My best friend (computer friend that is)

I'm consistently amazed at how many emails I send out each day. Today as I spent time trying out new software and browsers from Google and as I sent out my Christmas emails I started thinking about what a good friend this laptop has been to me.  What a gift it is to have technology that really serves me and helps me to be better at what I do.  To do it more efficiently and with pure enjoyment.  I don't think there are too many manufacturers who make bad equipment today (there are a few).  Mine happens to be an HP but it could just as well be a Lonovo, Dell or an Acer.

So what makes a great friend?  1. They are there for you when you need them.  2. They like to have fun and try new games  3. They can take care of themselves 4.They are fun to interact with  (I know I'm stretching this analogy but bear with me)

Just a few characteristics of my laptop.  Sure I have to take care of it from time to time, but thats all part of the relationship.  This one was not overly expensive.  $1,100.00.

I guess I just wanted to communicate this message.  Computers and software have improved.  They have improved in stability and interoperability.  They are easier to use with wireless and email.  We've all but eliminated the problem of SPAM.  I listen to my favorite music.  I watch the news.  I am constantly trying out new software.  My computer keeps up.  Its fast and its fun.  This is what I love about the IT industry Constant  Never ending Improvement.  I get to experience this.  I love to share it with my customers, prospects and friends.

Merry Christmas to all!  I hope you get a new laptop.....or just have fun with your old one.

Google Changing our world.....Again

I think the main thing I love about Google is that they are changing the way we use technology.  I think that is an obvious statement.  Most people experience it by the fact that they use it every time they do an internet search or use the Picasa application to organize their photos.  I think the main reason I started this blog when I did is that it is so easy with Blogger.  The next big idea from Google is something called Wave.  Check out this video: http://wave.google.com/help/wave/about.html#video.    There is no question that devices like the Iphone from Apple are starting to dominate the way we communicate.  I've also observed how much more time I spend texting and emailing people.  What if there was a product that could bring these elements together.  What if you could seamlessly take people into a conversation? How about easily attaching  documents and photos at any time?  What about breaking off parts of conversations and adding or deleting people?  what about chatting and emailing in the same message?....instantaneously?  That's Wave!  Check it out

Time to make a decision

One of the biggest challenges I see IT professionals facing is that of decision making. One of the main reasons its tough for them is that it involves risk. I can say that in my experience owning a business that making decisions and standing behind them is tough. One of my favorite quotes from the book "the Travelers Gift" is this " God did not give us the ability to always make the right decision. He gave us the ability to make a decision and then make it right". Does this apply to IT decision making? Usually.  The point is that there is no perfect decision.  Even in IT.  There is no absolute, black and white.  The reason is that the target is moving.  The industry and the technology are moving so fast we have a hard time keeping up with the changes and making the right decision.  Thats why I like to focus on strategy and implementation as 2 separate pieces.  The strategy discapline lets you take advantage of the best of what there is to offer right now with keeping an eye focused toward the future.  The implimentation discapline allows you to set timelines and processes in place that you can meet in order to assure what you've designed can actually be used in time so that the company can bennefit from the new technology. 

HP to buy 3Com!

I just learned this weekend that Hewlett Packard intends to buy 3Com.  http://news.yahoo.com/s/nm/20091111/bs_nm/us3com_hewlettpackard.  This is exciting news for the SMB (small and medium business) market place.  My experience providing HP solutions to my customers over the past 8 years has been extremely positive.  Also, whenever HP has goofed up they have come back and made improvements to fix the problem.  This is a sign that this company understands the marketplace.  Recently, I've been working with the HP wireless LAN (Local Area Network) solutions and they are a terrific solution.  What I love about HP is they find a way to make everything work better together for the customer.  You can start your HP wireless network with just one access point and no expensive controller.  When needed you can grow that network to enterprise levels and have the highest levels of security and compliance.  What does the acquisition of 3Com mean to the SMB market place?  For me, the most exiting part has to do with the potential development of an SMB offering of VOIP (Voice Over IP).  For the last several years phone systems have been inching their way on to the data network but have still remained a separate purchase decision.  Cisco and 3Com have been making inroads but I think HP will do it better and cost effectively.  This means that a customer can have a network which is HP end to end.  I'm generally cautious when thinking about putting all of my eggs in one basket.  So I'll watch this closely, but guy can hope can't he.  If they execute on this they way they did with wireless they should have a technology solution that is hard to beat.

