Increased Productivity Due to Telecommuting

In the global networked economy, work is performed everywhere, at any time and any place. That said, what are the operational benefits? Cisco set out to evaluate the social, economic and environmental impacts associated with allowing and actively enabling employees to telecommute.

Cisco announced the findings of its Teleworker Survey, an in-depth study of almost 2,000 company employees. The study, conducted to evaluate the social, economic and environmental impacts associated with telecommuting at Cisco, revealed that a majority of respondents experienced a significant increase in work-life flexibility, productivity and overall satisfaction as a result of their ability to work remotely.

Create a Sound Telecommuting Strategy
As the modern workforce continues to evolve and globalize, more companies are evaluating a telecommuting strategy to save costs and lower carbon emissions as well as to retain top talent.

For these companies, Cisco's survey highlights the gains that a sound telecommuting strategy provides for employees and employers alike.

Cisco is achieving new levels of efficiency and effectiveness by enabling people to work together no matter where they are located. In fact, according to Cisco's Internet Business Services Group, the company's global strategic consulting arm, the company has generated an estimated annual savings of $277 million in productivity by allowing employees to telecommute and telework.

Examples of Connectivity Solution Adoption
In addition, with the steady adoption of enterprise-class remote connectivity solutions like Cisco Virtual Office, the recently announced Cisco OfficeExtend, and virtual collaboration tools like Cisco WebEx, Cisco anticipates that employees and employers will continue to see a rise in the benefits associated with telecommuting.

Highlights from the study include the following:

• Approximately 69 percent of the employees surveyed cited higher productivity when working remote, and 75 percent of those surveyed said the timeliness of their work improved.
• By telecommuting, 83 percent of employees said their ability to communicate and collaborate with co-workers was the same as, if not better than, it was when working on-site.
• 67 percent of survey respondents said their overall work quality improved when telecommuting.
• An improved quality of life through telecommuting was cited by 80 percent of survey respondents.
• Telecommuting can also lead to a higher employee retention rate, as more than 91 percent of respondents say telecommuting is somewhat or very important to their overall satisfaction.
  

How can your business benefit from these key insights? Bring your people and information together to reduce decision times and accelerate innovation. Develop a strategy to enable open, secure, adaptable enterprise collaboration that improves your company's creativity and velocity.

Verizon Cloud-Based Computing as a Service

Verizon Business introduced an on-demand, cloud-based Computing as a Service (CaaS) solution -- designed to meet the stringent security and performance requirements of their enterprise customers.

This new offering helps businesses take advantage of cloud (IP-based) computing to more efficiently and securely manage IT computing resources -- server, network and storage -- to meet day-to-day business demands.

This CaaS solution, which leverages Verizon's global IP infrastructure and data centers, enables companies to use a Web-based portal to employ computing resources in the quantities and duration dictated by their own business needs.

As a result, businesses pay for the resources used and avoid having to build out for peak capacity requirements by buying new equipment and adding IT or networking staff.

Designed for mid-to-large-sized businesses, CaaS is ideal for new development projects, major events and migrations so that organization can easily and quickly shift IT resources as required.

Just-in-Time Computing Resources
It is also well suited for businesses with seasonal demands such as retailers, companies holding annual benefit enrollments or sales promotions that drive incremental traffic to Web sites. The service is immediately available in the U.S. and Europe, and then will be introduced to the Asia-Pacific region in August.

Verizon's Mike Marcellin explains in a video commentary some of the key features and benefits.

Melanie Posey, research director, hosting & telecom services at IDC said "Verizon has incorporated a number of key elements that make this solution a stand-out in the marketplace. The CaaS combination of flexibility, security, performance and resiliency is well positioned to serve certain enterprise requirements in a nimble, next-generation fashion."

Clearly, we can anticipate that the forward-looking managed and hosted service providers will continue to launch innovative new managed cloud service offerings that meet the selective IT out-tasking needs of their customers.

Best MSP Procurement Checklist - part 1

The process of researching, reviewing and selecting a managed or hosted service provider can be a daunting task for those business and technology decision makers that have never performed this task before. Like any other process, there are some best practices.

The following candid questions will help you determine if a provider of managed services can meet and exceed your expectations. Also included are examples of specific details that you should seek.

How do you select a best-fit service provider? Ask all the right questions. Where do you start the selection process? Focus primarily on how the service offered will help to solve problems or create new opportunities -- not merely what it does (its features and functions).

1. Are you prepared to offer only the features and functions that my business needs, instead of the ones that you include in your one-size-fits-all service bundle?

• Ask for a list of all the "standard" items included in the base bundle.
• Request details of all optional items that can be added and/or subtracted.
  

