Posted on Wed, Oct 26, 2011 @ 10:08 AM
With the publication this week of Walter Isaacson’s biography of Steve Jobs, many people interested in computing, the nature of innovation or just the man himself will be reading the full story of how the visionary Apple leader transformed the way we use technology. I know I and many of my colleagues at MCPc will be among them.
Steve Jobs impacted the world. More personally, however, as technology consultants, we’ve looked to Steve Jobs and to Apple for leadership, inspiration, and the next big advancement that will shape the way we work, live and even think.
In honor of one of the greatest innovators of our time, this post serves as a tribute to the advancements and impacts we’ve gained from the life and example of Steve Jobs.
Think Differently
"Here's to the crazy ones. The misfits. The rebels. The troublemakers. The round pegs in the square holes. The ones who see things differently. They're not fond of rules ... You can quote them, disagree with them, glorify or vilify them. About the only thing you can't do is ignore them. Because they change things. They push the human race forward. While some may see them as the crazy ones, we see genius, because the ones who are crazy enough to think that they can change the world, are the ones who do." — Steve Jobs, Think Different, 1997
Darin Haines, Group President, Advanced Technology Group
Steve Jobs has had a profound impact on both my personal and professional life — with the quote above having shaped and inspired much of my life’s experiences. Allow me to share a few of them with you.
In my consulting days, and shortly after Apple’s Think Different campaign, I started to think about SaaS before it was in vogue. In fact, in 2001, I was involved in developing a web-based CRM system that was — gasp — hosted outside of our firewall! The team and I were vilified, but his words gave us the encouragement to push through the criticism and persevere. And years later that same system is still in place. Steve's vision for “us misfits” is one that I took seriously, propelling so much more than my career — but my entire way of thinking.
Another quote that comes to mind when thinking about Steve Jobs is from his 2005 commencement speech at Stanford University.
"No one wants to die. Even people who want to go to heaven don't want to die to get there. And yet, death is the destination we all share. No one has ever escaped it, and that is how it should be, because death is very likely the single best invention of life. It's life's change agent. It clears out the old to make way for the new."
We all yearn to make a difference, to move new ideas forward, and to kill old thinking.
Simply put, death is life's greatest change agent; Steve nailed it. We can't escape it, no matter how hard we try. For some it comes sooner than it should. At 56, Steve was much too young to die. His impact on technology, management, design and innovation will live on, but it won't be the same. Here's to you Steve. All I can say is thank you.
Transform Products & Processes
Peter DiMarco, Executive Vice President of Sales
As manager and enabler of MCPc’s Apple channel, I think mainly about the ways that Steve Jobs transformed how we share information and work collectively.
I have personally witnessed Apple grow its B2B channel exponentially over the last five years. The brand provided solution integrators with the awareness and runway to teach customers about “user value” for all — showing customers how Apple products enable entire organizations, from sales and marketing to engineers and developers.
Steve Jobs’ push for continual evolution led to tools and standards that others are now chasing — namely the iPhone and iPad. Thanks to his vision, these technologies not only fulfill a function, but also a desire, and therefore have become staples in everyday life. Through his relentless focus on user experience, Jobs was able to take consumer-like elegance and apply it to how businesses work today.
Demand Excellence
"Be a yardstick of quality. Some people aren't used to an environment where excellence is expected." — Steve Jobs
Steve Jobs’ drive for excellence made Apple one of the most valuable and innovative companies in the world. It’s a drive and expectation that technology consultants like MCPc will continue to follow for years to come. Our history of excellence and continual innovation are standards we take seriously in our own practices, and as we bring the latest technologies to our clients.
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Lance Frew is the President and Chief Financial Officer at MCPc and helps guide the organization in achieving its strategic vision as an industry-leading technology products and solutions provider. Connect with Lance on LinkedIn.
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Posted on Thu, Oct 20, 2011 @ 08:28 AM
Total print management (TPM) offers organizations a range of benefits, including cost savings, improved productivity, and more efficient workflow and operations. In addition, it plays a crucial role in printer consolidation initiatives.
This is because it enables you to base decisions on historical data from your current printer fleet, and an in-depth evaluation of costs—not vendor assessments and purchasing whims. TPM solutions collect data, such as:
- Usage of individual machines
- Device over- and under-utilization
- Supply use and ordering needs, including toner and drums
- Color versus black-and-white printing
Using this data, you can make more informed decisions about if, and how, you should consolidate, and better evaluate potential consolidation partners and options.
