Technology and Trends in Outsourcing

Managing Technology

2010-02-11T12:31:00.005-05:00

The Wall Street Journal ran a special section in Monday's paper about cloud computing....

'Cloud Computing': What Exactly Is It, Anyway?
Everybody's talking about it. Here's what you need to know.

For a lot of small-business owners, "cloud computing" is the latest IT buzzword to leave them scratching their heads. To demystify things, here's a primer for companies looking to wade into cloud services for the first time.

The article includes some staggering stats:

About 3.2% of U.S. small businesses, or about 230,000 businesses, use cloud services.
Another 3.6%, or 260,000, plan to add cloud services in the next 12 months.
Small-business spending on cloud services will increase by 36.2% in 2010 over a year ago, to $2.4 billion from $1.7 billion.

Cloud solutions can be extremely beneficial to small businesses and start-ups, since they do not have a large amount of capital invested in on-premise servers. They can migrate easily to an on-demand solution and quickly deploy cloud solutions much faster than larger corporations.

Caturano and Company offers cloud computing services and can help small businesses create a strategic roadmap - attend our upcoming event to learn more!

Why Actively Manage Your ITO Relationship?

2010-02-08T10:30:00.004-05:00

One of the biggest mistakes you can make as a business leader is selecting an IT Outsourcing provider, signing a contract, and then never revisiting the terms of your agreement. It's easy to think of your ITO services as out of sight, out of mind, but the truth is that the managed services market is constantly changing as new advanced technologies become mainstream and it doesn't take long for your contract to become stale. You want to ensure you are getting the most out of your ITO provider and a good way to do that is to review your contract on an annual basis.

According to a recent ComputerWorld article by Stephanie Overby, "even a seemingly healthy IT outsourcing arrangement can benefit from an annual check-up to ensure that metrics are providing meaningful insight into performance, get an updated understanding of outsourced operations and how well they're running, and ensure that you're getting what you've paid for per the contract."

Many contracts contain technology-specific language that is foreign to a CFO or CEO -- in that case you should arrange a meeting with your provider and review the agreement together. You are paying for their services, and therefore they should be able to take the time to make sure you fully understand what those services are and how they are being actively managed.

"IT Outsourcing: Why It Pays to Appraise Your Contract" lists 18 recommendations to follow when you are reviewing your current contract. An annual review may uncover the need to compare your current vendor's services with additional competitors - or even the need to switch vendors altogether. Ultimately, the lesson learned is that your ITO contract should be actively managed in order to ensure your organization is receiving the best-in-class service and support.

Mostly Sunny with Clouds Rolling In

2010-02-02T13:16:00.003-05:00

As a business leader, you want to find out exactly how cloud solutions can optimize and streamline your technologies and improve operational efficiencies.

Attend our event on March 24, 2010 to learn how to...
... Gain a better understanding of what cloud computing is
... Leverage on-demand and hybrid solutions to maximize the benefits and profitability of cloud computing
... Adopt strategic solutions that will increase organizational effectiveness and allow you to focus less time on running your IT operations and more time on what you do best - taking your business to the next level

Agenda:

3:30pm Registration
4:00pm Program
5:45pm Networking Reception / Cocktails / Hors d'oeuvres

REGISTER NOW

Going Global

2010-01-26T13:50:00.003-05:00

Security is becoming a top concern for businesses and individuals who are using cloud-based solutions like SaaS and on-demand applications.

Check out today's article from PCWorld...

Microsoft's lawyers are urging the EU to tighten up their data protection and retention regulations in order to provide greater security to data being processed by cloud servers. Global corporations will have a hard time adopting on-demand technologies without first ensuring that the proper laws are in place to regulate the massive amounts of data being exchanged in the cloud.

Cloud computing won't go global until data protection does.

Technology Outlook

2010-01-25T11:11:00.001-05:00

Mostly Sunny with Clouds Rolling In...

Find out more at www.caturano.com...