The Local Hardware Store Experience

Today I went to the local hardware store in majestic down town Chanhassen (#2 rated best place to live in the country). I've realized I look forward to going to the hardware store and I dread making a trip to Home Depot.  I get satisfaction out of being well served.  I also derive pleasure in knowing that I'm supporting a local business and the high school kid who is trying to make money for college. In my desire to understand the buyer seller relationship on a deeper level I've been observing the market place.  When I buy and when I sell I'm always trying to figure out what makes some relationships work and what makes them fall apart.  What makes a customer experience great?  What helps them trust the person or business they are working with?  What are the factors that erode trust?   I've come to the conclusion that in many ways I want my customers to experience what I experience at the local hardware store.  I asked where something was and they knew the isle.  I went to that isle and they came and made sure I could find what I wanted (I was purchasing rope).   I have a question about the different types of rope and  they can tell me about the differences.  If they guy I'm talking to does not know.....he has a more senior guy or specialist who can get the right answer.  Can you get this at Home Depot?  I think not. Not as frequently at least.  One out of every 10 times I'll have that experience at Home Depot or Lowes.  For all of their flashy advertisements with happy smiling employees, they just don't deliver.  When I go to my local hardware store I may be working with a kid from the local high school, but somehow, he helps me find what I'm looking for.  How does this apply to purchasing technology solutions?  I think that the main message is that price and name brand are not the best determiners of solution quality.  If you are a small to medium local company looking for a solution.....think about choosing a small to medium local provider.  They may not have flashy advertising with the bargain basement prices. They will be there to get you the answers you are looking for at the time you need them.  You will look forward to the experience instead of dreading it.  You'll also find the best solutions for your business while helping to grow the local business community.

Thanks for reading.

A Different Approach

When Managed IT services became popular 5 years ago it seemed like it would be great for everyone.  The customer would have a fixed monthly cost for their IT support and services and the IT vendors would be able to level out there revenue streams and become more profitable.  That is not exactly what happened.  This new model works well for some companies but not for all.  First, the IT companies had a hard time controlling the environments they were managing well enough so that they could level out their costs to stay in line with the revenue(fixed monthly charge to customer).  Second,  not everyone wanted the "all u can eat" model.  A lot of companies want an onsite person in house who can help out or be the point of contact.  In these times companies want to keep good people on staff to help with many "loose ends" of running a business.  Some of the promises of Managed IT services did come true.

There are many basic activities which make very cost effective managed services:

1. Assuring anti-virus definitions are up to date 
2. Performing regular system scans  
3. Proactive windows patching (patches being tested in advance) 
   
4. Automated backup 
5. 24x7 helpdesk support for 90 percent of desktop support issues
6. Server monitoring with proactive remediation
7. Asset management (managing and reporting on all IT assets)

Here are some items that don't necessarily fall under the fixed cost managed support model:

1. Custom business application troubleshooting
2. Custom application development
   
3. Expansion projects
4. On-site support of network infrastructure

No matter how much you may want to have it all covered for one monthly price, that may simply not be possible.  Of course if price is no object..........   Well in these times companies are looking for ways to be lean.  The way to do that is to make sure you break down the costs of your services so you know what is included in your charges.  An "all-u-can-eat" model with no detail on whats covered is probably not a good deal.

In the IT world there are multiple levels of engineers.  The large businesses pay one rate for the level 1 or 2 (typically helpdesk) and a higher rate for level 3.  Some companies have level 3 people doing level 1 work and also the reverse.  When this is the case I typically hear level 3 people being overloaded with work that is not appropriate for them and level 1 people who spend too long on a problem.  Which ever IT support company you choose make sure they have this figured out.  They should be putting the right people on the right work.  If they don't they will have a hard time servicing you on a timely basis and providing quality workmanship. 

The Managed IT Services providers are growing in number every month offering a wide variety of programs promising smooth sailing for your IT.  I hope these ideas help you pick the right one.

Thanks for reading

Practical Application

In my goal of becoming a resource for small business owners who are searching for technology solutions I'm always trying to discover practical, real life, examples of how technology really changes things. My wife and I recently had such an experience. So please bare with me as I offer you this simple but practical example of how my family is benefiting from cloud computing. Not too long ago my wife and I finally got on the same page in budgeting our family finances. We were fortunate enough to take part in the Dave Ramsey program called Financial Peace University. It was a great experience that I would recommend to almost anyone. In my opinion the single greatest benefit of the program is that it gets you and your spouse working together on planning for the family finances on a regular basis. You do this by having a budget and regular meetings. These meetings need to accommodate the geeky types that want to spend all day poring over numbers and spreadsheets. They also accommodate free spirits like myself who want to run through the numbers in 17 minutes and then move on to something more interesting.

What does this have to do with cloud computing? Well, when we have our weekly meetings we gather together and review our spread sheet. With Google Documents we were able to create a spreadsheet that we could both access separately and make changes to and those changes were saved to the same place. The fundamental problem with most spreadsheets and financial programs like Quickbooks is that they are not easily shared between 2 or more individuals. Historically the only way to share a common document or application in a home computing environment has been to log on to the same computer using the same user name and password. Usually one person is the super geek and strives to understand how these applications work. They hold the log in credentials or the spreadsheet on their local computer. In our family I'd sit down and create this really cool spreadsheet and then my wife would end up being the one to make all of the updates. She would get frustrated because I had the original version and had not made any changes to it. I was great at creating record keeping systems but horrible at the daily discipline needed to keep them up to date. So she'd get frustrated because she did not know how to use the system I'd created and was not invested in it. Especially because I was not keeping it up to date. We were having the same problem when we completed the Financial Peace University. I created a spreadsheet in Excel 2007 and she wanted to make changes to it but could not because it was on my laptop. I'd email it to her hotmail account and then we were both frustrated when we both made changes but they were on separate sheets.

