This Newsletter is a compilation of the many talented people that are associated with the North San Antonio Chamber Technology Committee. It is one of the benefits of being a North Chamber member. As you can see by the content we have a lot of thought leadership in the business community around technology. If you would like to be published please feel free to contact myself, Debby Zucker, or John Tomblin through the North Chamber.
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Identified Expenses
We are all familiar with costs related to our vehicles. Most notable these days is the cost of gasoline, which has never been higher and is likely to only increase. Most people understand, to a degree, how much they spend per month operating their vehicle. In my case, a Ford Expedition has been determined a necessity having a wife and two kids with endless practices and team transport. Combined with business use it costs me about $291 month in fuel alone. This recurring cost is identified and understood and something I have decided is justified based on my needs.
Recurring expense is something we all try to measure, understand and control. In the scenario listed above operating a vehicle is one expense we all can identify. Further, it is easy to identify because it is a centralized expense. Simply put, I am the only one fueling up the Expedition so it is easy to understand what’s being spent. But what if my wife and son (thankfully not old enough to drive yet) also filled up and paid to put gas in the Expedition and we never discussed this expense? It would become a decentralized and unmeasured expense.
On to Business - The Last Unidentified Expense?
But what about recurring costs related to doing business? Safe to say if you own or are responsible for the profitability of a business, there aren’t many recurring expenses that haven’t been identified and controlled. However, in our analysis of businesses, it has become obvious that one expense has gone largely unchecked. The cost of producing documents within an organization. Why? The common denominator in almost all cases, it is a decentralized expense shared among IT, Purchasing and various other departments.
Worth A Look
The cost of office printing within an organization or business is staggering. On average, output fleets, according to a study done by Gartner Group, consume one to three percent of annual revenues. As an example, in the case of a $10 million company, this would equate to between $100,000 and $300,000 spent annually.
In a stiffening economy, businesses are challenged with finding ways to remain profitable. The presence of documents as part of the operational process is a given. The idea of a paperless office has been relegated to myth primarily due to the large increase of accessible information. More information has been produced in the last 30 years than in the previous five thousand – the entire history of civilization. What’s more, that body of information can be expected to double every five years. Because traditional organizational structure fails to address this explosion of information, most are experiencing skyrocketing costs related to the creation of documents. The end result of this scenario puts organizations’ profitability and their very existence in jeopardy.
As an example, a September 2004 Wall Street Journal article sited that “Bank of America Corp. found its paper consumption spiraling out of control.” Desktop printing alone was costing between $70 million and $90 million a year. The bank had 90,000 printers, one for every two employees.” After employing a document technology strategy, WSJ reported, “Bank of America slashed its fleet of devices to just one printer or copier for every seven employees and trimmed annual printing costs by $7 million dollars.”
Measure What Is Measureable, Make Measureable What Is Not So - Galileo
So what can be done to curtail expense related to document production in your organization or ones you serve? Identify it. An assessment of the organizations current document-producing hardware environment and related costs needs to be done including applications, populations and output volumes.
Assessments have revealed gross waste frequently due to having a great deal more hardware and/or costly hardware than necessary to produce documents within organizations. An overabundance of document-producing assets invariably translates into excessive and unnecessary costs.
Fortunately for us, automobile manufacturers (Ford in my case) don’t profit from the consumable (gasoline) that goes into them. Conversely manufacturers of office equipment in most cases have higher profit in the supplies they consume than the machines themselves. Could it be that the reason we are constantly bombarded by commercials offering printer supplies is due directly to the large amount of profit generated by their purchase?
An organization easily can reign in its costs related to document output by assessing existing expenses and building a strategy that allows them to be controlled in the future, certainly an area worth examination.
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Internships: A Win-Win Approach to Solving the Talent Shortage, Bruce Howard, UTSA Career Services
You cannot pick up a business periodical today without reading about the talent shortage in this country. Every business is realizing that the baby boomer generation is going out the back door to retirement and there are not enough new employees entering the front door to replace them. All organizations must have people to manage and operate the business and fortunately there is a way to generate that “pipeline” of talent for your company. By investing time in developing a student internship program for your company you will find a new source of human resources. To prepare for this initiative you will want to focus on the following issues in developing your internship program to make it successful.
