MidMarket Events : Information/Research

New Executive Corner Videos

MMEvents — Thu, 11 Dec 2008 04:46:00 GMT

We are enjoying getting feedback from you about technology overall as well as our products. This is great information to share with everyone else out there to help get those different perspectives. We really appreciate it and I have uploaded two new videos for you to enjoy. I will get an archive up shortly so that you can access previously published videos.

Thank you to all of our attendees who take a minute to give us your live feedback.

View the videos here, or you can start out on our home page at http://www.msmmevents.com and click on Executive Corner.

Stephanie

Businesses see smart phone use rising, survey shows

MMEvents — Tue, 25 Nov 2008 07:06:00 GMT

The survey found that the number of smart-phone devices will grow about 30% in the next year and will have doubled over three years. The use of business applications on smart phones is also projected to grow, by 71% over one year and 196% over three years.

Stephanie

Executive Corner Videos – Find out what other executives are saying.

MMEvents — Tue, 04 Nov 2008 19:18:00 GMT

We have been out talking to you during our Momentum events, and we appreciate you taking the time to give us your opinion. Listen to what others are doing in their environment at our Executive Corner on the www.msmmevents.com page here.

Please be sure to give us your feedback when you come out. See you in Waterbury, Cincinnati, Islandia, Columbus, and Boise this week.

Thanks,

Stephanie

What does the Current Economy Mean for IT?

MMEvents — Thu, 23 Oct 2008 00:23:00 GMT

According to a recent Computerworld article: "Caution, not expansion, will likely be the business direction at many companies, affecting IT as well as other departments." The article goes on to explain that IT managers need to build a case for funding IT projects that can make a difference from either a business or cost perspective. These projects include things like improved Business Intelligence, expanding self service capabilities, and researching where IT can save money using Software plus Services.

Want to know how you can be a successful IT manager in tough economic times? Attend one of the upcoming events where we discuss managing costs, leveraging your existing investments and how S+S can benefit you. Here is the link to our upcoming events: http://www.msmmevents.com/PublicPages/EventSearchByCity.aspx .

Dawn

Who's Getting ROI from Cloud Computing Now

MMEvents — Sat, 18 Oct 2008 20:32:00 GMT

According to recent Cloud Computing Symposium, there are four types of cloud computing users and the driving reasons for their use of the cloud:

Startups (cheap infrastructure, low investment)
Entertainment (highly scalable, temporary systems; think movie promotional campaigns)
Small businesses (similar motives to startups)
Enterprises (quick and cheap experimentation)

So what is the big deal about cloud computing, what Microsoft refers to as Software Plus Services? Please read the entire article here

Thanks,

Indy

Social Networking is Going Corporate

MMEvents — Sat, 18 Oct 2008 00:44:00 GMT

As I was reading newspapers this past week, I came across a great article that gave some good insight as to how businesses are adjusting in order to continue to be successful and keep their workforces "together". Internal social networks makes sense as companies struggle with a slumping economy that has made travel cost-prohibitive even as workforces are spread out as never before. No, we are not just packing it in and going home or shutting down. Companies are asking themselves "How can we make our workforce more productive?" Well, the popularity of social networking has been used more and more over the past few months to improve productivity and communication among workers. Public sites include Facebook and Linked-in. An employee-only site, or intranet, is an excellent format for geographically dispersed organizations to communicate and elicit ideas from their peers and co-workers. Studies show that 85% of all employees work on projects with colleagues in other offices. Private social networks let people choose what they want to read and discuss, based on their participation, without being intrusive and annoying. They also cut down on unnecessary e-mail and instant messages among co-workers, and the sites can be accessed over the Internet.

So if you have been wondering just how you can keep your dispersed workforce together when travel may not be the best option, think about social networks. Microsoft Office SharePoint Server 2007 has great social networking capabilities and it enables you to maximize the use of what you currently have in your environment. There is no need to purchase another component if you are already running Office SharePoint Server 2007. If you are running Windows Sever 2003 or 2008, then you are already licensed to run Windows SharePoint Services v3, which is the prerequisite of Microsoft Office SharePoint Server. It provides the foundation for having that centralized collaborative environment. Windows SharePoint Server v3 is a free download if you are currently on v2.

