Internetworking Technologies BLOG

How to Tap IT's Hidden Potential

2008-03-10T12:11:00.002-04:00

Give yourself a break and learn how that glass-wall between management and Information Technology can and should be broken to improve your company profits. Read on......you'll learn something.

How to Tap IT's Hidden Potential

Too often, there's a wall between a company's information-technology department and everything else. That wall has to go.

By AMIT BASU AND CHIP JARNAGIN

March 10, 2008; Page R4

Some of the biggest names in the business world have used information technology to their competitive advantage: Merrill Lynch, American Airlines, FedEx, Barclays, to name a few. Despite their example, such companies are still exceptions.

Simply put, top executives at most companies fail to recognize the value of IT. It can help a company transform data from its operations, its business partners and its markets into useful competitive information. It can be the source of profitable innovations in the way a company interacts with its customers and suppliers. But there is still a tendency to think of IT as a basic utility, like plumbing or telephone service.

In many industries, IT consumes a significant amount of capital expenditures and gross revenue. Though recent research has shown that managing IT well can significantly increase a firm's profits and deliver substantially higher returns on IT investments, its potential is overlooked, and even its workaday application is often mismanaged.

The result isn't just missed opportunities -- it's also wasted money. Analysts estimate that hundreds of billions of dollars are blown every year on IT projects that fail to achieve the desired goals.

The reason for all this is the metaphorical glass wall that separates the IT group from the rest of the business at most companies. The wall prevents IT from being part of the discussion at the highest levels of company planning, robbing a firm of its full potential.

Success in the digital economy of the 21st century demands a strategic role for IT. And for that to happen, the glass wall between IT and the rest of a company has to be shattered. There are several steps that can be taken to achieve this. But to implement them most effectively, it is important to first understand the origins of the wall and what sustains it.

How the Wall Was Built

There are five primary reasons for the glass wall's existence: mind-set differences between management staff and IT staff, language differences, social influences, flaws in IT governance (defined as the specification and control of IT decision rights), and the difficulty of managing rapidly changing technology.

Interaction between logic-driven IT personnel and managers who deal mostly in gray areas can be exasperating for both sides. Too often the result is a minimization of such interactions, leaving the IT team feeling misunderstood, unappreciated and isolated.

Unfortunately, the chief information officer often reinforces this separation. That's because he or she usually is an IT professional chosen to be a director of technology, rather than an executive who is expected to fully integrate IT into the company.

The situation is exacerbated by language differences. IT people use jargon and acronyms that are indecipherable to others. Executives speak the language of business, fully expecting to be understood by everyone in the company. Much is lost in translation, leading to suboptimal results that IT is blamed for, which causes resentment and cynicism toward management.

Another divisive factor is the persistent perception of those who are oriented toward science and technology as "nerds." The recent boom in IT outsourcing has worsened this estrangement. Now, IT professionals are almost pitied as dinosaurs whose jobs will soon be sent offshore.

IT governance is another factor. IT decisions are often made by the wrong people with insufficient input, and the resulting failures drive a wedge between senior managers and their IT colleagues. There is some irony here in the fact that outsourcing often appears to improve IT management, in part because a governance committee is needed to manage the relationship with the outside providers. If a similar committee had previously been in place, outsourcing could probably have been avoided in many cases.

Finally, applying IT to business needs, especially when a company is innovating, is still an experimental process with few standards. Technology changes rapidly and is subject to fads, which can be confusing even to IT professionals.

As a result of all these factors, senior executives at most companies have little desire to deal with IT and its role in their business and relegate this function to the CIO. In addition, many CEOs find the financial and business returns on their IT investments obscure and difficult to quantify, and feel that no matter how much money they spend on IT, there is always pressure for more applications, the latest hardware and software, more people and faster networks. So they focus more on containing the costs of IT than on tapping its potential. Meanwhile, the rapid growth of outsourcing over the past five years has discouraged many CEOs from developing competitive strategies that rely upon IT services provided by potentially unreliable external sources.

