Archive for the ‘Eneterprise Communications’

It’s Time for CIOs to Act as a Profit Center… not a Cost Center.

Posted by Chris Dellen
Nov5
cdellen

Today, CIOs have a very challenging position of balancing the strategy of the company, the operational impact of technology investments, and the cost of implementing it. Basically… helping the CEO and COO achieve their vision in a cost-effective way that will be acceptable to the CFO.

However, there is a tremendous opportunity for CIOs to make a direct impact on revenue generation. I was inspired by a quote from GM’s CIO, “What I’ve challenged my team with is… forget about Windows 7, forget about virtualization and VoIP phones. I don’t want to hear about that stuff. Go do that! That’s cost of entry. What are we doing to sell cars?”

What does that mean?

For GM’s CIO the conversation has shifted. It’s not about the technology enabling platforms (Windows 7, virtualization, and VoIP phones), they are already doing that, it’s about how those technology investments can be leveraged to generate revenue for the company. What is GM doing? Developing simple things like mobile applications that speed up their leasing process (enabling GM to make more money… faster. Which is powered by their virtualized environments and their VoIP call centers).

What about you?

What is IT doing to move your products/services? How are YOU moving the business forward? That is the real question that CIOs need to answer for their company and for themselves.

Mother Nature and Technology…how to work together…

Posted by Michelle Heiden
Mar2
mheiden

This past February we’ve had record snow fall in the Midwest and with the recent news about the earthquakes in Chile and Haiti, conversations regarding disaster recovery have been on the rise. Will we likely see an 8.XX earthquake….hopefully not…but many of you might remember the “Hurricane” that blasted through the Midwest last spring.  That event actually put businesses, out of business, for hours-even days…so nature i.e. wind, rain and snow can have a critical impact on your business if you’re not prepared.

Preparing for natural events, takes time…time to learn, time to discuss and time to define a strategy that best fits the needs of your business and business objectives…..here are some steps I am working through with my customers and prospects that are allowing us to define the right strategies for them…

** The first step is to start discussing your definition of disaster and what impact that could potentially have on your business? Depending on your locations, disaster can mean a lot of different things…..Detail your locations if you have multiple locations and the types of events that can or have taken place….

**Second-start discussing scenarios and how you would like to handle those scenarios….for example, if you live in Ohio and people could not get to work due to the snow, how can you handle snow days and how would you like to handle snow days…what are “work at home” options that could make sense for your business? A lot of organizations have “work at home” options for any revenue generating departments…i.e. customer departments and sales departments.

**Third-list out the minimum solution to the maximum solution for your business…this will give you a good understanding of what the cost could be surrounding your expectations and what best meets your needs. Some organizations prefer fully redundant solutions that will keep their environment in full production while others are looking for phone call and voice mails to be available…it depends on what you need to help your customers when the situation occurs.

Today, businesses don’t have to be caught in the storm…there is technology that can provide remote worker options, fully redundant applications and disaster recovery.  So, don’t let Mother Nature have a negative impact on your business… take the time to prepare and build a strategy that fits your business, you’ll be glad you did.