Read on for details on how TPM data can help you avoid potential printer consolidation pitfalls, such as believing that copiers are always a better option than printers, relying too heavily on vendor data, equating consolidation with purchasing, and failing to meet internal objections.
Pitfall #1: Copiers Aren’t Always Cheaper
Printer consolidation initiatives have historically been driven by a call from a copier salesperson to the purchasing department. After a simple cost analysis, the salesperson may advocate to replace company printers with copiers, promising savings of about 30% per device.
Because of this long-standing tactic, many people believe that copiers are always a better value than printers, but this isn’t necessarily the case.
By analyzing TPM data, dedicated print or IT administrators, CIOs and CFOs should have the historical usage and cost information to evaluate printers versus copiers, and support procurement decisions only when financially sound.
There are many cases when consolidating what you already own without making any purchases is the most cost effective decision.
Pitfall #2: Over-Reliance on Vendor Data
For years, the copier industry has justified the sale of large, expensive machines by comparing cost-per-page savings achieved by the copier against the cost-per-page of existing equipment.
Rather than taking these vendor assessments and recommendations at face value, organizations that have TPM programs in place can benchmark current fleet performance and base discussions on real company costs.
Come prepared to printer or copier sales meetings with a firm understanding of your fleet, including:
- Number of printers in your environment
- Number of pages printed per device, and across the network
- Percentage of pages printed in color versus black and white
- Type of toner used, where it is purchased and how often
This allows you to have more honest, unbiased and meaningful conversations with potential vendors, driven by your own usage data instead of rough industry estimates.
Pitfall #3: Equating “Consolidation” with “Procurement”
It’s easy to look at your printer fleet and figure that the best way to consolidate and optimize it is to start from scratch. However, you may find the greatest consolidation benefits by evaluating and reorganizing your current fleet.
In reviewing TPM data, you may find that by removing under-utilized machines or those with a high cost per page, or by relocating devices based on their usage and capabilities, you can actually make printing within your existing fleet more cost-effective.
In fact, we consolidated one client’s printer fleet through reorganization, and they’re now on course to save more than $50,000 per year.
Only after you’ve consolidated your existing machines should you look at additional equipment that may further optimize your fleet. In many cases you will find that you need far less new equipment that before performing your initial consolidation.
Pitfall #4: Ignoring End-User Objections
Consolidation sometimes comes with internal challenges. For example, you may hear the following end-user objections:
- “My department paid for this printer, you can’t take it away without reimbursing our budget.”
- “I need a printer in my office because I frequently print confidential documents.”
- “We can’t share color printing with another department because we cannot agree on which department will pay for toner.”
- “I’m a manager and/or executive. At my level, I deserve my own printer.”
Keep in mind that most of these issues can be alleviated with the proper print management system and proactive conversations with your staff. By understanding internal objections, you can address employee concerns during initial discussions and offer solutions to their challenges.
For example, rules-based printing enables organizations to track departmental printing, allowing costs to be split between groups; and universal print drivers can be programmed to include secure print features, such as access codes, to allow confidential printing on shared machines.
Your Thoughts?
What printer consolidation challenges have you experienced? How did you overcome them? Have you used data to make more informed decisions? Share your stories and thoughts below.
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Jeffrey Goldstein is Senior Consultant at MCPc and is responsible for the delivery of hardcopy and value-added services within the Lifecycle Management Group. Connect with Jeff on LinkedIn.
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Posted on Fri, Oct 14, 2011 @ 10:05 AM
Like me, my 5-year-old daughter, Grace, is an iPhone and iPad owner.
When touring her new school’s computer lab, Grace asked the principal, “if this is the computer lab, where’s the iPad lab?” She continued, “I’m used to touch—that’s how I use technology. Where’s the iPad lab?”
Grace’s questions are already a reality for today’s IT managers. Multigenerational and global workforces demand seamless collaboration technology—apps and services that connect employees, clients and others together no matter their device preference or physical presence.
Intuitive collaboration merges video, voice, presence, instant messaging and email so employees can access information at any time, from any location, and from any application or device. A virtual connection between you and the people you work with lets you collaborate on the projects that drive business growth, often faster and with more agility than competitors.
In our most recent Modern Technology Lesson roundtable discussion, Northeast Ohio business technology leaders agreed on the value intuitive collaboration can have in the workplace, and also agreed on its main challenges: buy-in, finding the right technology and adoption. Let’s walk through these challenges, and how to overcome them.
Secure company-wide support.
How do you gain buy-in for the big-picture impacts intuitive collaboration can have within your organization?
