With the advent of having a cell phone in not every household, but seemingly in every hand in every household in the U.S., the accompanying ringtones and wildfire of personalizations that come with such a viral spread of communication really speak for themselves.

Nielsen Ringscan broke out some US ringtone figures. There were 220 million ringtone purchases in 2007 resulting in sales of $567 million, and ringtone sales spiked 22 percent in the last week of the year (mocoNews.net, January 2008).

In corporate culture even, ringtones seem to say something about a person and evoke immediate reactions from not only the people around you but the owner of the phone himself or herself. For instance, I knew someone who set a personal ringtone to play the Darth Vader introduction every time their boss called in. Now what emotion do you think that evoked?

Being in the “IT” field, we often run the middle line between managing growing fleets of disparate mobile devices but offering some level of flexibility to our customer. In larger organizations this can indeed be tough, but are the small things life like ringtones important morale boosters that help deliver on your bottom line?

That’s hard to say, but I have a BlackBerry and I would share with you that I relish the feeling of connectedness that a mobile PDA device gives me. It allows me to the flexibility to know when I need to react and when I can sit back and let someone else handle the ‘heat’ for awhile.

Due to a recent hardware failure, I had to replace my BlackBerry. First, Verizon Wireless was quite nice about that portion of things and even apologized for the inconvenience. Of course, what we are paying a month for our corporate account, they should bend over backwards - but I digress…

Needless to say, I had to go through and set up my calling profiles again, how the phone behaves when in vibrate mode, when in my holster, etc. I must say this is a rather nice feature I have not seen on other devices. I decided to try this little e-mail notification file called “sonar”.

It sounded just like the name, like a submarine pinging something underwater. After awhile, the tone began to really grate on me. I don’t really know why, but I began to detest getting e-mails on my BlackBerry. Last night I switched to a much more upbeat sound - and now… I smile a little smirk when an e-mail comes in.

Does someone love me that much to send me an e-mail? Well, I wouldn’t go that far - I’m not that desperate! It’s just another blanket invitation to another seminar on virtualization or disaster recovery, or the bestest (yes that’s right - I said best-est) MPS program just launched to help make my company a ton of money!

Oh well, I can’t tell you my ring tone will help make the company more profitable or me more excited than I already am to check an e-mail, but there is some truth in “wanting” to be there in mind and body.

Someone’s calling, are you there?

So what gets you excited? What small thing, be it a ringtone or something else, gets you motivated to do what you do?

Ken Stewart’s blog, ChangeForge.com, focuses on the collision between the constantly changing worlds of business and technology. Ken is also the Director of Technology at Kearns Business Solutions.

This weekend, the weekend before our celebrations begin in honor of our independence here in America, I found a lost feeling I had somewhat forgotten.

This weekend started on Friday much like any other, but instead of coming home to a rushed spouse and quick peck on the lips as she darted off to class, instead I came home to a wife and child eagerly welcoming me to the dinner table.  You see, this has not be the norm in my household for over a year now, and it seems odd to see this type of event now that I have grown accustomed to the distance.

We proceed to finish our dinner. After dinner we, as a family, lounged all over each other on our over-sized leather sofa while watching a wonderfully fantastic adventure, nibbling on popcorn and sipping a drink of our choice. The movie offered some scares and wows, each offering my wife and I opportunities to smile a smile of knowing love at each other only parents might know.

Friday soon passed, and Saturday morning came as usual: My wife running off to school and my daughter running into to use me as her ad hoc jungle gym. After lounging for a bit, my daughter and I managed to find our way to a friend’s wedding where my we enjoyed many smiles and excellent food. We came home to find our cozy beds and sweet dreams, to awake the next morning.

I was greeted by the banging of my daughter on our bedroom door; this has become the norm in lieu of a doorbell, I suppose. The family readied for church and had a wonderful time taking in a great lesson on patience. After service we found ourselves in the typical rush, ironically as it would seem. One might wonder if we actually paid attention.

After lunch, we parted ways as my wife made the 2 hour round trip to pick-up our monster-, aahumm, mother-in-law. I tidied up the house a bit.