The Evolution of OnDemand

2010-01-22T16:04:00.003-05:00

OnDemand applications are no longer just tactical technology solutions. Developing business and process focused synergies between the various cloud solutions has become a strategic initiative for industry-leading companies. Four key drivers that enabled OnDemand applications to evolve into cloud computing and gain widespread adoption are:

The reliability of the Internet has made it possible to access applications over any device from anywhere in the world. Increased broadband connectivity coupled with rich browsers has made it possible to achieve desktop software-like experiences using web technologies.
Cloud vendors like Salesforce.com, Amazon, and Google have enterprise level service offerings with large install bases and a proven track record of reliability and performance. Salesforce.com boasts over 70,000 business clients and has been in business for 10 years.
Cloud based integration tools and APIs make it possible to integrate OnPremise and OnDemand solutions to weave together best of breed solutions. Tools from companies like CastIron and Informatica make it possible to move from a client-server based office to a cloud based or hybrid solution without disrupting business processes.
Platform as a Service (PaaS) has been developed to extend the capabilities of SaaS and simplify aspects of custom software development. PaaS allows developers to build custom web applications without installing any tools on their computer's hard drive and then deploy those applications, without any specialized systems administration skills, across the organization.

And the "Best Mass Email" Award Goes To.....

2010-01-19T11:30:00.008-05:00

Salesforce.com's AppExchange Best of '09 Awards honored Marketo as the "Best Mass Email" solution. The category recognizes solutions within Salesforce CRM that enable users to manage email lists, create and send email templates, and track open rates and click-through rates.

Just one week prior to the AppExchange Best of '09 Awards, Marketo announced that in the last quarter of 2009 it added 110 new customers to its client list. The marketing automation market is now dominated by Marketo and it's clear that this is the leading solution.

Using solutions like Marketo on AppExchange allows you to streamline your marketing and lead generation campaigns. The entire cloud computing community is at your fingertips on AppExchange, exposing you to 1000+ apps and services that extend your use of Salesforce CRM and the Force.com platform.

Caturano and Company can help you adopt, implement, and manage cloud-based applications and provide CIO-level guidance throughout the entire process. Email Diego if you want to know more about how solutions like Marketo can maximize your business development efforts...

IT Focus On: Cloud Computing

2010-01-13T15:03:00.003-05:00

Everyone from Fortune 500 executives to Silicon Valley startups to local IT staffers are talking about it, but what does this ubiquitous buzzword really mean in terms of your organization’s technology strategy?

Caturano and Company is hosting an IT Focus On series event on March 24th - more details to follow. Register now if you are interested in this upcoming event, space is limited.

Broadband, and Clouds, for All?

2010-01-08T11:07:00.008-05:00

The Federal Communications Commission will submit a plan for implementing a U.S. national broadband policy to Congress on March 17, after requesting an extension from the original February 17 deadline. The policy, which is part of the Economic Recovery Plan that was issued in 2009, could cost between $20 billion and $350 billion to execute. Americans who live in or near urban areas are already using broadband connections, but many rural parts of the country do not currently have access to these high-speed, high-capacity connections. Read more about the plan and the deadline extension in today's Reuters article.

The widespread adoption of cloud computing is enabled by affordable, high-capacity broadband networks in conjunction with the development of more powerful, low-cost computer processing chips.

The move to make broadband available to all American homes, businesses, libraries, and schools is just one example of how cloud computing stands to increase in popularity in the coming years. As the technology infrastructure of the U.S. expands, so will the availability of new cloud-based technologies like OnDemand applications for email, photo sharing, and online document collaboration. Cloud-based solutions will grow in popularity not just among businesses, but within American homes for personal use as well. Congress' call for such a plan is a step in the right direction for companies like Akamai, Google, Salesforce, VMware, and Amazon, who are all dominant players in cloud computing and web services.

If a National Broadband Plan is the first among other government-led initiatives to increase and expand the country's technology infrastructure, it's only a matter of time before all American businesses and homes are running on the cloud.

