So much for Data Management

Since the beginning of this year, I’ve not been able to get a printed copy of my pay slip as I usually do. The excuse: “We are now sending the pay slips through e-mails. The organization is going hi-tech.”

That sounded cool – or so I thought at the time.

So I waited patiently for my pay slip to be delivered via e-mail – NONE delivered! I decided to ask the finance department at the end of March. Surprisingly, I got a text message from the finance department informing me that payments have been made. I thought the e-mail will follow. It didn’t.
I asked a colleague at the office why still I haven’t got the mail. His answer, “Well, you will have to provide your e-mail address, so we send the pay slip to you.” You can imagine my surprise.

Me provide my e-mail address? Where did you people get my phone number from? Is it not from the same form with my details that I provided when was employed? Argh!

But you see I really don’t blame them. Most of our institutions rush into the use of technology without really doing their homework/research thoroughly and so end up being stuck at a point.

This problem wouldn’t be surfacing if our data are being managed effectively. I don’t even want to recount the number of times e-mail addresses have been collected form staff during meetings. What becomes of them?

We need to be up to the tasks we assign ourselves. Period!

Expresso CliQ modem -- my experience

Competition in the telecommunication industry in Ghana has been rife in the last couple of years, forcing telecom companies to strive to satisfy their customers. Customers now have a great deal of alternatives to choose from.
One area where competition has been keen is the provision of Internet/Web services. This is due to the fact that a great number of Ghanaians own mobile phones and PCs for personal use. This has seen the introduction of modems by these companies. A lot of grievances have been made by friends of mine who have used one or the other of these modems by the various telecom networks/companies.
Personally, I have used only two of such modems: the ones provided by the tigo and expresso networks; I must say I enjoy the expresso service better. A couple of reasons why:
- for the same data plan (eg. 1GB), expresso is cheaper (GH¢15 as compared to tigo's GH¢25).
- the connecivity of expresso is more stable and faster than that provided by tigo.
I am sure other users who have experienced the Internet/Web service provided by expresso may add reasons as to why or not they enjoy the service.
The last couple of days, however, have seen me undergo a negative experience with my CliQ modem.
I couldn't connect to the Internet albeit I had 300+MB of data usage left! I therefore recharged with an amount of GH¢5 and was able to connect. The same thing happened a while later -- I had 200+MB data usage left. I checked my credit balance and it was GH¢4.93. After another try, I was connected. Checking my balance after another disconnection showed I had 93MB left. I therefore decided to recharge with GH¢15 -- the required amount for the 1GB data plan. Surprisingly, my request for the data plan was not confirmed. . I was frustrated. I called the customer service and after a while I was connected.
I later conferred with a friend who apparently has had the same unfortunte experience. I believe this is one of the few cases expresso has to deal with. That notwithstanding, I think the Internet/Web service provided by expresso is among the best -- if not the best -- in Ghana.
I'm waiting for Globacom's Internet/Web service(s). Who knows, I may just be blown away.