At around 6 pm, we toddled on over to something our church was putting on called the “County Fair”, filled with carnival rides, great music, and free hot dogs! Several thousand people were there enjoying the festivities, and parents and teenagers alike were braving the lengthy lines in order to step onto a ride or two.

We managed to find our way through the crowds, and even met some friends and exchanged smiles and handshakes.

As nightfall began to close in, we found our way to a plush, grassy hilltop in preparation of the coming fireworks. And soon they started; booms and thunder ensued. We snuggled close to one another and covered our heads with blankets as the rain began to sprinkle our foreheads.

And in that instant, we found something digital mediums have subtly offered and still attempt to provide - a connection. It was a weekend full of emotion, both good and bad; a weekend of connections - of relationships.

You see, the digital divide is in truth just that. We have allowed ourselves to succumb to the lure of efficiency and mobility. And yes response-time, or up-time, or whatever “-time” you may want might be markedly improved. However, what I would offer is it might have come at the expense of plain ole’ quality time.

Twitter - check! FriendFeed - check!, BlackBerry - check! iPod Touch - check!, GPS navigation system - check! overly-connected - check!

Tonight I traded the noise on the net for the screams of excitement in the crowd of fair-goers; Tonight I traded the dim glow of my computer screen for the explosion of fireworks against the night sky; Tonight I found out that being disconnected is where true connectivity begins.

In the quick pauses between thunderous explosions and nibbles of cotton candy an experience is reborn anew, the human connection.

A friend at KnowTheNetwork, wrote a rather interesting opinion regarding liberty and freedom. Tsudonimh wrote:

Liberty - 1: the quality or state of being free: a: the power to do as one pleases (Merriam-Webster)

What does it mean to be a free society? Or for a citizen to possess freedom?

Liberty allows you the free will of action and speech up to the point that you infringe upon another’s liberty. The ideal of liberty is uncomfortable and uncompromising and belief in such an ideal makes me a radical in most every circle.

My response is as follows:

Tsu, I would agree with the very principal of your belief. I have become a little more jaded in the simple fact that people have forgotten a very primary component of Liberty - the responsibility and accountability that accompanies such a power as being free.

Freedom, in my humble opinion, is much like love. I can be selfish and call it love - but true love is a relationship where both partners are committed to the other selflessly. This creates restraint and borders where both parties can feel completely protected. Why? Because each party has the other’s best interest at heart.

Extend my argument to liberty: You are correct in that your freedom ends where it will infringe upon another’s liberty - but who is to decide this? The problem here is liberty works only in a society where its members are focused upon an attitude of service and selflessness - protection for each other.

Every argument in a marriage - every argument - comes from one party doing, saying, or acting in a selfish manner. As such, every conflict in history stems from another’s belief in something that is opposite from another and an unwillingness for compromise.

One thing that people have forgotten is that government is supposed to be the people. We in point of fact, live in a more socialistic culture where we have traded our rights of freedom for creature comforts - traded our liberty as currency to pay for the outsourcing of our hassles and worries.

Some efforts by our “government” have been good, but most have been stretched and twisted - resembling something wholly different than the original spirit of law intended.

Keep in mind, legalizing everything is not the answer, excusing irresponsible behavior is never the solution. Successful societies hold to the covenant of some standards - and agree to live by this social contract. Why? To preserve the greater good, to perpetuate humanity itself.

I admire your idealism, and I once to held to a standard that everyone could self moderate, but what I have been sadly made aware of through experience is that so many people do not - or worse - will not self-moderate their behavior.

What is truly sad to me is that these same abusive and selfish individuals claim it is their “right” to act in such a way as not acting in this fashion would impose upon their freedom. If you need any grander social experiment as proof, I would encourage you review a little thing called Woodstock 1967… Great ideals, but a miserable failure exemplifying self-indulgence and excess which resulted in soulless physical exchanges, malnutrition and disease.

No my friend, we are not mature enough to handle a “no holds barred” society.