According to recent market research, decision makers at companies of all sizes now prefer that service offerings only include essential features as mandatory elements in a bundle. All other features may then be selected from a menu of options.

2. Can you describe the services that you offer -- and their business benefits -- in terms that I, and the other members of my executive team, will understand?

• The salesperson or sales support person should address your specific needs.
• Ask the service provider to explain any terms that you don't understand.
  

If you can't determine how the managed services will directly benefit your business, then you'll be unable to make an informed decision. Qualified service providers should be able to describe their offerings within the context of your specific business requirements.

3. Will you provide case study materials to demonstrate how you delivered a managed service solution that solved a business challenge similar to mine?

• Documented customer success stories provide useful insight.
• Reference checks should include details on the business impact.
  

While a service provider with limited experience may be able to meet your application needs, those that can clearly articulate the methodology they use to meet their existing customer needs will likely provide a better fit. Moreover, a basic knowledge of how your industry operates will help to avoid misunderstandings.

Note: these are the first three questions from a list of ten. The remaining Q&A will be featured in part 2 and part 3. We'll also provide a link to a complete list that you can download, and a useful ROI calculator to help you build a business case.

Exploring Managed Services - Key Performance Indicators

All business has become global. Companies of any size can now market products and services worldwide over the Internet. At the same time, competition has intensified because customers can investigate global competitors with ease.

To compete effectively in the global networked economy, companies need new capabilities:

• Global procurement and sales 24 hours a day.
• Integrated internal and external business processes.
• Up-to-the-minute access to sales, order processing, production, and other business critical information required for informed decision making.
• Flexible processes that can adapt dynamically to changes in the business climate.
  

The application of Business Technology is now a primary enabler of strategic advantage. However, chief executives have become impatient, as their companies have failed to keep pace with these advances. There are alternatives, for those who choose to act. The managed services model can be applied to accelerate this much needed change.

Review the following common business needs to decide if managed services can provide benefits to your business. If you answer yes to these key performance indicators, then perhaps there are areas where out-tasking could help drive change.

Are you a candidate for managed services? Consider these scenarios.

Our business is facing challenges:

• Staffing IT professionals.
• Staying up-to-date with evolving technologies and IT skill sets.
• Managing and maintaining current infrastructure, hardware, and software.
• Securing data, transactions, and communications.
• Responding quickly to time-to-market demands.
• Remaining flexible enough to maintain competitive position.
• Reducing network overhead costs.
• Operating in real time in order to meet 24-hour demand.
• Delivering services to branch offices and remote workers.
  

Our business is in transition:

• We need to upgrade, refurbish, move, or relocate existing infrastructure.
• The scope or scale of current business operations is changing.
• A merger, partnership, or acquisition is altering operations.
• We need to increase the range and level of service.
• Our growth targets depend on implementing new technologies.
• We are expanding into new markets.
  

Our business must increase profitability:

• We prefer to dedicate resources to our core competencies and mission critical processes rather than network support activities.
• We view managed services as a good strategy for gaining efficiencies and reducing costs.
• We need to implement a global network service but lack internal global resources.
• We are concerned with our ability to keep up with the latest security threats and to meet privacy or security regulations.
• We are experiencing dynamic business growth while undergoing downsizing and hiring freezes.
  

Initiate a dialog with a managed service provider, and you can begin to explore the possibilities of how to effectively adopt Business Technology as a Service.

Managed Service in Search of a Market

There's a new term in the managed services space -- Desktop-as-a-Service (DaaS), and it's an obvious extension of the SaaS model. Desktone is a company that provides DaaS capabilities to service providers. Its customers, according to CEO Harry Ruda, currently include Verizon and Softbank Telecom.

Ruda characterizes DaaS as a service whereby users obtain their computing services through a remote connection over a network. The physical compute power, if you will, is delivered through a service provider and paid for on some usage basis.

In other words, users can access operating system and applications through a completely hosted system, and the service provider would be responsible at the back-end for storing data, upgrading applications, updating virus protection, among other activities.

Computing Power of a Utility
It relies on the whole concept of utility computing, in which compute power is delivered the same way electricity is -- when you want it in a metered fashion. DaaS proponents even promise that their service, like electricity, is instant-on, because there's no booting of an operating system.

I'm skeptical about a technology that even its proponents admit doesn't work well over wireless connections, when you consider that laptops now outsell desktops because of their ability to work even when users are disconnected.

However, proponents insist that by handing management of PC resources over to a service provider, companies of almost any size can cut maintenance and technical support costs, as well as increase security because the service provider can focus more on patches and virus protection.

