Here’s a slight dramatization of the most rewarding meeting I’ve had in a long time.
The client has 120 people with a small IT team and they are set grow this year with a Calgary acquisition. In the meeting was IT Director Peter, CFO Steve, and the owner/CEO James. I love seeing business owners take an interest in IT, but I feel bad when they get inundated with techno-talk; losing sight of the business forest through the IT trees. Shady sales people like to exploit these situations, I like to help prevent them.
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Ever bought the same car twice? Plenty of people do it. Why repeat yourself? Isn’t variety the “spice of life”? That sentiment might ring true when it comes to salad dressing, but cars, homes, and especially your business are not things you ought to experiment with. You drive that thing because it never lets you down – you get a new one every few years. The folks at the dealership come to know you and they take care of all your issues without question. Why do they do it? Because every good organization rewards and respects loyalty. And they secure that loyalty by providing good value. Read more…
You’re probably burning out your corporate IT folks. With the pace of change and innovation increasing and the organizational demands on IT growing, there are still only 40-60 hours per week to get stuff done. The vast majority of IT’s time is spent keeping the lights on. The precious remainder is spent on a crumb of R & D or training to keep up. Never mind about taking a proper vacation. Unless there is a change in the laws of physics or a major increase in IT budgets (HaHa) … something has to change. In progressive organizations, it has already started. The first lesson is realizing that getting external help to look after your IT systems isn’t about replacing anyone. Read more…
Free gifts, free offers, free services. These things might be attractive for food sales and consumer goods, but I honestly think it’s insulting to the clients in our industry. Nothing is really free. Organizations offering “free” stuff really just move the cost of whatever they are allegedly “giving” you over to something else and roll that up into the pricing for some bigger or more critical thing they want you to buy. I’d rather someone show me up front the value I’m going to get for the investments I make, they can keep their “free.” Read more…
After more than 20 years in our industry, I’ve seen a lot of changes. What’s funny is how the technological advancements are reflected in the job market and the trajectory of IT careers. I’ve heard some folks worry that as the technologies become commoditized, so will the careers of IT professionals. People worry that the march of the Cloud will do to IT pros what Future Shop did to electronics stores; make them all obsolete. I disagree completely. I believe that IT professionals have more opportunity than ever before to contribute real business value and establish themselves as strategic assets. Read more…
