February 25th, 2010 by Al
Support people get all kinds of support requests. Variety is the spice of life, wouldn’t you say?
Caller: “Good Morning, our printer is not working.”
Support: “What’s wrong with it?”
Caller: “The dam mouse is jammed.”
Support: “Mouse? Printers don’t have a mouse you fool!”
Caller: “Mmmmm, Oh really? …. I’ll send you a picture.
Support hangs up, a minute later an email arrives with the picture.
February 25th, 2010 by Al
If you’re an employee, “Are you on the lookout for goods and services that may save money for your company?”
I ask that for a reason.
In being involved with the upkeep and maintenance of the Technology Infrastructure for a billion dollar company for over 12 years, I understood one thing: In a department that is referred to as overhead, you better deliver and add value, or your job will disappear like smoke.
There is symbiotic relationship at work here. The company must provide quality products and services for it’s customer, and drive profits for it’s shareholders. There is a business aspect to the terms of my then employment. As I my career grew through promotions, I had to keep an eye on what was happening in the business and adjust my orientation. I had to look out for the business, and be on the lookout for ways to drive down cost in the strategies we sought to implement.
I had numerous vendors and suppliers.
Some were excellent to deal with, others, well, enough said.
One in particular was a veep of his company. A hard worker and never ceased to present killer deals for me to consider. I’d say, he was on my “A” list. I knew if I need any piece of gear, this guy would find it, and present a deal that would blow others away.
You respect that kind of a person. I know I did.
One day, I was trying to figure out how I would meet the demands of an ever growing database system. We needed another Storagae Array–ours was at capacity. So we called the main supplier, who also was the manufacturer.
The suits came and presented their top-line product, with all the trimmings. When the quotes came in, we’re talking $525K with 3 years of support, the enthusiasm for the project dropped. Numerous discussions and debates ensued, but the number didn’t budge. I was frustrated, as was my boss, when my “A” list buddy called. We had lunch and he told me, “Let me see what I can do..” and we left it at that. A few days later, he sent me a quote that floored me. We would have enough storage to last us the 3 years remaining on the product life-cycle, and was actually faster than our current array.
The quote in hand, I excitedly presented it to my CIO. We immediately went into conference, and began drafting a counter-offer. I forwarded it to my friend and he said, “Let’s do it.”
We brought it in-house for $275K with 3 years of support.
Working with my friend, and my CIO was the most memorable part of my career. We worked seamlessly and a team and pulled this off. If I’d blew this off, we would have overspent eventually, and something else would have been cut from the budget, namely, jobs.
Many people serve as a first line defense to decision makers, it’s understandable. But they somehow also see it as their responsibility to be rude and crude to visitors. But they do so–at their own peril. I guarantee you that one day this reactive way of dealing with visitors, will affect you.
How do you know if that person in front of you is capable of saving your company time and money? Are you really qualified to make that call?
Even in situations where I knew I had no capacity to make such a call, I would always discuss it with my peers, and then kick it up the line.
I’m glad I didn’t do this with my vendor. Our businesses relationship helped our careers in many ways. All by deciding to be proactive instead of reactive with one another.
Which one are you?
© Al Ardon IT Strategies Inc. 2010
November 12th, 2009 by Al
The other day, I really pulled a lousy stunt. Usually, I am very careful around my MBP, especially with drinks, but obviously that didn’t apply this last Monday because I knocked over my coffee on the keyboard. Not a whole lot, but enough to hose up the keyboard. I was able get it shut down in time so the mainboard was saved.
I’ve bought from this company who specializes in Mac parts and was able to buy another replacement keyboard. While I was at it, I decided to add another GB of RAM. So, that will be nice. But, I hate to be without my computer and I wasn’t too sure that the keyboard would solve my problem, so I took a look at getting another computer for the business. I bought a 27″ iMac with 4gigs of RAM and a TB of space. It’s one I’ve been lusting after for some time now.
Take a look:
I’ll post a review once I get it and play around with it a bit.
October 8th, 2009 by Al
As you can see, it’s been some time since I’ve posted. What I want to do is bring you up to date with what’s happening with me. Back in July, I began volunteer work at Harrison Medical Center in Bremerton. It’s once a week, originally schedule to visit patients for 3-4 hours on Tuesdays but in reality, I haven’t spent one Tuesday–less than 8 hours.
My mentor once told me that time is your most precious inventory and I believe him. Because you can’t give any better gift to someone else, than your time. I can’t tell you how this has enriched my life.
While most are still wrapped up on whether we’re still in a recession or not, I’ve been pleasantly distracted by spending time with patients and families who may not have much time left.
Oh, I’ve managed to make a few sales and as my schedule smooths out some, I’m hoping to earn more business in the near future.
BTW, there’s a new business in the town of Poulsbo. Actually he’s just moved his his store from Silverdale. The company is EmbroidMe and the owners name is Peter Newkirk. I spent the morning talking to him about having some shirts embroidered. He’s a great guy and competitive. He’s located at:
20714 State Hwy 305 Suite 1F, Poulsbo WA. 98370
(360) 598-6250
You can tell him I sent you.
October 8th, 2009 by Al
Trying to get back into the grove of writing again so I thought I’d start off with what I did today. I met with some nice folks at the Bremerton Chamber of Commerce for breakfast sponsored by Land Title Company and to hear from the Research Librarian Peggy Branaman. It was an informative session concerning 2 new resources available to card holders for the Kitsap Regional Library.
Research databases are helpful to anyone with a business.
You can reach these databases by going to Kitsap Country Regional Library Web Site and clicking on KRL Resources, then Research and More.
Enjoy!
