BizTechNet.org http://www.biztechnet.org 2010-03-11T23:38:33+01:00 http://www.biztechnet.org http://www.biztechnet.org/images/M_images/rss10.gif text/html 2009-11-20T09:41:05+01:00 http://www.biztechnet.org http://www.biztechnet.org/content/view/197/116/ Technology asset management - software asset management - It's all about putting a stop to status quo - putting a stop to This is the way it's done... . If you are a go along with the program kind of person, you may get that new technology asset management or software asset management job but you probably won't get the results. If, on the other hand, you are a cut the the core kind of individual, you probably have the capabilities to get the results but you probably won't get the chance to do the job. Interesting quandary? Been there. Done that. So here's my challenge to you: If you are willing to step up to the plate and change the asset management world, I'll help you all I can. How will you know if joining forces with The Network! and The Institute! would be right for you? Measure against your honest responses to the following items - don't present your corporate face - present your OWN. Answer as a buyer - as if it was your own money - and use the word Agree for I accept or use the word Disagree for I'll be taking this acquisition to your competitor (I'll interpret your score when you have finished...) This software contract is not negotiable... The hardware agreement is not negotiable... The provider reserves the right to change the agreement at will and without notice... This product is sold as is ... You can only purchase a new computer with this specific operating system... Our product is the only one of its kind... Our services are supplier-neutral... Subscription-based licensing is less costly than perpetual licensing... Remember, Agree if you would accept or believe the clause or statement, Disagree if you would not accept or believe. Once you are finished, I'll explain how we can help you create a more cost-effective technology environment. Click MORE for your score. text/html 2009-05-14T17:58:26+01:00 http://www.biztechnet.org http://www.biztechnet.org/content/view/193/111/ The Network offers the following competitive* professional development programs: Software Copyright Compliance Assurance Professional Training (index.php?option=com_docman task=doc_download gid=11) Software Asset Management Professional Training (index.php?option=com_docman task=doc_download gid=12) Technology Asset Management Professional Training Overview (index.php?option=com_docman task=doc_download gid=17) Technology Agreement Negotiations (index.php?option=com_content task=view id=5) Project Management Professional Development Program Overview (index.php?option=com_docman task=doc_download gid=9) Technology Portfolio Management Professional Training (index.php?option=com_docman task=doc_download gid=50) * Competitive - The core certificated programs listed here are compatible with, yet most frequently exceed in content and value, a majority of programs available on the market today. There are enormous differences between credentials developed and supported by The Institute and the certifications you may be used to. We do not stop at the end of the course - our credentials deliver ongoing professional growth potential that puts you well ahead of anyone in this industry. Want to know why it's important? Drop us a note and we'll explain. Most frequently, we deliver our training at your enterprise site of choice and we guarantee that you will achieve results or your money will be refunded. No games and no compromises on the value of the knowledge we put in your hands. Please understand that all of our programs and materials are 100% supplier-neutral--no ads; no partnerships; no sponsors, no product- or service-centric broadcasts. You get the information you need to cut technology costs while increasing the delivered value of related goods and services--without enduring distracting vendor sales hype. We represent the interests of the business technology consumer and we serve as their voice in matters of technology rights and responsibilities. Within this web site, you will find answers to literally hundreds of questions that have been asked by the people who attend our programs--and answered by our experts. You'll get strategic and tactical data on how to get the most for your money while minimizing risks and maximizing ROI. That information exceeds 400 pages and is growing on a daily basis. The data is subdivided as follows: Blog (index.php?option=com_content task=view id=22) - No-holds-barred portfolio management observations by Alan L. Plastow, Founder. Software Piracy (index.php?option=com_content task=view id=14) - Strategic information covering the issues of copyright non compliance (frequently mis-labeled software piracy by the software industry). Software Asset Management (index.php?option=com_content task=view id=15) - SAM - Strategies, tactics, and information on how your enterprise will save money on software-related goods and services while optimizing your ROIC. Training (index.php?option=com_content task=view id=13) - Updates and information regarding our training programs. Many include basic assignments and slides. Technology Asset Management (index.php?option=com_content task=view id=16) - TAM / ITAM - Strategies, tactics, and information on how your enterprise will save money on technology systems-related goods and services while optimizing your ROIC. Negotiations (index.php?option=com_content task=view id=5) - Strategies, tactics, and information on how your personnel can negotiate more effective--mutually beneficial--licenses and agreements. Project Management - Our custom project management programs are so good that they are being delivered at The University of Akron, in Akron, Ohio, U.S.A. Let's face financial facts: Either your company is directly and actively involved in proactive technology asset management--portfolio management--and you are getting the best value for