A Blueprint for Demolition

The reality today, though, is that CEOs can't ignore IT and expect to succeed. Technology has accelerated the pace of change in business, making it crucial for companies to detect, assess and respond to every opportunity and every threat as quickly and as effectively as possible. And that kind of agility can only be achieved by fully embracing the operational and strategic importance of IT.

CEOs who use obsolete metrics such as head count or benchmarking the competition to decide on the role and evaluate the performance of IT in their companies run the risk of being blindsided by competitors who take full advantage of IT innovations. Furthermore, IT is key to a company's ability to satisfy regulations such as the Sarbanes-Oxley Act on corporate governance, the Health Insurance Portability and Accountability Act and legislation in various states on the privacy of customer information.

We believe that the following seven steps will help shatter the glass wall between IT and the rest of a company so that the information-technology function can be fully integrated into the company's business culture. This will clear the way for the realization of IT's greatest value.

Begin with IT literacy -- and commitment -- at the top. The impetus for effective IT management must come from the CEO and the board. There has to be a willingness on the part of the CEO and the other executives to know enough about IT to understand its functions and its value to the company, in the same way that they understand accounting, finance and marketing.

Senior managers must also communicate to everyone in the company that IT has the potential to affect the competitiveness of the firm. Decision makers and planners throughout the organization should be encouraged to think strategically about IT and to offer suggestions and innovations.

Including IT considerations in company meetings and in-house written communications will help set the right tone. Companies with limited in-house expertise can conduct workshops and briefings with outside experts to increase IT literacy throughout the firm.

FedEx Corp. is a good example of a company in which top management realized the central role of information technology, communicated this message throughout the organization and structured the firm to effectively capitalize on it. The company was able to redefine itself as a technology-based logistics and transportation concern, creating several new business opportunities.

Hire an IT leader who sees the big picture. The next step is to hire a true chief information officer -- not just a technical expert, but a leader who understands the strategic importance and use of IT.

Choosing a CIO is much more difficult than choosing other top executives. There are very few people with the perspective and the skills to effectively deploy and leverage IT within a business. The best CIO can work within the management culture at the executive level, can present IT issues as business issues to the executive team, and is willing to learn the business as well as technology.

Rarely is the CFO the greatest financial expert in a company, or the CMO the greatest marketing expert. Similarly, some of the most effective CIOs at large companies have not been top technologists. An excellent example is Patricia Barron, Xerox Corp.'s CIO in the 1980s. Ms. Barron wasn't an IT professional; she came into the CIO position from a marketing role. Two keys to her success were the full support of the company's CEO and president, which they communicated throughout the organization, and her commitment to learn enough about IT to enable her to deal with and represent the IT organization effectively.

Another very successful CIO, Charlie Feld -- currently senior executive vice president of application services at Electronic Data Systems Corp. -- helped Frito-Lay, Delta Air Lines Inc. and Burlington Northern Santa Fe Corp. dramatically improve their IT management by bringing IT into the boardroom and onto the executive agenda of each of those companies. A key tenet of Mr. Feld's approach was that IT leadership must have a clear understanding of the company's business and IT's role in that business.

Rotate management and executive candidates through IT. A stint in IT must be part of the training for people being groomed as general managers and senior executives. It is no coincidence that most large management-consulting firms evolved from accounting and auditing firms. Understanding the control and reporting processes gives accountants and auditors a vital insight into the business processes of each client company. Today, since most business processes have high degrees of automation, dealing with IT development and management provides a similar insight into a company's operations, which is an invaluable education for executives.

At the same time, IT personnel should be groomed as integral components of the enterprise, just as personnel within functional areas like marketing or accounting are developed to take on increasingly significant and broader-ranging responsibilities that ultimately extend beyond departmental boundaries. They should participate in management classes, cross-functional training, and rotations through non-IT functions, and should be included on planning and control committees and cross-functional teams.

Similarly, as the role of a marketing manager doesn't diminish if an advertising firm is used to develop advertising materials, neither should the role of IT managers be diminished if IT outsourcing is adopted. Outsourcing simply shifts the emphasis of IT management away from everyday operations and toward broader business considerations such as contract, relationship and performance management.

