Get Connected!

Simplified Technology Solutions, Inc (STS) is an IBM Business Partner specializing in Intel servers and Lotus collaboration products.  In addition to our technical skills, we also provide consulting on leveraging cloud solutions and social networking concepts in businesses.  Contact us at 678 638 6688 or http://www.simplified-tech.com

The Georgia CIO Leadership Association welcomes your participation in the 12^th annual CIO of the Year Awards. You may nominate any deserving CIO for consideration. Click here to nominate

It would not come as a surprise to you to hear me say that in recent conversations with CIOs and senior staff members, the most popular topics have been clouds, business intelligence and collaboration. Sliding more of the fundamental pieces out to be managed by others has become more common. This then allows IT staff members to be embedded within the functional business departments.  IT professionals are becoming more involved with the operational aspects of the business and reputedly that is working out well. It’s a practice that has long been discussed, but today there seems to be a commitment and more resulting value – by all parties.

 CIO of the Year Awards – don’t forget the nomination process is in full swing now and it only takes a couple of minutes to make a nomination. So come on and do the right thing. Go here to complete and submit the brief form.

 Have a good one.

 Mike Adkinson

Pointman

www.techlinks.net

Simplified Technology Solutions, Inc (STS) is an IBM Business Partner specializing in Intel servers and Lotus collaboration products.  In addition to our technical skills, we also provide consulting on leveraging cloud solutions and social networking concepts in businesses.  Contact us at 678 638 6688 or http://www.simplified-tech.com

Bill Wilkins is a busy fellow these days and when he pauses for a discussion about IT shop projects coming up in his future, his response is clear. “Unified communications is big with us right now. We are walking out near the edge with some of this, and it is going to turn out real good,” he said with a smile in his voice.

Metalforming is a local company that manufactures for the construction industry. As the name implies, they form metal. A big product is their metal roofing system equipment, and while on the surface one might assume that IT would not be highly critical to their business, that is not so at all.

They are located in Switzerland, Germany, Australia and Taiwan. They have a worldwide network which requires an environment that can support multiple languages. That is a basic and fundamental requirement, so everything they do has to fit the world of Microsoft. They are into a Microsoft CRM 4.0 project and are optimistic about the increased capabilities it will deliver.

When Bill Wilkins starts rolling on about the many partners and exciting developments which are soon going to launch, he talks about Level 3, Onlink, and Georgia Tech. “We have really good partners and they are accomplishing some feats which are really interesting. Even the folks at Microsoft are proud of some the things they know will come from this project,” said Wilkins.

“Our team is proud of what we are doing and it is starting to worry our competitors. At the recent International Roofing Expo, the largest concentration of our competitors to be found on the floor was around our booth. They can see we are moving ahead with several innovations which are going to deliver good advantages to our partners. We are doing a web portal integration project which will bring all related data together in one place. Moving a lot of services into an online environment within the roofing industry is huge. No one else is even close to some of the things we are soon going to deliver. And yes, that is fun.” The words from Wilkins now seemed to sound more like an oral grin.

By Mike Adkinson

March 2010

“My number one priority this year will be to manage my responsibilities to a very tight EBITDA budget. We will do this with a lot of continued emphasis on process improvements and efficiencies that make sense,” remarked Rob Ewing during the first minutes of our conversation.

 He went on to explain they are developing real tight business analysis procedures and good use cases. “Rather than the business units coming to IT for support, the IT department is going to the business units with recommendations and suggestions for how we can help. We have delivered several new applications over the past couple of years and each one has been fully integrated,” said Ewing.

 InterCall has announced a number of acquisitions over the past couple of years and given their penchant for growth, it seems logical they would be spending a lot of time planning and preparing for other potential acquisitions in the future. When Ewing talks about the role of IT when acquisitions are made, he sounds like a true engineer. “The role of IT is to work out the delta between the gaps in the business processes and then bring them all together as one.”

 This economy provides good opportunities for planning and assessing alternatives. That’s what Rob Ewing and his IT team at InterCall seem to be real good at doing, and no doubt, that is one of their core strengths.

 By Mike Adkinson

March 2010

When asked about the upcoming priorities this year at the Georgia Aquarium, Beach Clark was quick on the draw. “The Dolphin exhibit expansion is going to be big for us. It will be the biggest project for our facility this year and it will drive a lot of opportunities for us. This project will increase our IT network by 30-50 people and it will be the object of new online social media marketing campaigns.”