your IT investment. Or... You are not effectively managing your IT assets and you are most likely hemorrhaging as much as $13 of every $14 that filter through the IT budget (You are also exposed to massive punitive costs due to license non-compliance audit activities.) There is no half way. The is no silver bullet cure--no magic standard, service, or product. The results you will get will come about because your entire enterprise commits to improving the processes that drive technology portfolio management. Log in now to become part of the solution. Got questions? Let us know we'll do our best to deliver the most effective answer! text/html 2009-04-11T10:26:54+01:00 http://www.biztechnet.org http://www.biztechnet.org/content/view/186/116/ Every time I teach a course, be it software life cycle management, asset management, project management, negotiations, or some related business process improvement content, I run into the same problem. Way too many of the people attending the course make the same comment: Committment: Our company wants to improve the way we do (this or that) but, when it comes down to actually making the move, there isn't sufficient executive support--no serious follow-through. I'm sure you've seen this, too. The enterprise--as a whole--is aware that there are more effective ways to accomplish certain tasks or projects, but it has no formal process for approaching, planning, and implementing a change initiative. What's more, executive management--leadership?--does not, or will not, take a visible role in enacting the business process improvement or change. THIS is where my title content comes into play. My politically incorrect message to management is this: Lead, Follow, or Get Out of The Way! Result? How many times have you heard the lament: Employee Quote: I spent the time and effort attending this training, or that seminar, (or the company spend the money) and identified a specific way (or two, or ten) that we could improve business processes in our company. Then, when I came back to work, I wasn't encouraged (permitted?) to make anything happen. In this tough economy--in ANY economy--a company lives and/or dies by its abilities--its willingness--to evolve. Read on for ideas covering the ways you might consider using to encourage the people around you to change this trend. text/html 2009-05-01T16:38:48+01:00 http://www.biztechnet.org http://www.biztechnet.org/content/view/192/111/ Forrester Research (http://forrester.com) recently conducted a green survey of IT management professionals asking what steps they have taken to reduce power consumption at the desktop. The results were dismal but, unfortunately, precisely what many of us would have predicted. When asked if they had taken steps to reduce power consumption at the desktop level, 69% had no significant process in place (and additional 18% had only addressed a portion of the needs). In brief, a majority of the respondents in this (admittedly small) survey essentially implied: “It's not our problem.” If ever there was a significant statement describing what ails the business technology mind-set, this would be it. We are constantly witnessing the core disconnect between the technology personnel and the business side of the enterprise and it's neither pretty nor economically intelligent. Read on for additional survey details and ideas for how you can avoid the costly “It's not my problem” disconnect in your enterprise. text/html 2008-11-04T11:33:55+01:00 http://www.biztechnet.org http://www.biztechnet.org/content/view/174/99/ The Business Technology Consumer Network is proud to announce that we will began delivering our professional development programs at Kent State University in Spring Semester 2009! And we're on the schedule for Summer 2009, too! The Consortium for Technology Portfolio Management Excellence is an alliance unique in the world due to its supplier-neutral and highly cost effective solutions for common business technology asset management issues. From Co-Founder Alan Plastow: “Companies are already spending incredible—and frequently unnecessary—amounts of precious resources in their race to establish and maintain viable and dependable technology infrastructures. It's time to bring credible low-cost techniques and simple-to-use business processes into play—common sense techniques that have been proven to work in literally any size business. This cooperative group of academia, government, and non profit businesses exists to help you filter out the background noises of supplier hype and focus in on realistic methods for sourcing, acquiring, and managing a wide range of technology assets—without breaking the budget and without becoming constant targets for software piracy litigation. Our primary focus is on the business side--not the techie side--of IT and has been designed to help you extract serious bottom line value from the existing chaos of typically out-of-control technology spending.” Read on for additional Consortium and training session details. This full instructor-led technology asset management program is not directly affiliated with the highly successful online knowledge programs The Network! has been delivering since 2006. However, you will receive the same--even better--training at the Kent Sessions AND you can get college credit. Watch for The Network's! completely revamped and updated online professional development series--It's been cooking along since 2006... Now it's even better coming soon to a computer near you! text/html 2008-11-05T07:25:27+01:00 http://www.biztechnet.org http://www.biztechnet.org/content/view/175/116/ My accountant has been virtually beating this into my mind since the mid-70s—and it STILL holds true. Unfortunately, a majority of business professionals have been carefully educated by the massive technology supplier industries to believe they HAVE to spend money on technology to save money on technology. News Alert: You Do NOT Have To Spend More On Technology To Save More! The Technology Portfolio