smaller companies

Some IT sectors may profit from downturn

Judi Hasson — Wed, 08 Oct 2008 16:27:29 -0400

The economic news has been bad all around, from both a personal and a corporate perspective. But some IT sectors may actually prosper from the economic turmoil and be poised to help clean up the mess from the financial fallout. A story at eWeek.com points out that companies involved in e-Discovery, archiving, enterprise search, risk management and secure file transfers could find their products and services in high demand.

As the government takes over banks and investment houses and tries to unravel the mortgage mess, there will be lots of digital research needed to get records and find out who made the bad decisions. They are also going to be looking for who was cheating and who ended up with money. Prosecutions, indictments, lawsuits and civil actions will be forthcoming, and lawyers will be scouring through disk- and tape-based storage on all levels for documents, emails, spreadsheets, web archives, PowerPoint presentations, IM transcriptions, audio tape and videos.

All this will benefit e-Discovery firms like Kazeon, Autonomy, Clearwell Systems, Attenex, Symantec, Seagate Technology's MetaLINCS, Iron Mountain's Stratify, LexisNexis, Recommind and some other smaller companies.

For more on this surprising turn of events:
- check out this eWeek.com article

Take control of your IT career amid layoffs

Judi Hasson — Tue, 23 Sep 2008 20:27:40 -0400

Are you feeling insecure about your job with the economy reeling? Well, it may be time to get prepared rather than sitting back and just hoping for the best. John Estes, a vice president at staffing firm Robert Half International, and John Baschab, a senior vice president at Technisource, a staffing and IT managed services provider, have some advice for those IT workers who are concerned about losing their jobs.

In a CIO.com article, they urge workers concerned about layoffs to be proactive. They suggest that employees ask their managers how the economic situation of the company will affect them, whether other opportunities exist within the company and whether the company offers severance pay. They also advise IT workers to have an updated resume prepared and to start tapping into job search networks, including friends, business associates, clients, vendors, alumni groups and professional or social networking groups.

They also recommend meeting with an IT recruiter, exploring jobs outside your industry that can use your skills and keeping an eye on smaller companies that might offer bigger opportunities.

For more on the state of the industry:
- check out this CIO.com article

ALSO NOTED: French wine CIO ready for an acquisition; Tech sector blues on Wall Street;

Thu, 03 Apr 2008 07:59:58 -0400

> French wine CIO ready for an acquisition. Article
> Tech sector blues on Wall Street. Article
> Today's rumor: Google to buy Expedia? Article
> How to hire more IT women. Article
> CIOs head to smaller companies. Article
> A lesson in change management. Article

And Finally... Are you a rock star? Article

Economic stimulus deal spurs tech

Mon, 11 Feb 2008 06:59:59 -0500

President Bush is expected to sign the $168 billion economic stimulus bill this week that could save businesses tens of millions of dollars this year on the purchase of IT equipment. The legislation, intended to give a boost to the ailing economy, includes a provision that accelerates the first-year depreciation of capital equipment bought during 2008 to 50 percent of the purchase price. And that includes technology products. Another provision, aimed at small and midsize businesses, increases the amount of capital equipment purchases that can be deducted on 2008 corporate tax returns from about $125,000 to $250,000.

"It's a tremendous incentive for people to buy now-it's as if someone put a for-sale sign on every asset," said Tom Ochsenschlager, vice president of taxation at the American Institute of Certified Public Accountants in New York. Ochsenschlager told ComputerWorld that tax payments are like saying,"'You've got to do it now. You've got to stimulate the economy now.'"

There are plenty of ways the stimulus package will help businesses. Bartlett Cleland, vice president at the Information Technology Association of America in Arlington, Va., said the tax breaks may prompt many smaller companies to replace aging IT equipment. "Small businesses rely on IT a lot heavier than some big companies do," he said. "Arguably, the encouragement to purchase would be greater in the small business situation."

For more on the economic stimulus plan:
- See this ComputerWorld article

Consultants try harder to be CIOs

Mon, 03 Dec 2007 06:59:59 -0500

If you are a consultant with the ambition of one day becoming a CIO, take notice: it's not an easy transition. You may want the job, but big companies may not want you. Large companies tend to shy away from candidates with consulting backgrounds. They worry that consultants do not have the political savvy to operate with an existing IT staff or within a limited budget, according to Steve Kendrick, an executive recruiter with Spencer Stuart's global information officers practice. Kendrick says it's better to avoid recruiting firms and to market yourself to small and midsize companies if you want to become a CIO. It may be a big plus for smaller companies seeking to grow and wanting your experience working with different industries or even with other companies in the same industry.