With Google Documents we were able to eliminate all the frustrations and we did it for free. To create a Google Documents account you simply have to have a Gmail account.....Easy. I already had that. I logged into my Gmail account, clicked on google Docs, and uploaded my document. Then, we created a Gmail account for my wife, I went back to my account and shared it to her and that was it! Now we both make updates, mostly her, and the document is always up to date, always saved, always secure. More importantly we work more easily together and can accomplish our collective financial goals more easily with the use of technology. These are the kind of applications of technology that get me really excited. I hope that you try out Google Documents. I think this is a great innovation for the common man.

Thanks for reading

More or less for your money?

What I love about being in the technology business is that I get to work with all kinds of cool new technology. I get the biggest buzz when I can take that technology and help a business achieve a new level of effectiveness and efficiency. I have to be careful that I don't too fascinated with the technology and lose sight of the goal. When I am working with a new customer we spend a lot of time dancing around the dollars and trying to find the balance between the right dollars and the right technology. It's hard to lay out $10,000 for a new solution when you are a small business owner. It's a big risk when you need to lay out big bucks for payroll every month, not to mention health insurance and all the other costs of running a business.

When I had my first company we were young and we thought we were pretty smart. We figured that if people were coming to us for solutions that we should come down from the mountain top with the right answer. In retrospect I think we were is little insensitive to the customers budget. I think we could have done more to earn our $150.+ per hour consulting fee. When customers pay $150.00 or more per hour for consulting what do they expect? Do they want to have me recommend they buy a Lexus when all they need is a Toyota? Do we try and sell them a hybrid with new relatively untested technology when they need a reliable low cost car that still gets high gas mileage? I think if you are paying a high rate for your consultant they should be recommending solutions that are the right fit. If you came to me tomorrow and asked me to sell you a great car its pretty easy for me to set you up in a Lexus and know you'll like it. But that car will likely break your budget. How about a used Toyota Camry with 30,000 miles on it at 1/3 the price?

So what I am trying to say is that if you are paying a high price for your consultant. They should be able to help you by reducing your overall cost of technology and supporting the technology. The right solutions fit right, they are stable, and they should have lower overall total cost of ownership. I've seen the opposite where companies are paying a super low price for their consulting but when you look at the over all picture there are a lot of band aided and constantly breaking solutions in place. What you also see in that picture is lost productivity and frustrated staff. I see this time and time again and it takes a while to fix it. It takes a lot of experience and time to be ready to take these sorts of projects on. This is the type of situation where that is also the most rewarding when solutions are put in place and systems are stabilized. In the end its why I'm in the business.

Thanks for reading.

Collaboration question?

Collaboration of voice, video and web has been on my mind a lot lately. Many of my customers have been talking about it but more importantly the business community is changing the way they do business every day towards an ever increasing use of collaboration technology. Companies like Cisco's Webex http://www.webex.com/ and GotomyPC from Citrix https://www.gotomypc.com/en_US/entry.tmpl?Action=rgoto&_sf=2 are changing the way we meet, communicate and present information. How much collaboration is enough? Well, the great part is that you can put your "big Toe" in the pool before taking the plunge. I think that if you like the experience and it improves your interaction with your employees and customers it is worth making a major move. In today's business environment it is becoming harder and harder to get face to face with clients. They simply have too much information coming at them. They don't have time to sit down with everyone. What if you could provide a way to talk with clients that differentiated you from your competitors and still brings you face to face. How about a video conference where you present your solution succinctly and you are face to face? You are also progressive. The trick, of course, is getting everything to work. Whats nice is that there are a few phone systems today that are IP (Internet protocol) based that come out of the box with some pretty great collaboration technology. If you are already using something like Webex or GotomyPC regularly and paying the recurring fees its easy to show whether or not there is cost justification. As you would expect, my recommendation is to find a solution provider you trust to provide you with options. I also recommend that you make sure that the solution provider you pick has a strong grasp of IT networking technology.

See you on the web.

