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Business Technology is evolving with Managed Services

Compaholic — Wed, 03 Jun 2009 21:54:54 +0000

Business Technology and the strategies to manage it are evolving. Every day, more businesses are turning to IT automation to streamline their operational efficiency. We have come to a paradigm shift in the Professional IT Services industry. Businesses should not have to pay for downtime but should pay for uptime. Traditionally, the IT Consulting and Professional services industry have been running with a “Reactive” service model. This means that when the customer has a problem with their machine they make a service call. This increases downtime because a technician now must be scheduled to visit the customer on-site to fix the issue while the productivity of the user(s) is compromised until the problem is resolved. Now the business must pay on both fronts. Paying for IT to fix the issue and take a hit on the loss of productivity for its employee’s.

Enter the Managed Services strategy, or the “Proactive” service model. All servers and workstations now automatically report in to a centrally managed console to give their real time status for maintenance, critical software patches and updates, backups, equipment failures, performance monitoring, antivirus/spam, and a complete asset inventory of all equipment connected to your network. All of this is done behind the scenes with alerting and reporting of any failures or issues that may arise to potential downtime. This strategy cuts downtime by at least 75% over the traditional break/fix service model.

Once upon a time only the enterprise class companies with healthy cash flows could afford such efficient automated systems. But now with so many managed service companies the competition has driven the prices down to more affordable levels for the SMB class. Not to mention the technology itself has matured and is much easier to implement with less overhead. This spins dollars signs for executive management because the savings on IT is felt immediately with a shorter time frame for ROI.

Not everyone is going to accept the managed service model. Some executives like the way their current IT operations are flowing and are susceptible to change, the “if it’s not broken then don’t fix it” mentality. Which is a tried and proven method, but when something does break, then what?

Additionally, Managed Service Providers may endure a push back from internal IT personnel as they may feel threatened because it eliminates a big chunk of their job roles. Since executives trust the recommendations of their internal IT, they will have a big influence on this type of decision. But this is a big misconception. Here’s why:

Now with all of the common tasks and maintenance automated, internal IT can focus more on managing projects which allows them to be much more efficient.
If the company outsources IT project management, then the internal IT staff can focus on critical break/fix issues or smaller projects.
MSP’s can be used to leverage risk management when internal IT becomes over-utilized.
MSP’s typically have a more predictable recurring revenue stream which makes it easier to track IT expenditures.
Some MSP’s offer Hardware as a Service, which is an all-in-one inclusive monthly payment for the entire IT expense of a company, this is a new service in this industry which is slowly becoming adopted.

In conclusion, here are the facts: The economy has weakened, the unemployment rate is flirting with double digits, credit has dried up, real estate value is still falling, manufacturing has contracted, inventories are bulging at the seams, and now more than ever, bottom lines are cut throat. Many still believe that IT is just the cost of doing business. But when companies are leveraging IT to “one up” their competitors, streamline customer service, optimize work flows, conserve energy, and innovate new products, where do the IT costs end and the business strategy begin? How does one create a benchmark to analyze the transparency to find out? What’s the ROI? Essentially you’re already invested in your IT, so consider this a return on your reinvestment.

Previously posted on on-sitetechnology.com

Windows 7 Beta 1: First Impressions

Compaholic — Sat, 10 Jan 2009 04:43:27 +0000

Soo Windows 7 has been buzzing around the Internets for a few months now and finally beta 1 has recently hit the torrent sites. Additionally, Microsoft announced a public beta 1 release but happen to pull it due to “high demand“. There has been some squawking about Windows 7 Beta 1 benchmarks performing faster than Windows XP and Vista, but I’m sure all this nonsense will stop once the bells and whistles are included.

