Takeaway: The geek era looked like it would last forever, but user expectations are drastically transforming IT departments and the future of IT jobs.

We have designed MA Computer Consulting so that no personal identifying information is displayed online or is accessible to the general public. We do not sell or rent our customer information to any outside parties.

Described below is our privacy policy in these areas:

1. Use of Your Email Address
2. Registration
3. Sharing of Information
4. “Cookies”

Use of Your Email Address

If you provide us with your email address, register as a customer or make a purchase from us, we will occasionally send you email with recommendations or notices of new products and prices. This email may include paid advertisements from third parties. To block future email of this type, simply follow the instructions at the bottom of the message.

Separately, we send email to keep you informed about the status your orders. These messages cannot be blocked.

Registration

During the Exquisite Nails purchasing process, we ask you to provide us with contact information, such as name, billing address, shipping address, email address, and telephone number. We use this information to verify your account and to process your orders.

Sharing of Information

We do not sell, rent or share any customer information, except for transactions involving third parties. In such cases, we provide only the information required to complete the transaction. By contract, the third party is not permitted to sell, rent or share this information.

For advertising purposes, visitor and customer information is statistically aggregated and reported to advertisers. However, we do not disclose to these entities any information that could be used to personally identify you, such as your name, account, password, credit card number, or transaction history.

Cookies

MA Computer Consulting uses software tags called “cookies” to identify customers when they visit our site. They help us understand your buying preferences and customize our service to your needs. By understanding which areas of the site you visit, cookies allow us to present information, products and specials that are of personal interest. The information we collect with cookies is not sold, rented or shared with any outside parties.

For best security a server side e-commerce solution was required in the past. Complex set-up requirements for the server side computer software and an investment in special Internet servers meant extra security for the shop owner – but an annoying shopping experience for customers.

When customers try to add products to the server side shopping cart, the Internet and the server-side solution slow them down painfully.

Instead of being able to quickly add a product to their shopping basket, customers have to wait until the server side shopping cart responds to their request. Imagine being in a supermarket and not only having to queue in front of the register but also every time you want to add a product to your shopping cart!

This is where client side shopping carts come in. Because of the way they work, they can respond much faster to customer requests. Adding a product to the shopping cart happens immediately – no annoying queues. Their disadvantage was a lower level of security for the merchant.

Experienced programmers were able to tamper with prices when placing an order – potentially trying to purchase a product for a much lower price from you. While this is not a common fraud method, as it can easily be picked up by a merchant fulfilling an order, it is still a cause of concern. What if you use an automatic order fulfillment system? Or if your employees are not as vigilant as you are?

This is where Shop Designing Software comes in. Its patented security system combines the speed of a client side shopping cart with the security of a server side e-commerce solution.

The Shop Designing Software fraud protection makes it impossible to tamper with product prices – giving you the security you need and your customers the speed they want.

Welcome to MA Computer Consulting (www.macc.co.za). MA Computer Consulting (www.macc.co.za) and its affiliates (suppliers and service providers) provide their services to you subject to the conditions detailed in this agreement. By using the MA Computer Consulting (www.macc.co.za) you confirm that you have familiarized yourself with the terms and conditions governing the conduct of parties accessing or using the MA Computer Consulting (www.macc.co.za) website to trade and that you agree to be bound by these terms and conditions.

Should you not agree to the terms and conditions stipulated you may not use the MA Computer Consulting (www.macc.co.za) website.

Your access to the MA Computer Consulting (www.macc.co.za) website and use of any services provided by MA Computer Consulting (www.macc.co.za) including any purchases made by you from MA Computer Consulting (www.macc.co.za) are subject to terms and conditions established under the following headings.

• Terms of Use of MA Computer Consulting (www.macc.co.za)
• Website Terms of Trade with MA Computer Consulting (www.macc.co.za)
• Privacy and Security Statement
• Intellectual Property Statement
• Dispute Resolution
• Compliance with statutory consumer protection provisions
• Contact Information

Terms of Use of MA Computer Consulting (www.macc.co.za) Website

MA Computer Consulting (www.macc.co.za) grants you a limited license to access and make personal use of the MA Computer Consulting (www.macc.co.za) website. You are not allowed to modify (other than page caching) the website or any portion thereof without the prior written consent of MA Computer Consulting (www.macc.co.za).

This license does not permit any resale or commercial use of the MA Computer Consulting (www.macc.co.za) website or its contents; any collection and use of any product listings, descriptions, or prices; any derivative use of the MA Computer Consulting (www.macc.co.za) website or its contents; any downloading or copying of account information for the benefit of another merchant; or any use of data mining, robots, or similar data gathering and extraction tools.

The MA Computer Consulting (www.macc.co.za) website or any portion of the MA Computer Consulting (www.macc.co.za) website, may not be reproduced, duplicated, copied, sold, resold, visited, or otherwise exploited for any commercial purpose without the prior written consent of MA Computer Consulting (www.macc.co.za).

You may not frame or utilize framing techniques to enclose any trademark, logo, or other proprietary information (including images, text, page layout, or form) of MA Computer Consulting (www.macc.co.za) and our affiliates without prior written consent.

You may not use any meta tags or any other “hidden text” utilizing the MA Computer Consulting (www.macc.co.za) name or trademarks without the prior written consent of MA Computer Consulting (www.macc.co.za). Any unauthorized use terminates the permission or license granted by MA Computer Consulting (www.macc.co.za).

You are granted a limited, revocable, and nonexclusive right to create a hyperlink to the home page of the MA Computer Consulting (www.macc.co.za) website so long as the link does not portray MA Computer Consulting (www.macc.co.za), its affiliates, or their products or services in a false, misleading, derogatory, or otherwise offensive matter. You may not use any MA Computer Consulting (www.macc.co.za) logo or other proprietary graphic or trademark, or those of their affiliates, as part of the link without prior written permission of the owner of the graphic or trademark.