Make it a real job
If there is anything that turns off a student intern quicker than taking away their iPod it is having them file, fax and fumble with papers all the time. Students want to engage in meaningful work, something that directly contributes to the success of the company. They have listened and learned various theoretical principles in school and now they want to apply them to the real world. Have a job description prepared before you begin the search for an intern. Meet with your other employees to ensure they agree with the tasks you anticipate the intern to be responsible for completing. And then select someone to be the intern’s supervisor. Just as in a “real job” the intern will need support, direction, help with prioritizing tasks, etc. so the supervisor selected must be prepared to assume this very important role.
Training, training, training,
Do not plan to scrimp on the training of an intern. If you invest the time up front, they will be a more productive employee and will consider their position important and relevant to the team. Interns today want to experience new things and training will provide them with the ability to branch out in the company later on if opportunities come up. Training sessions will also allow you to evaluate the intern’s abilities and technical skills so you may determine if they have the potential for other jobs. Remember, training an intern does not have to be a chore. It can be a great way for you and your other employees to develop and hone your own management skills.
Plan ahead
Most students start looking for internship opportunities way before the school semester begins. Meet with your company’s management team early to determine if there is a need for an intern in helping them accomplish their operational goals and objectives. This need will help drive the creation of the internship program and provide a means to identify what resources are needed for under the current business plan. Early marketing of the internship opportunity will also help you attract the more qualified talent as these are the students who have their own goals thought out which may include an internship experience.
Get what you pay for
Interns may be cheap, but they are typically not free. Most internships are paid and usually at a current market rate for the type of work the student is performing. Other factors that influence the pay rate are the number of hours a student intern works each week and any special technical skills that may be required for the position. True, there comes a time when a business or organization is unable to budget any type of direct salary for the internship, but a stipend for covering expenses or possibly a scholarship donation to the student for future education expenses would be appropriate. Many students must work to help pay for their college expenses so they will be looking for paid positions when they began their search for an internship.
It may appear that having an intern in your business is a bargain but they are far from without cost. Finding, training and managing an intern is a job in itself. However, if you do it right, you will have an energetic, enthusiastic employee to help you grow your business. Doing it wrong will just bring you more headaches. You are not alone, however, in this endeavor as most college and university career centers have personnel on staff to help you with development of a program as well as providing a means to locate potential candidates. Use this resource to help you prepare a winning scenario for you, your business and the future workforce.
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A giant company you may have never heard of, ASUSTek Computer, Inc. has released a $300 (on Amazon) true notebook computer called the Eee PC, that boasts some very sophisticated features. ASUS (whom I’d never heard of) makes computers, communications and consumer electronics components and solutions. In 2006, the company shipped 55 million motherboards, which means one in three desktop PCs sold that year was powered by an ASUS motherboard. ASUS expects to generate $23 billion in revenue in 2007.
The ultra compact laptop/notebook weighs only 2 pounds, and features a full QWERTY keyboard, a 7-inch display, 2 GB solid-state flash memory drive (also available are 4 GB and 8 GB models), 512 MB RAM, 10/100 Fast Ethernet, built-in Wi-Fi (802.11b/g), and three USB 2.0 ports. Powered by an 800 MHz Intel Mobile CPU and running a pre-installed Linux operating system (but reloadable with Windows XP), the computer contains over 40 built-in applications including OpenOffice, and offers an impressive 2.8-hour battery life. The 4GB version is $400 on Amazon, and includes a built-in webcam.
While I personally haven’t used it, I’ve been a huge fan of ultra lightweight laptops, going back to my days carrying a sleek Sony Vaio computer for a couple of years. Others who have used it are very pleased. One user wrote about his positive experience reloading the Eee PC with Windows XP Professional, then Firefox, then Thunderbird, Office 2003 and Cool Edit 2000. No problems.
