Name the workbook suitably

Keep in mind who are the recipients of the workbook.  If it is for intra-company sharing only, use the subject or a project code or anything that clearly associates this file with that group of activities. If you are a vendor sharing with a customer, don’t use the customer’s name as the defining feature.  If you must, use both your company’s name and the customers name, such as “Acme proposal for Jones & son April 2010.xlsx”.  The name should make the file easy to find some time later.

Suitably name each worksheet within the workbook

The worksheet name is used if the file is saved in some other formats, so use this as a way to communicate if that happens. Also, delete any worksheets that have no data. If you don’t, it forces the recipient to check to see if data lurks on each and every unused worksheet you allowed to remain. Do the recipient a favor by deleting them. If you keep several worksheets you can color the tabs for emphasis or to make them more easily identifiable.

Use relevant names for row and column headings

This may seem obvious. But do make a conscious effort to avoid ambiguous or misleading heading names. Remember that the recipient doesn’t yet know everything you know. Give this some thought and choose good names.

Use comments in heading cells

If the heading name is not sufficiently clear, insert a comment into the cell to explain. Describe the source of the data in that column or row. If a formula is in use, explain that. Do what you can to assure that your audience understands and comprehends.

Use Text Boxes or Call-outs for lengthier explanations

The whole point of the workbook is to communicate. To the extent that you force the recipients to figure out your intention, rather than stating it clearly, you open the door for misunderstanding and delay. It’s your responsibility to communicate clearly. Use a text box when a long, verbose explanation would enlighten a tedious point. Describe your approach or analytical methodology. Provide a link to any online data sources or references, such as Wikipedia. Make it hard for the audience to be confused.

Format page headers & footers before printing

If the recipients will be looking at a paper copy, use the Page Setup feature to make a good, descriptive page header, add a date, and to put your email address in the footer. That way everyone will know where to go for updates, clarification and credit! I also like to put “page x of y” in the footer, especially if it is more than a single page.

Assign number formats suitable to the cell value

Take the time to add commas as thousands separators on large numbers, appropriate amount of decimal precision, dollar and percent signs. Your work might not look so much better with them, but it will look distractingly worse without.

Verify page breaks are well-placed

This will ensure that people focus on the content, not on some distracting mid-row or last-column page break. If possible, try to fit all the content on a single-wide page. Use landscape mode rather than portrait mode.

Number each row

This is a convenience that anticipates discussing the workbook in a large setting or via conference call, or if the audience is looking a paper copies. Using a row number is by far the easiest way to focus everyone to the same place in the workbook.

Using these techniques should become part of every workbook you create. If it does, you’ll be doing your audiences and companies a tremendous service.

My own opinion is that in a free and open market such regulation is not needed.  Web-based businesses wishing to differentiate their services, such as Google and Amazon, will continue to work with ISPs and Content Delivery Networks to assure that the services they offer provide an acceptable user experience to their customers.  End users, anxious to have the best speed or to use the peer-to-peer applications that triggered the initial Comcast action that raised the ire of the FCC, will have to pay for the privilege.

My opposition to government regulation as a way to force business to comply with an arguably desirable social good, in this case, non-discrimination of different traffic types, is rooted in the law of unintended consequences.  The social good in this case is often portrayed in a First Amendment light of free speech. But under no reasonable permutation of that principle can services which are only available for a fee be considered a fundamental right.

Further, history provides innumerable examples of the perverse effects of excessive regulation:  economic distortions (think of the “Universal Service Fund”, for example), power concentrated in the hands or offices of a few who become easy targets for lobbyists (exhibit A, the FCC itself, captive to the carriers) and  service stagnation caused by removing the reward of innovation (broadcast TV.)

As with the laudable restraint from imposing taxes on the nascent Internet and World Wide Web, a lengthier period of development and stabilization should be granted to allow these businesses and industries to mature before distorting them with well-intended but short-sighted regulation.

We then met Michael O’Reilly and Rich Garwood of Cellentx. Cellentx provides business development and sales support for vendors to the wireless industry. Although Cellentx has been in business for a short time, already they have received a warm reception and have many consultants under contract.

Good luck to both these companies as they develop their businesses.

We also caught up with Drew Esson of Digital Globe, purveyors of satellite imagery. Drew is another with a long history using and selling location based-services, having also done time with SignalSoft back in the day. Perhaps it’s more than a coincidence that he and Don Winters were hanging out in the same restaurant in Vegas.

First, it is absolutely necessary to become comfortable reading contracts and understanding their meaning. Certainly contract language is not the same as that which one might use with friends or family. And it’s hardly typical of many office conversations either. But it is what it is, so just get over it. Many of the commonly used terms and phrases in contract law are the result of years of accumulated court decisions and previous contract experience. These days many contracts are the Frankensteinian products of unbridled copy and paste. (Try comparing your various roaming agreements for similarities.)

Next, in the US there are many commonly used phrases and sections in telecoms contracts with which one should become familiar. And please remember, IANAL.  Consult with your company’s legal team to answer any specific questions.

Force Majeure. Think “act of God.  In other words, things outside of the control of the parties to the contract, or anything reasonably unforeseeable.  This is a get out of jail card for the vendor or service provider, letting them off the hook if the unthinkable happens.

Assignment.  Describes recourse for one party to the contract if the other party gets bought, sold, merged or bankrupted.  Normally notice to the other party must be provided, and if the other party must approve or agree, language such as “such agreement will not be unreasonably withheld”or similar should be included.

Governing Law.  If the parties get in a spat over any aspect of the contract and head to court to resolve the dispute this clause determines the laws under which the case will be heard. If both parties are based in the same state there should be no question.  But if not, a neutral 3rd state is selected, often Delaware as so many companies are incorporated there. We’ve also seen a “home court advantage” clause, which dictates that the party bringing the suit must do so in the jurisdiction of the other party. This tends to act as a disincentive to frivolous lawsuits and encourages the parties to work out their differences between themselves.

Term.This answer the question “how long is this contract is in force?”, and probably includes language for an automatic renewal if no action is taken.  For example, if a T1 is leased on a 3 year term, it will likely automatically renew for another year if not discontinued.  One should be careful of this, though, if plans are in place to discontinue a lease in lease than a year.  In such cases a month-at-a-time auto-renewal would make sense.Breach.  I mention this not because every contract will have a clause so labeled, but because every CEO or senior manager will want to know what are the terms dictating the failure of the other party to perform, or the terms under which the relationship can be ended.  In other words, which actions or inaction constitute breach of contract?

Liquidated Damages.  If a material breach of the contract were to occur, and if costs are imposed upon one party by the other party’s breach or failure to perform then a liquidated damages clause spells out the  penalty imposed upon the offending party.

The above list of commonly used legal clauses is certainly not exhaustive and says nothing about costs, quality and service levels.  Those issues are likely to be more important and much more specific to each individual contract.  Negotiate well, and good luck.

Authors apparently from around the world have contributed articles into these categories with titles as diverse as “Clearwire’s first step towards Deploying 4G WiMAX Technology in Europe” and “Cisco announces Space IRIS Router Operational in Orbit”. There seem to be articles expressing many different perspectives in Telecoms. The most prolific authors can be found at a single click.

The site really shines for employers and job seekers. Sufficient space is provided for employers to be more descriptive and explicit in the opportunities they post than many other jobs sites allow. Candidates can enter their personal details and also share job postings via email. The site continues to grow and attract more job postings. I suggest having a look.