Erik's Comptia Breakaway IT Recap
By Erik Rodriguez
This is a brain-dump of the challenges, opportunities, and threats in the IT field from my point of view. I presented some of this information at a recent Comptia Breakaway event in Orlando, FL.
Introduction
I've been involved with computer and IT for nearly a decade. I've seen transitions like dial-up to broadband, and analog cell phones to pocket PC's. Technology moves at the speed of sound. The following sections explain my take on where certain aspects of IT are going, and their implications.
Recent Activity
Recently, I was invited to present my view of the SMB (small to medium sized business) IT sector to a board of directors from several large players at Comptia's Breakaway event. My audience was a group of senior representatives from companies like Xerox, Ingram Micro, Ricoh, Symantec, and others. I discussed products and solutions from specific vendors I work with. Since the launch of Orlando Tech Works, I have been working strategically for the first time on the non-technical side of IT. Managing solutions and products takes more than technical knowledge. Time management is key to evolving products and services that I provide as a VAR (Value Added Reseller).
Movement from Vendors
At Comptia's Breakaway event, I presented some material and took questions. While many were strictly business oriented questions directed to me specifically (vertical markets, % of revenue, etc.), other question I entertained included specifications of vendor product applications, solutions, and services. Based on my involvement with these vendors and service providers, here is my take on the future of IT:
People want to be MOBILE! American's today have an "on the go" lifestyle, and less employees are working in the office. This trend has been increasing steadily over the last few years. Hardware and software vendors have recognized this trend and have got ball is rolling. Microsoft has invested a pile of cash for remote and collaboration projects. Cell phone manufactures are producing mobile devices will increased CPUs and bandwidth capacity. The results will yield concise, highly technical, and efficient products. What will these products be and how will they work? Simple, because of the growing demand for mobility, vendor products will be targeted towards the data center. Providing products the consolidate and efficiently deliver data will be housed in the data center. In layman's terms, files will be stored on robust servers in the data center and NOT on file servers in the office LAN. Centralized management will be more efficient, and the jungle of data scattered across the traditional office LAN will be consolidated. But why? As the combination of hardware and software become more powerful and more complex, so does the combination of the two.
IT Market for Solution/Service Providers
The market for IT solution/service providers is very dynamic. Different providers have different products. Some cover a wide range of markets, while others cover a specific niche market. When evaluating the market for business opportunities, there are several things you should consider. Traditional tool and techniques (SWOT analysis, Porter's 5 forces, BCG matrix, etc) provide basic insight on markets and/or the direction of where you should go. Listed below are my "guidelines" for success in the IT market as a VAR or IT solution/service provider:
- Do not compete on price
- Provide at least one speciality product
- Build on top of your current success
If you are going to compete on price alone, you might as well box up your goods and pay off that loan before you incur any more interest. IT is a complex and detail oriented trade. Highly skilled and highly technical solutions come at a high price. IT solutions should be expensive, but offer value. If you aren't charging at or close to the "going-rate" or worse billing at a flat rate you will realize your ratio of time to revenue goes down the toilet.
You must provide at least one specialty product or service. What does this mean? A specialty product is just what it sounds like, a unique or rare product/service. Believe it or not, there are products and solutions out there that aren't as popular as they could/should be. Why is that? A large reason for some of the smaller vendors is non-awareness. There are smaller vendors, like Clarkconnect, that have a terrific product. However, many VARS and consumers don't even know they exist. This makes selling these solutions more challenging to the customers who don't know what they are getting. If you are going to compete as a VAR, you need something that makes you as a provider stand out amongst the other 3459458942308 tech companies out there.
Build on top of current success! If you are a VAR or IT provider, you will need to expand your business at some point. While it may seem logical to branch out and expand to other markets, your best bet may be to provide new services to your current market. There are always many little ways to earn dollars within with your current market. Analyze often! You will be surprised how many new ideas, and opportunity you see if you sit back and look at the big picture.
IT Sectors
The size of the IT providers is a huge variable. There is everything from one and two man shops to fortune 500 solution providers. In my opinion, the days of the independent "consultant" who runs around town installing servers and fixing PCs have their days numbered. As support for mobility from large vendors increases, the complexity and resources required to deploy these solutions will be too great for the one or two man shops. You will also see unemployment at the high end of spectrum. Enterprise environments won't need as many in-house IT personnel because the consolidation at the data center will require less man power. This puts the majority of the open labor market in the middle. Mid-sized solutions will have the man power to deploy highly technical solutions in the data center and support them.
Conclusion
The IT sector, itself along with the products and solutions will make a drastic change over the next 5 years. The capabilities the will be available as a result of these changes will fuel more jobs, products, and new businesses. This is not the end of the IT field, and nobody is going to starve. The information above may seem scary to some readers but the economy has a way of balancing itself; to a certain extent.
The insight I have provided above is my educated prediction and point-of-view. While this information is based on fact, this doesn't mean that IT workers are getting fired tomorrow and small shops are closing their doors. This is simply meant as a eye opener. Technology moves at the speed of sound (761 mph).
|
