IT Spending for 2011

IT Spending for 2011

As we head out of both 2010 and the recession we have seen a slight up tick in spending in technology.  Assuming the economy continues to move in the right direction we would expect this trend to continue and accelerate.  The question is will you commit to the future of your organization and where will you spend your dollars?

To provide some guidance in this area we have identified several areas that clients have invested in and seen significant returns in time, cost and productivity.

Virtualization

Stop!  Before you buy another server just to replace an aging machine you need to consider this technology and have a conversation with us to see if it makes sense for your organization.  Several of our clients have taken the opportunity during this refresh cycle to implement this modal.  This technology allows you to consolidate multiple servers into just a few.  Out clients have realized the following benefits:

1.       Reduced the cost and overhead associated with maintaining multiple physical servers

2.       Reduce power consumptions and related emissions

3.       Increased system availability and performance

Managed IT Services

Outsourcing part or all of a particular service area has been around for years.  Information Technology support is not different.  Most small to mid size organizations fall into one of two categories:

1.       No internal IT support resources.  In this case they are looking to outsource all levels of support and projects to an outside firm.  Unfortunately, in many cases this service lacks the appropriate level of resource and communication.   During our discussion with prospects we often hear the following frustrations:

a.       Lack of communication regarding what is being done, why it is necessary and what issues long-term and short that it will resolve.  We refer to this as the “Black Magic” model because the provider wants to make you believe that everything they do is so complicated, that they are the only one who can do it.

b.      Lack of vision regarding new technologies and the future of your organization.  This primarily the result of a lack of professional leadership within the service provided and the inability to keep up with evolving technologies.  We refer to this as the SALY (Same as Last Year) approach since the service typically hasn’t learned anything new since last year, so they just stick with the same solution. 

2.       Limited internal IT resources.  In this case they may be looking to outsource part of there IT function which could include:

a.       Helpdesk support to free up internal resources to focus on project and higher level issue

b.      Monitoring solutions to provide insight and documentation of their system

c.       Project and Project Management services to address a specific skill set they may not have

Vertical Solutions has solutions for both environments with our VCare Essentials Advantage and VCare Essentials programs.  This proactive approach to IT support, planning and management create clear strategic advantage for our clients.

Collaboration

The fastest growing product in Microsoft history is SharePoint, and guess what, you already own it.  This collaboration tool gives you the ability to:

1.       Create a robust intranet to deliver, news, announcements, contact list, Human Resource information and more.

2.       Centralize document search, storage and retrieval, including version control.

3.       Create various centralized calendars to track and report on key events in your organization

4.       Integrate with Outlook, Word, Excel and more

To view a short demo on this solution visit http://www.verticalsol.com/vshare.asp .