Maximize what you currently have and save money and increase productivity at the same time. I you want to know more about Microsoft Office SharePoint Server, please see our home page that has lots of resources for you – here.

Have a great weekend.

Stephanie

On Demand Webcast: Understand Microsoft Virtualization Solutions: From the Data Center to the Desktop

MMEvents — Wed, 15 Oct 2008 22:11:00 GMT

Attend this webcast to learn about the unique and comprehensive virtualization strategy Microsoft provides for server, presentation, application, and desktop virtualization. We discuss and demonstrate how organizations can consolidate workloads to streamline resource utilization, reduce operating costs, improve availability, and support disaster recovery. In addition, we explore effective ways to support previous applications, reduce application-to-application conflicts, and centrally manage common processes like updates and patches. Microsoft is a leader in innovation in each of these areas and offers high-value, low-cost virtualization solutions. Register today for this compelling event!

So if you are wondering why we are delivering software and solutions, optimization is our goal. Understand the whole picture by watching this webcast at your convenience here.

Thanks,

Stephanie

CIOs Trim Spending, Desktops Make a Comeback and More

MMEvents — Thu, 18 Sep 2008 03:50:00 GMT

Beset by challenging economic conditions, one in four CIOs is facing budget and staffing cuts, according to new research from CIO. Read More…

How Companies Are Building a price-to-value Relationship for IT Services

MMEvents — Mon, 18 Aug 2008 20:02:00 GMT

Mark, with CIO Magazine, gives good insight on how companies are going about running IT as a business within the business. Chargebacks are great ways to build that price-to-value relationship for IT services.

Different models can be used to drive more cost-efficient consumption of IT and to achieve more effective matching of service to business need. The four basic methods for pricing IT value are:

Subscription Pricing

Peak-Level Pricing

User-Based Pricing

Ticket-Based Pricing

Each has their pros and cons but the goal of any of these chargeback scenarios is to deliver services in ways that present the best visible benefit. Read the entire story here.

What are the Top IT Priorities?

MMEvents — Wed, 06 Aug 2008 17:14:00 GMT

According to The Wall Street Journal, "server virtualization" and "consolidation" top the list. We will be discussing virtualization in our next series of events, starting in August.

http://blogs.wsj.com/biztech/2008/07/14/tech-departments-cutting-back-on-big-projects/

Go to our home page, http://www.msmmevents.com and click on Live Events to see the full agenda and register for an event near you.

More on Tomorrow’s CIOs

MMEvents — Fri, 20 Jun 2008 03:05:00 GMT

InformationWeek surveyed 720 senior business technology executives; 537 CIOs/VPs of IT and 182 corporate managers. Here is some of the insight that came of that survey. (The first percentage is the response from CIOs/VPs of IT, and the second percentage is the response from corporate managers.

What are the major obstacles confronting CIOs?

The fact that IT is still viewed as a cost center (70%/66%)

The burden of ongoing IT maintenance (57%/50%)

The fact that top management lacks technology vision (41%/30%)

Inability to attract and retain top business technology talent (31%/29%)

A risk-averse corporate culture (29%/25%)

The fact that more business executives are involved in technology strategy (22%/24%)

Diminished influence of the CIO in the senior management ranks (20%/13%)

What will drive the CIO to be more of a business leader?

Need to manage or optimize business processes (78%/78%)

Customer needs (59%/63%)

The CIO's own ambition and foresight (57%/29%)

My company's business situation/health (38%/26%)

Pressure from the CEO, CFO, or other C-level executives (33%/37%)

The economy's current condition/health (29%/29%)

What are the main opportunities for CIOs today?