Create demand for IT solutions. Managers at all levels across the organization need to be convinced that innovations in IT-related areas such as knowledge management, business intelligence, information security, change management and process integration are essential to the success of the enterprise. Knowledge of them should be as mandatory as functional knowledge in marketing, finance and manufacturing. Only then will the use of IT to address these concerns move from a "technology push" driven by the IT group to a "demand pull" from people across the organization, which will ensure that the company's IT services are strategically aligned with its business and that capital won't be allocated for expensive and unnecessary IT services.

For example, a leading global company in the chemical industry approached this challenge by inviting business and IT leaders throughout the firm to a series of IT strategy workshops. A key outcome was that senior managers realized that the real goal of the process was better performance of their business units and the company. Both they and their IT colleagues started thinking of ways to improve their businesses and considering how IT could support those changes.

Make sure nothing gets lost in translation. A company must have people at all levels who can translate IT language for those outside that department and translate the language of management for those in IT. Some of the greatest mistakes in the use of IT occurred in the late 1990s when CEOs bought into IT initiatives and IT-based business models blindly without bothering to truly understand what the technology could and couldn't do.

At the same time, IT staff should have a clear understanding of the business role and value of their work. This should include awareness of the costs and benefits of systems, applications and operations, and an understanding of the interdependencies of IT and other resources within the organization. Including IT personnel in business planning and control committees, task forces and cross-functional teams, as suggested above, and similarly, having non-IT managers on IT planning committees, can facilitate this.

For example, when Cisco Systems Inc. adopted ERP systems -- software that helps automate back-office functions -- in the 1990s, the development teams included influential staff from all relevant functional areas. The liaison role of these non-IT leaders was a major factor in the successful adoption of the resulting systems.

Rationalize IT spending. The planning of IT expenses and investments should be subject to the same rigorous procedures and methods as any other expenditure. Too often, executives sign off on IT spending without a clear understanding of its business value.

To ensure that all IT spending makes sense for the business, the executive management of the firm must institute proper IT governance -- that is, ensure that every part of the organization that is affected by IT decisions is part of the decision-making process, and that decisions are made at the highest levels with a full understanding of all their implications.

Create an IT portfolio by evaluating risks and returns. Just as an investor balances risk and returns in constructing a portfolio of investments, management should analyze the costs, benefits and risks of all IT projects to determine how to get the most benefit from the dollars invested in technology.

There is a myth that IT investments can't be evaluated because many of the advantages are intangible or can't be monetized. While such uncertainty often is part of the equation, thoughtful analysis of the costs and benefits of IT projects can still lead to greater confidence in the value of these projects.

One way to move toward this is by breaking large projects into smaller pieces that can be analyzed and implemented more easily, thereby benefiting the company sooner. This will help prevent investment in the kind of monolithic IT projects that have wasted so much capital at so many companies.

Careful analysis of this sort will help executives avoid being swayed by the features and performance of technology that doesn't pay off. Conversely, it also will help them avoid misplaced conservatism, based purely on cost, when an expensive technology investment is of real value to the company.

Getting Started

So where should one start? While there is no set sequence of actions to be taken, a good starting point is for the CEO and the board to evaluate the role of IT in their organization through questions like: "What would happen to my company if my information systems failed?" and "How is IT reshaping my industry?"

As top management faces these fundamental questions, the importance of understanding the key issues in IT management and leadership becomes apparent, and the seven steps can move the company toward a solution. Having IT leadership that can help make sense of the important issues and champion the process is crucial. This, in turn, will facilitate the other steps.

Once IT becomes an integral part of the company's executive dialogue, the glass wall will be shattered, and IT's full value to the organization can be realized.

--Dr. Basu is the Charles Wyly professor of information systems and chairman of the information technology and operations management department at the Cox School of Business at Southern Methodist University in Dallas. Mr. Jarnagin is a founder and a principal of LatticeWorks Consulting, a Dallas-based management-consulting firm. They can be reached at reports@wsj.com.