One of the more common challenges felt by our crowd was knowing who to talk to about actually bringing intuitive collaboration technology to their organizations. Todd Freefield of Cisco told the crowd that for the first time, CEOs are coming in to his office along with IT managers to discuss collaboration. CEOs see the value in understanding how collaboration technology directly enables businesses to be more productive, efficient and successful.
The best way to gain buy-in: have your C-suite actually experience the possibilities of collaboration technology. Hold a videoconference among geographically dispersed offices, video-chat with research and development, instant-message with staff, or see if his or her VP of sales is in a meeting but available to communicate via text message if needed, or sample something that would be uniquely valuable to your organization.
Employees are likely already using collaboration—think Skype, Facebook chat and other accessible solutions—so providing an approved platform to merge and manage collaboration is where you can make a strong business impact.
“If you don’t already have a collaboration strategy, you need one. Otherwise, your people will go rogue and create their own.”
– Todd Freefield, Cisco
Choose the right collaboration technology.
Another common question throughout roundtable discussions: How will I know which technology should we use?
There’s no one right or wrong answer to this question. It’s a crowded marketplace, full of products from Microsoft, Cisco, Google, Apple, Oracle, Adobe and more. The first step in finding the right solution for your organization is to do a network assessment.
What are your organization’s edge devices, bandwidths, refresh timelines, etc.? Take a hard look at your network to make sure that you can support the technologies you want to implement, and maintain—or even improve—quality of service (QoS).
Terry Stein of Microsoft joined our discussion via videoconference, showcasing collaboration technology in action. He noted that it’s not always about which technology you choose, but the fact that the chosen technology is interoperable with the existing technology at your organization.
“It’s not about the technology, it’s about driving business outcomes and making people more productive from any location and device.”
— Terry Stein, Microsoft
Promote company-wide adoption.
Multigenerational workforces mean a diverse range of technology adoption. While providing the best and newest tools can retain the best and brightest talent, it may also stand as a learning curve for more seasoned professionals.
Gain buy-in and test the waters within your organization with focus groups. A few organizations at the event noted that test groups with a range of employees provide a good gauge on adoption rate, user challenges and IT management warning signs. It’s also a good method to build ambassadorship and adoption of new technology and processes.
From here, open and continual training sessions will give staff opportunities to ask questions, resolve individual issues, and continue best practices in using intuitive collaboration technology to improve workflow, company culture and business performance.
Final Thoughts
How have you seen intuitive collaboration technology drive business growth, and what were your challenges along the road to adoption? Share your thoughts in the comments below.
If you’re interested in experiencing collaboration technologies for yourself, please feel free to reach out to your MCPc account representative, or myself, to set up a time to come to our office, experience the technology, and plot out a roadmap for your organization.
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Darin Haines is Group President of MCPc's Advanced Technology Group, focusing on solution delivery, and has over 16 years of experience in leading the technology function in mid-sized and enterprise-level organizations. Connect with Darin on LinkedIn.
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Posted on Wed, Oct 12, 2011 @ 12:03 PM
Studies have found that the average employee prints 10,000 pages per year, making 17 percent documents "waste." This unnecessarily drives up printing costs for employers. However, by implementing rules-based printing as part of a total print management solution, there’s an opportunity to manage and reduce these costs.
Rules-based printing applications enable IT to take a corporate policy and apply it to all printers in just a few clicks, and include solutions such as HP’s Intelligent Print Management and Canon’s uniFLOW. Using this software, IT administrators can easily set printing policies such as:
- Always print duplex versus single-sided
- Designate when color printing is allowed based on document type, application source, personnel and department
- Automatically reroute certain print jobs to a specific machine—e.g. sending all large, color jobs to a central copier
With rules like the ones above, organizations can reduce print spend by controlling who prints, what and how. Read on for more details on rules-based printing, its business benefits, and purchasing and implementation tips.
Evolve a Legacy Management Process
Historically, applying corporate printing policies universally across all machines was a time-intensive and complicated process. This is because IT administrators had to change printer properties on every print server manually, one at a time. For large businesses with thousands of print queues, this could take months to complete, even with a dedicated resource assigned to it.
Then, if the operating system installed on a PC or laptop wasn’t the same version as that on the print server, there was a risk that changes wouldn’t get pushed down to the users’ workstations. To be absolutely certain updates were made, machines had to be reviewed individually—an impossible undertaking for large organizations.
Rules-based printing reduces these complexities and replaces the manual process by adding a layer between the print server and the printer. The software intercepts every print job, applies corporate policies and rules, and then forwards data on to the appropriate printer.