MA Computer Consulting (www.macc.co.za) may provide links from the MA Computer Consulting (www.macc.co.za) website to other websites which may offer services to you. MA Computer Consulting (www.macc.co.za) is not responsible for evaluating the content or offerings made on these websites. MA Computer Consulting (www.macc.co.za) does not endorse or warrant the offerings of any of the businesses or individuals, nor is it responsible for the content of the websites to which links may be provided, or that of any third party websites, which may be accessed through these linked websites. No liability will be attributed to MA Computer Consulting (www.macc.co.za) for any dealings with any other websites accessed through links provided by MA Computer Consulting (www.macc.co.za) and you are solely responsible for assessing the terms and conditions and privacy provisions of any of these websites.

DISCLAIMER OF WARRANTIES AND LIMITATION OF LIABILITY

THE MA COMPUTER CONSULTING (WWW.MACC.CO.ZA) WEBSITE IS PROVIDED BY MA COMPUTER CONSULTING (WWW.MACC.CO.ZA) ON AN “AS IS” AND “AS AVAILABLE” BASIS. NEITHER MA COMPUTER CONSULTING (WWW.MACC.CO.ZA), NOR IT”S MEMBERS, EMPLOYEES, OFFICERS, SUPPLIERS, OR SERVICE PROVIDERS MAKE ANY REPRESENTATIONS OR WARRANTIES OF ANY KIND, EXPRESS OR IMPLIED, AS TO THE OPERATION OF THE MA COMPUTER CONSULTING (WWW.MACC.CO.ZA) WEBSITE OR THE INFORMATION, CONTENT, MATERIALS, OR PRODUCTS INCLUDED ON THE WEBSITE. YOU EXPRESSLY AGREE THAT YOUR USE OF THE MA COMPUTER CONSULTING (WWW.MACC.CO.ZA) WEBSITE IS AT YOUR SOLE RISK.

TO THE FULL EXTENT PERMISSIBLE BY SOUTH AFRICAN LAW, MA COMPUTER CONSULTING (WWW.MACC.CO.ZA) ITS MEMBERS, EMPLOYEES, OFFICERS, SUPPLIERS, OR SERVICE PROVIDERS DISCLAIM ALL WARRANTIES, EXPRESS OR IMPLIED, INCLUDING, BUT NOT LIMITED TO, IMPLIED WARRANTIES OF MERCHANTABILITY AND FITNESS FOR A PARTICULAR PURPOSE. MA COMPUTER CONSULTING (WWW.MACC.CO.ZA) DOES NOT WARRANT THAT THE MA COMPUTER CONSULTING (WWW.MACC.CO.ZA) WEBSITE, ITS SERVERS, OR E-MAIL SENT FROM MA COMPUTER CONSULTING (WWW.MACC.CO.ZA) ARE FREE OF VIRUSES OR OTHER HARMFUL CODE. MA COMPUTER CONSULTING (WWW.MACC.CO.ZA) WILL NOT BE LIABLE FOR ANY DAMAGES OF ANY KIND ARISING FROM THE USE OF THE MA COMPUTER CONSULTING (WWW.MACC.CO.ZA) WEBSITE, INCLUDING, BUT NOT LIMITED TO DIRECT, INDIRECT, INCIDENTAL, PUNITIVE, AND CONSEQUENTIAL DAMAGES.

IN NO EVENT SHALL MA COMPUTER CONSULTING (WWW.MACC.CO.ZA), IT’S DIRECTORS, EMPLOYEES, OFFICERS, OR ITS SUPPLIERS OR SERVICE PROVIDERS BE LIABLE FOR LOST PROFITS OR ANY SPECIAL, INCIDENTAL OR CONSEQUENTIAL DAMAGES ARISING OUT OF OR IN CONNECTION WITH THE USE OF THE MA COMPUTER CONSULTING (WWW.MACC.CO.ZA) WEBSITE, OUR SERVICES OR THIS AGREEMENT (HOWEVER ARISING, INCLUDING NEGLIGENCE). THE LIABILITY OF MA COMPUTER CONSULTING (WWW.MACC.CO.ZA), ITS DIRECTORS, EMPLOYEES, OFFICERS, SUPPLIERS, AND SERVICE PROVIDERS TO YOU OR ANY THIRD PARTIES IN ANY CIRCUMSTANCE IS LIMITED TO R5 000.00.

Applicable law

The MA Computer Consulting (www.macc.co.za) website and all communications and transactions concluded using the website, are governed by, and you agree to, the application of the laws of the Republic of South Africa. As the website is targeted at South African citizens and residents any limitations on implied warranties or the exclusion or limitation of certain damages which may be applicable under the laws of any other jurisdiction are expressly waived by you, and to the extent that they cannot be waived, you shall not enter into any transactions with MA Computer Consulting (www.macc.co.za).

TERMS OF TRADE WITH MA Computer Consulting (www.macc.co.za)

Invitation to do business

The products or services which appear on the MA Computer Consulting (www.macc.co.za) website are displayed as an invitation to do business and to allow you to make an offer to purchase the products or services to MA Computer Consulting (www.macc.co.za). Only when MA Computer Consulting (www.macc.co.za) has accepted your offer and the acceptance is communicated to you, will an enforceable agreement of sale be transacted.

The price of any products or services sold through MA Computer Consulting (www.macc.co.za) shall be confirmed on the acceptance of your order. Despite our best efforts, a small number of the products or services offered on the website may be mis-priced. If we discover a mis-pricing, we will do one of the following:

• If the correct price is lower than our stated price, we will charge the lower amount.
• If the correct price is higher than our stated price, we will, at our discretion, either contact you for instructions before accepting your order or notify you that the order has not been accepted.