Another pioneer in this new category, MokaFive offers a DaaS subscription service for $100 per user per year that uses a virtual machine, which they describe as "centrally managed but locally executed."

That means end-users can choose from among any number of devices -- laptops, Macintoshes, smartphones, tablets -- and have corporate data protected, but can still use their chosen device for other applications or personal information.

Evolution is Easier than a Revolution
The arguments and variations of DaaS go on and on. One of the biggest stumbling blocks to the DaaS model may be the fact that it requires extensive re-thinking of one's infrastructure -- either by replacing desktop computers with disk-less computers or significantly upgrading the network bandwidth, or both.

In contrast to DaaS, most of the current "fill-in-the-blank" as a Service models have been tried and proven, because they're a logical evolution from existing operational models. My skepticism remains intact.

Introduction to Managed Network Services

Many companies find it expensive to keep up with new Business Technologies -- or simply prefer to devote their limited IT or Telecom resources to the core business, rather than routine ongoing network management.

Managed network services can quickly enable your company to evolve, by giving business decision makers access to leading network technologies and management expertise -- without requiring high initial capital expenditures (CapEx), or ongoing investments in technology upgrades.

Deploying a Managed Service Solution
When a company subscribes to a managed service, a service provider manages the network equipment and applications on the customer premises according to the terms of a service-level agreement (SLA) established to meet the company's unique business needs.

Some managed services are also hosted, meaning that the service provider hosts the equipment in its facility instead of the customer's, and delivers services to company employees over the Wide Area Network (WAN) to wherever they are physically located.

For small and medium-sized businesses (SMBs), managed services provide enterprise-class capabilities for a predictable monthly fee -- without requiring a large, initial capital investment.

The On-Demand Pay-as-you-go Model
Companies that out-task enjoy high levels of network support and availability, enabling internal IT staff to focus on strategic activities instead of network support, and pay only for those networking services that they need.

Managed services generally include software, hardware, and other Internet Protocol (IP) networking services. The service provider's highly experienced technical experts focus exclusively on providing the network services and support that customers need to meet their business requirements.

Companies have the option to out-task some or all of their network management and monitoring tasks and retain control of the rest -- even if the equipment is physically located at the provider's site.

Key Benefits of managed network Services:

• Reduces costs, including service call fees, hardware, operations, and network transport
• Eases adoption of new technology-enabled business processes
• Increases levels of support and network availability, without additional staff
• Makes your IT and Telecom budget more stable and predictable
• Provides access to the latest technology, with limited risk
• Provides access to an enhanced technical skills base
• Makes it easier to adapt to changing business conditions
• Enables the IT manager and staff to focus on your core business
  

In upcoming posts, we will outline some typical scenarios for deploying managed network service offerings -- including simplified application diagrams that explain the basic concepts.

Erasing the Line Between Business and Technology

During a recent CIO seminar I hosted in San Francisco, some attendees told me how they were trying to blur the line between business and technology. Other attendees told me they wanted to "close the gap" between business and technology.

To me, business and technology are already one and the same. Business Technology (BT) is the next evolution of Information Technology (IT). Many technology bloggers write about information, applications, data, voice or video. In stark contrast, the term Business Technology acknowledges the convergence and interactions of these elements together.

Where we came from
When I was with InformationWeek in the 1990s, we wrote about data processing, management information systems and IT. But today, BT is a new view of technology; a 360-degree view, if you will, where technology is woven throughout the business operations, decisions and functions.

The role of BT should be placed within the sequential context of people, process and technology. Meaning, a dialogue about the inherent benefits of BT should not focus on technology, but rather on how it aids businesses in completing their goals, or how it enables streamlined business processes and improved efficiencies.

Where we're going
Looking ahead, the measuring-stick for incumbent providers will shift to measuring a defined, expected experience overall -- inclusive of applications, processes and the network foundation. And, the head of BT (a next-generation CIO) aligned with executives who are running the operation and is focused on improving process and finding new sources of revenue, and/or strategic competitive advantage in the marketplace.

Business Technology as a service
Business Technology is a new way of thinking about the business experience and IT, certainly. However, its delivery and ongoing management involves two options:

• in-house management
  
• and/or selectively out-tasked functions to a managed service provider

How do you decide which BT services to keep in-house, and which ones to outsource to MSPs? We'll explore those considerations in the weeks ahead.

You know the line between business and technology is fading away (in fact, I think it's gone). Now, it's time for executives to focus on the strategy of technology -- rather than the ongoing management of it.

Selectively out-tasking the day-to-day management to a so-called "Business Technology as a Service Provider" may prove to be the flexible, scalable and reliable choice.