Share the Point

I think Microsoft Sharepoint server is a tremendous value for small businesses. With small businesses owners being more and more mobile they need IT platforms that can meet them where they do business. Most importantly, the coffee shop. Sharepoint is included in Microsoft's base server product Small Business Server. It simply needs to be turned on and configured. It allows a person to log into a website using their existing username and password, which is connected to their server, they can access all of their files on the server. I've been in some form or another of sales for the last 15 years. My most common challenge is having the right paperwork with me when I working with clients. Imagine this, you are on site with a client and they want to sign an agreement to use your services. You say, "I'll drive back to the office, prepare the paperwork and stop back later today". or you could say, " just a minute I'll log on your computer download it and print it out". Which one is more efficient? The applications for people who travel the world to do business are even more apparent. This product provides for remote access to files and security. Sure you can just keep all your files on your laptop, but what happens when you spill coffee on the laptop? Lets hope you have your files backed up. lets hope you have them with you. The ease of which you can impliment this solution again falls on the back of your solution provider. This is a prodcut which can grow to be immense in size and complexity. I think that is why it scares many consultants and customers away. The good news is that it is easy to turn on the basic services and put your "big toe" in the pool before jumping in.
If you are a small company and you need a great remote access solution, I would suggest considering using sharepoint as a part of Microsoft Small Business Server. If you already own Small Business Server 2003 you are in luck. A solution provider can lay out a plan and get it turned up for you affordably.

Check it out http://www.microsoft.com/sbs/en/us/default.aspx

The undervalued rack

In working with the SMB market I find customer data centers in all sorts of conditions. In one case the customer called me and told me how there had been water dripping on to the server so they put a plastic bag over it. The amazing thing was that the server kept running. Of course we eventually moved it to a data rack, but when we finally took it out of service a few years later, it was full of rust on the inside. I guess that is a testament to the quality of HP servers. The other scenario that comes to mind is when my engineer had to sit on the toilet to work on the server which was positioned in the bathtub. Crazy? yes. Is it still there? I don't know. I sold that client with my company. I've seen so many servers balancing on tables, underneath desks being kicked over and over, used as a dust bunny collector. The funny part is that a lot of people just expect their servers to take a licking and keep on ticking. Literally. So this blog is a tribute to the under appreciated data rack. Coming in at anywhere from $500.00-$1700 for a single rack, the price usually causes sticker shock. Why use that when we've got this perfectly good table I inherited from my grandma. Well today's racks come with a whole host of features your servers love:

1. Built in power distribution and remote control


2. Built in cooling


3. Cost effective, expandable Power conditioning and backup

and the always popular:

1. Optimal use of space


2. Security from physical theft or vandalism


3. Security from individuals who want to access systems directly


4. Cable routing (So you don't get lost in a spider web mess of cables)


5. Improved air flow (hot servers get mad and like to shut down)


6. Stability (when secured to the ground will not fall over, servers don't like that either)

My recommendation is to get your servers to a rack as soon as it is cost effective. Recently we were able to get a shipment of used racks. They went for about $200.00 and they went fast. That is a great way to go too. Even better, if you are planning on growing start with a rack in mind. Just put it in your budget. Once you've adapted your data center to a rack environment you'll sleep better at night knowing your servers are safe, sound and ......... dry.

Thanks for reading ~pz

The right tech for the right price

Today I run into a lot of companies that are paying a low price for their technical help. Are they really getting value? That depends. A good engineer should work fast, know what they are doing, and recommend solutions, not band aids. Having owned an IT firm for 5 years I can tell you that its hard to find engineers who understand the value proposition of creating solutions versus putting out fires. I don't' mean any offence to any IT network engineer out there. I know how tough the job is. I worked as an engineer for 2 years and I was not that good at it. Most of the training engineers are exposed to is technical. The personality strengths that make a great engineer are not necessarily the same strength's that make a great business advisor.

I'm convinced that the best IT firms find a way to combine practical business advice along with their solutions. It usually requires more than one person. An engineer can be highly skilled and effective when they have enough time to focus on their craft. Their is something magic about an engineer who executes with precision and speed. These engineers have studied and certified on the products. They have a passion for learning the new capabilities as soon as they come out. They are organized in their approach.

Practical business technology advice comes as a result of an ongoing discussion between the account manager the engineers and the practice leader. There are usually many solutions to a technology problem. There is usually one or two solutions that will yield the best result. This is where having multiple minds working on the problem can provide more consistent higher quality solutions.

When you are paying a higher price for IT consulting the additional dollars are going for training and certification, but more than that, the team that stands behind them. So when looking for an IT support provider consider the team as well as the tech.

Good Luck!

Contract Expiration.....Exasperating

If I had to name the one thing I see in the telecommunications community that makes my blood boil more than any other, it would be contract expiration's. For me it is the clearest expression of the profit and greed that still exists in the telecom/data network provider business. Recently I've been working with customers who wanted to get a copy of their contract from their current network provider. They have called, sent letters, emailed , sent demand letters. I see some of the network providers in town who sit on the contracts. Why is that? is it because they know there is an auto-renewal and they don't want the customer to cancel before it renews? Is it because they have no contract or have lost it? Why is it that some network providers act this way when others don't? This is irresponsible behavior on the part of the provider. They deserve to lose the business. The sad part is that many times I've seen them grind the customer down and the customer gives up. I can't say I blame them. The customer needs to run their business. I think this is what the network providers are counting on. The good news is that I also see customers who stand up to these manipulative companies. I see them put the pressure back on the network provider and win. My advice is to take a stand if you are getting treated this way. Find a company you trust that is a broker of multiple providers to help you know what to say and do. Some times you've got to stand tall and plant your feet to win. In the end I've seen these providers back down as they realize the damage they are doing to their own reputation. The customers who make this stand ultimately improve their service, solution and price. They also bring improvements for their business with new solutions and that is the way it should be!