IMPORTANT: If any products or services are supplied and delivered to you directly by, or through, a third party, even though access to the products and services is gained through the MA Computer Consulting (www.macc.co.za) website, the supply of these products and services may be subject to conditions which differ from those governing the terms of trade with MA Computer Consulting (www.macc.co.za). You shall be solely responsible for ensuring that you understand and agree to the terms and conditions governing the sale of these products and services. Place and time of agreement

Agreement as to the terms of use of the MA Computer Consulting (www.macc.co.za) website shall be deemed to have be accepted by you at the time that you first accessed the MA Computer Consulting (www.macc.co.za) website and thereafter confirmed each time that you access the MA Computer Consulting (www.macc.co.za) website.

Agreement to use the MA Computer Consulting (www.macc.co.za) website and those governing all transactions that may be effected using the MA Computer Consulting (www.macc.co.za) website shall be deemed to have taken place in Johannesburg.

All communications with MA Computer Consulting (www.macc.co.za) facilitated by the MA Computer Consulting (www.macc.co.za) website, the MA Computer Consulting (www.macc.co.za) call center, or email communicated between you and MA Computer Consulting (www.macc.co.za) shall be deemed to have been received, in the case of communications initiated by MA Computer Consulting (www.macc.co.za), when the communication leaves the MA Computer Consulting (www.macc.co.za) website or email server, and in the case of communications initiated by you, when it is received on the MA Computer Consulting (www.macc.co.za) website or email server. Acceptance by MA Computer Consulting (www.macc.co.za) of an order placed by you shall be deemed to have been made and an agreement entered into, when communication of the acceptance leaves the MA Computer Consulting (www.macc.co.za) website or email server.

• MA Computer Consulting can cancel any order at any time
• Orders will not be kept for longer than 3 weeks

Back orders

Due to the popularity of some products or services, MA Computer Consulting (www.macc.co.za) may not always have an products or services ordered by you in stock. MA Computer Consulting (www.macc.co.za) will accept orders for out of stock products or services to ensure that you will be the first to receive the item once it becomes available. If the products and services ordered by you is not in available or only a portion is available, you may cancel the order, or re-order the quantity that is available, or place a back order. Once the products or services become available, it will be shipped to you.

Electronic communications

When you visit MA Computer Consulting (www.macc.co.za) or send e-mails to us, you are communicating with us electronically. You consent to receive communications from us electronically. MA Computer Consulting (www.macc.co.za) will communicate with you by e-mail or by posting notices on the MA Computer Consulting (www.macc.co.za) website. You agree that all agreements, notices, disclosures and other communications that we provide to you electronically satisfy any legal requirement that such communications be in writing. Further, that your acceptance of any terms or conditions applicable to the MA Computer Consulting (www.macc.co.za) website and transactions concluded using the MA Computer Consulting (www.macc.co.za) website, as well as your intent to enter into any transaction with MA Computer Consulting (www.macc.co.za), may be evidenced by any action by you from which this may reasonably be inferred.

Gift Vouchers

All MA Computer Consulting issued gift vouchers are valid for one purchase only and expire 2 months from the date in which they are issued unless otherwise stated on the voucher.

• A voucher can only be used once
• A voucher cannot be used together with another voucher unless the customer has more than one “Rand” value gift voucher

What this means is that if a customer has a 10% gift voucher and a R100 gift voucher, the customer cannot combine the two vouchers. If the customer has two 10% gift vouchers, the customer cannot combine the two vouchers together. If the customer has two R50 gift vouchers, the customer can use them together.

If there are any queries about voucher use please email: sales@macc.co.za

Disclaimer of warranties and limitation of liability and applicable law

The provisions of the Disclaimer of warranties, Limitation of liability and Applicable law relating to the use of the macc.co.za website apply equally to the remainder of this agreement.

AMENDMENT TO TERMS AND CONDITIONS

MA Computer Consulting (www.macc.co.za) may amend the terms and conditions governing access to the MA Computer Consulting (www.macc.co.za) website as well as trade using the website. MA Computer Consulting (www.macc.co.za) shall, prior to the amendments of the terms and conditions, give registered purchasers and any third parties to whom this agreement may apply notice of the amendments by email, or by posting the notice of such amendments on the MA Computer Consulting (www.macc.co.za) website. If you do not agree with the amended terms you shall immediately give notice to MA Computer Consulting (www.macc.co.za) of your wish to have your registration terminated. Failure to do so will be deemed to indicate your acceptance of the amended terms and conditions.

PRIVACY AND SECURITY STATEMENT

MA Computer Consulting (www.macc.co.za) knows that you care how your personal information may be collected, processed and used; we appreciate your trust that (www.macc.co.za) will do so carefully and sensibly. This notice describes the MA Computer Consulting (www.macc.co.za) privacy policy. By visiting MA Computer Consulting (www.macc.co.za), you are accepting the practices described in this Privacy and Security statement.

The information provided by you helps us personalize and continually improve your shopping experience at MA Computer Consulting (www.macc.co.za). Here are the types of information we gather.

• Information You Give Us: We receive and store information you enter on the MA Computer Consulting (www.macc.co.za) website or that you may provide to MA Computer Consulting (www.macc.co.za) in any other manner. Certain of the information provided on registration is mandatory to assist us in ensuring that the communications and transactions entered into with you may be completed effectively and lawfully.
• Automatic Information: MA Computer Consulting (www.macc.co.za) receives and stores certain types of information whenever you interact on the MA Computer Consulting (www.macc.co.za) website or communicate with MA Computer Consulting (www.macc.co.za) by email. For example, like many Web sites, we use “cookies,” and we obtain certain types of information when your web browser accesses MA Computer Consulting (www.macc.co.za).
• E-mail Communications: To help us make e-mails more useful, we may receive a confirmation when you open e-mail from (Name of website), if your computer supports such capabilities.