Ken Stewart’s blog, ChangeForge.com, focuses on the collision between the constantly changing worlds of business and technology. Ken is also the Director of Technology at Kearns Business Solutions.

In David Allen’s book Getting Things Done, he explains the “Natural Planning Techniques” as having five distinct phases. These phases are both necessary and are part of everyone’s decision making process in some shape or fashion.

These five phases are: purpose, principals, vision/outcome, brainstorming, and organizing. As I have said many times before, I believe one of the keys in the decision process is defining purpose, or asking “why?” David goes on to say:

 

Here are just some of the benefits of asking “why?”:

• It defines success.
• It creates decision-making criteria.
• It aligns resources.
• It motivates.
• It clarifies focus.
• It expands options.

David believes that everyone wants to win. While I believe this to be generally true, I believe there is a much more fundamental reason: I believe everyone wants to know “why?”:

• Why do I need to write this new syllabus?
• Why do I need to spend time doing the dishes?
• Why am I here and why do I exist - what is my purpose?

In other words, we seek validation - validation for many things, be it something simple like, ”Am I doing a good job on a new project I’m working on?”, or something more complex such as, “Am I being the best father I can be?”

While there are many sources we look towards for validation, and each of us focuses in differing levels of consciousness on the “why” question, fundamentally we all want to know why we are doing something or why we should do something - but for some reason it doesn’t always make itself clear to us.

But is “why” good enough?

Sure you are getting data by asking why, but are you gaining actionable intelligence? The information is now in your hands to assimilate and apply. In other words, the application of your gathered information directed towards a desired outcome is required for success - required to win.

That means you not only have to know how to ask “why” questions, but why you need to ask why. You see my friends, “why” questions can help you uncover your purpose, but asking why is academic unless you are willing to trade fanciful philosophy sessions for rubber-meets-the-road execution.

Those who want to know “why” want to win. In defining purpose, we awaken to realize we are standing on a very dangerous precipice - between action and inaction; and there is a choice to be made. Should we falter in not taking action, we will most assuredly fall into the category of the loser. Asking “why” does not dictate successful outcomes but I believe David Allen said it best:

People love to win. If you’re not totally clear about the purpose of what you’re doing, you have no chance of winning.

Ken Stewart’s blog, ChangeForge.com, focuses on the collision between the constantly changing worlds of business and technology. Ken is also the Director of Technology at Kearns Business Solutions.

A friend of mine just launched a new, clean look to his website, KnowTheNetwork.com. Tsudohnimh, has been working on the new look and feel for a good while now, and I am floored by the new layout.

 Here’s a little about KnowTheNetwork:

This change has been a long time in coming and I’m thrilled to have you. I hope that you find the site more readable and inviting. There are more features on the way and you can expect new posts 3 times a week. Whether you are an old friend or just finding this site for the first time allow me to give you an overview of the best content…

Stop by and say hi, or just enjoy the great reading. It’s an odd mix of technology tricks and political opinions, but somehow it works. I trust you will enjoy the opinions as much as the facts.

Ken Stewart’s blog, ChangeForge.com, focuses on the collision between the constantly changing worlds of business and technology. Ken is also the Director of Technology at Kearns Business Solutions.

In Mark Evan’s post, Did We Get Suckered by Firefox 3?, he asks a very pointed question. Firefox topped 8 million downloads in a 24 hour period, which reports are stating could be a new world record (Chattahbox).

Mark wasn’t too pleased with Mozilla, and immediately points both barrels and fires:

Everyone likes something shiny and new so it didn’t come as much surprise to see eight million people download Firefox 3… While Firefox is becoming more popular, the reality is people who enthusiastically downloaded as soon as it was released into the wild may have been suckered.

Why is it that Mozilla has this mystique of greatness, anyway?

I’m not so sure anyone got “suckered”, and I’m not of the opinion Firefox is some messiah of browsers. For that matter, I’m certainly no fanboy of Microsoft’s Internet Explorer.

