In its fifth survey on outsourcing trends, Savvis, a CenturyLink company in the cloud infrastructure and hosted IT solutions space, projects a reversal in IT infrastructure. Today, 65 percent of IT infrastructure resides in in-house environments, but 70 percent of organizations will outsource their infrastructure by 2018. (“Infrastructure” refers to co-location, managed hosting, outsourced cloud, or a hybrid combination of these.) “The next five years will bring a dramatic shift in the way organizations approach IT,” says Savvis President Jeff Von Deylen. – See more at: http://www.cioinsight.com/it-strategy/infrastructure/slideshows/outsourced-clouds-gaining-momentum.
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28
Oct 13
40-30-30 still holds true
Here’s a repost of an article from Robert Nagle, one of the Fathers of adventure racing. It addresses the balance required for success in adventure racing. I’ve quoted this article to many of my friends because I believe now more than ever that it applies to business and to life as well.
40-30-30: A Ratio For Racing Success
By Robert Nagle, 2002 Team Captain Eco Internet/GoLite
No, this is not yet another thesis on how to eat during an adventure race. Nor is it a discussion on the best diet for athletic training. Instead, it is a discussion of a different kind – what goes into making a successful adventure racing experience.
How you define success is, of course, up to you. Success may mean completing the course. Or, at the other extreme, it may mean a podium finish. Regardless, there are three key elements that will determine whether or not you meet your goals.
Most people fixate on the physical challenge when they first encounter adventure racing (be it on a television show, a gripping magazine article or even just one graphic image). The immediate assumption is that adventure racing is a grueling physical test. Of course, much of the media (and some race promoters) play it this way. Is adventure racing the toughest sport of all? Is this the toughest adventure race ever staged? How can these crazies race so hard for so long on such little sustenance in such a hostile environment?
21
Oct 13
Is too much IT is ruining your business?
Is too much information technology ruining your business?
Many would agree that IT is more complex today than it ever has been. And your business is probably more dependent on IT than it was just a few years ago.
Most companies “bet their business” on their IT systems. Consequently, the impact of an IT outage is worse than it used to be.
Virtualization and other technologies promise easier maintenance and quicker recovery, but often these technologies require more IT expertise and more dollars every budget cycle.
What can you do TODAY to reduce this complexity?
One of the best things you can do is to reduce the number of computer applications your company is using. Application proliferation happens incrementally, so it’s not always easy to see. Even small businesses find themselves using dozens of applications. More applications mean more technical support issues and more difficult recovery in the event of an outage. And each application is likely increasing your need for computer hardware, software, Internet connection size and the need for IT skills and services to maintain them.
What’s the first step to reducing the number of applications your company is using?
Create an inventory list of all the applications on all the computers in your company.
Then, tor each application, ask your staff this simple question:
Is this application helping me get generate revenue, deliver my products/services, or collect money?
If the answer is no, get rid of it.
Yes, there will be some pain and suffering. And eliminating applications can be a long process. But focusing on your application portfolio is one of the best ways to align information technology with the business goals. And minimizing applications reduces wasted cash, and wasted productivity, and wasted worry.
17
Oct 13
My wife is smarter than I am
No, this is not some attempt at earning brownie points or reconciliation. My wife Teresa is just smarter about certain things than I ever will be. She knows when I’m not communicating well with our children. She knows when I’m unhappy with my work or my training. She can tell if I’m excited about something even if I haven’t spoken a word about it. She knows what to say to me when I can’t seem to listen to anyone. Her logic on business and personal decisions is always sound, but she comes at it using totally different thought process that I frankly still don’t understand, but I value and appreciate.
What’s my point? Despite the fact that I’m a relatively intelligent guy, I don’t have all the answers, and I can’t get them on my own. I’ve learned this the hard way, over and over again. With Teresa on my team, I have a significantly better shot at doing the right thing and making the best decisions I can.
Teresa and I are about as different as you can get when it comes to DISC profiles, Meyers-Briggs assessments, and general style. And I’m convinced that it’s the reason we have stayed together and been successful as a team these 30 years.
16
Oct 13
What’s your brand?
