Timeframe and TranslatorHQ

Are you ready for  Much More Easier European Business? February 1st, 2014 is a day of great significance for banks and other organizations in the euro zone– it’s the deadline for single euro payments area (SEPA)-compliance, and it’s approaching fast. SEPA aims to create a single domestic market for euro payments through standardization and the development of common financial instruments and procedures. This will create a simplified, harmonized bank transfer system for the 32 SEPA countries, helping to reduce costs for all and improve the efficiency and speed of payments. Hopefully, your organization is already well underway with compliance preparations – such as replacing current account numbers with the common format of International Bank Account Numbers (IBAN), identifying areas and processes that will be affected by SEPA, and implementing message format changes for payment instructions and reconciliations. Timeframe’s Electronic Payment Solution OpenEFT, anticipated the...

Well with the demise of Microsoft's CEO I am being praised for seeing something as if I was the only one who could guess that the disease that had set in to one of the worlds largest sofware companies was somehting unusual. REDMOND, Wash. — Aug. 23, 2013 — Microsoft Corp. today announced that Chief Executive Officer Steve Ballmer has decided to retire as CEO within the next 12 months, upon the completion of a process to choose his successor. In the meantime, Ballmer will continue as CEO and will lead Microsoft through the next steps of its transformation to a devices and services company that empowers people for the activities they value most.  “There is never a perfect time for this type of transition, but now is the right time,” Ballmer said. “We have embarked on a new strategy with a new organization and we have an amazing Senior Leadership Team. My original thoughts on timing would have had my retirement happen in the middle of our company’s transfor...

Well I can guess this is not everyones light reading but in Microsoft's Earnings statement the Surface RT seems to have been as much a problem for others. So how many tablets does $900 Million buy? Cost of revenue grew $1.4 billion, or 35%, primarily reflecting product costs associated with Surface and Windows 8, including a charge for Surface RT inventory adjustments of approximately $900 million , higher headcount-related expenses and increased online infrastructure expenses, offset in part by decreased traffic acquisition costs. http://www.microsoft.com/investor/EarningsAndFinancials/Earnings/PressReleaseAndWebcast/FY13/Q4/default.aspx

Culture: An obstacle to success for law firms? Reda Bennani : Consultan t The global financial crisis that truly impacted every economy, made a lot of radical changes in the way businesses operate and generate revenue. Those that anticipated ever-demanding customer needs thrived despite competing in very tough industries. Others however lagged far behind in terms of structuring a business model that understands the realities of the global economy and corporate clients’ behaviour. There is a consensus that many big corporate law firms aren’t built to run like modern businesses. The tough reality is that modern corporations are allocating fewer resources to legal work, and establishing more strict measures to verify the efficiency and productivity of the law firm engaged. This changing environment has penalized law firms, which are already punished by their culture and structure. The Partnership structure aims to look after the partners as the ultimate financial goal. They ...

Derek Giles: Timeframe Principal Last week A colleague & I attended Legaltech 2013 that was held in an old-looking , soon-to- be restored Hilton in the heart of the big apple. It was quite different from the predicted assumptions that we have elaborated throughout the years. It is easy to get frustrated at times by the gigantic number of vendors that dived into the ever-rewarding e-discovery market, and this unjustified commercialization of the concept. On the bright spot, several practice management systems were introduced to the consultants and techies ….. just to keep things interesting. Some Exhibitors showed great energy and marketed their products in a very attractive way, e.g. Thomson Reuters stand presented a unified picture of the various applications, unlike past years they seemed to be comfortable in their own skin. I firmly believe that after several years of acquisitions, the company is now linking together all the pieces to present  ...

Legal Procurement… Tired of the Status Quo? By Reda Bennani: Consultant There has been much debate, in the legal sphere, about the emerging technologies and the panoply of innovations embracing the practice. Law firms are looking for pathways and routes that can sustain net income and manage legal and corporate spend. Yet Procurement and Purchasing solutions are trailing far behind in mindshare. So first, let’s better understand the concept. In a traditional business context, the biggest source of cost in organizations is procurement of capital items that are needed to run the everyday operations. Purchasing solutions roles are hence well- defined as cost saving drivers. They deploy analytical tools that keep track of firm’s spending and overall management of vendor relationships and contracts. There is unanimity that when managed effectively, procurement can deliver substantial benefits. As we know, the law firm business model is different. While other industrie...

Well I finally got a deep dive on a Windows RT Surface device (with a Red keyboard!) and at first it had quite a bit going for it. I understand there is a lot more RAM than an iPad (2 Gig vs 512 Meg) and the "Metro" interface was a lot happier than on the Windows Phone 7. I agree that Metro seems a solution for a problem no one was having but with touch it makes some sense. Opening a legal Word document and seeing it properly rendered was fantastic, and this alone could be a killer feature. But after the first flush of working with a very Windows like experience and an IE like Web I struck my first major issue. Using a common security authentication I could not log on as I got IE errors. You cant run the ActiveX controls etc as this is not Windows per-se. Most tellingly (I feel vindicated for my pronouncement of its death!)  a really cool Micsosoft BI Site we worked on with Silverlight did not work. Thats right no Silverlight support! O...