I get the impression that many almost feel as though Mozilla has some underlying obligation to fix world hunger or bring peace to the Middle East. I mean, come on! The fanatics that follow Apple or tout Google act as if they are some ’dynamic duo‘ out to stop the evils of Corporate America too.

It’s easy to get caught up in the positive spin of a company, but let’s cut the hype… Firefox is a browser just like IE, and just like Safari. I am a user who wants to surf the web, read e-mail, and conduct my business and personal affairs in a connected world. 

I will tell you that I have worked with FF 1 and 2 with no great applause. They’re OK, but interoperability with other suites in my line of business applications have been spotty. I was truly hoping FF3 would fix some of that, but it appears that in fixing some issues others have arisen.

Now that’s a shocker: a software company that has bugs in their code? No, not Mozilla. They’re curing AIDS in Africa with each download - aren’t they?

The black and white of browsers:

Listen folks, I don’t mean to downplay world events - or more importantly anyone’s role in helping others. I’m all for that. However, let’s look at this just like a business. These companies are in business. I love the competition that both Firefox and Safari bring to the table because it helped Microsoft get a clue and clean up some (I said some) of their crap code in IE.

Now speaking of code, FF3 has been all but working smoothly since I downloaded all but less than a week ago. My trusty RoboFormssoftware isn’t working properly and completely disappears at times - and let me tell you keeping track of all the passwords I have is a hassle without it. AJAXey sites don’t function very well that I can tell, like Plurk. Now who knows if that is truly Firefox or the A-Team just goofing with their code base again, but IE7 doesn’t seem to hiccup very much.

Well, maybe these are all tweaks, and maybe not. However, if I put on my, “I’m just a normal user” cap, I don’t care. I want my software to work, out of the box, with no customization. I know, call me lazy - call me idealistic, but don’t call me unrealistic!

The bottom line:

Mozilla isn’t on some grand crusade to make the world a better place by downloading their code. They are a business looking for market share. I’m sure they would be the first to tell you that if you generally want to make a difference in the world, sitting in front of their browser is not the place to be.

Oh well, I’ll wait for a .1 release to fix some of the hiccups along with my software vendors releasing some updated code as well. Until then, I’ll probably kick back to my trusty IE - sorry boys and girls.

Oh well, this is my rant on Firefox 3 for now, do you have a beef with it, or just with what I’m saying? Speak up - because I can’t hear you!

My wife and I were going through some things in the attic yesterday. We happened across a box full of keepsakes that we had placed out of sight and out of mind. We brought the box down and found some interesting things each of us had stored away.

I happened on some old Boy Scout patches and merit badges, various ticket stubs to memorable events, and some old shorts and poems I had written some long years past.

My wife took some and began to read. She handed me a crumpled page, asking if I remembered when I had written it. Instantly memories I had put away came flooding back at seeing the poem I had written to read at my Mother’s funeral.

As it is nearing her birthday, I thought I would share this with the world. Her passing left me with a weighty feeling - simpler times were gone forever. While I have found joy in the new life since her passing, each thought of her brings pangs for yesterday’s life.

Simpler times are not remembered, they only linger;

simpler things cannot recall these times of pain and words of comfort.

With whispered words within my heart,

I reflect upon and walk beneath my shaded feelings and hollowed cries.

These thoughts called to mind have now called to light

my memories of yesterday and better times.

Bathed in sunlight and its golden glow are things of joy and living hope:

A Mother’s kiss and outstretched arms,

simple words not knowing harm.

Her soul sings songs of living on, now giving light to that beyond.

It is these simpler times I now remember,

these simpler things that offer me comfort.

In times of pain my heart rejoices,

as I think of thoughts and dream my dreams of yesterday and better times -

things my Mother’s kiss and outstretched arms

- simply gave to me.

One thing in life is constant, and that is change. My life has been, and always will be, changing; the road I travel leaves me both wiser and richer, but sometimes scarred. May peace be with you, and may God’s blessings light a path in your darkest hour.

Sincerely,

Ken

photo credit to isa13

We continue our three part series on Managed Print Services: the Theory, the Tools, and the Targets. Today we will finish our series focusing upon the targets, or opportunities, which dealers predominantly focus.

