Well, I took a bit of a Sabbatical this past 12 months, opting to focus on some career reinvention as well as some much needed family time…
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'Be wise in the way you act toward outsiders; make the most of every opportunity. Let your conversation be always full of grace, seasoned with salt, so that you may know how to answer everyone.' Colossians 4:5 - 6
See? Even the Bible talks about Networking! Now in the biblical sense, this passage is meant to illustrate how, as Christians, we should be spreading the Gospel.
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In my opinion (such that it is) there isn’t a new technology out there that holds the promise of IoT (Internet of Things) especially when it comes to modern ERP! In fact, I would bet that most people have interacted with an IoT device already, if not right at this moment. From apps on your mobile device that allow you to stay connected to your social media to your FitBit that is tracking each important step to your health goal; from the Smart Watch that you can verbally send texts from to the chip that is in Spot or Fluffy in case they run away. Even now, home appliances are increasingly becoming their own IoT device, refrigerators that report the status of the internal temperature as well as streaming the most recent stock report; IoT is everywhere.
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The role of a CIO has grown in the first decade of the 21st century. Where many simply felt the CIO (Chief Information Officer) was just another CTO (Chief Technology Officer), they are finally starting to understand the difference as well as appreciate the different skills each role brings to the table.
Read MoreMany growing organizations, especially those experiencing fast growth through acquisition, struggle with disparate systems and the costs it encounters. Costs are piled on through such roadblocks as:
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I have to be honest, I have been on Windows 10 (I am a Windows 10 Professional user) since its first release and especially since I have switched to using a Surface almost exclusively. So, I really do like it and feel Microsoft has finally got it right (or are at least of lot closer to getting it right).
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I have been asked this question a lot: What is the difference between the Waterfall Methodology of development and the Agile Methodology of development? Both have the advantages as well as disadvantages, so it is important to understand (basically) how each works and at the end of the day, the best method really is based on the needs of the business.
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Panorama Consulting recently published a white paper in which they quoted the following key statistics:
- The average cost of ownership increased from $2.8M in 2014 to $4.5M in 2015
- The ERP failure rate increased to 21% in 2015 from 16% in 2014
- A stunning 93% of the companies surveyed customized their software to some degree
I am asked often about Ransomware and I am also surprised just how many people continue to be infected by Ransomware. In fact, Kansas Heart Hospital in Wichita actually paid the ransom only to have the cyber criminals ask for more. No surprise there.
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I get this question a lot from various people, even from those that are in technology and should know better: "How can I better protect my personal data?" This question might be about Facebook, Google+, LinkedIn or any other Social Network; it might be for banking, shopping or any other place you spend money online; but the question of protecting your personal data should always be top of mind.
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That’s a great question and I understand not a term used as much as it should be these days. A vCIO is a Virtual CIO, meaning a Chief Information Officer that is outsourced to help provide guidance and implementation to better align business strategy with IT.
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I read a very interesting report the other day, back in 2006 (10 years ago mind you, so imagine how much more relevant this data is today), Microsoft studied 30 BILLION instant messages sent by over 250 million people in June of that year (2006) and found that they were all linked by 6.6 degrees of separation (and probably Kevin Bacon)
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There has been a widening chasm between Business and IT, an adversarial relationship that has existed for far too many years. According to a recent CA Technologies study, nearly 35% of those businesses surveyed classified their relationship with IT to be 'combative'. Why is that?
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“Every 2 days we create as much information as we did UP TO 2003.” – Eric Schmidt, Google
In today’s world we are creating data at a dizzying rate. We are more connected than ever in our history with data generated from multiple sources such as:
Read More‘It is not the strongest of the species that survives, nor the most intelligent, but the one most responsive to change.’ - Charles Darwin
Change, like death and taxes, is inevitable. We can try and run from it; we can try and hide from it; but inevitably it will always find us. How we approach that change can often defines us.
Read MoreThe power of Social Media is never more apparent than in customer service. For the business: from the very basic use of Social Media to research a potential customer or vendor; to reaching out to customers, to researching potential employees or investors; the uses are endless. But for the customer, the uses are very powerful indeed, especially when it comes to utilizing Social Media to elicit a response when it seems as if none is given.
Read MoreWeird topic right? Well, I had an interesting conversation last week that turned to the topic of IT Vendor Management and having considerable experience in this, I shared my thoughts (as I am want to do in most cases!). It occurred to me later on that perhaps I didn't really express my thoughts on this subject accurately enough; meaning that there are many facets to managing vendors.
Read MoreI had a great conversation this morning with a particularly engaging individual; it was exciting as well as compelling and I am very much looking forward to more conversations! During the course of our exchange, we shifted to a very pointed discussion regarding leadership and my thoughts about a good leader.
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