By providing the information to MA Computer Consulting (www.macc.co.za) you consent to MA Computer Consulting (www.macc.co.za) collecting maintaining, storing and processing the information, provided that MA Computer Consulting (www.macc.co.za) shall:

• not disclose your personal information to a third party other than to effect the transactions agreed to in using the MA Computer Consulting (www.macc.co.za) website without obtaining your express consent to do so;
• only disclose your personal information, without your consent, if legally required to do so;
• be entitled to use the information provided by you to compile statistical or aggregated information in such a way that you may not be identified.
• MA Computer Consulting (www.macc.co.za) shall own and retain all rights to non-personal statistical information compiled by it.

While MA Computer Consulting (www.macc.co.za) and its affiliates shall take commercially reasonable care to safeguard the information provided by you to MA Computer Consulting (www.macc.co.za) from unauthorized access or disclosure, MA Computer Consulting (www.macc.co.za) does not represent or guarantee that the safeguards will provide absolute protection.

MA Computer Consulting (www.macc.co.za) shall not be obliged to encrypt any information sent to you, received from you or stored on your behalf or for the purposes agreed in this agreement, unless agreed with you to the contrary, in writing.

INTELLECTUAL PROPERTY STATEMENT

Copyright in any information or trademarks displayed anywhere on the MA Computer Consulting (www.macc.co.za) website are protected by worldwide copyright laws and treaty provisions. The copyright of these materials is held by MA Computer Consulting (www.macc.co.za), or by the original creator of the materials, or by suppliers and service providers to MA Computer Consulting (www.macc.co.za). None of the materials may be copied, reproduced, modified, published, uploaded, posted, transmitted, or distributed in any form or by any means other than as described by MA Computer Consulting (www.macc.co.za) or with the prior written permission MA Computer Consulting (www.macc.co.za). All rights not expressly granted herein are reserved. Any unauthorized use of the materials appearing on the (Name of website) website may violate copyright, trademark and other applicable laws and could result in criminal or civil penalties.

DISPUTE RESOLUTION

Any dispute arising out of or in connection with this agreement including any question regarding its existence, validity or termination, shall be settled by the online dispute resolution process in accordance with the TrustEnforce.org Mediation and Arbitration rules, which rules are deemed to be incorporated by reference into this clause and may be accessed at www.trustenforce.org.

For all disputes regardless of where they arise, the place of the arbitration is deemed to be Cape Town. The arbitration will be governed by this clause governing arbitration and the arbitration laws of South Africa. The dispute will be resolved in accordance with the law of South Africa. The language used during the dispute resolution process will be English.

For the purposes of any arbitration:

• you choose the email address chosen by you in registering as a purchaser; and
• MA Computer Consulting (www.macc.co.za) chooses sales@macc.co.za

By using the MA Computer Consulting (www.macc.co.za) website and accepting the conditions of use of the website and trade conducted using the website you bind yourself to the terms of arbitration provided in this agreement.

COMPLIANCE WITH STATUTORY CONSUMER PROTECTION PROVISIONS

MA Computer Consulting (www.macc.co.za) adheres to the provisions of Chapter VII of the Electronic Communications and Transactions Act 25 of 2002 (“the Act”). Chapter VII of the Act provides protection to consumers and the provisions of the Act relevant to commercial transactions that may be effected on the MA Computer Consulting (www.macc.co.za) website, as well as the information required in terms of the Act, are provided for your reference.

Return of products or cancellation of service agreements

MA Computer Consulting (www.macc.co.za) shall, subject to the exclusions provided for below and the provisions relating to any return of products or cancellation of a service agreement, allow the return of products or cancellation of a service agreement, within seven days of the date of receipt by you of the products or the conclusion of an agreement to provide services. Exclusions from return of products or cancellation of service agreements

The provisions of this agreement relating to the return of goods and cancellation of any agreement to provide services shall not apply if:

• any products and services are acquired by auction;
• the supply of products which comprise foodstuffs, beverages, or other goods intended for everyday consumption at the home or workplace of the customer;
• to services which commenced with the customers consent, (either express or implied) prior to the expiry of the seven day period;
• where the price of the products or services depends on fluctuation in financial markets beyond the control of MA Computer Consulting (www.macc.co.za);
• where the products are personalised or made to the customers specifications;
• where the products are perishable or will expire rapidly;
• where the products by reason of their nature cannot be returned;
• if audio, video recordings or any form of computer software are either used or if supplied other than in digital form, if the seal on the storage media is broken;
• the sale of reading material in whatever form;
• the provision of any gaming or lottery services;
• the provision of accommodation, travel, transport, catering or leisure services if MA Computer Consulting (www.macc.co.za) or its agents or suppliers undertake to provide these services on a specific date or within or for a specific period.

Customers obligations on return of products and services

If a customer cancels any transaction in respect of which delivery of the products or services (to the extent that the may be returned) have been delivered, within seven days of the receipt of the products or services, the customer shall return to MA Computer Consulting (www.macc.co.za) or it’s authorised agents, the products, undamaged in any manner, together with all packing materials and documentation delivered by MA Computer Consulting (www.macc.co.za) or its agents, to the customer as well as a written indication of the customers choice to cancel the transaction.

The customer shall refund to MA Computer Consulting (www.macc.co.za) all direct expenses incurred by MA Computer Consulting (www.macc.co.za) or it’s authorised agents, in the delivery of the products and services ordered by the customer, as well as the direct expenses incurred by MA Computer Consulting (www.macc.co.za) or it’s authorised agents in accepting return of the products and cancellation of the provision of services, arising as a result of the return of the products or cancellation of the services ordered by the customer.

MA Computer Consulting (www.macc.co.za)’s obligations on return of the products and services

Within thirty days of return of the products or receipt of notice of cancellation of the agreement to deliver services, MA Computer Consulting (www.macc.co.za) or it’s authorised agents shall refund to the customer any amounts paid by the customer less any amounts due by the customer to MA Computer Consulting (www.macc.co.za) as provided for above.

