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The phrase “enterprise IT metrics” might sound rather daunting if you have never come across it before, but do not let it scare you. Gaining a firm understanding of enterprise IT metrics could save you money in the short term and make you money in the longer term.
What does it mean?
In its most basic form, enterprise IT metrics are numerical measurements of your IT systems, processes and procedures. It is no different to the way the finance department uses financial ratios to measure business performance, or a marketing team will use regular measurements such as customer churn and average revenue per customer to keep an eye on their ongoing performance.
Just like other departments across the business, forward-thinking IT teams are using sensible enterprise IT metrics to ensure they are performing as efficiently as possible and getting the most out of their budgets.
Even simple measurements such “IT spending as a percentage of overall revenue”, or “IT spend per employee”, can reveal so much about what is right and what is wrong with your IT strategy.
In a nutshell, enterprise IT metrics revolve around driving increased value.
Why are enterprise IT metrics important?
When you compare current enterprise IT metrics to those of past years, you get an instant idea of how effective your spend really is. You will see at a glance whether or not your company’s IT deployment strategy is heading in the right direction. If your enterprise IT metrics data suggests things are not going as well as you would have hoped, then you are now in a position to do something about it and generate innovative ideas to turn things round.
The real eye-opener comes when you compare your enterprise IT metrics with other businesses in the same industry. Was that extra IT spend you battled for really worth it? Could your money have been better spent on something that would add real value to the business, like wireless presentation technology?
Everybody benefits
There are clear financial benefits to be had by adopting a data-driven approach to how you run your IT team. It is clear that if you can achieve efficiency savings with your IT spend, resulting in a lower IT cost base, the business wins. If you can use enterprise IT metrics data to inspire innovative IT solutions, such as dealing with the problems posed by enterprise security, you are able to deliver a superior service to your colleagues, meaning the business wins.
There is one further significant benefit: your increased credibility.
IT teams, and by implication the CIO, can sometimes get a bad press within the company for not fully understanding the needs of the business. By using enterprise IT metrics the right way, you can demonstrate sound financial acumen as well as show your willingness to run your team in a manner aligned with the rest of the business. It is another win, but this time for your own career.
Natural culture change
By setting the enterprise IT metrics agenda, the CIO can facilitate positive cultural change across his or her team. The team will understand that the emphasis is on generating value. It is this culture change that is going to maintain interest and enthusiasm among team members once the enterprise IT metrics programme has been implemented.
Implementing change is a challenge for any manager, but if the CIO can demonstrate that value is being created it will help provide focus for all staff. It will even improve their knowledge and skills base, benefiting the team and the wider business over the longer term.

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The chances are you don’t know much about Enterprise IT Transformation or what it means, but if you want to get ahead of your competitors, you really do need to know more about this exciting area. The fact is, over the next few years smart businesses are going to gain a significant competitive edge by changing the way IT is viewed and implemented within their organisations.
If you are a business owner, or for that matter a stakeholder in any business, whether it is employee, supplier or customer, you will want that business to do as well as it possibly can because there will be a benefit to you:

  • Owners are looking for increased profits.
  • Employees look for increased profits so they can receive higher salaries.
  • Suppliers want to work with profitable companies for continued business and reasons of trust.
  • Customers are reassured by profitability as it usually translates to a good, ongoing reputation.

In an increasingly competitive business environment, where rival companies know more about each other’s products and services than ever before, improved technological competency really is an area where businesses of all sizes can gain a competitive edge.
What Is Enterprise IT Transformation?
As IBM themselves note, Enterprise IT Transformation is about changing the internal IT processes within a business. It is about viewing IT not as the bit of the company that ‘deals with computers’, but instead viewing IT as an accountable service provider that adds value to the organisation.
Enterprise IT transformation can apply to any aspect of the IT function within a company. Using computer servers as an example, it is not unreasonable to imagine the following scenario:

  • A company keeps its own servers within their own office building
  • These servers will be stored in their own dedicated space, which needs to be regulated at a particular temperature
  • The servers are the bedrock of the company’s daily operations
  • If a problem arises – for example, the server room overheats – then all servers will automatically shut down
  • Every employee’s network access fails. The company rapidly becomes unproductive

Furthermore, most companies are likely to have strong enterprise security such as spending a significant chunk of its IT team dedicated to looking after IT infrastructure and general troubleshooting. If there is a problem with the computers or systems, somebody is employed to fix it.
Forward Thinking
A more forward-thinking business will have already recognised the benefits of not keeping servers on the premises and instead will be utilising cloud computing technology, such as that available from Box which can speed up the Enterprise IT Transformation. Cloud computing has opened up a world of possibilities for businesses large and small.
By outsourcing this type of work, many possibilities are opened up. IT infrastructure is looked after by a third party supplier, who can use their economies of scale to ensure both enough computing power to guarantee that computer systems stay up and running at all times, and also that this service can be delivered for a very reasonable price.
As for the staff employed to maintain the network and troubleshoot, a forward-thinking business would move these staff from maintenance mode to innovation mode. Members of the IT team have more time with which to pursue core business objectives and add value to the business. Over the longer term, this benefits all business stakeholders.
This is just one example of how Enterprise IT Transformation can benefit business. There are further new technologies that can help businesses keep in touch with suppliers and partners in order to reduce costs, as well as improve the service a company provides to customers.
The original IT revolution in the late 1980’s and early 1990’s really did transform the way business works. We have reached a point where technology has advanced so far that another IT revolution is underway. You need to make sure your business is a part of it.