of goods and services represents one of THE most significant cost centers of every business of every size in every country. Unfortunately, only a very tiny minority of businesses effectively controls technology life cycle spending. The losses are enormous. Whether we are talking acquisition of technology assets, or services, or support maintenance, unless your company establishes and follows a life cycle management plan, you are losing your assets (so to speak). The savings possibilities of effective technology asset management are even more enormous--you just gotta start paying attention to begin reaping benefits. Read on to get started saving money without spending money. text/html 2008-10-03T15:03:26+01:00 http://www.biztechnet.org http://www.biztechnet.org/content/view/170/116/ I don't know about you, but for a lot of folks money is tight--very tight. If you are in that boat it's time you took a serious look at your IT spending habits and processes. Fed up? You can implement a core technology portfolio management infrastructure that helps your enterprise save a bundle--and you can do it for pennies. The odds are as high as 90% that you are paying for goods or services that you don't need; don't receive; or could easily discount. Think I'm kidding? Real World: The vast majority of companies spend as much as 50% more for software than necessary. Nearly any company can be guilty of paying nearly double for hardware over the life cycle of the product. Tech support maintenance? You are virtually guaranteed to be tossing cash down the drain. Every one of these issues holds as much truth for the company owning three computers as it does for the company with thirty thousand computers. Every one of these issues also holds just as much truth for PCs (notebooks or desktops), Macs, minis, and mainframes. Would you like to stop the IT spending madness? Here's an enormous hint: You DO NOT have to invest more money to save money on IT asset management or, if you would rather redefine the concept, in IT life cycle management / technology portfolio management. Any company--ANY company--can start an effective technology portfolio management program today--right now--by investing in nothing but a little more focused use of existing internal brain power. Want to know the steps to finding money inside that out-of-control IT budget? Log in and start reading--or contact us for advice. There are literally dozens of simple every day methods of cutting IT costs--without reducing services--inside this site. Fair Warning: In the very near future we're going to change the way we dish out our tactical and strategic technology portfolio management advice. You'll have to log in to get the full Knowledge Briefings. We're still not charging for the information... If a link or resource is broken or missing, please send us a note. We'll fix it so you can gain the knowledge you need to succeed! I'm Alan Plastow and I guarantee you can achieve cost reductions through the basic technology asset management principles we provide. text/html 2008-05-23T19:48:50+01:00 http://www.biztechnet.org http://www.biztechnet.org/content/view/159/108/ PART ONE of 5.X2: There is enormous business value to be achieved when you take full control of your IT asset management processes—the entire life cycle of hardware as well as software. Traditionally, small- to medium-sized enterprises (SMEs) have purchased the following technology goods services: hardware, operating systems, software, support, and other related assets in a very costly ad hoc manner. For decades business technology consumers have given little or no thought to cost-effective technology life cycle management or proactive technology asset management techniques. When you discipline yourselves to eliminate the tech hype and take a more structured strategic business approach to acquiring and managing these critical assets, you can easily reduce our IT costs by as much as 35%—while you continue to deliver the same, or even better, services. Read on for the first in nearly a dozen proven methods of cutting technology costs—methods that will cost you nothing more than a little brain power to implement. text/html 2008-05-15T14:09:24+01:00 http://www.biztechnet.org http://www.biztechnet.org/content/view/158/116/ We have found that, in as many as 90%+ of copyright non compliance settlement announcements, the published costs of a software piracy audit generally have very little to do with the actual financial impact of the non compliance (piracy) confrontation. In our training programs for software asset management and software copyright compliance assurance we work through the actual audit scenarios to show how multiple hidden costs can add up to as much as 3 to 6 times--sometimes even more--the published fine. What's more, in our experience, fewer than ten percent of actual copyright violation audits are ever even made public. The end result? The true economic impact of these predatory copyright violations piracy audits has been hidden from the public eye for decades. Read on for more details on how you can build a low cost foundation for reducing your risk of a software audit while increasing the delivered business value of your entire technology portfolio. text/html 2008-04-20T12:53:37+01:00 http://www.biztechnet.org http://www.biztechnet.org/content/view/157/116/ Steven Bandrowczak, the Nortel CIO, wants to reduce his software application portfolio from 1,100 titles down to 100 over an 18 month period. (Read Andy McCue's ZDNet/Asia article. (http://www.zdnetasia.com/insight/communications/0,39044835,62039855,00.htm?scid=nl_z_ntnw#talkback)) According to Bandrowczak, When I came we had a lot of projects not necessarily 100 per cent aligned to key initiatives.” Great quote, Steven... I'm sorry, but that pretty much sounds to me like corporate-speak for: We were paying for a whole lot of useless projects. Don't feel bad, Steven, most of us are likely floating around on that same leaky pontoon. When it comes to software