Disclosures in terms of section 43 of the Act: The following information is made available to you in compliance with Section 43 of the Act.

Full name and legal status of website owner: MA Computer Consulting (www.macc.co.za) is the trading names and is wholly owned by MA Computer Consulting a company duly incorporated in terms of the company laws of South Africa.

Directors: Michael Botha
Registered Office: 130-11^th Street, Orange Grove, Johannesburg, 2192
Physical Address: 130-11^th Street, Orange Grove, Johannesburg, 2192
Telephone Number: 082 9408614
Website address : www.macc.co.za
E-Mail address: sales@macc.co.za
Self regulatory or accreditation body: none.
Address for service of all legal documents: same

Description of Services: MA Computer Consulting (www.macc.co.za) provides access to a variety of products and services that may be purchased online all of which are, or will be, described on the MA Computer Consulting (www.macc.co.za) website.

Price of goods: Prices are displayed in the website and are subject to MA Computer Consulting (www.macc.co.za) rights in respect of any mis-pricing stipulated in the clause dealing with Invitation to do business above. All prices of products and services displayed on the MA Computer Consulting (www.macc.co.za) website are inclusive of Value Added Tax.

Payment: Payment terms and manner of payment are stipulated in the clause dealing with payment above.

Terms and conditions governing this agreement: The full Terms and Conditions applicable to the access and use of the services provided on the MA Computer Consulting (www.macc.co.za) website and any amendments thereto, shall at all times be available on the Website, save to the extent that they may be varied in writing by the parties. These terms may be accessed on this Website, downloaded and stored, or reproduced at any time.

Delivery of products or services: The anticipated time of delivery of any products or services, purchase using the MA Computer Consulting (www.macc.co.za) website shall be indicated at the time that any order is accepted by MA Computer Consulting (www.macc.co.za)

Transaction records and history: A full record of transactions effected using MA Computer Consulting (www.macc.co.za) shall be available to the user for a period of 14 days from delivery of the products or services to the purchaser by MA Computer Consulting (www.macc.co.za) or it’s agents. You may access this history as provided for under the clause Transaction History above.

Dispute resolution: The provisions governing Dispute Resolution are stipulated under the clause Dispute Resolution above.

Privacy and Security: The provisions governing Privacy and Security are provided for under the clause Privacy and Security above.

Minimum duration of Agreement: There shall be no minimum duration of agreements entered into between users and registered purchasers to use the MA Computer Consulting (www.macc.co.za) website. All agreements shall endure indefinitely subject to either parties rights to terminate the agreement. The termination of the agreement by either party shall be without prejudice to any rights between the parties existing at the time of the termination, which shall endure beyond the date of termination.

January 28, 2012, 8:46 AM PST

Takeaway: Stress, exhaustion, health problems, poor job performance, apathy — all these can be yours if you commit a few career sins and get burned out.

I’d be willing to bet that there isn’t one of you out there who hasn’t violated some basic work/life principles at least once in your career. I can say with certainty that at various times, I have committed some cardinal sins when it comes to getting burned out. Looking back on my career from a slightly different viewpoint these days, I can see where I went wrong. And fortunately, I can learn from those mistakes so that I’ll remain happy, healthy, and productive (in that order) throughout the remainder of my career. Here are 10 things you might be doing that will ultimately lead to poorer performance and an unhealthy lifestyle.

1: Never say no

As the saying goes, “You can’t please all of the people all of the time.” Trying to do so will result in certain failure due to over commitment, missed deadlines, and having everyone upset in the attempt to make everyone happy. Instead, commit to pleasing “some of the people some of the time,” through existing governance structures. Both you and your organization will be the better for it.

2: Skip the vacation

American workers get and use less vacation than our global counterparts. This is a travesty, but it’s one over which workers might exercise some control. Time away from the office is absolutely essential for recharging the batteries and renewing the spirit. Failure to “get away from it all” leaves workers with no opportunity for renewal and can also negatively affect family and personal relationships.

If your boss won’t leave you alone on vacation, turn off your phone and don’t check your email. Obviously, you should make sure that you boss knows that when you’re away, well, you’re away. This is setting the expectation ahead of time. If you’re not allowed to simply get away for a period of time and your company insists that you be on-call 24/7/365, you need a new job.

3: Skip lunch

Early in my IT career, I used to work through lunch every day. I didn’t feel like I needed it, and I was more interested in getting work done than in eating. However, I soon learned that lunch is about more than lunch. Everyone needs food to make it through the day, and that short break can be as good as a 15-minute catnap in helping you remain productive the rest of the day. If you constantly skip lunch, you’re also missing an opportunity to engage with coworkers in a different setting. Over time, failure to take these short breaks might make you more easily stressed out — and eventually burned out.

4: Work insane hours

Logic would seem to indicate that you could accomplish twice as much in 80 hours per week than in 40. However, in the case, the Vulcan would lose the argument. At some point, more time results in diminishing returns. If you push it too much, you’ll end up constantly tired and sick and not doing anyone any good. There will probably be crunch times during the year when crazy hours will be the norm and expected. But if this happens year round, your organization will quickly burn itself out. Constantly working crazy, insane hours should not be a point of pride. It should be a sign that something is wrong and a warning that you’ll probably get burned out at some point.

5: Disregard family time

For years, articles have been written about jealousy between those with families who need “family time” and those without families who are left to “pick up the slack.” I started my family 10 years after getting into IT, so I’ve seen and understand both sides. Those with families who attempt to forgo family time will pay the price in a lot of ways. Stress levels will increase as they try to make up for this lost time. And those all-important family ties will begin to suffer, leading to an employee who is bitter and disengaged and wondering why he can’t ever eat with his kids. If you want to avoid burnout, embrace and enjoy time with your family.

