Outsourcing
Infoworld, 3/7/03: The downturn's lasting impact
Integrating off-the-shelf software and outsourcing are trends that will outlast the bad times
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First of all, outsourcing is here to stay. If you are still skeptical about outsourcing, there's not much time left to get out in front of things and get over it. At InfoWorld, I have had to outsource certain functions of the IT department out of pure necessity, and frankly, I was somewhat reluctant. In better times, I was among those who thought that everything was best done in-house, and I staffed accordingly. Now, the PC desktop support, messaging infrastructure, and sales-force automation at InfoWorld are all outsourced and business operations are demonstrably better for it, financially and operationally. From a management perspective, I had to make tough staffing decisions when I outsourced those functions, but because I made these decisions relatively early in the down-cycle, I avoided the pain of more staff reductions as the business environment got even tougher.
I would urge you to take a hard look at outsourcing options at least every few months.
Note that with utility pay-as-you-go pricing, outsourcing is more efficient than ever. Like many businesses, InfoWorld has been forced to downsize during the past two years, but when I pay a per-desktop, per-month fee for desktop support and a per-user fee for the sales-force automation system, I save money immediately, helping to protect the company from further staff reductions.
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Giga, 3/7/03: Mexican Nearshore Outsourcing: A Promising Global
Stephanie Moore
Every company with a formal offshore program management office is considering diversification. As successful as offshore/Indian relationships typically are, it is imperative to find locations outside India for low-cost remote IT resources to mitigate risk associated with having all offshore resources in one country. Mexico represents an excellent nearshore alternative for US companies looking for diversification or that can’t or don’t want to use an offshore vendor. While the Mexican software and services export market is not as mature or as large as the Indian market, this industry is maturing, and there are significant benefits that can be gained by using an IT services firm in Mexico.
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Gartner, 3/7/03: Better Outsourcing Relationships Save You Money
Gartner shows how four key performance indicators can help managers cut outsourcing costs by 5 percent or more, and enhance a deal's value. The secret lies in better deal structures and supplier relationship management.
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Desktop Management
Giga, 2/26/03: Reducing the Costs of Desktop Management
David Friedlander
Contributing Analyst: Rob Enderle
What can we do to reduce the costs of desktop management?
IT managers who are looking to cut costs at the desktop often focus on keeping aging hardware or outdated operating systems and software in service for longer while overlooking other, more effective cost-cutting measures. While extending hardware and software refresh cycles can save costs, they also carry a significant risk of increased support costs.
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Mobile
News.Com, 3/11/03: Intel procures more partners for hot spots
By Sandeep Junnarkar
Hot spots may be a sweet spot for Intel, if a new string of deals for the chipmaker is any indication.
On Tuesday, the list of companies teaming with Intel to help promote "hot spots" for wireless Internet access grew by three: Hilton Hotels & Resorts, Borders Group and McDonald's.
The upsurge in Wi-Fi deals and alliances comes ahead of Intel's Wednesday launch of its Centrino wireless technology. The array of new chips and related products is designed to allow built-in wireless capabilities in notebook PCs. Centrino includes the Pentium-M processor, a chipset and a Wi-Fi module.
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Internet News, 3/11/03: Wi-Fi to get 'Super Sized'
By Michael Singer
It won't be too long before the clerk behind the counter asks you if you would like Wi-Fi with your McDonalds french fries.
The company known for its Big Macs is being courted by wireless Internet service providers for a major wireless Internet rollout in their U.S. restaurants, internetnews.com has learned.
The Oak Brook, IL-based fast food king has already signed up to deploy hotspots (define) in some of its franchise locations. A McDonalds in Media, Ohio claims it is the first Golden Arches in the nation to offer both 802.11b Wi-Fi Internet access and regular hardwired access, but no major U.S. wireless Internet service providers (define) have been picked for the job.
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Microsoft
Giga, 3/5/03: Microsoft’s Discount Policy Is Just a Starting Point for Exchange Negotiations
Erica Rugullies
What is Microsoft’s discounting policy for Exchange?
Organizations that intend to negotiate with Microsoft over Exchange pricing should have a solid understanding of Microsoft’s list prices and discount policy, which are described in this IdeaByte. Discounting by percentages is meaningless without a published price list (see Planning Assumption, Best Practices in Discount Negotiations 2003, Keith Gile). However, customers should view list prices and published volume discount policies as just a starting point for negotiations. Pricing for enterprise collaboration platforms is typically highly negotiable, especially in large deals, and Microsoft and its competitors can be aggressive in competitive sales or replacement situations. Microsoft is apt to reduce prices substantially off of list for customers that are prepared, knowledgeable and in compliance with existing software licensing terms and conditions. Negotiations over Exchange can include a wide range of Microsoft software products as well as consulting, support and other services. Large customers may want to have Microsoft consultants permanently on staff, so they negotiate their whole Microsoft contract for three years and include onsite staff. Or Microsoft may throw in free copies of documentation or subscription services like TechNet or the Microsoft Software Developers Network (MSDN).
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IT Management
Giga, 3/4/03: IT Professional Hiring Outlook
Craig Symons
What trends can we expect in the IT professional job market during the next few quarters?
A recent national poll of 1,400 CIOs was conducted on behalf of Robert Half Technologies, an IT flexible staffing firm headquartered in Menlo Park, CA, to gauge the overall demand for IT professionals. As one would expect given the current economic environment, the majority (86 percent) of firms are staying the course, neither adding nor cutting IT staff (see figure below). However, when the survey focused on just large companies, those with more than 1,000 employees, the numbers were more dramatic, with 18 percent indicating that they would be adding to their IT staff while only 6 percent forecast cutbacks.
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Collaborative Technologies
The New York Times, 3/11/03: Clique of Instant Messengers Expands Into the Workplace
By AMY HARMON
Instant messaging, long associated with teenagers staying up late to chat online with friends, is moving into the workplace with an impact that has started to rival e-mail and the cellphone.
Less intrusive than a phone call and more immediate than e-mail, instant messaging is finding users far more quickly than e-mail did when it was first introduced, according to Forrester Research, a technology research firm in Cambridge, Mass. In the last year alone, Forrester said, the number of instant messages has grown by more than 50 percent, so that nearly one-third of American adults are now IM-ing, as it is called, with their children, clients, colleagues and each other.
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Change Management
The Conference Board, 2/03: Change – It’s Getting Serious
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