COLORADO EXECUTIVES LEARN BUSINESS STRATEGIES FOR IT

An exclusive group of CIOs attended an educational retreat involving a weekend at a resort and insightful thought leadership on today’s relevant IT solutions that can combat their information technology challenges. HP Networking, LANDESK and Decision Shapers were available to teach a number of Denver executives the fundamentals of a successful IT infrastructure relative to their overall business goals. Attendees learned about unified wired and wireless solutions and the challenges of modern IT from our valued technology-leading partners. Our presenters expanded on how organizations can secure their networks from mobility threats and the importance of leading a team with each company’s vision in mind. Read a summary of what these executives learned, below.

Every data center must anticipate the new style of IT. Businesses are at an inflection point and are transforming business models to adapt and enhance customer outcomes. Have you heard the following perspectives based on how data centers are evolving. 

•   “My network is a big cost center and I need a large IT staff to manage it.”
•   “My network is complex and it takes months to deploy applications because of lower   level networking tools.”
•   “I need to provide consistent experience for wired and wireless users.”

Your current network may not align to business requirements, whether the lack of compelling network business value, limited access to IT resources or poor application experience- there are challenges to WiFi-only vendors. In order to achieve the wanted agility, this impossible-to-scale scenario becomes a true bottleneck. Bring the conversation to customer business goals –IT service brokerage through rationalization/simplification/orchestration of the whole IT infrastructure- scalability issues and “swivel chair” operational costs of this complex model, how to cope with next need, and SDN readiness. HP Networking offers a unique architectural approach through truly seamless unified operational scenarios for all wired infrastructure vs. limited access switches.

Solution deployment is based on customer segmentation. SMB offices may have limited IT resources or staff resulting in recommendation for a cloud managed solution. Medium to large enterprises could benefit from premise solutions for more scalability and granular control. Executives and decision makers can benefit from evaluating their needs and choosing solutions that can adapt with single management systems, unified networking and BYOD and SDN from user to data center.

Our platinum partners beat the competition in preparing for the future of IT. LANDESK has a similar vision for the future of data centers. This vision aims to help executives understand the mobile effect on IT and embrace the change. By 2020, 50% of the workforce in the U.S. will be from the millennial generation- those who were born at the prime of technology and have been raised in the mobile era. An integral part of every day life, the increase of mobile devices in the office raise business risk concerns and require BYOD policies to secure your data center. More than 90% of successful BYOD breaches required only the most basic techniques- avoidable through proper mobile guidelines. LANDESK is a viable partner to entrust with securing your business data. LANDESK customer feedback reveals improved operational reliability, increased IT staff and overall business productivity and savings across IT and overall costs per user. Trust in the LANDESK vision and arm your business for the future.

Not only should executives trust in their partners’ visions, but use their own company vision as a guideline for making IT leadership decisions. No department should operate independently without a proper evaluation of overall business priorities. CIOs and IT executives can drive organizational innovation through technology. Decision Shapers CEO motivated executives by suggesting:

•   Innovate only what deserves innovation.
•   Adopt, simplify and standardize everything else.
•   Get operational and customer service acts together.

Find a balance between leadership and business processes with team and individual ownership. The Trust Ownership Model can redefine how we lead. Though it may be hard, give away some decision making. Help your staff own decisions that support overall business success. The transformational leader is long-term and successful as a leader. Create a culture of trust and ownership by worrying about the what and why of business, but getting out of the how of business. Set standards and let your team earn your trust in return. Embrace the new school fostering new ideas and collaborating to give ownership. Significantly influence your business and data center to believe the answers are within your organization. Keep the right people in the right positions and let others move on. Prepare for the future of business and IT with defined strategies and leadership style.

These topics are critical for IT executives to understand. Learn how business and IT strategies can align for lasting business success. Subscribe to our blog to keep current on industry news and thought leadership on the latest IT solutions. If you’d like to learn more about any of these topics, let us know and we’ll set you up with a VLCM specialist to discuss further.