Bold Choices In Technology Makes Winners

Gloomy news in a down economy abound. Signs are everywhere in many sectors of the technology spectrum.

The Social Networking site Linkedin is laying off 10% of its workers. Dell has asked personnel to voluntarily take unpaid leave. Apple is supposedly scaling back its Iphone production. John Furrier earlier reported on Cisco’s earnings problems.   Many mid-size companies have discovered placing their infrastructures in managed hosting environments has given them cost advantages.   Other companies are pre-emptively behind-the-scenes cutting back, canceling planned expenses for the quarter, scaling back hiring goals, postponing projects, etc.

Plenty of the problems are based on uncertainty and faith in the economy in general.  On the other hand plenty of companies survived or even thrived during past cycles.  The difference is preaching value and advantage.  We have before our eyes a number of bleeding-edge technologies that offer advantages to businesses large and small.

And this perspective is not exclusive of conservative budgets.  The realization of value, effectiveness, and most importantly optimization is tantamount to those companies that look to tighten the belt in the technology realm.

Take some of the recent Microsoft news.  They are now offering a program that allows for free software to start up businesses, and from the observer’s point of view to stave an exodus to open-source software in a capital and credit challenged environment.   In the infrastructure realm, Microsoft is leveraging the realization of optimization of existing and breakthrough technologies to cut costs in terms of deployment, maintenance, and security.   Part of this optimization path includes integrating layers of technology to satisfy technology initiatives like Unified Communications, Systems Manager and Sharepoint.  Their strategy is to draw out an idealized spectrum of basic infrastructure implementation to the idealized dynamic configuration.  That state in which return on infrastructure, messaging, and security is maximized.

As a VAR, consultancy, IT manager, whatever, ASK yourself:  What do you offer, who do you offer it to and what is the return?   What are my customers seeing?    What is my customer’s satisfaction?  Why would they choose me?  Do I have confidence that our service is the best we can do for our customer?

There is plenty of hard data available that support the cost advantages.  Sales teams tout these statistics freely.   The key is to get the relationship, satisfaction of goals, and the technological foundation presented to the right people.  That is where the renewed confidence in technology lies.  On the front lines, people like us touting the advantages everyday.   Managers pushing through contracts, enterprise aligning with blazing new technology, any company that chooses to advertise, small businesses realizing that  technology can be the edge that gets them to profit.  The businesses and people that come out on top make bold moves, correct moves in times of economic crisis.  CHOOSE TO BE BOLD - and you will reap the benefits.

I definitely have continued thoughts to share on this and will post more on this matter.