Spam, Phishing and other stuff

2007-12-19T10:44:00.000-05:00

Credit where credit is due.......I found this article on the web and hopefully it isn't copywritten. If it is I will remove it from this site but I found it very informative and helpful. INT also offers protection from SPAM by using Vergeline MX ulimate access. It filters spam and phishers off site so you don't have to worry about a thing. It is suggested for use by businesses as it requires a minimum license of 15 users @ $50 per month. We use it at INT and it's great! Call me if you'd like to get a 30 day free trial for your business. Enjoy Stewart's article.

How to Stop Phishing, Spyware, and Spam.

By Stewart S. Miller - 17.NOV.05

Spyware is the means through which hackers gain access to your computer and your private information. Spyware is defined as any software that covertly gathers user information through your Internet connection without your knowledge, usually for advertising purposes. It watches everything you do on the Internet and sends that information, including private e-mail, passwords, and credit card numbers to the hacker invisibly, without your knowledge.

No matter how careful you are, regardless of what virus protection you buy, you will always be at risk without the proper anti-spyware tools to protect you. How do you know if you have been infected? If the Start page in your Web browser keeps changing by itself, if your computer starts crashing more often than usual, or if you have tried to uninstall unfamiliar programs only to find they are still there after you restart your computer, then you are infected. Spyware can be pretty malicious.

Keyloggers watch your every keystroke and mouse click, then records your passwords, log-ons, and account numbers. You might think you don’t need to read this column because you’ve taken steps to protect yourself. Well, if you have all the most current antivirus software, have installed Service Pack 2 for Windows XP, and have a very powerful firewall to protect you, then you would be WRONG! The fact is that all of these items do absolutely nothing to protect your computer from spyware at all, leaving you completely vulnerable to attack. Also, you know all those updates that Microsoft Windows XP installs? None of them protect you from spyware writers, who exploit ways to transparently install spyware through your Internet Explorer browser. These programs can even prevent Service Pack 2 from installing correctly. Once these programs infect you, your computer becomes very slow, because all your computer processing power is eaten up by the spyware itself. Don’t allow yourself to be lulled into a false sense of security from any one anti-spyware program that claims to provide total protection - it doesn’t exist.

Spam is the most virulent form of abuse that any Internet user must endure. The problem is so common that most people find they are forced to change their e-mail address just to avoid getting junk e-mail. Unfortunately, changing your e-mail is worse than changing your phone number because nobody knows how to contact you.

Microsoft Outlook 2003 and Eudora 6 are two of the major programs that have the ability to filter incoming e-mail as messages are received. If a message is believed to be spam, the message is filtered to the spam folder for later review.

Many mail servers running on UNIX machines run a program called Spam Assassin (www.spamassassin.org) which separates messages that contain potentially unsafe attachments, match keywords representing spam or rejects messages from known spamming addresses.

Internet phishing (pronounced “fishing”) is when a hacker sends you an e-mail falsely claiming to be an established legitimate enterprise. The idea is to try to scam you into surrendering private information that will be used to steal your identity. This e-mail asks you to visit a Web site where you are asked to update your personal information, such as passwords, credit card numbers, Social Security number, and bank account numbers information that the legitimate organization already has. The scam is that this Web site is bogus and is set up only to steal your confidential information.

You must be careful whenever you receive an email from what appears to be a trusted company. Hackers are very good at writing convincing letters that appear to be genuine. You must never ever click on a link in one of these e-mails, because even though it might look authentic, it almost always is not. It is very simple matter for a hyperlink to show one Web site and send you somewhere completely different when you click on it. These links are designed to take you to the hacker’s site. Don’t even cut and paste these links into your browser, because the hidden information in the URL takes you directly to the hacker instead of where you intended to go. When you need to go to a Web site, open a new browser window and type in the address by hand. That’s the only way you can be sure. So, if you somehow find yourself on a Web site and you just aren’t certain if it is from the hacker or not, what can you do? Well, here is a good tip. If the site asks you for personal information, just type in any random set of information. If the site says you have entered invalid information, then at least you have a good clue that it is most likely authentic. However, if the Web site lets you type in any random information and comes back to tell your information has been updated, then the site is almost certainly from a hacker designed to capture anyone’s information (no matter what they type).