I personally think it’s humorous how Windows 7 was named. Microsoft claims that this new operating system is the 7th Windows version, at least according to their internal code versions. The internal versions they’re going by doesn’t make any sense to me. For example, Windows 95, 98, 98SE, NT, and ME, all counted as version 4.0. Windows 2000 internally was NT5.0 and XP was version 6.0. Now perhaps this shows how much of a thorn Vista is in Microsoft’s side, but taking into considerable the vast difference between 2000 to XP and XP to Vista, shouldn’t Vista be 7.0? Instead, Microsoft made Vista as version 6.1 which completely throws a monkey wrench in the entire version sanity. Vista has been a car wreck since day one, they even have to disguise it as another operating system in their commercials as a controlled experiment. I mean seriously, this is almost as bad as Hyundai not putting their emblem on the front of the new Genesis. Well okay maybe that’s a bad analogy, at least the Genesis is a decent car. In any case, Windows Vista should be 7 and “Windows 7″ should be “Windows 8″.

Finally, I think Windows 7 is what Vista SHOULD have been. It took Microsoft 5 years to progress(or lack thereof) from XP to Vista. So in reality, it took Microsoft 8 years to progress from XP(October 25th, 2001) to Windows 7(Holiday season 2009). This of course is assuming Microsoft stays on track with their release time frame. Well I think that’s enough griping, here’s some links to first impressions:

PC World
ZDNet
Computer World
Tech Review Source
Chron

AMD Launches Phenom II - Fastest AMD CPU Yet

Compaholic — Fri, 09 Jan 2009 02:16:34 +0000

AMD officially launches the Phenom II processor. Their first 45nm processor lagging behind Intel. There’s good reason why AMD is so behind though. The acquisition of ATI took a while to absorb and now they finally have the resources put together, they can focus on moving forward. The new Phenom II’s are poised to match up between Intel’s Core 2 Quad and Core i7 processors. PC Worldreports more details regarding the performance vs. Intel’s counterparts and states that Intel still holds the performance crown. AMD will have to focus on a price war against Intel’s new Core i7. Most likely the Phenom II’s will be around 15-25% cheaper than Core i7 Counterparts. I’m sure AMD will release a faster 2nd revision of the Phenom II during Q3-Q4 of 2009.

Comcast removes blocks on file sharing

Compaholic — Thu, 08 Jan 2009 03:16:55 +0000

At least according to this article on InformationWeek, Comcast has removed their “blocks” on file sharing. But according to this article on Hothardware, they have a new network throttling system in place. What gives? InformationWeek says Comcast sent a letter to the FCC on Dec 31st 2008 that they no longer manage their networks the sleazy way. Yet Hothardware explains the new system monitors traffic, regardless of where it’s coming from and hits you with a monthly 250GB quota. Comcast has always had some sort of hidden monthly quota according to the numerous reports from customers getting letters in the mail. You couldn’t find the maximum you were allowed to download in a 30-day period until you actually hit it. It appears that they’re fessing up and finally throwing the quota number out there. Either way, they’ve pissed off enough customers and made enough of us so bitter that we will never go back to them. Comcast is overdue for new management, it’s time to get some new fresh people in there.

EDIT: This article over at gigaom.com states that this new system is content-agnostic. The bandwidth for heavy Comcast users is throttled down regardless of the type of information you are downloading. I can’t believe the FCC approves of this over throttling just P2P. How much did Comcast payoff to the FCC?

Apple announces DRM Free iTunes by end of Q1′09

Compaholic — Tue, 06 Jan 2009 20:57:11 +0000

Apple has announced that iTunes will be going DRM free on all 10 million songs by the end of the first quarter on 2009. Additionally they have announced they gave the option to record companies a 3-price tier system. $0.69, $0.99, or $1.29 per song. The corresponding record company for the song you’re downloading will supply that to Apple for its customers. Engadget reports.

All I have to say is, It’s about time and screw the RIAA.

Letter from Apple CEO Steve Jobs

Compaholic — Mon, 05 Jan 2009 23:08:24 +0000

After all the rumors and media picking away at the questionable health with Steve Jobs, he finally came out with a letter. He states:

“As many of you know, I have been losing weight throughout 2008. The reason has been a mystery to me and my doctors. A few weeks ago, I decided that getting to the root cause of this and reversing it needed to become my #1 priority.

Fortunately, after further testing, my doctors think they have found the cause—a hormone imbalance that has been “robbing” me of the proteins my body needs to be healthy. Sophisticated blood tests have confirmed this diagnosis.”

You can read the rest of it on Apple’s website here.