Last night at Techmakers (Indy’s oldest and best technology professionals networking event), I really enjoyed the guest speaker, Andrew Curtis of Fuel Visual Media. Andrew spoke on company branding. Brand is what others think of you, Andrew pointed out. Andrew also discussed the fact that a companies have a brand whether they choose to manage it or not! The implications of this idea are far reaching. We all know that actions speak louder than words. What are your company’s actions saying to the marketplace? Do your company’s actions match up with what you believe the brand to be?
It’s not just your company that has a brand. You as an individual have a brand too. And what you think of yourself may not match up with what others think of you. Indy’s Erik Deckers and Kyle Lacy and have written a book called Branding Yourself. The book is a call to action on managing your brand.
What’s your brand? Write down what you think others believe about you as a business professional, and as a person. Then go to the marketplace and verify what you believe. Do you have trusted friends in the business world that will give you an honest opinion of how they perceive you? Ask them what they believe your brand to be. Do they match? And does your brand match up well with the company’s brand? If not, the time is now to take action!
17
Jul 13
Selling Technology in the Modern World
Last night I spoke at Techmakers, one of Indy’s local technology networking groups. I spoke on selling technology in the modern world, and here are the ten keys that have contributed to my success:
- Be yourself. People can tell.
- Be memorable. Which may be at odds with being yourself. Easiest way is to be an expert. Or smile. Or both
- No pitching. If you’re telling people how wonderful you or your products are, you’re probably in trouble.
- Ask and listen. Ask questions that challenge prospect thinking. Listen for pain.
- See your offerings through the client’s eyes. If you can’t see it, they can’t either. No match is okay.
- No premature elaboration. Same as no pitching. Detachment is good. Eager is bad. Same as no pitching.
- Drip marketing. Use newsletters and updates on new industry happenings when no current need or when you have a relationship
- Activity is everything. Must be talking to new leads, existing prospects, deals in process, and clients. Networking is a key activity that can reach into all phases of the sales process.
- Understand the power of networking. It’s the new cold calling. Rainmakers, industry groups, community organizations, sports, and ad hoc groups are the way people are doing business today.
- Use a system. Without it, you can’t tell if you’re gaining ground or losing it. Sandler covers everything I’ve talked about today. Trustpointe is awesome.
08
Mar 13
Back to school
I’m excited to be joining Trustpointe for Sandler Sales Training. Duane Weber, Tim Roberts and Matt Nettleton are great guys. Looking forward to learning from them. My brother-in-law has transformed the sales process in his company using Sandler principles. I’m ready to do the same!
10
Dec 12
Peter Bregman – How to take back your life in 2013
Great video on taking back your time and your life from Peter Bregman, author of 18 Minutes.
09
Nov 12
Study: People Who Exercise Have Larger Brains Later in Life – Lindsay Abrams – The Atlantic
PROBLEM: The brain is a muscle, says every teacher ever. Their point is figurative, but the brain is like a muscle in the sense that it normally loses size with age — in some parts by as much as 25 percent.
METHODOLOGY: A long time ago, Scotland surveyed the intelligence of every Scottish child that had been born in 1936. More recently, 691 of those former children celebrated their 70th birthdays by filling out a survey about their social and intellectual pursuits and their levels of physical activity. Three years after that, they celebrated their 73rd birthdays by undergoing brain MRI scans at the University of Edinburgh in Scotland. The researchers assessed the brain images for physical signs of cognitive decline.
Study: People Who Exercise Have Larger Brains Later in Life – Lindsay Abrams – The Atlantic
07
Nov 12
Why Sales People Actually Hate Leads | Fast Company
Warm or cool leads generated by marketing are typically just annoyances to sales people–ones that get in the way of their “real” work. Here’s how smart companies handle CRM and their marketing and sales teams to put a stop to the waste and increase revenue.
I have worked with many different sized companies helping them to scale their business. One of the key things I always look at is this: How does the sales force get leads, and what do they do with them?
Generating leads is at the center of most marketing mandates, yet most companies never really take full advantage of their investment in those leads. And when they think about scaling the business, they think they need to generate even more leads. I see too few companies invest in getting more revenue out of the leads they have.
One of the universal truths I have seen is that sales people basically hate leads that are generated by marketing. Unless, of course, the “lead” is ready to buy.