Another telltale sign of phishing is when e-mails are not addressed to you specifically by name but instead say, “Dear Customer.” If an e-mail doesn’t take the time to address you by name, something is wrong! When you receive an e-mail, ask yourself, “Why am I receiving this note?” If you are unsure, call the company directly and ask. Never assume an e-mail is authentic just because it looks like it came from a trusted company. Hackers easily spoof the “from” field of an e-mail to make it appear it is a legitimate correspondence. Never click on an attachment contained in an e-mail, because you never know what virus or spyware is lurking beneath the surface waiting to steal your private information and send it to the hacker world. It is important when you go onto a Web site to make certain the page begins with https:// That “S” means “secure,” and, if it is not there, anything you input can be intercepted by a hacker. One of the nasty tricks hackers use when trying to redirect you to a fraudulent site is to mimic the URL of the trusted site. For example, you might want to go to mycard.citibank.com, but the hacker site might say something like mycard.citibank.com@216.45.54.303 where that @ symbol means you are connected to a hacker’s Web site pretending to be your credit card.

Hackers are very good at what they do. Sometimes you can take every precaution and still find yourself in trouble, not knowing if you are giving your information to a hacker. The best protection is your own vigilance. Don’t click, don’t open unless you feel confident about the sender.

Bringing things up to date (somewhat)

2007-10-26T11:49:00.000-04:00

I haven't posted to the blog for a month or so and thought I would bring everyone up to date as to what is happenin' here at INT. Instead of listing dozens for clients that INT has done work for, suffice it to say that we have remained steadly busy. The third week of October 2007 has been particularly rough. We had a technician walk out on us, we had another tech hurt his back and our service manager just went through a hernia operation. Hopefully, things will get better over the last two months of 2007. We're just looking forward to 2008.

Marketing In A Virtual World

2007-08-30T14:53:00.000-04:00

Before the Internet, small business owners like yourself were usually limited to a local market -resorting to expensive advertising and brochures, direct mail, cold-calling, networking at the local Chamber of Commerce or Rotary. You hoped customers found you through word- of- mouth or a Yellow Pages ad.

Today, you can work with a consultant, a financial planner, or a business coach across the country as easily as someone across town. In the Internet age, prospects often find you (instead of the other way around).

This is the age of the virtual customer. Yet, although the Internet has made it perfectly reasonable to land a major client you've never met in-person, it has also created new expectations among consumers.

Prospects now "Google" around to find someone with your skills.

They expect you to make a good virtual "case" for yourself. If you don't pass the test, or make a bad impression, or appear lackluster compared to your competitors, you will lose the potential client.

The only way to be truly successful in business is by establishing a good reputation. And understanding the way business has shifted in the Internet age can help you bring the potential of marketing your business into the virtual world.

First Impressions

The Internet has increased the expectation among consumers that businesses will have a credible online presence.

Many of us now form "first impressions" of people and companies via our Internet browsers. From the moment your name and business appear in a Web browser to the moment your Web site loads, your first impression often means the difference between a shot at your prospect's business, or being shut out.

Think about it. You have probably used the Internet to research a company or a person you're considering doing business with. Certainly potential clients and customers are checking you out online, too.

Prospects you've never met are forming opinions about your business at the click of a mouse. Internet first impressions are not just influenced by how your Web site looks, but also by how often your business appears or how high it ranks in a web browser.

Become an Online Center of Influence

We all know people who command attention whenever they speak. Others want to listen to, learn from, and emulate them. They are centers of influence, a distinction you can pursue online by developing the following qualities:

Share inside knowledge with your target market;

Participate, listen, contemplate, and offer thoughtful responses;

Be willing to voice an opinion;

Assume leadership positions in your industry

Certainly, experience counts. But this is not the only prerequisite to becoming an online center of influence that will earn you the distinction of 'trusted adviser' within your target market.