Thanks for reading ~pz

Automation of basic IT processes?

Yes....I think this is the answer to helping SMB (Small and Medium Businesses) begin to cut costs. The challenge is to understand which parts to automate that will ultimately save you money. A lot of managed services companies today want to come in and give a business one fixed monthly fee to managed the entire network and all issues. In some cases this is good. If the price is in line with what the business should be paying for annualized IT support. In some cases it is overkill. For some companies I suggest baby steps. Why not automate antivirus or backup to start. See how it can benefit your company by putting your big toe in the water before making the plunge. A simple example is backup. If this is a managed solution it happens automatically, every day and virtually no interaction is required by your IT consulting firm. If it is a traditional backup to tape or disc solution it can require hours of consulting work to constantly tweak the backup software and reset jobs that have failed. When you look at the total costs this an easy ROI. Even if you cannot make the numbers make sense on a yearly basis just think about the peace of mind knowing you have a disaster recovery solution in place. Most businesses that have a complete data loss never recover. Most business owners know this but they don't know how to make sure they have their bases covered. There are easy, affordable, automated solutions available. If you just start with automating backup, for instance, it can cost as little as $100.00/month. Not a huge investment but a huge weight off your mind. So if you are looking for ways to save money in this tough economy consider taking a baby step and automating a thing or two. You might just find you sleep better at night too.





Thanks for reading.

Communication is the key!

When I think about the greatest challenges I've had to overcome with clients, I am always impressed by how our relationships have grown more positive through the interaction and communication. When I was running my own company the quality and depth of communication I had with my employees was the best indicator of our commitment to each other and to our success together. This last week I've spent a lot of time improving on internal communication where I work and on external communication with my clients. The funny thing with communication is that, the small issues sometimes make the biggest difference. Just the other day we had a customer who was waiting to hear back from an engineer that had been on site. The engineer had some more work to do in order to complete the ticket. He was actively working to reschedule his time to go on site. The important issue that we caught was that the customer needed to know we were working on it. They wanted to know they had not been forgotten. What a simple thing. How many providers are working hard to take care of their customers but their customers don't know it be cause it was not communicated? How many customers are waiting for a proposal but don't know that the engineering team is taking extra time to make sure they recommend the right product? How many times is a customer looking for a solution that their current provider already offers but the provider has no idea that the customer needs it? This happens all of the time in the IT industry. Communication is a constant challenge for technology solution providers. They have a hard time with it because technology stuff is complicated. Us geeks speak a different language. In the end it is the providers responsibility to regularly, proactively communicate with high quality to our customers. I guess I'd better get on the phone and call some customers.


Have a great week!

The truth about the big boyz

I see my primary responsibility in being a technology consultant as keeping my customers interests at the forefront. Up until just recently I've never received pressure to do otherwise from my vendors. But, life hands us twists and turns to learn from. Just recently, I've had a major IT equipment manufacturer who decided to throw a temper tantrum when I was not pushing the sale the way they wanted me too. Apparently working in the SMB (small and medium business) realm for all of these years has softened me. I'm amazed and confused by the whole incident. I was asking questions about their process for bringing solutions to my customer. I was getting a sense that they were going to take this around me and go directly to the customer, which the customer told me they did not want. I was asking qualifying questions to this vendor about their presence here in Minneapolis. What their makeup of staff is. They were so offended that I would ask that they berated me for a 1/2 hour. After they acted this way they put the blame on me and told me that I did not know sales. Well, I guess I don't know sales. What I do know is how to protect and take care of my customers. I know that one of the problems with publicly traded IT manufacturers is that they have to please the shareholder, no matter what. I know now, more than ever I have to take care of my customers and watch out for the big boyz. It turns out I was right. Today the vendor went around me and went directly to my customer. How does this make the customer feel? Does it give them confidence in sales people? Does it make them want to buy the products? Does it give them a deeper feeling of trust? My guess is that it makes them want to run the other way. I know that the higher path, the one of honesty and keeping the customer first, will help me sleep at night and lead to the best and longest lasting customer relationships. I wonder if my vendor is sleeping tonight?

How about being nice for a change?