The Technologies of the Future

2010-01-04T12:41:00.012-05:00

Yesterday's article in the New York Times, "Following Venture Capital for Signs of Tech to Come," suggests that "new ideas that are intriguing top venture capitalists offer an early look at which technologies may transform the way we live in coming years."

It offers an interesting perspective on how venture capitalists can predict the direction technology is taking based on the financial backing of start-ups. It also suggests that the mood in Silicon Valley is a lot more positive and optimistic for 2010 than it was in 2009 -- with the venture capital investment numbers to prove it!

Executive's Guide to IT Outsourcing

2010-01-04T10:14:00.002-05:00

Managing your IT environment is becoming increasingly complex, and budget pressure is forcing companies to do more with less. Learn how you can utilize IT to maintain your competitive advantage without distracting you from the responsibilities of managing your organization's operations.

Whether you currently outsource or are considering it in the future, this webinar is for you. We will discuss the economics of IT outsourcing, what to look for in an IT outsourcing provider, key metrics and service level agreements, and trends in managed services.

Sign up for this complimentary webinar now!

Date: Wednesday, January 27, 2010
Time: 9:30am - 10:30am EST

Guidelines for Secure Cloud Computing

2009-12-18T14:39:00.003-05:00

On December 17th, the Cloud Security Alliance issued new guidelines for secure cloud computing.

"The CSA's report tackles cloud security on 13 different fronts, from governance issues like e-discovery, compliance and audits to operational concerns such as disaster recovery, application security and identity management. It updates an original edition released in April."

Read more about these new security guidelines in PCWorld.

Upcoming Webinar

2009-12-18T14:34:00.002-05:00

Executive's Guide to IT Outsourcing

Diego is hosting a complimentary webinar on January 27th that will discuss the economics of IT outsourcing, what to look for in an IT outsourcing provider, key metrics and service level agreements, and trends in managed services.

Register now!

Google Wave

2009-12-11T14:49:00.000-05:00

Check out Jack Notarangelo's Application Engineering Blog and his latest post about Google Wave.

Dreamforce Global Gathering 2009

2009-12-11T14:24:00.000-05:00

The Dreamforce Global Gathering 2009 was the largest salesforce.com conference ever.

Caturano and Company's Vice President of IT Outsourcing, Diego Rosenfeld, was one of 16,000 people in attendance. The conference, held in San Francisco, featured a daily keynote speech by Marc Benioff, chairman and CEO of salesforce.com, and three full days of hands-on training sessions, networking receptions, and live demos. View some media from the event here.

Interested in cloud computing but missed the conference? Email Diego to discuss some of the latest trends and topics.

Top 10 Cloud Computing Flashpoints of 2009

2009-12-11T14:02:00.000-05:00

Jeffrey M. Kaplan's opinion article in E-Commerce Times ranks the top 10 most notable cloud computing developments of 2009.

"A brief history of SaaS and cloud computing in 2009 suggests that it has arrived as a viable mainstream business model; that the market is volatile, and missteps won't be overlooked; that there's still plenty of room for innovation; and that it will be a growing force to be reckoned with in 2010." Read the entire article here.

Caturano and Company will be hosting a Focus On: Cloud Computing event in February - details to follow!

Click here for a full listing of our webinars.

Attending Dreamforce? Connect with Caturano

2009-11-11T10:14:00.000-05:00

The Cloud Computing Event of the Year

Connect with Diego at the Dreamforce Global Gathering on Nov 17-20 in San Francisco to discuss the latest trends in technology. Find out how these technologies are being used today and what you need to know for tomorrow.

Learn more about Dreamforce.

Interested in connecting with Caturano and Company? Register now.

Upcoming Event: BI and your Bottom Line

2009-10-14T16:00:00.000-04:00

On Monday, November 16, 2009, join Caturano's consulting team as they address critical operational reporting issues facing organizations today. Listen to real-life experiences on the do's and don'ts of corporate reporting from Caturano and Company's Chief Operating Officer, Chris MacKenzie. Discover a better approach to accessing and analyzing your data.

