Who Are You Going To Call

Leveraging technology to make a company run more efficiently, reduce cost or improve quality is simply not enough. A resume in which you offer to replicate this for any new company is going to be passed over by most. Today the head of technology is expected to be a full member of the

management team contributing to the development of new product and services, expanding the customer base, and opening new markets of all kinds.  The good news is we are empowered to do this with the affordable computing power, connectivity and data available.  Moreover, the world is finally in a state of readiness to accept these new ideas. The classic examples include Airbnb, Uber and the new similar application where people share boats.  The new norm is technology turning an industry completely inside-out.

We are now an on demand, variable supply, value-based micro-company society where every individual can be an entrepreneur, running an entire business, often without having to leave home. Business opportunities exist on both sides of this model. Traditional companies  leverage just-in-time supply of expertise, consuming just enough to meet their needs without incurring additional overhead or associated costs. Individuals can apply their deep knowledge and experience to a wide variety of issues across many clients, constantly learning and improving while delivering efficient and effective solutions. Instead of one individual with a little experience in several areas being on staff, engage six experts as needed for portions of the project achieving superior results with lower long term cost.  

What I envision is different from the classic consulting model where companies engage teams from well know firms like Accenture, Oracle or Mercer, and instead turn to vehicle such as e-lance to solicit bids for specific resources or solutions from individuals.  As the boomers age out of the work force they become increasing rare and valuable resources with exactly the right knowledge and skills to meet these demands. Orchestrating the match of needs to resources represents, in my mind, one of the most interesting and potentially rewarding business opportunities today and the near future.

Captain Joe

Follow me on Twitter @JPuglisiLLC

CIO Midmarket Summit - Final Hours

The final hours of the CIO Midmarket Summit were filled with great interactive sessions around two of the hottest topics; social media and business intelligence.

Jason Bedford and Gary Zuckerman, both from Blackboard, were like two folk singers on bar stools casually enlightening the group on the key principles of an effective communications strategy. Content, they told us, must be personal, real and relevant. Don't forget your employees are your biggest voice. This was the best non-vendor vendor talk with plenty of concepts, advice and interaction. A truly thought provoking session, brought to you without commercial interruption..

It was followed by Lincoln White from Seventh Generation discussing the strategy of their use of social media as an effective marketing tool. They post lifestyle content sprinkled with news and offers. Their advice; listen to your customers and be a part of the conversation. It will happen with or without you. The group responded well, contributing to the dialog with a number of fascinating war stories and running out the clock on this session.

After a break we were back in the room for the closing session (pictured here) on business intelligence. This was a large panel which at first seemed unwieldy. But Nick Eshkenazi was adept as moderator and kept the session moving while ensuring each panelist had an opportunity to contribute their knowledge.

For Gary Flowers, BI is driven by unanswered questions from the business while Geoffrey Stevens reported for him it was inward facing, mostly focusing on the preservation of company assets. There was a healthy debate over which side of the house should take the lead. Andre Gold maintains the business must push the demands and ultimately drives the technology needs. But others felt IT could lead by collecting, organizing and structuring data for the business to analyze. BI should move a company from reactive to proactive, says Gary. Alma Mendoza drives home the point that you have to view BI as a process, continuously improving. It is not, she says, a project or task at a single point in time. The entire group was truly engaged and the session seemed to be over in a flash.

Kudos to CDM for a fast-paced, interesting and inviting event. An awful lot of knowledge exchange and debate was packed into a few short days. Even if the weather had been a bit more inviting, no one would have ventured far from the action which was clearly inside the conference center.

Captain Joe

Follow me on Twitter @JPuglisiLLC


The Panelists from left to right:

• Gary Flowers, Bisk Education
• Michael Lehman, Batteries Plus
• Andre Gold, AutoTrader.com
• Alma Mendoza, Trinity Western University
• Geoffrey Stevens, Otay Water District
• Nick Eshkenazi, SanMar Corporation