Recently I've had several conversations with prospects and customers who have had experiences with technology sales people who have been pushy and disrespectful. I don't understand this behavior and it makes customers leery of working with sales people. What makes me even more concerned is when I talk with someone who has been pushed into a decision and it is hurting their companies operation. No wonder the biggest factor in finding new clients for me is earning their trust. So many people have been pushed into the wrong decision or just plain aggravated by sales people that they don't trust any of them. In some cases I've met customers who will only trust the technical staff and refuse to talk with account managers. Who can blame them. The problem with only trusting technical staff is that they are not usually kept up to date with the latest pricing and special offers from manufacturers. The other problem is that technical staff get busy on priority technical problems and have a hard time being timely and responsive as a result. The good news is that there are a lot of great experienced and knowledgeable sales/account managers out there. These individuals are excited to help you out and keep your best interests in mind. A successful sales/account manager is confident in their solutions and they are OK with a "no". They know that helping you achieve your goals, even if they don't make a sale, will benefit you and them in the long run. They know that when they help customers find the right fit, the result will be warm referrals. I keep asking myself "what can I do differently to allow prospects to feel OK trusting me?". I think it comes down to relieving pressure. I always strive to eliminate this right away in my initial conversations with new prospects. I think this starts with telling them that we may or may not be a fit and that it is OK to say NO. Wow, what a revelation. I'm not a perfect fit for everyone. Right, but the great news is that I can help most people out because of the 20 years worth of connections that I have in the Minneapolis business community. Lets face it, I'd rather be out learning about someones business needs at a coffee shop than stuck in the office cold calling. Here is a list of what to consider when finding a technology vendor:

1. They have to be nice and respectful


2. Find someone who is solution, not product oriented


3. Find someone with at least 5 years of experience


4. Talk to more than one vendor before you decide who to go with


5. Find someone who asks lots of questions and can repeat back to you what your concerns and objectives are for your company


6. Find someone who is authentic and gives a good gut check

Thanks for reading my blog!

Product life cycle managment....does it matter?

I've been meeting with many of my customers on this topic recently. Life cycle planning is one of those best practices that large companies have been doing for years. They reap the benefits of a constantly refreshed infrastructure. Again, the small and medium businesses (SMB) has had a difficult time taking hold of this concept because of the perceived costs associated with it. I understand this challenge.

The general rule for a computer is that you can get 3-4 years of usage and then it will be time to replace it. We all know companies that make their equipment last a lot longer. I wonder if those companies save money? My guess is that some companies are successful operating this way. I think this is the case because they don't put a lot of stress on their networks. I've seen this with some manufacturing companies. They might have an old Unix based software product which runs their entire organization. They may have no real need for a computers other than word processing and email. In some of these cases a small company can hold out for a long time and run old hardware because their software does not need to be up to date. If that is the case for you great!


The rest of us have a challenge on our hands. How do we make a small IT budget stretch and still have enough to keep updated hardware. If you've read any of my earlier blogs you know that I think it all starts with having a plan. I think your IT provider should provide you with a plan. Part of the plan should cover applications will serve your companies needs. The plan should also talk about hardware hardware life cycle management, and provide what I call an IT road map. Lets just say that your software and systems have to serve your business process. The systems and software that serve your business are dynamic and constantly changing. Your IT road map and life cycle plan should take this into account.


Recently, I've been able to help companies free up cash to purchase new equipment to run their business by renegotiating contracts for services that have monthly recurring costs that are too high. These costs are often forgotten about when customers focus on the challenges of running the day to day business. This is where having a well rounded provider can be helpful. Over the long run companies can realize savings by, knowing what their IT assets are and managing them as they age. The savings can be realized by not having to pay $100-$150 per hour to a tech firm to fix an aging broken infrastructure. Employees are happier and get more work done when their computer is working well and when they have great tools to do their work.


There is no need to make things too complicated. There is affordable software (and free versions) which will automatically search out your network and provide a report of everything you have. A good provider should be able to recommend a standard hardware and software configuration that is affordable and functional. It's a good idea to stick with one manufacturer of Hardware for PC's and Servers to keep the support simplified. Make sure you get a 3 year warranty on all your business machines. If you do that your warranty will match the life of the machine. If you want to you can extend the warranty after the 3 years is up with some manufacturers. These are just a couple of basic Ideas to get started. Many businesses I meet with can get a handle on their infrastructure by just making these basic moves. Its really just makes sense if you think about it.


I hope you find something here that is interesting and helpful. I'd love to hear any comments.


Thanks for reading my blog.

How about the combo platter?

This last week I have assisted several customers by combining their services and helping them save money. On the surface, combining services and saving money sounds great! What is under the surface? What am I missing? I am happy to report that we have all the bases covered. I spend most of my time working with customers on their internal IT and Telephony infrastructure. Lately, I have been working with vendors who have made their focus helping the Small and Medium Business (SMB) market. SMB companies are an interesting group. They have all of the needs of a larger business but are unable to afford to buy the large expensive solutions which mid-sized companies can afford to purchase. Since these companies often are working with a smaller budget, they sometimes end up choosing the cheaper solution. This makes sense when a business is just beginning. When I was starting my business, we used Yahoo calendaring to coordinate the activities of our engineers and staff. Compromising functionality for price made sense until we were more established. At some point, we had to purchase our own server and run Microsoft Exchange which increased our functionality and efficiency. As a business flourishes, there is a line you cross where cheap just does not make sense any more. Even so, small growing business are starved for cash so what is a person to do?