This is a complimentary event. Register now!

Features of the event include:

Understand how to drive efficiency and reduce cost by implementing an effective corporate reporting solution
Learn about effective methods being used by industry leading organizations to identify trends and affect their bottom lines through their corporate reporting strategies
Explore new features of ad hoc BI for the end user, as well as Microsoft's new product line release

Cloud Computing and Salesforce.com

2009-10-11T23:29:00.000-04:00

I recently attended Salesforce's Cloudforce event in Boston. I walked away very impressed with both the Service Cloud and Custom Cloud applications. The Twitter integration and crowdsourcing features were slick. With over 63,000 customers, I believe Salesforce is poised to take the lead position in the cloud computing space -- over Microsoft, Google, and Amazon. I see Salesforce's Force Platform as the future hub for business and custom applications on the web. It shares a lot in common with the iPhone with its intuitive interfaces and large developer community.

I recently read that Japan Post purchased 85,000 seats of the Force platform for the purposes of application development and delivery. Japan Post is likely to benefit from tremendous cost reduction as the typical capital investment in hardware and on-premise software is avoided.

I am currently advising my clients to analyze if existing or planned applications can be moved to the "cloud". The cloud is now here and progressive companies are reaping the benefits.

CFO's Guide to IT Outsourcing Webinar

2009-09-23T16:06:00.000-04:00

Event Date: October 21, 2009

Managing your IT environment is becoming increasingly complex, and budget pressure is forcing companies to do more with less. Learn how you can utilize IT to maintain your competitive advantage without distracting you from the responsibilities of managing your organization's finances.

Whether you currently outsource or are considering it in the future, this webinar is for you. We will discuss the economics of IT outsourcing, what to look for in an IT outsourcing provider, key metrics and service level agreements, and trends in managed services.

Register Now

Date: Wednesday, October 21, 2009

Time: 9:00 am - 10:00 am

Hosted by: Diego Rosenfeld and Casey Bolger

Do You Know Where Your RISK is Brewing?

2009-09-21T15:29:00.000-04:00

Event Date: October 1, 2009

Join Caturano and Caturano for an interactive discussion on how your company can prepare for unprecedented increased regulation.

Massachusetts privacy has caused quite a stir. Learn how leading New England companies and security experts have been proactive in addressing compliance, governance, and risk.

Our panel of clients and experts include:
Nancy Metivier from Green Mountain Coffee Roasters
Greg Parson from SecureWorks
Stuart Werman from Symantec
David Dyson from iRobot
Tracy Watts from Cumberland Farms / Gulf Group of Companies

Register Now

Features:
Overview of MA privacy and how the various regulations inter-relate (HIPAA, SB1386, PCI, etc.)
Tools to help with compliance and data loss prevention
Sample WISP written information security system
Sample project plan for MA privacy

Date: Thursday, October 1, 2009
3:30 pm - Registration
4:00 pm - Presentation / Panel Discussion
5:30 pm - Cocktails / Hors d'oeuvres

Caturano and Company IT Trends - Thoughts?

2009-05-19T10:53:00.000-04:00

We had a good turnout last week at the Caturano IT Trends Event: "Deliver Premium Returns on Your IT Investments". Bill Kracunas, VP of Caturano's Consulting Practice, talked at length about the role and value of IT in an organization. I thought his analysis about moving the ratio of new projects/maintenance spending from 80/20 to 60/40 particularly interesting. This would certainly allow for more spending in strategic areas of the business rather than just "keeping the lights on".

Also, Bill's analysis of the typical IT investment portfolio mix is a helpful guide for CFO/CEO/CIOs trying to balance their own portfolios. According to Bill, about 50% of projects are infrastructure focused, 25% transactional, 20% information, and the remaining strategic. He also points out that infrastructure projects are among the easiest to develop an ROI for.

Jean Bua, CFO of American Tower and another event speaker, added her experience to the discussion of capital IT expenditures. She noted that at American Tower 10% of the capital budget is already preallocated to infrastructure projects. Without this, it would be difficult to internally sell these projects against strategic projects that may be revenue generating.

