Essential Retail - Q&A: Retail IT expert Jevern Partridge

What do you think are going to be the key trends in retail technology over the next 12 months?

Whilst mobile has been a mainstream retail technology for a few years now (remember the iPhone is 5 years old), retailers are now starting to realise that it is capable of touching all parts of the organisation. From mobile websites to smartphone apps, the opportunities are endless.
The best retailers will find their mobile strategy is at the heart of what they do and rather than thinking of it as an add on to the website, retailers need to think mobile first.
The strength of the mobile is that it can join up the digital world of the Internet with the traditional world of stores. Even simple things such as accurate store finder are critical.
Of course bringing an app to life has never been easier with the wide range of cloud services. From Amazon Web Services to Microsoft Azure, small groups of people can now create something that large corporations struggle to deliver.

Read the full article at: Essential Retail

Experienced retail professional Jevern Partridge is an independent retail consultant at Ridge Solutions and a member of RBTE's Steering Committee.

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Our VPS solutions are provided unless otherwise specified as ‘unmanaged’. Unmanaged is defined as a base installation of your specified operating system, network access and remote access via SSH or terminal services depending on the selected operating system. Past the initial deployment of the server, you are responsible for any updates, or additional software installations or integrations that are performed on the VPS.
 

VPS	Supported by Fearn Web Hosting	Customer Responsibility
Network Availability	We will ensure that the server has a reachable network address and is accessible from major internet carriers.	None
Hardware	We will monitor and maintain all aspects of server hardware. If hardware failure occurs we will replace any faulty hardware as soon as humanly possible. We maintain an inventory of replacement components, and/or service contracts with hardware vendors to ensure that faulty hardware may be replaced in timely manner.	None
Internet Training	None	We do not provide training or educational services regarding basic operation of Internet technology and concepts. It is expected that you will have a basic understanding of Internet concepts such as DNS, email, and FTP.
List/operation of common services.	We will monitor and ensure that all basic services are working, such as email (SMTP), web serving (HTTP), FTP, DNS and cPanel control panel if you hold a monitoring/system administration contract with us.	Your responsibility to monitor and ensure that all basic services are working, such as email, web serving, FTP, and cPanel control panel. . We will gladly perform manual checks for you should you feel your service is not working as intended.
Data Backup.	Daily snapshot	You are responsible for individual site backups, our Snapshot facility allows the restoration of the entire VPS and can not be segmented to a single domain name.
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SSL Configuration	We do offer installation and full support of GeoTrust QuickSSL certificates that are purchased through us.	We do not offer support or installation service of SSL certificates that have been purchased through an alternate supplier. We strongly encourage you work with your SSL provider towards a resolution.
Server Administration	None	Customers are expected to troubleshoot and resolve any issues that arise UNLESS the customer acquires a server management plan. Example: If customer’s Apache webserver crashes under heavy load, or as a result of misconfiguration, customer will be responsible for resolving this issue.
Software Installation Support	None	We do not provide support for the installation and/or configuration of any software installed on customer’s (Server.

Software	Supported	Customer Responsibility
Installation	We will install our most recent version of cPanel on your VPS. We will ensure that the control panel is operational.	None
Version updates.	Should an immediate update be required resulting from a security issue, we will make every effort to notify you of this update, but are not obligated to.	None
License	We will ensure that the cPanel license associated with your server is up to date and functional. Should your cPanel license become invalid we are responsible for reinstating your license in a reasonable time-frame (8 business hours).	None
Features and Usage.	None	You are responsible for understanding the features of the software, documentation, and help files associated with the cPanel software. You are also responsible for creating and configuring clients, domains and users.
Plug-ins.	None	You are responsible for installing and administrating third-party plug-ins for cPanel. If the event of failure we are not responsible for recovery, we can reload a new VPS or restore from the lastest available backup.
Email Configuration	None	You are responsible for setting up an email account with your client software such as Microsoft Outlook or Apple Mail with the most basic server settings. We cannot assist you in any advanced configuration or troubleshooting such as spam filtering, message rules, etc.
FTP Client Configuration	We will ensure that port 21 is available.	We cannot provide extensive troubleshooting relating to the advanced configuration of your FTP software.  We will do our best to help you make a connection using the steps outlined in our Knowledge Base articles.