6: Fail to watch your health

How many of you exercise every day? How many of you watch every calorie you eat? How many of you weigh more than you did when you started your current job? This is one rule I’ve broken so badly it’s not even funny. Since leaving my previous position, I’ve made it a point to eat better and have started losing weight. If you’re in a stressful job, you may be a “stress eater,” and you may suffer from the fact that stress can lead to weight gain and other health problems if not properly managed. So do what you can to get some exercise (take the stairs, walk to lunch, etc.) and try to eat better and not chow down on junk food while you work. This is much easier said than done!

7: Forgo hobbies

For me, tech started as a hobby before becoming my career. But I sometimes wonder if I need something else outside IT to keep me going. I’m an IT executive by position, but I love playing with tech toys every so often. That’s one of the reasons I write. I get to learn more and play with cool new stuff. Find something you enjoy doing and make a point of doing it! For Christmas, my parents visited me and my family and brought us a cool new radio-controlled helicopter. It’s really nice and could be the beginning of a new hobby for me.

8: Go it alone

Being a CIO can be really lonely sometimes. A lot of people in the organization really have no idea what we do and we’re often left to our own devices. Still, there are a lot of ways you can keep the solitude at bay and make your job easier at the same time:

• Find      a trusted colleague and become friends. This works if you’re both at the      same level in the organization or outside each other’s chain of command.
• Attend      local users’ group meetings for things that interest you.
• Find      a network of peers in other similar organizations and work together, if      possible. (This is common in higher ed, but it might not translate to      other verticals.)
• Use      consultants when you need to. Not everything needs to be “built here.”

If nothing else, these people can be good sounding boards to help you keep your direction positive.

9: Create unrealistic expectations

Expectation management is one of the hardest things to get right. You need to make sure that people realize you’re working with a sense of urgency. But at the same time, you don’t want to burn yourself out or overtax your staff. If you create unrealistic expectations by overpromising or under-delivering, you’re going to stress yourself out to the point of exhaustion and your staff will not thank you for the extra work.

10: Pull all-nighters

There was a time when I would pull all-nighters to get a job done. With the very rare exception, I don’t do this anymore. Besides the fact that I pay the price for days afterward, I unintentionally set an expectation that this is the norm when, in fact, it’s not. Constant all-nighters are a sign that something is terribly wrong. Either your organization has no clue how to schedule work or you’ve taken on too much. Fix it before you burn yourself out. Sure, the occasional all-nighter may still happen from time to time — but don’t let it become routine.

Other habits that lead to burnout?

Do the things on this list sound familiar? What other practices have you followed that stressed you to the breaking point?

Takeaway: When you run into people who are trying to show off their tech expertise (and show you up), these tactics may come in handy.

I have been writing about technology since the mid 90s and speaking at the occasional technology conference for the last several years. One thing I have come to learn is that whether I am delivering a presentation or reading the message boards for my latest article, there are almost always people who want to prove that they know more than I do.

When I stopped and thought about it, I began to realize that the corporate world isn’t really any different. Any time someone tries to pitch a new IT idea, there is usually someone else who takes issue with it.

With that in mind, I thought that it might be fun to talk about some ways of dealing with wannabe IT experts. Most of my ideas came about from public speaking, but they can easily be adapted to other situations as well.

1: Be prepared

The number one bit of advice I can give anyone with regard to speaking or writing about IT is to be prepared. Make sure that your information came from a reliable source and that it is not outdated. Otherwise, someone is sure to call you out on it. Being prepared and knowing your stuff are the most important things you can do to avoid confrontation with those who have a point to prove.

2: Learn from them (if you can)

Although it is often the jerks who will publically challenge you, you can’t automatically assume that the person who is questioning you is an idiot. About a year ago, I sat in on a session that a friend was presenting, and someone stood up and challenged him during his presentation. My friend told the guy that we were all here to learn and that if he had something to add to the material then to go ahead.

The person who was challenging my friend actually made a perfectly valid point. It was a little bit outside the scope of the presentation, but it was good information and it did not directly contradict anything my friend was discussing.

3: Give them enough rope to hang themselves

I once gave a presentation and had someone stand up and tell me that everything about my presentation was wrong. At that point, I had two choices. I could have called for security to have the guy removed, but that would have left everyone in the room wondering about the validity of his comment. My other option was to give him the floor.

I asked the guy to be more specific and to tell me exactly what I was wrong about.The guy thoroughly embarrassed himself and was soon put in his place by other attendees.

4: Use humor

Sometimes, you might be able to use humor to defuse a situation.  A couple of years ago, I was at an IT conference in which two attendees got into a heated debate with each other during the middle of a session. The speaker defused the situation by telling them that he needed to move on but that since we were in Vegas, he was sure they could find a place to mud wrestle later on that evening.

5: Set the ground rules up front

If you suspect that someone might heckle you during a presentation, one thing you can do is set some ground rules before you get started. For instance, you might say something like, “I’ve got a lot of material to cover in a short amount of time, so let’s try to hold all questions and comments until the end.”

6: Work the clock

Another way to deal with someone who is trying to put you in your place is to use the clock as an excuse. It’s a bad idea to completely dismiss someone’s question, because that can cause others to doubt your credibility. Instead, it is better to give a brief answer and then tell the person that you need to move on but will be happy to discuss the issue with them after the presentation.7:

7: Don’t be afraid to concede minor points

If someone keeps trying to correct you, don’t be afraid to give way on minor points. That may be enough to get the person to back off. Of course, some of the more brazen critics will only be emboldened by this and will make additional attempts to hijack the conversation. In either case, though, being willing to concede a minor point or two shows the audience that you are willing to be fair.