Cut Printing Costs with Rules-Based Printing
Rules-based printing also has a very positive ROI. While prices range from $225-$450 per printer in the first year for the software, support and implementation, savings in supplies and IT efficiency are typically much larger. In fact, according to Gartner Research, “actively managing office printing can lead to a reduction of 10%-30% in recurring spending in document output.” There are also soft costs from a reduction in manual management, oversight and maintenance. Our customers typically see ROI within 9-24 months. How quickly they see these savings depends on a number of factors, including number of printers, total print volume and software costs.
In addition, it’s easy to track ROI because the application collects its own data and statistics. This lets you pilot a rules-based printing program inexpensively, and use the test data to make the case to move forward in other departments or buildings.
Procurement and Implementation Tips
Rules-based printing is most effective in larger companies where it is too difficult or expensive staff for manual rules management, and, typically, the larger the company the better the savings. If this sounds like your organization, following are some tips to get started.
Applications tend to be developed by printer manufacturers or their software partners—very few are vendor-neutral. Therefore, it’s important to pick the application that goes with your hardware. For example, if you’re an HP house, you’ll want to look at Intelligent Print Management.
Note: Rules-based printing solutions can get expensive for companies that don’t have manufacturer standards internally. To accommodate a mix of brands, models and print drivers, you’ll need to buy add-ons, which deduct from cost savings.
In addition, you’ll want to base policy decisions on historical data and measure their effectiveness over time. Rules-based printing software collects a wealth of information for you including:
- Job size
- Number of single-sided versus duplex print jobs
- Number of print versus color copies
- Who is printing and how often
- Applications for which jobs are printed (e.g. Word, Excel)
Take the time to gather benchmark data prior to implementing print polices, so you can evaluate results later.
Your Thoughts?
What print management issues are you facing? Have you tried a rules-based printing solution? Why or why not? Share your thoughts below.
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Jeffrey Goldstein is Senior Consultant at MCPc and is responsible for the delivery of hardcopy and value-added services within the Lifecycle Management Group. Connect with Jeff on LinkedIn.
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Posted on Fri, Oct 07, 2011 @ 07:53 AM
Each month, we share a collection of articles that provide insight into the ever-evolving world of IT. September’s roundup looks at: mobility, data storage and management, VMworld 2011 and recent industry news.
Managing Mobility
With 67% of all workers using mobile or wireless computing, mobile device management is becoming increasingly more important and complex. In his article, Managing Mobile Devices: 10 Lessons Learned, Via Forrester, Al Sacco offers tips for setting corporate mobile policies and regulating usage, including:
- There is not a one-size-fits-all mobile management solution. Understand your employees’ preferences and job functions through end-user segmentation, and then structure your IT policies and support to meet their needs.
- Create a clear usage policy, outlining approved devices and applications, support levels, acceptable behavior and more.
- Understand mobile limitations, such as security and management, and proactively implement solutions to address these challenges.
- Encourage the creation of enterprise applications that meet the management, security and tracking capabilities required in today’s work environments.
For more mobility recommendations, read Sacco’s complete post, or check out InformationWeek’s 5 Essential Mobile Security Tips.
Data Storage & Management
According to a Data Center Knowledge survey, more than half of data center operators plan to “expand data center operations in 2012.” However, they have concerns regarding scalability, capacity planning, design, technology implementation, and power and space constraints.
Data virtualization can help alleviate some of these challenges. In Twelve Good Reasons to Use Data Virtualization, Robert Eve (@roberteve) explains how virtualizing your environment can help you manage large influxes of data securely, and integrate information silos.
Should you choose to move data storage to the cloud, CIOs should plan for risks appropriately. The video Cloud Storage: What Every CIO Needs to Know on CIO Insight encourages CIOs to consider details such as:
- What applications and professionals access data
- Recovery plans for service outages
- Data transfer and exit strategies
By considering risks upfront and building a secure, scalable infrastructure, organizations will be better equipped to find success, and overcome challenges.
VMworld 2011
VMworld 2011, a global conference for virtualization and cloud computing, took place Aug. 29-Sept. 1 in Las Vegas. For a look at some of the virtualization advances and trends discussed during the event, check out:
In reviewing the announcements, it’s evident that the cloud era has arrived, and that organizations need to start preparing today for fundamental shifts not only for IT, but also to business processes and operations.
September IT News
Key news highlights from September include:
What Do You Think?
What articles, blog posts, videos or podcasts did you find interesting last month? Post a comment, and we’ll be sure to keep an eye on those sources and topics for future articles like this one.