As we turn towards the analysis of opportunities, it is important to note the MPS space contains a variety of strategies. The players in the space are coming from many different angels, but the underlying principal is that of “selling pages”. Overall, the theory is that a potential customer is spending money on output solutions; by managing those solutions and consolidating logistics the customer can pay less money while the MPS partner can maintain a healthy margin through economies of scale - a proverbial ”win-win” situation 

That is about as basic as it gets. From there, creativity is king and usually the market and/or situation will determine many of the variables of each engagement.

In conducting research for my company, I have recognized three general models that are present:

1. The consumables-based approach
2. The equipment-based approach
3. The hybrid approach

The consumables-based approach:

The name says most of it, but the goal here is to seed in transactional business with the eventual goal of reaping the benefit of hardware up-fits. Let’s say you are sourcing equipment and consumables (toner, ink, etc.). Partner A proposes they be allowed to help consolidate and lower costs. The methods are:

1. consolidate your approved vendor list
2. reduce the accounting headaches
3. reduce costs due to volume of business
4. no change to end-users habits (no additional training costs)
5. offer upgrade path for all hardware
6. maintain less on-hand inventory by ordering when you need.
7. possibly offer maintenance agreements on equipment.

This can be a positive improvement over unmanaged fleets of output devices and generally there are no capital expenditures required in the beginning. This allows the savings to be realized immediately.

However, there is generally no right-sizing ordevice-to-need analysis done outside of general recommendations to get rid of desktop inkjet printers in businesses. Additionally, the traditional MFP (copier) fleets are not rolled into these agreements, so there are still cost center silos.

Account management is generally compensated on transactional business, not the initial “take-down”.

The equipment-based approach:

Keep in mind we are not talking about just “slinging-boxes” here. This approach typically offsets the negatives of the consumable-based variation by offering right-sizing and/or device-to-need analysis. Additionally, service models are generally included withe Total Cost of Ownership (TCO) analysis to help offset some of the potentially negative aspects of offering only an equipment-based approach.

Additional benefits can be a standardized cost structure for both MFP (copier) and printer fleets, if the MPS Partner is worth their salt.

A very real negative to an equipment-based approach is generally the assertion that a customer’s equipment need to be replaced in order to gain a lower the advantages of a lower TCO model. At times this is not entirely bad, especially on aged output fleets. However, many customers have capitalized a good portion of the equipment they own and are stuck trying to depreciate it. By replacing everything outright they stand to take a fairly sizable hit to their balance sheet, in many situations.

This negative can be offset through financial tools like leasing, which allows the customer to gain the advantages of owning the equipment while sparing the up front hit to the balance sheet and maintain cash flow. Also, this helps to build in a technology refreshment program and allows mechanical break fix to be outsourced solely to the MPS Partner who was awarded the contract.

Some forethought is given to right-sizing, but additional equipment purchases are generally encouraged so there is a bit of a conflict of interest here to some degree.

Account management is generally compensated on the gross profit in the equipment sales, but does not share in the consumables revenue.

The hybrid approach:

This is where the true consultancy begins. The hybrid model always leads with assessment based activity in order to best understand the customer’s environment and workflows. This has all of the benefits of both the consumables- and the equipment-based approaches, as well as allowing the negatives to be almost completely offset in the hands of a skilled account manager or MPS Partner.

Imagine being able to replace those devices in need of up-fit and placing all devices under a centralized, outsourced servicing model all based upon actual usage, not projected averages. In other words, almost a pay as you go proposition.

The equipment being replaced can be immediately funded, and the lengthy business discussions regarding budget cycles and additional approvals for unscheduled equipment replacements can be avoided. Everyone can get back to their core business and not hassle with the details because the MPS partner is paid to focus on that which is core to their business - managing output devices.

Account management can be a mix of varying compensation plans. The focus here is to pay based upon generating long-term profit for the dealership and maintaining long-term, client-based relationships. These individuals or teams are not box-slingers or toner-junkies - they should be paid to manage the account.