asset management, we've found that a majority of companies could benefit from some serious licensing, support, and maintenance house-cleaning. Unfortunately, it isn't going to happen until we take a good look at changing the status quo. If you could reduce the costs of IT assets while continuing to deliver the same-or even better-services, would you take action? Read on to discover some of the key reasons technology asset management and portfolio management initiatives fail--or, even better, succeed. text/html 2008-04-07T10:39:05+01:00 http://www.biztechnet.org http://www.biztechnet.org/content/view/151/116/ Jack Wallen at TechRepublic (http://blogs.techrepublic.com.com/opensource/?p=190) has written an interesting commentary on Gartner's recent prediction that by 2012 90% of all businesses will be using open source. THAT is one easy prediction to make. Check out the ZDNet Asia article. (http://www.zdnetasia.com/news/software/0,39044164,62039870,00.htm?scid=rss_z_nw) Here's why and here's how you can begin a drastic reduction in the money you currently invest in operating systems, software, implementation, support, and maintenance--today--while maintaining, and even improving, existing services--No need to wait until 2012. Read on for more common sense solutions to software asset management and IT cost reduction problems. text/html 2008-03-20T11:05:01+01:00 http://www.biztechnet.org http://www.biztechnet.org/content/view/146/116/ Bottom Line: If you could cut corporate IT costs by as much as 25%-30% while retaining the same quality of services, would you? You don't need to spend more money to save money; no new hardware or software; no new consultants wandering around the office sucking up your coffee. The solution is this simple: Business owners and executives need to change the way the enterprise acquires, uses, and manages the entire technology portfolio of goods services—from a business perspective—not merely a tech perspective. The only truly effective way to reduce tech costs and risks is to change the way you monitor tech life cycles. Buying more software, more hardware, more stuff isn't going to help if your business processes aren't effective. And changing those processes won't cost you a penny! Alan L. Plastow We have all made enormous investments in the technologies that we expect will help our companies operate more efficiently. Those investments cover desktop and notebook computers, servers, printers, PDAs, cell phones, copiers, even voice mail systems. Other considerable IT costs include operating systems, software, graphics, fonts—sometimes even video and audio content. And let's not forget Internet connectivity, tech support and consulting. Unfortunately, and statistically, we frequently realize less than $1 in business value for every $14 dollars we spend on tech. But you have technology budget money to burn, don't you? (Hardly...) text/html 2007-08-29T23:07:26+01:00 http://www.biztechnet.org http://www.biztechnet.org/content/view/91/107/ Go Ahead and Declare Technology Interdependence from your Shadow IT Environment: But, if you don’t do it carefully, you are in for a world of software piracy audit hurt. I’ve been following the series of CIO Magazine (http://www.cio.com/search?cx=005964914320811651291%3Axkqet_zlicy q=shadow+it sa.x=0 sa.y=0 cof=FORID%3A09) articles (http://www.cio.com/article/122459/_Shadow_IT_Culture_on_the_Rise_for_Businesses_) addressing the realities of Shadow IT (http://www.cio.com/article/28821/User_Management_Users_Who_Know_Too_Much_and_the_CIOs_Who_Fear_Them_/1) and, until, “The Declaration of Interdependence” appeared in the July issue, the logic was pretty solid. However, as I read this article, I could easily visualize the collective drooling of the well-funded and incredibly powerful copyright enforcement industry players across the country. If ever there was a commentary that literally guaranteed a punitive software piracy audit, this would be it. “If I were an employee of one of the enforcement groups I would frame this material and hang it proudly in my office as a reminder of how secure my profession is and how very wealthy I will become.” Here is why I am extremely concerned with the underlying message this article conveys: IT professionals, as a whole, do not have any idea how easily they expose their company—and their own professional futures—when they “…secure the network and (do) not worry about client devices…” or “...so I protect the institution, not the individual…” “Sorry, Dave, but here be some serious legal dragons!” text/html 2007-12-28T14:09:35+01:00 http://www.biztechnet.org http://www.biztechnet.org/content/view/114/111/ When you implement a well-considered technology asset management program--a SAM, TAM, or ITAM--your company will begin discovering an enormous range of tech-related cost reductions. Your key to serious technology cost reductions will be based in how well you plan out the technology processes and infrastructure of the initiative. According to industry research, as many as 75% of companies over-spend on technology acquisitions. These unnecessary acquisitions include everything from buying too many software licenses to purchasing hardware that exceeds the technical needs or capabilities of the enterprise. Read on for a some basic ideas on reversing the trends! text/html 2007-11-30T12:00:45+01:00 http://www.biztechnet.org http://www.biztechnet.org/content/view/111/107/ The copyright anti-piracy hit squads have struck once again with a new/old version of gotcha. Interestingly enough, this instance is one that could very easily land right on your personal, as well as corporate, technology doorstep. No matter who you are, or what you are doing--be it personal or business--NOW you also have to be paranoid that someone is always listening. That's right, Virginia, the copyright audio police are right there--hovering nearby---and listening over your shoulder to everything you do. Want to know how you can easily be hammered for music piracy? Read on...