This is where combining solutions on to one platform can really make sense. Cbeyond is a national voice and data services provider. Cebyond came to Minneapolis in April of 2008 and delivers Voice/Data bandwidth, DNS hosting, Web hosting, Managed Antivirus, Hosted Exchange, and many other services. Also, there are products like Microsoft Small Business Server which allows companies to take most of these same services and put them on a server and on site at the office. Both of the solutions I've mentioned have sizing and pricing designed with the SMB budget in mind. These products help businesses simplify the technology platform while improving the performance of the combined products. Now this makes sense! The key to successfully implementing these types of solutions is finding an organization which will guide you to the right products for your business needs. I believe it is difficult to go directly to the service provider or manufacturer and expect them to be unbiased. I am a big fan of working with a channel partner (reseller who also reps other products). This is because I have been working as a channel partner for the past 15 years and I agree with this philosophy. Manufacturers and service providers must sell to the partner who then sells to the customers. Channel partners have the best interest of the customer in mind. They look for vendors who offer high reliability and excellent product support after the sale. They must carefully select the best vendors to suit their customers. If they choose poorly they could have unhappy customers.


So in the final analysis. I am confident there are excellent products and services available today which allow companies to combine functionality on one platform. This can be done while increasing overall value and functionality to the end user. I think the best way to find these solutions is through a value added reseller who has multiple products and services to pick from for the clients they serve. This gives the client the best opportunity to purchase the right solution for their company.


Thanks and have a great week!

Ask for what you want!

I'm finding an interesting phenomenon. When I want something, and I ask for it, I can usually get it. I've worked with a lot of clients this week on contract negotiations. Sometimes they are negotiating for better terms with my company. Sometimes I'm helping them get better terms with another vendor. I find that it's easy to make assumptions about what is possible and what is not. The result is that when we make an assumption about what can or cannot be done we fail to ask the question. We fail to ask for what we want. A good technology partner should be an advocate for you. They should find a vendor who is flexible in their terms. This week I had a customer who was in a lot of pain and wanted to switch vendors. I was helping them get a new contract and vendor in place. The catch was that they were going to be consolidating some of their locations within the next year. The best pricing was on a 3 year term. I asked the vendor for 3 year pricing and the ability to consolidate some locations together in the next year. This would mean that the customer would be reducing the amount of services they would be paying for once the move occured. Guess what? The vendor agreed to our terms! I believe this is because they know that this will give them a long term customer. They know that they will benefit over the long term. If we would not have asked for this we might have been stuck in a contract that did not serve the best interests of the client. I was truly surprised and encouraged that this large publicly traded company was willing to be so flexible and helpful in the contract negotiation. It just goes to show what can happen when you ask for what you want!

Whats up with VoIP?

Something has been bugging me lately. I can't understand why technology sales organizations continue to try and sell a product instead of a solution. In the past, it was all about why our "features and benefits" were better than the competition. Today, the market has changed and Voice over Internet Protocol (VoIP) is driving the market. This is a whole new breed of phone system vendor. With so many products available for customers, it's safe to say, 8 out of 10 products chosen will provide the appropriate features and benefits.


So what next? How about looking at the whole technology plan and where this piece fits in. Even with the whole industry heading down the path, the data vendors chose from the beginning of open standards and cross compatibility of software and hardware products. The phone system vendors still try and sell by putting out negative information about the competition. I don't think the negative information is helpful to anyone, especially the customer. It is a waste of time and energy. Recently, many of the major phone system vendors have been feasting on the demise of Nortel. They have been creating promotions to go after the suffering giant. I get it! I'm sure lots of systems will be sold and lots of people will get rich on this sort of promotion. I just won't embrace it or sell to my customers by focusing on the weaknesses of my competition. I would rather have someone purchase from me because they trust me and believe I understand their business needs and I have a solution which fits.


The interesting part is the numbers are starting to show the customers agree. The "other" category of phone system vendors, which is largely made up of open standards based systems, is slowly eroding the market share of the big boys like Avaya and NEC. The reason for this, is manufacturers like Fonality and Switchvox are building open standards based systems, which allow you to have a migration path which is flexible. You can choose to have a phone system that is hosted and owned by a third party provider today and tomorrow you can take the same phones and use them on a phone system which runs on an HP or Dell server. This phone system on the server will use the same switching equipment and routers that the hosted solutions use.

Who would ever think it is okay to make a full PC replacement mandatory with a server replacement today? Who would find it acceptable to force customers with an HP server to use only HP laptops and PC's? The answer is, no one. It does not make sense. If you talk with a traditional phone system sales representative today, they are going to try to sell you a phone system with phones which "work best" only on their system. They are going to say their system is "open" but in reality it only works best with their phones.