This post is an MCPc blogging team collaboration.
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Posted on Tue, Oct 04, 2011 @ 10:29 AM
End-user segmentation is the process of organizing employees based on their job descriptions, work habits and technology needs to better define the tools and solutions they require. The concept is not new. In fact, we’ve used it at MCPc for years when configuring and imaging machines during our PC refresh process.
However, today’s technology innovations—including virtualization, cloud computing and mobile devices—make it increasingly more important for end-user segmentation to be applied across the board. These solutions positively impact user experience, accessibility, productivity and more. Finding the right technology mix for each user segment is key to creating your organization’s optimal workforce.
In this post, we provide an overview of end-user segmentation, and how it can be used to make more informed IT—and business—decisions.
How Do You Segment Users?
To guarantee that the right technologies go to the right people, first divide users into groups based on established criteria, such as:
- Job title (executive, manager, architect, sales rep)
- Job function (programming, word processing, data entry)
- Location (in office, home office, job site)
- Programs and applications used (Office suite, Salesforce, Sharepoint, WebEx)
- Data accessibility required (consider data type and sensitivity)
- Mobility (consider frequency and distance of travel)
- Technology preferences (Mac/PC, laptop/desktop, Droid/iPhone/Blackberry, iPad/Xoom)
- Required service levels
From here, you can make intelligent decisions on the types of technology each segment should receive, based on the frequency, and how and from where information is accessed.
For a highly simplified example, let’s examine an Executive User Segment. These users require high-level access to data and shared applications from multiple devices, and from varying locations during regular travel across the U.S. and abroad. They primarily rely on their systems for email, and do not need heavy computing power or great amounts of internal memory, processing speed, etc. They also require a high service level.
This example suggests a need for laptops, a secure, cloud-based approach to application delivery (providing anywhere, anytime access to corporate services and content), and apps that are compatible with multiple devices and operating systems, as some of your executives will likely prefer iPhones, others Androids. Though the organization may not supply iPads, if an executive should choose to purchase one, it could be supported and secured by IT. A concierge support program is also a likely feature for this user segment.
When is End-User Segmentation Important?
End-user segmentation is about more than technology; it’s about how people live and work, and the tools they need to perform their jobs to the best of their abilities. This process should be employed anytime there are decisions to be made regarding how people will use and access information. Some areas we’ve found it helpful in the decision-making process include:
Desktop and Application Virtualization
Determine which end-user segments can benefit from virtualization and where it may be beneficial to workflow, productivity and end-point management. For complete details and a step-by-step approach, read MCPc’s post, The Best Approach to Desktop & Application Virtualization.
Procurement
By segmenting employees, you gain a better idea of what hardware, software and service levels are actually necessary for them to do their jobs. This allows you to make smarter procurement decisions. For example, you’ll be able to identify which end-user segments should get desktops versus laptops or iPads, or desktop applications versus cloud-based offerings.
You also gain insight into the types of warranties needed. While the manufacturer’s warranty may be fine for some, other users may require an extended warranty when the technology is critical to their job responsibilities, or when they are harder on equipment because of their location or level of mobility. You might also consider a depot program whichs makes spare equipment readily available thereby maintaining user productivity.
Cloud Computing
There are many factors that can influence whether cloud computing is a viable solution for your organization, or for particular user groups within it. Some to consider include: required data accessibility, programs and applications; businesses processes; and device and mobility preferences.
Using end-user segmentation, you can better understand how cloud computing may affect end-point access, devices, data delivery and security, and user experience. With this information, you can better determine where the cloud makes sense within your organization and ensure a smooth transition.
Mobile Device Management
When it comes to mobile devices, such as smartphones and tablets, many users have strong device preferences, and often want to use the same device for personal and professional use. Understanding these preferences can help guide corporate polices on mobile device management and purchasing.
Knowing the type of data accessed by each user segment, and the security limitations of their preferred devices, you can better manage mobile security across the organization. For instance, stricter security measures may be put in place for users that access financial or confidential information on a regular basis. Or for those organizations in highly regulated industries.
Configuration and Imaging
As mentioned previously, end-user segmentation also plays a key role when configuring and imaging machines, as it allows you to identify core applications and software programs that need to be installed on an individual’s hardware.
Your Thoughts?
How do you leverage end-user segmentation to make more informed IT and business decisions? Share your thoughts in the comments section below.
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Ira Grossman, VP, Personal Systems Group, has more than 15 years of technology project management experience and is an expert in lifecycle management and mobile device management for the enterprise. Connect with Ira on LinkedIn.
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