Start by making your Web site a resource for your industry. Feature lots of useful information, including articles, links, download-able files, customer resources, and anything else of use to your target market. Be generous and give, give, give!

For more information, visit our website at www.itnt.com or call our office and speak to our Sales Specialist Al Frazier at 302-424-1855 or email Al at afrazier@itntnet.com.

Service Blog for August 20, 2007

2007-08-20T11:50:00.000-04:00

More action from the techie front lines…..

Our lead technician Glenn Cross will be heading to Delmarva Heart in Berlin, MD to work in the Nuclear Medicine Department (careful Glenn!). Then he heads, to Dickinson Medical Group in Milford, DE to make sure all the laptops in the office connect to their network wirelessly, plus he’ll be installing AVG Network Anti-Virus. AVG is definitely the best when it comes to anti-virus software. Unlike the others (Norton, McAfee) it will NOT slow down your system or network. Check out the link above. Being the busy person Glenn is he’ll the move on to D&B Products in Georgetown, DE were he has to hook-up a router and get an employee’s e-mail system started.

Technician Jay Millman starts his day by going to Charles Murphy Surveyors in Milford, DE and installing and configuring a router, plus the fun part of mounting it to the wall. Jay then heads to Millsboro, DE to work on jobs at M&T Bank provided to us by Synergy Global Solutions

Company President Dave Dolan does a remote installation of Excel for The Center for Cosmetic & Reconstructive Surgery in Dover, DE then heads to Bethany Beach, DE to help Custom Mechanical resolve some server problems.

The Eight Networking Truths

2007-07-11T11:18:00.000-04:00

It always has to work.
It is always possible to add another level of indirection.
It is always something.
Good, Fast, Cheap: Pick any two (you can't have all three).
It is always more complicated than you think.
For all resources, whatever it is, you always need more.
Every networking problem always takes longer to solve than it seems like it should.
One size never fits all.

These handy tips brought to you by INT Computers. Use them wisely!

INT Service Blog for 7/11/2007

2007-07-11T09:14:00.000-04:00

How we can improve your IT situation by Internetworking Technologies, Inc. where Networking is our middle name. Your business could benefit from our expertise and reduce the cost of IT by using our services. For more info, please visit our web site at www.itnt.com . Today Technician Glenn Cross will be in Georgetown, DE working on-site at D & B Industrial Products www.dbindustrialgroup.com to do a series of jobs such as finishing the loading of some scanner software. Then install a USB/serial adapter to scale and with a USB hub connect it to the PC and configure them. Then Glenn will look at problems with a printer. He'll then turn to the server and see if a drive may be bad. He'll also shut down the server and restart it and see if tape drive is functioning. Glenn will make the 20 mile trek to historic (discovered by Henry Hudson on an August evening in 1609) Lewes, DE. He will be installing a new IBM www.ibm.com Intellistation for Atlantic Refrigeration & Air www.atlanticrefrigeration.net . Technician Jay Millman heads out to the Kent County Levy Court www.co.kent.de.us to work on a Synergy assigned call to fix printer related issues. All this doesn't include the man-hours put in by Dave Dolan using remote support to fix many companies problems.

INT Service Blog for 7/2/2007

2007-07-03T11:21:00.000-04:00

What does a day at Internetworking Technologies look like from an insiders point of view? I can tell you what we’ve been up to for the past 48 hours. Allan Wagamon is putting in a new server for the Shawnee Country Club www.shawneecountryclubonline.com . Allan is tweaking an IBM 3500 which will server the country club for years to come. Dave Dolan is at Tower Shores, which is a beach community where INT has installed a complete community Wi-Fi system. It has been a challenge to say the least to insure the system remains stable. It’s been giving us fits for awhile. Dave is then heading to the Milford Senior Center www.milfordseniorcenter.net. They had to move some equipment and inadvertently disconnected their routers and now need our help to reconnect them. Finally, Dave heads to Delaware Bay Surgical in Lewes, DE to connect a nurses station. Tech Jay Millman is headed to Felton, DE to install a new IBM x206m Server for Ray’s Plumbing and Heating. Jay also has scheduled calls to Millsboro, DE for Synergy, who is the M&T Bank tech scheduling company. Jay will be replacing a couple of hard drive and fixing a fuser in a printer. Tech Glenn Cross is scheduled to head to Keller Williams Realty Central Delaware www.deeanddoreen.com to hook up a dual monitor system. He then will head to Atlantic Refrigeration in Lewes, DE www.atlanticrefrigeration.net to fix the problem on Tim's computer. He will disjoin and rejoin to domain and add Tim as administrator to local workstation. Not the busiest day we’ve ever seen but it adds up to keep us on our toes.