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Internet of things is everything connected to everything via the Internet. Its your smartphone communicating with your laptop, TV, thermometer, work computer, projector, monitor, watch, shoes, home thermometer, home appliances, car and much more. The Internet of things is also applicable to so many different things such as your personal lifestyle and health, agriculture, finance, and office productivity. There are many different estimates about the growth of the Internet of Things. In one study conducted by MIT Review, it’s estimated that by 2020, approximately 26 billion objects will be linked together in the Internet. That is a significant increase from 12 billion things connected to the Internet in 2010, and approximately 18 billion things that are connected to the Internet today in 2015.
One big issue concerning the Internet of Things is communication amongst the different things connected to the Internet. How is it that an iPhone is going to be able to communicate with a Samsung TV and an LG fridge and a Toyota car? Another issue regarding the Internet of Things is security. With so much news appearing about hackers being able to steal private information from companies via the Internet, many individuals and companies have the challenge of being able to protect the data of their company and customer information. In addition, a lot of data is also collected through the Internet, so the companies who protect the privacy of their own customers will be rewarded.
Most importantly, in your office almost every employee has their own smartphone, and large corporations typically provide computers to their employees as well. How will you protect your company’s data when your employees start to access your company’s data on their own smartphone? Many of these questions are still to be determined, but many employees who bring their own device (BYOD/bring your own device) to work will change the way technology is used in the office, and security for the use of technology in the office for employees who bring their own technological devices to work will be paramount.
Employees will also be bringing many more of their own personal devices with them into your office spaces, meeting rooms, conference rooms, and boardrooms. How is it in 2015 that we are not able to instantly share what’s on our personal laptop instantly to the biggest screen in the meeting room wirelessly? There are a few technologies trying to fulfill this need, but one excellent up and coming solution that wirelessly connects devices in boardrooms to large monitors, TV screens and projectors is Ubiq. Ubiq is a start-up out of Waterloo, Ontario in Canada, and is on a mission to make wireless presentations easy. To learn more about how Ubiq can help your company present wirelessly, click below.

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When preparing for your big presentation that you’ve been preparing for weeks, the last thing that you want to have to worry about is fumbling around to get your AV equipment set up right before you get ready to give your big presentation. Everyone’s been there before – where you have a big presentation to give but for some reason, you can’t get your laptop connected to the conference room tv, or you forgot to bring the HDMI adaptor for your MacBook, or the channel needs to be changed on the projector to the right channel to be able to view what’s on your laptop screen on the projection screen. Well, all of that is about to be a thing of the past now that the conference room technology to wireless projection is becoming mainstream.
It’s 2015, and we shouldn’t have to go through the agonizing process of setting up our AV equipment every time we give a presentation. When giving wireless presentations, you shouldn’t have to struggle with getting cords untangled, trying to figure out where to plug the cord into the back of a TV, have IT to get the audio visual setup for you, connect your laptop with a cord to projectors or monitors, or use adaptors. Every technological device should just connect to every other technological device wirelessly, and connect with ease!
Although presenting using cords is a daily obstacle, it doesn’t have to be. Using wireless presentation solutions will help save you time, so you can spend your time doing what you’re actually up at the front of the room waiting to do… give your presentation! In addition to eliminating many of the technological obstacles to presenting by implementing wireless presentation technology in your office or boardroom, you will also save time from having to fumble around with setting up the technology, become more focused on preparing to give your presentation, and appear more professional in front of your audience.
Furthermore, if you have a large office with for example 10 different meeting rooms, think about all of the people who work in your office who struggle with the same challenges as you do on a daily basis by having to go through the process of always having to struggle playing around with cords to connect their laptop to the monitor or TV before every meeting. In addition, imagine all of the clients who come into your office to meet with your employees, who have to sit around and wait for the AV to connect and how impatient they get while waiting to be presented to. We’ve all been there before – wishing that the AV problem would just fix itself so the presentation can get underway before we get distracted any further. Imagine how much more tech savvy your business will be, and how much more efficient and productive your office will be by not being slowed down by having to fumble around with AV technology from 10 years ago. To learn more about how you can present wirelessly with ease contact us by clicking the link below.