 Georgia Aquarium has been an excellent role model for those who have interest in how to employ social media marketing to add value to their businesses. Their active use of Facebook and Twitter have drawn a lot of attention from their target audiences, and they have reported having over 30,000 followers online. Now that’s a feat that many organizations would love to accomplish.

 “Coming up for us this year will be a new Human Resource system. We have begun the shopping process and we are looking at several SaaS options. We are going to do a significant expansion with Sales force and we are also going to implement a virtualization project. We are working with Intel for participation with the servers.  And if all that was not enough to keep us busy, we are going to ride herd on the many changes coming up in the online payment card industry (PCI). There are lots of new requirements in that space. It is important that we support and stay tuned up with all of them,” observed Clark.

We wrapped up the discussion with views about the implications of the large scale movement towards SaaS, virtualization, Cloud computing and other trendy labels of today. While many of these concepts are cycling back around from similar models in the past, the reality of significant change is most obvious.

 We discussed how these trends will impact the CIO role and what these new environments will mean for the next generation of IT professionals who might be entering the work force now. How will the role of CIO be different when they move up to the hot seats of management?

By Mike Adkinson

March 2010

Our first couple of minutes of conversation were devoted to the sincere emphasis that Bradley Dick gives to obtaining referrals and recommendations for other CIOs and IT department executives. “Of all the various sources for product or service validation and comparison ratings, nothing is valued more than the word of a trusted friend. I place far more value on the word of peers than on graphs, charts, and quadrants developed by research and consulting groups. So you bet I understand why TechLINKS is providing this service, and I truly do think it delivers value.”

“Like most other healthcare organizations, our priorities are being heavily influenced by the compliance and regulatory requirements of today. We learned a lot at the HiMSS conference last week and it was great to have direct access to so many suppliers and vendors within our industry. Having this huge conference come to Georgia was great, and I do hope that can continue to happen in future years,” said Dick.

 “We are moving ahead with Virtual Desktop Infrastructure (VDI) and some of the advanced features are going to impact quality, costs, and patient satisfaction. Doctors and staff will be able to walk up to any shared computer and with the tap of a card and pin have secure access to the information they need. We are bringing more data into the room with the patients, and that delivers very positive results. Empowering patients with knowledge often gives them added explanation and understanding of the importance of their treatment,” he explained.

  One of the examples provided was that people who understand the need for therapy are the ones who are most helped by that therapy. Patients who are most informed are also the ones who feel they are receiving the best care. Because of services like WebMD and others, people (patients and their families) are going to obtain the information they want, one way or another. It is to the advantage of the healthcare facility to provide the needed information because feeling informed is an expected part of the service.

“The healthcare industry has been behind the curve in the past, but today this industry is really starting to get with the program. We are using information systems to better inform the patients, and that results in higher levels of patient satisfaction. How all this is getting done will vary according to the specialties of each facility, but it is good for all of us to have ways to share ideas,” commented Dick.

By Mike Adkinson

March 2010

The Midmarket CIO Forum kicks off Sunday in Orlando and I look forward to seeing people from organizations all around the region. If you need for me to make contact with anyone for you then let me know. More about the conference: http://tinyurl.com/ygejqsr

The Midmarket CIO Forum kicks off Sunday in Orlando and I look forward to seeing people from organizations all around the region. If you need for me to make contact with anyone for you then let me know. More about the conference: http://tinyurl.com/ygejqsr

In an effective community, people share and assist each other. Nowhere is information sharing and collaboration more valued than in the IT industry. Today we salute those who have stepped up to walk that talk. Most of these 27 senior IT leaders have shared one or two of their key upcoming projects. A few trends are beginning to emerge.

Participants include Bob Arnett (Cobb Energy), Delores Kimes Barton (Spelman College), John Bartz, Dan Brown (Consumer Credit Counseling Services), Pankaj (PC) Chawla (Beazer Homes), Fred Christian (Navicure, Inc.), Mark Conde (Emory-Rollins School of Public Health), Nancy D’Amico (LeasePlan), Hank Edwards (Innovative Management Technologies, Inc.),Ryan Fernandes (Fulton County Government), Jay Ferro (Chartis Insurance), Senad Hadzic (KaMin Performance Minerals), Linwood Hayes (Travel Incorporated), Sandy Hofmann (Advanced Technology Development Center), Linda Hughes (Great Ridge Company), Paul Judge (Barracuda Networks), Bob Keefe (Mueller Water Products), Patty Lavely (Memorial Health University Medical Center), Lance Lyttle (Hartsfield-Jackson Atlanta Airport), John McGuthry (Armstrong Atlantic State University), Joe Oesterling (Cbeyond), Ken Rabun (Manhattan Associates), Venki Rao (GE Energy), Mark Sohl (Chestatee River Group), Jim Strickland (Community Loans of America, Inc.), Larry White (MACTEC, Inc.), and Kathy Wooten (Caraustar).