Why Your Company Should Out-Source Its IT Department.

2007-06-29T15:35:00.000-04:00

by Allan R. Frazier, Marketing Director

Let me start by saying that the headline above is slightly misleading. Not every company should out-source its IT department. If your company has over 200 users you may be better off having an in-house IT department. But be prepared you’ll have to spend upwards of $100K per year in salaries and equipment.

That seems to be the real root of the challenge were discussing. When does the ROI of having an out-sourced IT department outweigh the difference of an in-house staff?

Out-sourcing your IT department is perfect for the SMB or Medium business owner. Why? I’ll list the reasons:

1.) Cost – Generally, depending on the size of your network, out-sourcing will be less expensive as you do not have to keep personnel on-site or various sites every day. The overall cost savings here would be in the thousands of dollars over the course of a year.

2.) Methods – Is your company having meetings to discuss ways that IT can reduce expenses within the company? If not, you should. The whole reason for having computers in the first place is to make things more efficient. Efficiency leads to good organization, effectiveness and cost savings. Out-sourced or in-house, methods should be found to reduce expense and increase efficiency with your IT equipment. Internetworking Technologies, Inc. is more than interested in providing you with the right solutions.

3.) Attention to detail – The thing about being an IT administrator is knowing every small detail within the network and knowing how and why they work. That level of expertise comes with experience in working with your network and you to understand what the user pain and problems are occurring within the network and your company then taking the action necessary to correct them. Again, Internetworking Technologies, Inc. is more than interested in providing you with the right solutions. INT provides prompt, personal attention to your needs. The same attention you would expect from an in-house administrator, only not as expensive.

Hire a Partner, Not Just a Provider:

Hiring an outsourcing service provider is not just a matter of the lowest price quoted or the highest savings promise proffered. Experienced outsourcers demand a lot from their partners, price being only part of the equation along with expertise, flexibility and a spectrum of other assets. In discussions with senior executives at Discussion Forums held in the spring of 2004, participants generally acknowledged that the so-called “soft issues” are often harder than the “hard issues” of pricing and contractual terms. “You can’t tell from a proposal what it is going to be like,” said one experienced outsourcer. “You are not allowed to put down ‘act of faith’ as a selection criterion. You have to fully understand the contractor’s culture, ethos and aims.” Another participant itemized the criteria his company used in its selection process: reputation, proven experience in business process outsourcing, excellence in the technology platform to be used; trust and cultural fit with top management; and, finally, price and quality. But he added, “On both deals I have worked on, we did not select the cheapest offer.”

3. It’s More Than a Contract, It’s a Business Relationship:

Contracts are clearly critical for aligning expectations and interdependent responsibilities at the outset of an outsourcing arrangement. Experienced outsourcers suggest that over time, the contract gives way to performance measurements and the relationship between the outsourcer and the service partner as key success factors. Discussions among American and European executives at Discussion Forums suggest that most companies follow a proven process in searching for, evaluating and selecting an outsourcing service provider. Initial research is typically followed by a formal Request for Information and then a Request for Proposal, culminating with negotiations, due diligence and then determination of contractual or commercial arrangements. What was clear from all participants, however, is that selecting an outsourcing partner is not your standard procurement exercise. As one participant put it, “I am buying into a journey and a route. I do not know exactly how I am going to get there, but I am confident that I will reach the destination, because of the cultural fit” between his company and the outsourcing service provider he chose.