You can install an SD card to be used as additional disk storage, making your storage options limited only by your bank balance. The Eee PC does not come with a CD or DVD drive, but with the USB ports, any external USB drive can be connected.
This user also noted a few disadvantages to the computer. The screen size is 800x480, which is slightly odd, but can be set to 800x600. If you reload with Windows XP, you’ll need at least a 4 GB disk drive, and preferably an 8 GB drive to hold the operating system and programs.
I’m definitely going to give one a try. My shoulders need a break from lugging the 6 pound laptop I currently own. This is great as a portable internet device and for some word processing, spreadsheet and other office-type duty.
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Virtualization Offers Great Rewards; Experienced Resources Make Virtualization “Leap” Just a Simple “Step”, Jeff Whitworth, Mobius Partners
There has never been a better time to begin or increase the virtualization of your information systems. Mature products and widespread adoption have significantly reduced the risks of “going virtual.” The scores of deployments have created many customer success stories and experienced integrators from which to gleam best practices.
Maximizing the Value of a Virtual Infrastructure
VMware’s Virtual Infrastructure 3 has been described as a disruptive technology. The product’s ability to rapidly create efficiencies and turn them into lower bottom line IT operation costs warrants the characterization. The value gained by an organization only increases by including the features of a virtual infrastructure into normal operation procedures. Virtual Machine snapshots, consolidated backups, and live virtual machine migrations are just a few features which can be utilized to gain efficiencies. In our experience, we’ve seen two common challenges among customers who’ve implemented VMware. These are easily surmountable, and I’ve summarized them below:
Provisioning Physical Resources in a Virtual Environment (Scaling/Sizing)
1. Understanding application loads – a new priority in a virtualized environment
2. Virtual resource controls
3. Monitoring resource utilization
4. Meeting addition resource requirements
Understanding resource utilization is especially important in a virtual infrastructure. A well sized virtual infrastructure results in a balanced utilization of CPU, memory, network, and storage resources. This can be accomplished through careful analysis and forecasting of current and future application workloads. A particularly challenging resource to provision and plan for is storage performance or throughput. As the number of operating systems reading and writing to storage increases it is vital to implement an appropriately high performing storage array.
Mobius Partners’ experienced Solution Architects recommend finding complementary workloads to stack in virtual hosts in order to find balance in resource utilization. For example, virtual machines with high CPU utilization would most efficiently coexist with virtual machines with moderate to low CPU utilization. The key is to maximize utilization while maintaining performance which will result in a faster ROI.
Political Challenges of a Virtual Infrastructure
Just as there are technical challenges to implementing a virtual infrastructure, expect to experience some internal discussions and debate regarding people skills and usage as well. Consider the following:
1. Lowering the administrator to system ratio
2. Increasing the administrator’s sphere of influence
3. Applications sharing resources means people sharing resources
4. The new rights available to users in a virtual environment
Many providers are enjoying great success helping
San Antonio
businesses with their virtualization initiatives via custom offerings like MP Start™ VMware – a highly utilized solution which includes onsite VMware training in conjunction with the virtual infrastructure deployment. Ask your IT professional about it, or contact the author of this article.
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National News of Interest
Revenue Depends on Corporate Technology Spending - US corporate profits, a driver of spending on IT products and services, increased 1.8 percent in third quarter 2007 compared to the same period a year earlier.
Competition from Hardware, Software Suppliers - Retail sales at US computer and software stores, competitors to some IT providers, fell 1 percent in November 2007 compared to a year earlier.
QUARTERLY INDUSTRY UPDATE
IT Workforce Level Reaches Six-Year Peak - The national IT workforce is at its largest since the last recession, reaching a six-year peak. US employment in computer systems design and related services grew 5.1 percent in 2007 from a year earlier. The category includes programming, design, and facility management services.
Consumer IT Prices Continue Decline - Consumer costs for IT services continue the declining trend of the past decade. US consumer prices for IT hardware and services declined 15.2 percent in 2007 from the prior year, partly due to lower-cost off-shore competition. Domestic IT prices declined 42 percent in the most recent five-year period and 79 percent in a decade.