The great news is, customers' dollars are what rule the ultimate outcome. Customer's prefer having flexible upgrade options and mulitple migration paths when choosing their phone systems. I'm not saying some products are not better than others. I'm not even saying buying a proprietary system is not right for some companies, without a doubt it is. The only way to make sense of it is when you take time to evaluate the risk verses reward of purchasing an open system versus a proprietary system. What direction is the vendor going with their product? What examples and cost comparisons can they provide to show what it costs to open up their system? What are the risks of purchasing a more open system in terms of support and future product releases? Depending on how you end up feeling about the answers to these questions you may or may not be on the right track.


Thanks for reading my blog.

The value of having a plan

Lately, I have had the good fortune to be working with a number of clients on their Technology Road maps. I guess in my experiences, over the past few years I've run into all sorts of prospects. Some who wanted to pay for a plan. Some who wanted to get a plan from a whole bunch of different vendors for free and then pick the best plan. I think the plan you pay for is generally the best, but to each their own. I am just here to applaud the idea of taking the time to think out the future of your organization and creating a technology plan. In these uncertain financial times a plan is even more crucial. A lot of companies are wanting to stretch their dollars further and run their technology longer. I understand this. I know what it is like to have limited dollars as an SMB(Small and Medium Business) owner and make this decision. Do I buy a new server or pay for my health care this month? No brainer, let's see if we can milk another month out of that server? It's kind of like the tortoise and the hare. If you consistently, slowly work your technology plan you can win in the end by having spent your dollars strategically in the best places determined by you and your technology partner. If the server does crash, you can know who your vendor is, what product you need to buy, how much the hardware, software and installation will cost. When your business is down, you don't want the added pressure of having to shop....likely you won't have time and you will pay too much. So my advice for these uncertain times is to take time to plan. Hope for the best work and work your plan.


Thanks and have a great week!

What's your price?

How does a company find the best value when shopping for technology solutions? Over the last few years I've been fortunate enough to be involved in some large scale initiatives for some of my customers where we've been able greatly improve redundancy and reduce their risk. I've also been witness to some organizations that have chosen to take more risk than they should and sadly they have had to pay a major price to recover. Whenever I'm working with someone, my biggest challenge is to get an accurate understanding what their risk tolerance is and how we can match it to their budget. My observation is that the solution that works best is the one that fits the customer's business requirements and takes short and long term business requirements into account. It's good to look out a ways and try and figure how long you will have this technology. That seems to be the hardest thing for SMB (Small and Medium Business) decision makers to hone in on. It's hard to look out beyond 3-5 years. Sometimes the cost to eliminate the appropriate amount of risk is simply too high. In that case there are reasonable compromises to make. In all cases it' my job to help my customers understand the impact of making a compromise. It seems when there is good honest communication up front, there is a foundation for a high quality buyer seller relationship. So if you are hunting for a technology solution for your business here are a couple of things to keep in mind :

1. Shop for a provider you can trust to give unbiased evaluation of different technologies.

2. Find someone who will present you with options and flexible pricing.

3. Take the time to look down the road and think honestly where your business will be in the 3-5 years.

4. Evaluate how you will balance the risk you are taking with technology with the other risks you must take in your business.

5. Make a road map for action and regular evaluation.

It's hard to take the time to make sound decisions that you feel good about when you are running a business. There are so many decisions to make that have an element of risk associated with them. Developing an IT road map and carefully choosing a technology partner is just one of many challenges facing SMB decision makers today. I hope the ideas I've offered on how to get that done are helpful.

Thanks for taking time to read my blog.

Adventures in Blogging

For some time now I've been wanting to start my own blog. My hesitation has been, I have never had a lot of confidence in my own writing skills. But I figure now that I am 40, what have I got to loose. So....it's Sunday morning and I was inspired by a great bike ride last night and the feeling of euphoria you always get afterward plus a great night of sleep. The purpose of this blog will be to share with my readers the adventures of helping my customers, prospects and friends with their technology needs. Also, to share a bit of me at the same time. I've been in the world of Small and Medium Business (SMB)Technology for 15 years and I still love it! I love it for the same reason that I'm writing this blog. I can now create a blog with a few clicks. So this continues my foray into "cloud computing". Cloud Computing is all the buzz right now it feels a bit like Voice Over IP did to me 6 years ago. A lot of talk, a lot of buzz ......only about 15% of the people are actually going to act on it. Why... because everyone else will wait to see how it works out for the first 15%. Personally, I'm inspired. I think it's pretty neat. I know I have customers right now who are getting a lot of value out of cloud computing. It seems they are eating it in just bits and pieces right now. I think this is a good approach. At the end of the day we have to keep our businesses running and stay focused on the main things 1.Serving out customers 2.Making Money. What's great about the technology market today is the plethora of options. With the right help a company can take a bit of what they already have and blend it with whats new and come up with a stable functional environment. Creation of combination of solutions is the adventure part I love. Well, its time to go to church and I think I've rambled on long enough for my first crack at this blogging thing. It is actually pretty fun. I recommend it!