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Our service desk cannot guarantee support or resolve reported issues for applications not listed below.

Supported Operating Systems

Full support is provided for the following Operating Systems:

• Debian (latest stable release)
• Centos (latest stable release)
• Windows 2008 R2 Web Edition
• Windows 2008 R2 Data Center Edition
• Windows 2008 R2 STD Edition (VPS only)
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Operating System support includes trouble-shooting and diagnosis of issues directly related to the operating system. For example, defective core applications and modules required to run a bare boned system, or utilities require to maintain usable access to the server (SSH & RDP).

Supported Applications

Windows based applications:

• IIS7 - Install & configuration of server, virtual hosts and SSL where needed
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• Mail Enable - install, configure and diagnose issues
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• FileZilla FTP Server - Install, setup and configure initial user
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• MySQL - Install and setup (no DBA work)
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• Sun Java Environment - Install only
• Microsoft Remote Desktop / Terminal Services - Installation and full configuration

Linux based applications:

• Apache - Install & configuration of server, virtual hosts and SSL where needed
• Exim - Installation, configuration and basic diagnostics
• Postfix - Installation, configuration and basic diagnostics
• ProFTP - Install, setup and configure initial user
• PureFTP - Install, setup and configure initial user
• vsFTP - Install, setup and configure initial user
• MySQL - Install and setup (no DBA work)
• Postgresql - Install and setup (no DBA work)
• PHPMyAdmin - Full setup and configuration
• PHP - installation and basic support no code dev
• Shell - installation and basic support no code dev
• Perl - installation and basic support no code dev
• cPanel - Installation, configuration and diagnostics
• WebMin - Installation, configuration and diagnostics
• Bind - Installation only
• SSH - Installation and full configuration
• Sophos Anti-virus (only if sold by Fearn Web Hosting) - full product support
• Java Environment - Install only

Mobile Ad Specifications

We're currently working on mobile advertising opportunities for Alan Rogers and found the following list of advertising specifications helpful whilst coding our style sheets.

iPhone Text Links

• Up to 35 characters including spaces
• "[Ad]" signifier appended to the start of all text links
• Portrait 320 x 50 px
• Landscape 480 x 32 px 

iPad Text Links

• Up to 35 characters including spaces
• "[Ad]" signifier appended to the start of all text links
• Portrait 768 x 66 px
• Landscape 1024 x 66 px

XX-Large

• For iPhone and smartphones
• 320 x 50 px

X-Large

• For iPhone and smartphones
• 300 x 50 px

Large

• 216 x 36 px

Medium

• 168 x 28 px

Small

• 120 x 20 px

Further information can be found here:
https://support.google.com/adsense/bin/answer.py?hl=en&answer=185668#wap

New Recommendations for Fearn Web Design

We've just received 2 new recommendations for work completed for Paperchase Products Ltd.

I worked with Robin as part of the project to launch paperchase.co.uk - Rob's official title was eCommerce designer, and he had an excellent eye for detail in the wire frames and visual design of the site. However, Rob's talents went much further than that and Rob was a key member of the team. He organised the digital asset management tool to ensure a clear process around the uploading of images onto the site, worked with the logistics team to ensure key products were available on the site and worked with the in house design team to manage all of the content (home page, hero images, etc).

Under his own initiative, he then went on to setup and manage the Facebook and Twitter sites and grew the number of fans and followers on both platforms.

Rob is a great all rounder who can get involved in the detail when required. However, Rob is also able to come out of the detail and propose ideas that provide real business value. Definitely someone you'd want on your team.

Jevern Partridge - Professional eCommerce Leader at Ridge Solutions Ltd

Robin is a great problem solver, technically savvy, logical and creative.
His work ethic and commitment to the business means he delivers more in one day than most people do in a week. He is a joy to be around, well liked, a good communicator. 

His sound understanding of the business and its objectives means he easily works with other business functions and across levels, managing expectations whilst regularly exceeding them.

Pamela Card Owner at Surefire Online Marketing

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