8: Ask for proof

If someone challenges you on a point you are making, you can always ask them to prove it– nicely, of course. The way to accomplish this is to say something like, “I hadn’t seen that, but would you mind emailing it to me?” This allows you to keep the presentation moving because you have just taken away the supposed expert’s ability to further argue the point.

9: Use the nuclear option

As an absolute last resort, you can use what I like to call the nuclear option. Confront the person who is trying to challenge you.

Last year at TechEd, I attended a session in which someone in the audience kept interrupting the speaker. After a while, the speaker had enough and told the heckler that the people in the audience had paid a lot of money to be there, and that he was wasting everyone’s time. If memory serves me, I believe that the speaker’s tirade ended with something to the effect of, “Now either sit down and shut up or leave.”

While I wouldn’t normally encourage the use of the nuclear option, It seemed appropriate in that situation and it kept the speaker from being interrupted again.

10: Stay out of it

All the ideas I have presented have revolved around what to do if someone interrupts you and claims that the information that you are presenting is wrong. If such a direct assault occurs, you usually have no choice but to respond. However, not every situation calls for a response.

For instance, as someone who has been writing for the better part of two decades, I can tell you that people talk trash about me in the message boards all the time. Tempting as it might be to respond, it is better to just let it go.

The same thing can be said for conversations. For example, I have someone in my family who doesn’t work in IT but is constantly giving others bad IT advice. It’s tempting to jump in with the correct information. But in the interest of not starting a fight, I usually pretend that I didn’t hear the conversation. If someone directly asks me my opinion, I will most certainly give it to them, but otherwise I try to mind my own business.

Takeaway: What will the legacy of Steve Jobs be a century from now? It won’t have much to do with business or marketing. Learn what it will be and why.

Who is doing the most important work in the tech world and which technologies are going to have the largest long-term impact on humanity? Those are questions I dedicate some brain cycles to thinking about every week. I like to ask, “Which of these things could have ripples that will last for a century or more?”

In tech, the truth is that most of the stuff we fret over, rave about, or argue bitterly will be barely recognizable 100 years from now. In most cases, even the staggering developments in tech over the past decade will morph into other products, be absorbed into new companies, and simply become the tiny seeds of brilliant new ideas championed by future generations of innovators. That’s just the natural order of things.

What I look for are the exceptions. And, there are always exceptions.

Steve Jobs was one of them.

Since his retirement as Apple CEO on August 24 and his passing on October 5, there have been lots of well-written retrospectives about how Jobs helped usher in the personal computer era and transform four different industries — PCs, mobile phones, music, and animated movies — and bring Apple back from economic oblivion to become the most valuable company on the planet.

All of that stuff is fascinating and significant and will be talked about for years to come. However, I’d assert that Jobs’s ultimate legacy will be something else entirely.

It won’t be about money. It won’t be about his famed “reality distortion field.” It won’t be about his brilliance as a marketer. It won’t even be about an Apple product — or, at least not one specific product.

Steve Jobs’s most important contribution will be that he made technology about people and not about technology. The entire thrust of his career was about building useful tools that adapt themselves to the ways people already think and work, rather than asking people to retrain themselves to learn how to use their machines.

While other tech leaders have given lip service to similar ideas — especially in the past decade following Apple’s recent successes — only Jobs has been able to thoroughly inculcate this concept into a company and all of the products that it produces.

The best example I’ve found of Jobs himself talking about humanizing technology came from Macworld Expo 1997 in a question and answer session. Here’s what he said:

“One of the things I’ve always found is that you’ve got to start with the customer experience and work backwards to the technology. You can’t start with the technology and try to figure out where you’re going to try to sell it. I’ve made this mistake probably more than anybody in this room and I’ve got the scar tissue to prove it, and I know that it’s the case. As we have tried to come up with a strategy and a vision for Apple, it started with ‘What incredible benefits can we give to the customer? Where can we take the customer?’ [It's] not starting with ‘Let’s sit down with the engineers and figure out what awesome technology we have and how are we going to market that?’”

Keep in mind that this whole idea of human-centric technology is a rejection of the foundation of the computer industry, with its codes, keyboard commands, and programming languages.

It’s probably going to take a couple decades for other technology leaders and companies to fully grasp, internalize, and institutionalize this change. But, make no mistake, they will. Today’s technology companies and the tech companies of the future will embrace human-centric product development as an answer to the current design bankruptcy in tech and as the next stage in tech product design. Lots of companies are already taking baby steps in that direction — take a look at companies like ASUS, HTC, and Microsoft (with Windows Phone 7).

While Steve Jobs left Apple in good shape and the company will almost certainly continue to be a leader in this area, Jobs’s impact will be even greater outside of Apple as hundreds of tech companies are destined to emulate Apple’s product design approach in the decades ahead. Within 20 years, every tech company is going to be about human-centric product design, and for decades after that I expect they will continue to perfect the idea until its roots at Apple become almost completely obscured. A century from now, it will be historians who will trace the idea back to the Apple co-founder.

For those who don’t want to wait that long and want to start thinking about and paving the way for human-centric product design in tech, I’d recommend not spending a whole lot of time studying Jobs himself and obsessing over all of forthcoming documentaries and studies of his life. Instead, do what Steve did: push yourself to learn, grow, and expand your world view outside of technology.

In fact, the career of Steve Jobs may be the single greatest impetus for a liberal arts education in modern history. Although Steve never finished his undergraduate degree at Reed College, he spent his time there taking the classes he was passionately interested in, rather than following the standard schedule of courses. For example, he famously took a calligraphy class that deepened his interest in typography and he later used that knowledge to push for the excellent on-screen fonts in the original Macintosh, which of course, greatly influenced the use of fonts in Microsoft Windows as well.

The point here is that, as much as Steve Jobs loved technology, he was also deeply curious about other aspects of life as well, such as music, world culture, and philosophy, and his life experiences in those areas had a significant impact on his humanistic approach to technology.