The common them across all the speakers was that sound IT begins with business strategy articulation and understanding of business process. Only then can IT be used as an enabling tool to support growth, create efficiencies, and generate revenue for your business.

If you would like a copy of the presentations please email me at diego.rosenfeld@caturanoandcompany.com.

Dell Launches ProManage Services

2009-04-16T20:34:00.000-04:00

Dell recently launched its first foray into the managed services space for small business. They are calling it ProManage Services. On the surface, the program looks pretty compelling for a small business; however, after looking under the hood it may only make sense for the smallest of organizations.

The base service plan is only $9 per month per user. This comes with basic remote monitoring and alerting. Sounds reasonable enough. The next level up is $39 per month per user and includes helpdesk services and onsite support. Still sounds compelling, but when you read the fine print the onsite support is only up to 2 hours per month. I don't know about you, but 2 hours is not going to be enough time to do much of anything onsite. The next plan is even more comprehensive and adds 24/7 support, patch management, vulnerability scanning, and support for exchange and SQL all for $59 per month per user.

This sounds to me that Dell is offering a lot of systems, but offering little in the way of IT strategy and "true" consulting. I think if you are a company that is looking to "keep the lights on" this service could be something to look at. On the other hand, if you see IT as a strategic asset and have application development, business reporting, project implementation, accounting system support requirements Dell is going to fall far short.

I would recommend a provider that can cover the "commodity" services that Dell is offering with its ProManage services while offering you the higher value services that are more strategically aligned with your business.

Why IT Matters in Midsized Companies

2009-03-23T21:19:00.000-04:00

A recent study of companies in the US, Brazil, and Germany with 100-500 employees shows a high correlation between IT capability and profitable business growth. Firms that build high capability IT systems grow faster than firms that do not, and do so while increasing both revenue and profits.

In particular US service firms benefit more than their product counterparts.
The delta in sales growth between high performers (top quartile) and low performers (bottom quartile) in the services group is nearly three times that of the product firms. It is likely that the impact of IT on services firms is greater than product firms because service firms are less dependent on fixed production processes and preferred sourcing relationships for growth.

Technicans vs. IT Professionals

2009-02-23T22:20:00.000-05:00

A recently read Charles Weaver's blog on MSP Alliance about how clients view your managed services practice. He makes an interesting point in distinguishing between technicians and IT professionals.

We see a lot of MSP's (managed service providers) who are focused on support your PCs and servers, but not skilled at providing business advisory services around IT. Check it out.

http://www.mspalliance.com/blogs/how-do-your-clients-view-your-managed-services-practice-0

Top 9 Reasons for IT Outsourcing

2009-02-23T21:39:00.000-05:00

I'm always asked by clients and prospects to explain the value proposition for IT outsourcing. I've decided to put my thoughts on paper and have posted an article on the website.

http://www.vitale.com/Top-9-Reasons-Companies-Outsource

Upcoming IT Trends Event: April 2nd @ Vitale

2009-02-23T21:32:00.000-05:00

Event Date: April 2, 2009

Who should attend: IT and Finance decision makers – CEO, CFO, Controller, CIO

All registrants will receive a complimentary copy of McKinsey’s whitepaper, Managing IT in a Downturn

Join Vitale Caturano for our quarterly event on transformational technology trends. This complimentary event will focus on the most effective ways to control operating expenses and evaluate capital purchasing decisions without increasing risk or sacrificing performance.

Sharepoint Focus Series - Feb 24th.

2009-02-23T12:08:00.000-05:00

This is going to be a great event. Non technical people such as CEO, CFO, COO will also get a lot out of the topic.

Join Vitale Caturano for our premiere Focus Series event on how to maximize your SharePoint investment in today's marketplace with keynote delivered by Mauro Cardarelli, author of Essential SharePoint 2007 and Director of Portals & Collaboration at Vitale Caturano. Take advantage of this complimentary event to rev up your SharePoint usage in 2009.

http://www.vitale.com/sharepoint

New Blog Authors

2009-02-23T12:06:00.001-05:00

Bill Kracunas and Nelson Lins will now be regular contributors to the blog. Bill leads Vitale's consulting practice and Nelson is our Service Delivery Manager.