The RIAA drops MediaSentry - Those rat bastards

Compaholic — Sun, 04 Jan 2009 23:05:08 +0000

The no good dirty rat bastards at the RIAA have dropped MediaSentry, which is the company they used to help gather evidence for cases against consumers downloading illegal music. The RIAA is a bunch of filthy rat scumbags that should die a painful, long lasting, yet self indulging death. Their filth, slim, and utter disgusting presence has echoed throughout the world in a lavishing distaste for what the music industry has become. Now don’t get me wrong, I don’t hate the RIAA, I just know that their management and general business practices are morally and ethnically wrong. Suing 70 year old grandmothers for their entire 401K and investment portfolio’s while in the same breathe hitting college kids and single moms in one quick swipe with no remorse is just utter bullshit. Not to mention shows total lack of business management skills. Usually when a company does not do good making profits and has to dig into such a low stance to generate money, isn’t the management accountable?

Unfortunately, the RIAA has announced they will use Copenhagen-based DtecNet Software ApS in place of MusicSentry to continue their despicable business practice. I have a better idea for the RIAA, why don’t you stop hoarding all of this cash for your army of legal teams and outsourced tracking systems and use that extra money to figure out a way to make music more affordable to download? Why not make it a more predictable business model and create an affordable monthly/yearly subscription, instead of charging $1-2 per song packed with DRM where customers shit themselves when they realize they don’t have the flexibility they once had before.

Samsung unveils 7mm thick TV

Compaholic — Sun, 04 Jan 2009 22:22:12 +0000

Samsung has plans to unveil a flat-panel LCD TV 6.5-7mm thick according to Macworld. The unveiling will take place at this weeks International Consumer Electronics show in Las Vegas. This new gem will be sporting an LED light LCD panel which more and more TV manufacturers are slowly transitioning over to. LED’s last longer, give off better overall brightness, and have less power consumption than the typical fluorescent back-lights. Without a doubt, this technology will bridge the gap between LCD and the upcoming OLED technology’s. Sony was first to release a not-so-affordable 11″ OLED flat panel TV a while back for $2,499, we are waiting for the competition to step up to the plate to initiate price wars. Then this will be followed up by a 2nd generation release of this technology which will hopefully be more affordable for the typical consumer.

iPhone 3G Unlock Is Available

Compaholic — Thu, 01 Jan 2009 18:24:20 +0000

For those of you waiting for the new iPhone 3G unlock, well, Happy New Year! The unlocker is called Yellowsn0w, yeah, what a graphic visualization of unlocking an iPhone. Perhaps the name suggests how the author feels about Apple or the iPhone in general. Yellowsn0w runs as a small command line application in the background. For instructions or more information, Gizmodo reports.

Amazon announces best holiday season ever

Compaholic — Fri, 26 Dec 2008 17:31:17 +0000

Amazon has done well during the holiday season as their track record shows. With the debut of cool trendy products such as the Amazon Kindle, a wireless eBook reading device that connects to EVDO cell networks for updates and downloads that book worms go GaGa over, they’ve been hot this year over any previous year since founded in 1994.

TechCrunch has the stats, but here’s a brief overview:

Peak Items Order on a single day:

2008: 6.3M
2007: 5.4M

Items ordered per second:

2008: 72.9
2007: 62.5

These are some impressive numbers, and I’m sure with Amazon’s EC2 cloud computing platform, their website has no problems with traffic spikes.

Blog has now been Twitified

Compaholic — Fri, 26 Dec 2008 04:25:16 +0000

I have setup a twitter account and linked the blog posts to auto create new tweets.

AMD Phenom II shipping to distributors this month

Compaholic — Wed, 24 Dec 2008 05:19:55 +0000

The new AMD Phenom II processors are shipping to distributors starting December 29th. They will be available for purchase by the 2nd week of Jan 2009. Softpediareports that there will be two flavors, Phenom II 940 at 3GHz and Phenom II 920 at 2.8GHz. Didn’t Intel already go through 920 and 940 naming schemes with their Pentium D lineup a couple years ago? Oh well, hopefully they’ll finally hit the nail on the head this time around, unlike the first Phenom’s.