Jobs even traveled to India after he dropped out of Reed College. Although he didn’t find the enlightenment he was looking for, his travels helped solidify some of his ideas about what he wanted to do with his life and the impact he could make back in America. During the trip to India, Jobs reported, “I started to realize that maybe Thomas Edison did a lot more to improve the world than Karl Marx and Neem Kairolie Baba put together.”

All of this, of course, advocates for a liberal arts education and a variety of life experiences in order to help you think bigger, understand life from lots of different perspectives, and discover more things that you’re passionate about.

If you’ve already completed your degree, are in the middle of your career, or simply don’t have the budget or freedom to travel or go back to school, then you can always take the more grassroots approach, as Jobs did. Go to a museum, volunteer for a non-profit, take Tai Chi, learn another language, do something creative like paint, write a story, or play an instrument. Travel the world, when you get the chance.

As touchy-feely as that might sound, if you want to think creatively and you want to start looking at tech from the standpoint of how humans can approach the tools, then this is the kind of thinking you’ll need to do. There’s no better evidence for it than the life and career of Steve Jobs, and the next 100 years are going to show just how far ahead of his time he was, and how many companies are going to emulate his approach to humanizing technology.

Steve Jobs said, “The reason Apple is able to create products like the iPad is because we’ve always tried to be at the intersection of technology and liberal arts.” Photo credit: Apple Inc.

September 28,
2011, 10:56 PM PDT

Takeaway:
The IT department of 2015 will have fewer full-time staff members, will hire more consultants, and
will focus on software, mobile, and the cloud.

I kicked off the annual TechRepublic Live 2011 event on Wednesday by asking the question, “What will
the IT dept will look like in 2015?” (Right, photo credit: Deb Shinder).

My big takeaway was that the oversized, centralized IT department of 2001 is a relic that’s never coming
back and IT pros need to prepare for the decentralized IT reality of the future where companies are going to keep fewer IT pros on staff, hire more consultants, and focus their IT resources on software, the cloud, and mobile
devices (which will eventually become fully functioning PCs).

A decade ago, there was a lot of new stuff that needed to be set up — ethernet networks, directory servers, mail
servers, company laptops — and a lot of baby boomers who still needed helped transitioning into a computerized workplace. Those days are long gone.

Most of these technologies run themselves today and don’t require a lot of time from IT pros to deploy them
and keep them running. IT pros also spend a lot less time doing repairs, maintenance, and end user support. Replacement is the new support. In 2015, employees will just swap out their malfunctioning laptop, smartphone, or tablet to IT and immediately get a replacement device that will connect to the private cloud and/or public cloud and instantly download the user’s apps, settings, and data.

The cloud (private and public) will also transform provisioning servers and setting up data centers from a month-long task to a matter of minutes with a few clicks in the web browser. The real work won’t be setting up the servers any more, it will be all about choosing the right applications to deploy and putting the right plans in place to help the organization streamline business processes.

As such, I reiterated what I wrote earlier this year that the future of IT is going to boil down to three types of jobs:

1. Consultants

Let’s face it, all but the largest enterprises would prefer to not to have any IT professionals on staff, or at least as few as possible. It’s nothing personal against geeks, it’s just that IT pros are expensive and when IT departments get too big and centralized they tend to become experts at saying, “No.” They block more progress than they
enable. As a result, we’re going to see most of traditional IT administration and support functions outsourced to third-party consultants. This includes a wide range from huge multi-national consultancies to the one person consultancy
who serves as the rented IT department for local SMBs. I’m also lumping in companies like IBM, HP, Amazon AWS, and Rackspace, who will rent out both data center capacity and IT professionals to help deploy, manage, and troubleshoot solutions. Many of the IT administrators and support professionals who currently work directly for corporations will transition to working for big vendors or consultancies in the future as companies switch to purchasing IT services on an as-needed basis in order to lower costs, get a higher level of expertise, and get 24/7/365 coverage.

2. Project managers

Most of the IT workers that survive and remain as employees in traditional companies will be project managers. They will not be part of a centralized IT department, but will be spread out in the various business units and departments. They will be business analysts who will help the company leaders and managers make good technology decisions. They will gather business requirements and communicate with stakeholders about the technology solutions they need, and will also be proactive in looking for new technologies that can transform the business. These project managers will also serve as the company’s point of contact with technology vendors and consultants. If you look closely, you can already see a lot of current IT managers morphing in this direction.

3. Developers

By far, the area where the largest number of IT jobs is going to move is into developer, programmer, and coder jobs. While IT used to be about managing and deploying hardware and software, it’s going to increasingly be about web-based applications that will be expected to work smoothly, be self-evident, and require very little training or intervention from tech support. The other piece of the pie will be mobile applications — both native apps and mobile web apps. As I wrote in my article, We’re entering the decade of the developer, the current changes in IT are “shifting more of the power in the tech industry away from those who deploy and support apps to those who build them.” This trend is already underway and it’s only going to accelerate over the next decade.

Of course, this is a bit oversimplified and there are a lot of jobs that aren’t going to completely disappear — network administrators and DBAs, for example — they’ll just become specialists that are mostly employed by service providers like IBM and Amazon AWS. But, there’s going to be a lot less of them. Some specialists, such as security experts, will transition almost exclusively to consultancies, because only the biggest companies will be able to afford to have one of them on staff full-time.

In my TR Live presentation, I also added another hot job to keep an eye on over the next decade: big data analysts, or data scientists. These analysts take the mountains of data that companies now have at their fingertips and organize it, curate it, and ask the right questions about it, in order to yield insights that can lead a company to make better decisions and to make important course-corrections.

For further reading, I encouraged the TR Live participants to take a look at Marc Andressen’s article “Why Software is Eating the World” because the rise of software is ultimately the force that is driving a lot of the changes that we
discussed.