The PSC Group Newsletter

 Vol.9 No.15 - July 22, 2009

 In this issue:  

This Week's Theme

What is your IT and Infrastructure Maturity Level?

We frequently look to investments in technology to help us differentiate our businesses—in many cases, technology is a strong imperative for improved business performance in the modern enterprise. However, technology alone does not hold the key to business success. IT systems will not offer creative insight into new product development, will not seize opportunities for process improvement, and will not develop strong relationships with your business partners.

Technology plays an important role as an enabler to support every enterprise's most valuable asset—its people. Close alignment between business and IT objectives can help organizations deploy solutions that empower people to reach customers more effectively, harness critical business insight, and collaborate across boundaries. A people-ready business uses IT infrastructure solutions as a foundation to amplify the impact of their people, manage complexity, protect information, control access, and advance the business.

To help assure you that your IT infrastructure can help advance, rather than impede, business PSC is announcing Infrastructure Optimization (IO) assessment from Microsoft. An IO assessment offers a starting place for organizations to evaluate the current state of their IT enterprise and learn how to achieve the level of maturity appropriate for their businesses. The IO Assessment provides a personalized and private infrastructure optimization score that includes peer comparisons and value assessment.  Additionally, our comprehensive report can serve as a directional roadmap and incentive for optimizing your infrastructure.

Invest a small amount of time to build a roadmap for your Infrastructure Optimization journey and get answers to your questions.

Darryl Poore, Advisory Services Practice Leader, Kansas City

For more information on evaluating your IT and Infrastructure maturity, e-mail me at dpoore@psclistens.com or give me a call at 800-592-8003

Thought Of the Week

Being on the Leading Edge

Being on the leading edge of information technology can be a good thing, but it won’t guarantee business success.  Technology for technology’s sake is seldom the answer.  Being on the leading edge of business, however, is another story.  You have to be there and having the right leading edge technology is what makes it possible.   The question is…How do you know which information technology will make the difference?  The answer may be easier than you think.  There are the obvious questions.   How will the business benefit?  Is it something the business needs? What will it cost to implement, to support?  But the easiest question to ask is …What leading edge technology that will make your business truly different -- will separate you from your competition?   If you are in distribution, for example, having the leading accounting package will not be as important as implementing GPS enabled barcode scanners.  You get the idea.  Pick the one or two core technologies that are central to your business and make them work well together.  Don’t worry about the rest.  Seems obvious, but you would be surprised how easy it is to get distracted.

Announcements

PSC Featured in Certification Magazine

PSC's John Quirk talks about the kind of talented resources it takes to deliver successful business solutions.  Click here and go to page 30 to read the entire interview.

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IamLUG 2009 North American Lotus User Group Conference - St. Louis - August 3-4, 2009

Please join us in St. Louis for two days of Lotus knowledge sharing.  Listen to presentations by Ed Brill, John Head and other leaders in the Lotus community.  Be sure to stop by our booth and say hello.  PSC is a Gold sponsor.  Click here to learn more and to register.

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Oracle Fusion Middleware 11g Forum - Chicago - August 12, 2009

We invite you to attend the Oracle Fusion Middleware 11g Forum to find out about our latest release of the world's #1 middleware application infrastructure.  Be sure to stop by our table to hear more about how  PSC can make your business—and business applications—more agile, intelligent, and responsive.  Click here for the details and to register. 

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IBM Lotus Notes and Domino 8.5 Upgrade Workshop - Chicago- August 24-25, 2009

Please join us as part of the Midwest Lotus Users Group Conference for a free hands-on Lab Exercises and a one or two day Proof of Technology, with materials focusing on Notes® End User, Domino® Administration, and Domino Application Development enhancements in version 8.5.  Click here to register.

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Midwest Lotus User Group Conference 2009 Chicago - August 27-28, 2009

Registrations are now open for two days of an intensive exchange of knowledge and fun with other members of the Lotus community.  Meet with your fellow Lotus professionals and share your experiences and best practices.  Visit with the experts as they talk about the present and the future of Notes and Domino.  Learn more about how Lotus Collaboration technologies can improve your business.   Click here to learn more and to register.

PSC Group, LLC., headquartered in Schaumburg, Ill., is an information-technology and professional services consulting firm that specializes in providing its clients with innovative ways to maximize profitability, improve internal processes, and enhance their customer's overall experience . Since its founding in 1990, PSC has helped enterprises in the Services, Insurance, Manufacturing, Distribution, and Financial Services sectors that view IT as a strategic resource. PSC professionals provide their clients with access to current product information, technical support, advanced training programs, and future trends. PSC is a partner with many of the IT industry's leading firms and software providers. For more information, visit www.psclistens.com

It's all in the way we listen! -- North American Distributors of e-phone® IP telephony & VoIP integrated solutions for Notes and Outlook