Computer Sales Boost Demand for IT - Computer sales continue to grow year-over-year, boosting demand for IT products and services. US sales of computer and peripheral equipment, an indicator of IT demand, increased 6 percent in third quarter 2007 from a year earlier. The growth rate was only average; about the same as the growth of the entire US manufacturing sector.
From: First Research, Inc.
Partnering with a marketing firm, creative firm or ad agency can be a really rewarding experience. But outsourcing isn't right for every business. Our last article gave 10 reasons why you should outsource, and this counterpart gives 10 reasons why you should not outsource.
1. You are not prepared to respond to growth The purpose of working with an outsourced firm should be to increase business. If your organization isn't equipped to deal with rapid growth, then you might want to get your resources in place before trying to boost your sales.
2. You don't have a designated point of contact Managing an outsourced team may be simpler than managing an internal team, but someone still has to do it. Be prepared to participate. Client involvement is a critical success factor of the marketing process - don't expect good results if you work with a firm that can "do it all" without your input.
3. You aren't willing to let go If you aren't willing to trust an outsider with your marketing, do not outsource to a full-fledged firm. Hire freelancers and the cheapest production labor that you can find. You will pay a lot more for solid advice and experience - don't bother paying more unless you are going to be receptive to it.
4. You aren't prepared to give it 6 months to 1 year Whether you are hiring an internal marketing department or outsourcing, be realistic with your expectations with regard to timeframes. While there are some short term efforts that can lead to immediate boosts in sales, many marketing efforts take time to develop and then track. Be prepared both mentally and financially to commit to a trial period of at least 6 months to 1 year.
5. Your team has trouble reaching consensus internally There's no point in having a team of talent standing ready in the wings if you aren't able to reach consensus within your firm. A single dedicated point of contact can help streamline communications, but even better is a single decision maker with the responsibility to report back to the management team on critical items.
6. You are not open to spending money to make money Hiring anyone costs money. Be prepared to set goals and hold whoever you are working with accountable - whether that's an internal hire or external/outsourced arrangement. Look at your marketing, design and advertising as investments. Choose carefully, always consider the ROI and monitor results regularly.
7. Your busy schedule keeps you from meeting regularly Since you are generally paying for services on a monthly basis, it's important to be able to meet and communicate on a regular basis. If you can keep your appointments, you will do great. If the nature of your business causes you to reschedule often and/or have trouble scheduling, you might wind up paying for time that is never used.
8. You already have marketing resources provided to you If your business is a franchise or a distributorship with materials and planning available to you at no cost or little cost, it might not make sense to outsource. You may wish the materials were better or that the headquarters were more on the ball, but consider the costs of doing it yourself carefully and try to work with your providers before making an investment on your own.
9. You don't need marketing Seems crazy, right? While it is rare, some cases do exist. Some firms just don't need the kind of marketing that requires an outside firm. Some examples: you work exclusively through a regulated bidding process; you have too small of a staff to be able to follow up on leads or to deliver product; you are content with where your business is and are not interested in growth.
10. You need tons and tons of marketing There is a point at which businesses can reach critical mass with their marketing efforts. At that point, it might make sense to begin to bring some or all of the marketing initiatives in-house. You can always bring in an associate marketing person to handle the organizational side of the relationship, or hire an executive level Marketing Director who will have autonomy to make marketing decisions independently. At the far end of the spectrum, an entire department can be installed to deal with all aspects of the organization's marketing.
Whether you are outsourcing or hiring an internal marketing department, it will help to be prepared, committed and very self-aware of your own organizational challenges. And if you aren't sure if you are ready to outsource or not, just be up front with any known issues when initially interviewing a partner-firm. That firm will appreciate the directness, and may even be able to offer advice and solutions to some of your challenges. Whatever your decision - best wishes for your marketing!
© Copyright 2007- 2008 Lara August. All Rights Reserved Worldwide.