But don't despair if you've hit a wall. There are consultants out there who have made the transition, and their stories are good ones to follow. Brian O'Connell, for example, the CIO at Hartford Life, showed that he was qualified for the job when he consulted on a project for The Hartford Financial Services Group while he worked for Accenture. A page out of any success story is one that can be an inspiration and evidence that you, too, can become a CIO.

For more on becoming a CIO:
- See this CIO Magazine story. Article

CIOs take an old fashioned approach to Web 2.0

Wed, 13 Jun 2007 20:01:38 -0400

In December, Forrester Research surveyed 119 CIOs at companies with 500-plus employees, asking how they've adopted Web 2.0 technologies--specifically, blogs, content tagging, podcasts, Really Simple Syndication (RSS), social networking and wikis. The report, covered by CIO Insight, finds that three in four CIOs prefer to have their Web 2.0 tools rolled up into a single suite from a single vendor. Who are they likely to turn to for this innovative technology? Either IBM or Microsoft. Integration considerations are the primary reason behind the choice. CIOs don't have confidence in smaller companies' experience, finances or long-term viability.

To get more:
- read this article from CIO Insight

Small business storage woes

Wed, 09 May 2007 20:01:38 -0400

How should small companies deal with soaring storage capacity needs when they have little or no IT resources? What kind of storage should be added? How can this be done without under- or overbuying? If you work for a very small company, focus for the time being on relatively inexpensive, easy-to-use products that don't require IT participation but that can dramatically improve the storage situation. An example is consolidating data into a single repository; larger storage servers have a higher degree of scalability that allow for greater flexibility when more capacity, performance or connectivity is required. For slightly larger companies with about 50 employees, move to Network Attached Storage (NAS), which allows multiple servers to access a NAS box that holds the stored data. For companies with 100 or more employees, go for larger servers that can scale up to dozens of terabytes or storage arrays. Many companies are in this game, including Adaptec, EMC and NEC. To size your systems appropriately, ask how many other activities the file server handles, how many people make up the workgroup and what type of network traffic they generate, and how many files are hosted on a network share.

Read more about how to deal with storage issues at smaller companies:
- read the article at Small Business Computing

ALSO:
- read this on why storage virtualization is no panacea
- and this on why hosted IT infrastructures can save money for small businesses

Climbing up the CIO food chain

Thu, 03 May 2007 20:01:39 -0400

If you're a midmarket CIO who feels ready to move to a larger company, prepare to be questioned about your ability to scale. Focus on points of relevance between your experience and the new role. Show how much more important these points are than sheer numbers. Sharpen your influencing skills. Be aware of the technologies available in the market and how to use them to improve efficiency or profitability. Also, make sure you've created allies in other departments in your current company; in smaller companies, your relationship with your boss is the key to gaining approval for a big IT decision; in larger organizations, you rely on your circle of influence. Adapt to a new management style. In many smaller companies, the original owners are still running the show, but in larger companies, most members of the executive team gained their experience elsewhere. Also, upgrade your communication abilities; they are key in larger companies.

Learn more about moving to a larger company:
- read the article at CIO Asia

The art of choosing an ERP system

Tue, 01 May 2007 20:01:38 -0400

For smaller companies in particular, the decision of which enterprise resource planning (ERP) system to buy can be daunting. There are a great variety of systems, both in terms of functionality and price. First, ask these questions: Which offers the proper fit of software to business processes? How fast is too fast when it comes to implementing a system? What effect will the Oracle vs. SAP battle have on my organization? For large enterprises, SAP continues to be the dominant enterprise resource planning player with Oracle running a close second, but once you move down the rungs, Microsoft Dynamics also is a popular choice. For SMBs, it almost always comes down to price, however.

Read more about choosing an ERP system:
- read the article at ComputerWeekly

ALSO:
- read this about how Microsoft Office integrates with ERP systems
- this about how ERP vendors are revamping their tools
- and this about how ERP makes business processes work

Laptop tracking is for SMBs, too

Wed, 18 Apr 2007 20:01:36 -0400

Many enterprises use laptop tracking software or third-party tracking companies to ensure the safety of employees' laptops, which tend to get stolen more than any other type of work tool. These products and services install a software agent on laptops that call in to a company's IT help desk via an Internet connection. If the laptop is reported stolen, the system can begin tracking down the laptop. The products also often include technology users can use to destroy data remotely if necessary. This laptop-tracking technology is used often in large companies because it's sold as a feature by manufacturers. Smaller companies are less aware of the tracing technology because they purchase products through resellers that are less likely to play up the feature as a selling point, experts said. Cost pressure is another inhibitor for smaller companies.

Read more about laptop tracking:
- read the article at Computer Weekly

ALSO:
- read this on mobile security tools for SMBs
- this about balancing mobile functionality with security
- this on the importance of mobile security
- and this on best practices in managing mobile devices