renewals, service charge, year ends etc would soon run you into very costly trouble and in some cases legal penalties with your tenants and or landlords. Baraza Properties with automatic diary reminders and a dashboard with a full view of outstanding tasks empower property managers to no longer have to worry about missing key dates or deadlines.
Having a full view of your business portfolio is key to being able to stay afloat in business and work on expansion. Using our online property management system will enable you to maintain a single cohesive data source, providing you with a full view of your portfolio and critical reports at the click of a button.
The idea behind this article is therefore to urge property managers in this region to use the New Year as an excuse to think of embracing our hosted online Baraza Properties in these coming years and avoid pitfalls by continuing to do the same things in the same old fashioned ways and getting the same poor results.