Struggling Economy and Outsourcing

2009-02-23T10:39:00.000-05:00

Recently read this article on Webcpa.com about other firms providing IT outsourcing (managed) services. The consensus is that all the downsizing in the economy has been good for managed service providers as companies are looking for ways to reduce IT costs through staff reduction -- but still need IT support.

Being part of a CPA firm, I found the section on supporting CPA firms very interesting. Sounds like they are good outsourcing targets because of the prolific applications and complexity. The reality is that there are only a handful of providers that can actually manage 60 client applications -- Vitale Caturano being one of them.

Also sounds like Vitale Caturano is among the few firms providing strategic advisory services in addition to the typical line up of managed service offerings.

http://www.webcpa.com/article.cfm?articleid=30533&pg=ros

Hannaford Data Breach - PCI Compliance

2008-03-23T00:33:00.000-04:00

The Hannaford data breach represents an interesting situation where the breached company was actually PCI compliant at the time of the breach. From what I've gathered, the company believed it had strong security measures in place. The breach occured as hackers where able to capture data during the transmission of card authorization. While the PCI Data Security Standard prohibits retailers from transmitting credit card data unencrypted over public, open networks, it doesn't have the same requirement for internal networks.

http://www.boston.com/business/articles/2008/03/18/grocer_hannaford_hit_by_computer_breach/

http://www.informationweek.com/security/showArticle.jhtml?articleID=206904986&cid=RSSfeed_TechWeb

Considering an XP to Vista Migration?

2008-03-23T00:27:00.001-04:00

Think again. I found this comprehensive comparison of XP vs. Vista on InfoWorld's website. Based on the author's assessment, there are no compelling reasons to upgrade from XP to Vista at the moment. Our own field experience validates these findings. We have had numerous clients purchase Vista OEM computers only to return them to the manufacturer or downgrade to XP. I recommend holding off on your upgrades until the next version of Windows for the enterprise.

http://www.infoworld.com/article/08/03/17/12TC-vista-versus-xp_1.html

PCI DSS Self-assessment Questionnaire (SAQ) Version 1.1

2008-03-19T20:40:00.000-04:00

The SAQ is a validation tool used primarily by Level 2, 3 and 4merchants (and some smaller service providers), as defined by the majorcard brands -- Visa Inc., MasterCard Worldwide, Discover Network, AmericanExpress and JCB -- to validate compliance with the PCI DSS. The PCI Council updated SAQ version 1.0 to better align with PCI DSS version 1.1 and created four variants to ensure merchants only answer questions relevant totheir environment. Each of the four variants, labeled A, B, C and D have qualifying questions used to determine which of the four questionnaires amerchant is required to complete. Each merchant completing the SAQ version1.1 selects the questionnaire that best represents their environment.

https://www.pcisecuritystandards.org/tech/saq.htm

Complimentary IT Assessment

2008-03-17T10:00:00.000-04:00

We're certain you measure your financials, but how do you measure the performance of your IT department?

Are your projects running late or over budget?
Do you have the right people staffing your IT department?
How do you determine the business value of your IT projects?
Has your business outgrown the capabilities of your IT department?

Vitale Caturano is offering a complimentary assessment. Register today.

IT Governance Study

2008-03-16T21:51:00.000-04:00

Interested study by Jeanne Ross and Peter Weill of MIT, based on a survey of CIOs at 256 enterprises and 50 case studies on how enterprises govern IT. While no simple formula offers specifications for implementing IT governance, Dr. Ross and Dr. Weill conclude in their study that thoughtful governance design can help firms deliver on their strategic objectives.

http://mitsloan.mit.edu/cisr/pdf/Weill-Ross%20-%20Effective%20IT%20Governance-final.pdf