Adult Friend Finder files with SEC to go public

Compaholic — Wed, 24 Dec 2008 05:06:27 +0000

I couldn’t help it. I just HAD to post on this one. The Washington Postreports that adultfriendfinder.com has filed with the SEC to go public and hopes to raise $460 million in the IPO. They claim their subscriber base is 946,598 for their adult services. Penthouse acquired AFF in Dec 2007 for around $400 million.

But isn’t AFF one of the biggest adult scam sites on the net?

We have moved to Rackspace!

Compaholic — Thu, 18 Dec 2008 16:00:38 +0000

Hey everyone, just wanted to apologize for the unreliability of the blog for the past couple of days. We have changed hosts and are now residing on a Rackspace Cloud Site. Yes, Compaholics.com is now ‘in the cloud’ literally.

Happy Holidays everyone.

Intel will unveil Internet TV hybrid

Compaholic — Wed, 17 Dec 2008 02:35:06 +0000

I guess the Apple TV’s market share traction is about to hit a slow bump. According to The Inquirer, Intel has a prototype of a new Internet TV hybrid. Intel says they will unveil this new device at CES in Las Vegas. Intel plans to add widgets which will allow users to chat with friends, order food, and shop online without needing to leave their seats. The Intel developer toolkit will allow developers to make TV Internet apps using Javascript, XML, HTML, and Flash. In reality, the gaming consoles are also a competitor in this market segment. The Xbox 360 and Playstation 3 already have some of these features. Time will tell what Intel’s true intentions are.

Google’s malware infested sponsored links

Compaholic — Tue, 16 Dec 2008 03:55:59 +0000

I just love the smell of malware in the morning. According to The Reg, researchers from Websense have caught on to some disturbing news. Apparently some of Google’s sponsored links bring innocent visitors into the pit of malware infested sites. Some of these sites have malware that hijack your web browser to block out the top search engine websites and coincidentally, Google’s site too! The Reg reports.

Microsoft knew Xbox 360’s scratched discs before launch

Compaholic — Tue, 16 Dec 2008 03:35:36 +0000

This comes as no surprise, adding to the arsenal of issues walloping the Xbox 360 series. According to this article over at Gizmodo, Microsoft knew about the Xbox 360’s scratching discs and did not correct them prior to launch in 2005. Most likely because it was already so close to the launch date that any proposed solution would of increased production costs and most likely delayed the launch all together. There were several proposed solutions and all were rejected. These included increasing the magnetic field of the disc holder(which could interfere with the disc tray’s functionality), slowing down the disc speed(increase load times), and install small bumpers(keep the disc from bouncing around, but costly). I personally am a victim of the Xbox 360 Red Ring of Death. Since then I purchased a PS3 and have yet to have any problems.

Kodak’s 7.6-inch OLED Photo Frame available on Amazon

Compaholic — Mon, 15 Dec 2008 05:08:15 +0000

For a whopping $999.95 you can own the Kodak 7.6″ Wireless OLED Digital Photo Frame from Amazon.com. Great technology, once its reliability and production costs are reduced in a couple of years we can actually afford some decent sized TV’s! Engadget.com reports.

EDIT: I found it cheaper at Provantage, $752.62 at time of this writing. Link

Top 3 Touchscreen Phones for 2008

Compaholic — Mon, 15 Dec 2008 05:03:45 +0000

According to The Reg, the top 3 Touchscreen Phones for 2008 are the HTC Touch HD, LG Renoir KC910, and the Apple iPhone 3G. I somewhat agree to the list except that there are some credible missing phones(ex. Blackberry Storm & Bold) but I assume this is because they’re too new. What’s even more humorous is the responses in the comments for this article. Everyone posted in disgust regarding the anti-iPhone raves. This is the normal response for any “Top X” article.

Intel Dual-Core Atom - Released by months end

Compaholic — Mon, 08 Sep 2008 16:48:27 +0000

According to this article over at The Reg, the Intel Atom will debut a dual core design by the end of this month. A UK PC supplier by the name of Tranquil PC started taking orders for a compact desktop PC with these chips. The chip will be a dual-core 1.6GHz processor and support 64-bit computing. This model will be the Atom 330 and is soldered onto Intel’s new D945GCLF2 motherboard. The Reg reports.