July 11th, 2009 by Al
I wanted to share with you a wonderful testamonial from Silvia Klatman of the Bremerton Chamber of Commerce. Recently, I had the opportunity to work with them on a network/phone cut-over from one ISP to another.
Here’s what she had to say:
“Al Ardon Consulting is not only knowledgeable about several computer and phone systems, Al is flexible and was willing to work around our cable provider’s schedule to ensure our cutover from DSL to Cable was as seamless as possible. He had our seven workstations and server moved over in minimum time. Thank you, Al!”
Your welcome Silvia, it was a pleasure. I’m a new member of the Chamber and so far, it’s been a great experience. I get to meet different business owners, discuss their plans and dreams and help them see how technology helps them to fulfill them by expanding their business.
If you’re business owner and not part of the Chamber, you need to get involved. People like Silvia Klatman and Frank Gentile will help jump start your business through networking and they love doing it.
July 9th, 2009 by Al
Working on a client PC this morning and discovered the system needs over 27 system updates. Many of which are security related. In order to install the security software, the system must be completely updated. Folks, system security is nothing to take lightly. July 7th, Microsoft notified the community of another security hole in their Internet Explorer browser. This should give you an indication that unless the value of your data is “zero” you should be keeping up with not only system updates, but making sure your security software data files are up to date.
If you need help with me, shoot me an email or call for an analysis.
July 7th, 2009 by Al
This past Tuesday morning I turned on my desktop computer ready to tackle the day. After hearing the familiar “bing” on my iMac, I was ready to dig in. Then, the sound all computer owners dread to hear…
BONG…BONG…BONG
Accompanied by a steel gray screen and the repetitive “bongs,” I am smart enough to know this is no good. After making several frantic calls, I drove down the Best Buy where I’d purchased my Mac with my protection guarantee firmly in hand. The Geek Squad guy dressed in white short-sleeved shirt, black tie, and dangling earring informed me, “I think it’s either the motherboard or RAM. We can ship it to Apple and they will fix it. It’s still under warranty, but it will be two weeks.”
Two weeks! As a sole practitioner consultant, this is what disaster means to me. I consult clients on being prepared for a disaster and having a game plan in place. It was time to see how sound mine was.
Feeling pretty good that my Time Machine back-up was firmly in place I came home and did some homework. My regular tech guy is out of the country on vacation (you can’t make this up) so I called Apple Support. I just made the switch to Apple so the iMac is the only Mac in the house. I have three other PC’s to choose from. Unfortunately, the Apple guy tells me, “Sorry. Time machine only restores data to another Mac.” OUCH!
The next day, I have no other choice but to head back to Best Buy to purchase a Mac Book. I couldn’t wait two weeks. Although I had internet access through our wireless, I had done a poor job of backing up my calendar and tasks. I wasn’t sure where I was supposed to be the next day! Bottom line, I needed to get the lap top. I knew I would need one in another two months with both daughters being gone to school so might as well bite the bullet.
I unwrapped my new Mac Book and decided that I could probably figure out how to transfer my backup files. How hard could it be? Hard enough for me to erase our wireless network, open things that shouldn’t be opened, and cause more stress than I ever needed. Fortunately, my goodfriend Al Ardon is a new IT consultant who lives only 20 minutes away. He generously came over at 6:00 pm to see if he could save me and clean up my mess.
June 18th, 2009 by Al
An interesting article in the Kitsap Peninsula Journal (http://www.kpbj.com) this month about this. I fled the PC world in ‘06, trading my Dell for a MacBook Pro. Three years later I’ve no regrets. Upgrading to MacOS Leopard was the most seamless Operating system upgrade I’ve ever done. I’ve used it to provide after-hour support for the corporation I previously worked for and use it now to support my present clients.
Here’s an excerpt of the article:
Is it time for IT department to learn the Mac?
Could embracing Mac skills propel your career forward if more corporate IT departments decide they need to support this platform?
By Deb Perelman
From eWeek Online Mac skills have long been seen as superfluous for IT professionals; Apple platforms are rarely used in medium and large enterprises, and not even the release of the OS X operating system chipped away at Windows’ claim on the IT department. Yet some observers feel that this is set to change. Between October 2007 and January 2008, two dozen researchers at IBM participated in an internal pilot program designed to investigate the possibility of migrating employees to the Mac platform. At the end of the trial, 86 percent of the testers asked to continue using their Macs, leading IBM to plan to expand the pilot to 100 users by the end of 2008. <<More Here>>
June 16th, 2009 by Al
For more information, contact:
Al Ardon
Al Ardon IT Strategies, Inc.
Phone: (360) 881-0546
Email: al@alfredgardonconsulting.com
Al Ardon IT Strategies Opens in Kingston
New firm offers innovative technology and risk management solutions
Kingston, WA (June 15, 2009) Al Ardon, an IT expert and professional consultant is pleased to announce the founding of Al Ardon IT Strategies, Inc., an innovative new IT support and risk management company. IT Strategies offers solutions to challenges faced by both businesses and individuals, including services related to server management, security and risk management, risk analysis and assessment based on sound practice and standards. We work with technologies that best fit the specific need of your business.
Al Ardon, principal and founder, has nearly 2 decades of experience within the Information Technology industry and was formerly a Staff Systems Engineer at Fluke Electronics in Everett, specializing in support and maintenance of enterprise database servers and storage area networked arrays. Ardon is an active member with Poulsbo’s Little Norway Toastmasters and Chambers of Commerce for both Silverdale and Bremerton.
For more information, contact Al Ardon at (360) 881-0546; (360) 881-0547 (fax); or by email: al@alfredgardonconsulting.com. Please also visit my website at http://www.alardon.com or my blog at http://alfredgardonconsulting.com.
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