Improve and/or innovate new business processes (60%/41%)

Increase employee productivity via new collaboration tools (28%/28%)

Facilitate companywide innovation (27%/16%)

Cut business and IT costs (26%/24%)

Use customer or business data to drive sales growth (24%/38%)

Use customer or business data to influence new product development (19%/30%)

Lead company's sales and growth efforts on the Web (10%/11%)

Tomorrow’s CIO Survey

MMEvents — Fri, 20 Jun 2008 02:51:00 GMT

InformationWeek conducted a survey of 720 senior business technology executives. The question posed to these executives was "What are the most important CIO attributes?" Guess what the top 10 responses were from the survey. Starting from number 10, here they are:

10. Sales Orientation (35%)

9. Raw intellect (53%)

8. Technical breadth and depth (55%)

7. Consensus building (68%)

6. Team building (80%)

5. Innovation (81%)

4. Vision (85%)

3. Collaboration and communication (88%)

2. Ability to execute and meet deadlines (89%)

1. Leadership (94%)

The percentages reflect ratings of 4 or 5 based on a 50-point scale where 1 is "not at all important" and 5 is "extremely important".

IT Risk: Turning Business Threats into Competitive Advantage

MMEvents — Tue, 17 Jun 2008 00:55:00 GMT

George Westerman was our guest at our IT Leadership Summit events these past months. I want to thank him for making the time to spend with all of you and the great information provided during and the conversations that came of the event. If you missed the IT Leadership Summits, bookmark the Midmarket site so that you will know when we have more in the future.

George is from MIT's Center for Information System Research and he has written a book titled "IT Risk: Turning Business Threats into Competitive Advantage".

Are you exposing your business to IT risk, and leaving profit opportunities on the table? You might be if you are managing your IT risk using more traditional approaches. IT Risk, a new book based on research conducted by MIT's Center for Information Systems Research and Gartner, Inc., helps companies focus on the most pressing risks and leverage the upside that comes with vigilance.

Traditionally, managers have grouped technology risk and funding into silos. IT Risk outlines a new model for integrated risk management, which identifies three core areas you can develop to eliminate the problems that silo strategies create. The authors also offer specific ways to make the most of your new found advantage. And because IT risk is the responsibility of all senior executives - not just CIOs - this book describes the tools and practices in language that general managers can understand and use.

You can get George's book at your favorite bookstore. Here is the link on Barnes & Noble.

A great book to add to your collection and thanks again George.

Gartner: Ninety Percent of Virtual Worlds Projects Fail

MMEvents — Tue, 20 May 2008 23:29:00 GMT

As if I wrote the article myself, but I did not, we mentioned today at our launch event about the necessity of the innovation to work the way our users work and expect. Don't let your users be an afterthought. Gartner predicts that 9 of 10 businesses that have launched virtual worlds will have failed in 18 months or less. Why, you ask? The companies got hung up on the technology rather than thinking about their most valuable asset-the people; how they used the technology. Your people are at the core of your success as a business.

Hard lessons learned for these companies in a time where virtualization is becoming mainstream. By 2012 virtual worlds will have been set up for approximately 70 percent of organizations. Cost is a major factor when considering virtual environments. The low-cost will encourage more experimentation by businesses.

Read the entire article here.

Microsoft Gets Gartner’s Business Intelligence Top Ranking

MMEvents — Sat, 10 May 2008 00:01:00 GMT

This tie into the post from a few weeks ago about Microsoft being placed in the leaders quadrant in the way of business intelligence. Per the article, Business Objects and Cognos have long been considered the leaders in business intelligence platforms. But in a surprising new report, Gartner ranks Microsoft ahead of those companies in its ability to execute.

Business Objects, Cognos, and Microsoft were placed among the leaders in Gartner's just-released Magic Quadrant for Business Intelligence Platforms, 2008. But the research firm placed Microsoft above the other two in its ability to execute, including the competitiveness and success of its BI goods and services, its viability and investment in BI, and the execution of its sales and pricing. In last year's BI platform report, Gartner put Microsoft in the challenger quadrant.

Gartner is demonstrating how quickly BI is moving from a specialized, expensive technology into a commodity itself. The rapidly commoditizing BI market, many industry observers believe, is among the reasons Business Objects accepted a $6.8 billion buyout offer from SAP and Cognos took a $5 billion buyout offer from IBM.

Read the entire article from Information Week here.

Have a great weekend!