Additionally,  you may find the development of separate teams to be worthwile, but integration between the ‘farmers’ and ‘hunters’ can be challenging.

The opportunity:

Before MPS became a well known trend, many dealers were focused on selling hardware and offering differing types of insurance plans, or simply selling residual consumables as a transactional component of the business; these strategies typically yielded limited levels of penetration into the customer account.

Equipment-based approaches were typically less penetrating because everyone needed a copier but they were a dime-a-dozen; Consumables-based approaches often missed the true value of being a consultant to the businesses they served.

The true opportunity of managed print services is staggering. With an estimated 4.6 trillion pages printed in U.S. businesses last year alone, estimates show only 3% of output fleets under any type of on-going management plan.

Customers do not want to manage output devices, but they are a necessary part of each and every business today. Everyone just wants the page to emerge, fresh and crisp, when they hit the print button. Those MPS partners that understand this core concept and respond with a comprehensive plan of action to help their clients re-focus upon their core business will realize healthy profits and a sustainable business is within reach. 

Update: Read the entire series.

My daughter and I had to make a quick trip out to the store to pickup some groceries. As we walked in, the store had a rather large collection of gumball machines. I have always thought this about as devious ploy as putting toys on the diaper isle, but it is one of the best placement techniques I’ve seen.

Before we even got in the door, my daughter began informing me that she was going to stop and look at the gumball machines (boy is her future husband in trouble). Needless to say, I didn’t see the harm because I didn’t have any quarters - so I could say no without any guilt whatsoever.

In the mix of these 10 machines, there was one that had an “out of order” sign taped on it. As my daughter walked down the line jiggling handle after handle, I informed her one of the machines was broken.

She looked back at me and told me she was going to try it anyway.

I protested, but she insisted once again. Shrugging, I figured, “What could it hurt?”

Click, click, click went the gumball machine and then I heard the most interesting thing - the plop, plop of what sounded like 2 gumballs.

She clapped her hands together in delight, and reached to open the trap door as she cupped her other hand underneath the trough… and sure enough there were 2 gumballs.

So I gave it a whirl: Click, click, click went the gumball machine and then - plop, plop. Yep, the gumball machine was broken, alright. But not in the house’s favor.

Lessons learned:

1. Never quit ‘jiggling the handle’.
2. Do not trust the labels life puts on things.

Are you the type of person who always asks why? Or do you get annoyed with the person that is always asking why?

All throughout my days in school, and 14 years in business, I have not had the pleasure of meeting nearly enough people interested asking questions.  Understanding reasons behind why or how things work a certain way- and why or how they don’t work another - is really a rare trait, I have found.

So why ask why?

Many people are satisfied with surface reasons why a process is the way it is, how a piece of software works, or why they were passed over for a promotion. Their satisfaction is superficial.

What about those individuals that ask so many questions? Are they seeking knowledge, truth, wisdom? Or are they simply just not getting it? Do you get annoyed with that one person in your office that just can’t seem to get it despite their best intentions? Come on, I know you have one in your office or workplace.

I had to ask myself that question in the recent past… and the answer I came up with was startling. The problem wasn’t with ‘the other guy’ - It was with me.

You see, even though I ask questions, I never annoy people - well not usually, do I? I’m not that guy, am I?

You see I have been on both sides of the fence. So while it is easy for me to cast stones from my pedestal of knowledge, I discovered that I was the one that did not know see the true meaning; I found that my attitude of self-service truly shut my eyes to real meaning in life. In other words, my heart and mind were not geared to help others find answers, it was geared to help me satisfy my thirst.

I found there is a better way… to ask why, and how, and always seek answers not for my personal benefit - but for the betterment of those I serve, those whom in which I place my trust, those whom I love.

You see I am now an instigator of betterment not because I can ask, “why?” Even though this trait is indeed rare, what is even more scare are those with a true sense of wonderment and desire to share.

Ken Stewart’s blog, ChangeForge.com, focuses on the collision between the constantly changing worlds of business and technology. Ken is also the Director of Technology at Kearns Business Solutions.