Excerpts from these conversations are found here online.  Some have been very helpful to their peers. We have learned of a few situations where CIOs have reached out to assist each other, which was the main objective when we began creating Peer Packets just weeks ago. Take a look at these comments and you will spot a couple of indicators. We anticipate a few new offerings might soon surface to serve these developing needs.

 Have a good weekend.

 Mike Adkinson

Pointman

In an effective community, people share and assist each other. Nowhere is information sharing and collaboration more valued than in the IT industry. Today we salute those who have stepped up to walk that talk. Most of these 27 senior IT leaders have shared one or two of their key upcoming projects. A few trends are beginning to emerge.  Participants include:

      Bob Arnett (Cobb Energy)

      Delores Kimes Barton (Spelman College)

      John Bartz, Dan Brown (Consumer Credit Counseling Services)

      Pankaj (PC) Chawla (Beazer Homes)

      Fred Christian (Navicure, Inc.)

      Mark Conde (Emory-Rollins School of Public Health)

      Nancy D’Amico (LeasePlan) 

      Hank Edwards (Innovative Management Technologies, Inc.)

      Ryan Fernandes (Fulton County Government)

      Jay Ferro (Chartis Insurance)

      Senad Hadzic (KaMin Performance Minerals)

      Linwood Hayes (Travel Incorporated)

      Sandy Hofmann (Advanced Technology Development Center)

      Linda Hughes (Great Ridge Company)

      Paul Judge (Barracuda Networks)

      Bob Keefe (Mueller Water Products)

      Patty Lavely (Memorial Health University Medical Center)

      Lance Lyttle (Hartsfield-Jackson Atlanta Airport)

      John McGuthry (Armstrong Atlantic State University)

      Joe Oesterling (Cbeyond)

      Ken Rabun (Manhattan Associates)

      Venki Rao (GE Energy)

      Mark Sohl (Chestatee River Group)

      Jim Strickland (Community Loans of America, Inc.)

      Larry White (MACTEC, Inc.)

      Kathy Wooten (Caraustar)

Excerpts from these conversations are found here online.  Some have been very helpful to their peers. We have learned of a few situations where CIOs have reached out to assist each other, which was the main objective when we began creating Peer Packets just weeks ago. Take a look at these comments and you will spot a couple of indicators. We anticipate a few new offerings might soon surface to serve these developing needs.

 Have a good weekend.

 Mike Adkinson

Pointman

When Joe Oesterling joined Cbeyond in 2000, he had a technologists’ dream – a green field implementation combined with the time, funding, and people to build a best in class IT environment.  A decade later the focus has shifted to supporting new services while renovating some of the applications and infrastructure that have been deployed five to ten years ago. 

While Cbeyond has grown rapidly in 10 years from a startup to more than $400 million in revenue in 2009, their need for technology innovation has never stopped.  When asked about upcoming projects, Oesterling said “We are putting more technology in the hands of our sales people.”

In each market, Cbeyond employs about 70 people of which 50-60 are direct sales reps.  Sales reps are the ones who make personal contact and present solution alternatives to small business owners. Enabling effectiveness at the point of contact for sales simply means Cbeyond, as a technology service provider, needs to put more technology in the hands of their sales teams.

“We’ve previously rolled out a sales force automation solution including basic capabilities on the Blackberry, but now we will bump it up a notch. The price point for business class netbooks is moving within range, and we can empower the sales person with information and demos of our services and extend our full sales force automation solution to drive more sales effectiveness and efficiency,” observed Oesterling.

“Our sales professionals will be demonstrating technology which small businesses can use to level the playing field with larger competitors.  A small law firm in the suburbs can now compete with a large firm in the city. There are many new innovations coming into the market which will be good for Cbeyond and great for our customers,” said Oesterling in a voice which reflected the fun he truly seems to be having these days.

The bottom line message here is that if you are hooked in with innovative mobile applications like sales force automation, rest assured that there is rising interest and demand for them.

By Mike Adkinson

March 2010