As discussed in some of our previous blogs, market indicators continued to show signs that a recessionary environment was on the horizon. Today, it became official wherein the U.S. recorded its second straight quarter GDP retraction. Preceding this news, were some unfortunate earnings reports coming from Fortune 100 companies (Walmart missed expectations on lowered forecasts). Firms are carrying unanticipated levels of inventory and are having to heavily discount to get rid of it, which are all harbingers of low growth, lower revenue and tighter margins. From our blog titled, “CEOs: #1 Action to Protect Your Organization from The Looming ...
Read More
Q-Day: The day quantum computers can render all current encryption methods meaningless. If you are not yet familiar with the terms Q-Day and PQC, you should be starting today. PQC or ‘Post Quantum Computing’ refers to the next wave of potential security headaches coming your way in the next decade if not sooner. The industry already has coined a term for it, called Q-day, which is when your current security that revolves around cryptography will be rendered irrelevant. So, this may be one area where being an early adopter has far less risk than being a laggard. The good news is that we seem to have some time to prepare for this change (more ...
Read More
There is a perfect economic storm brewing right now making it unlikely that cloud hyper-scalers like AWS, GCP and Microsoft will continue systematically lowering prices anytime soon. As inflation rises faster than it has since the late 1980s, the cost of doing business for these providers is going up, especially impacted by: High energy costs Increased cost of capital Supply chain issues (like semiconductors for example) Build and operating costs for new data centers If this period of inflation and low growth continues, it would potentially interrupt the declining price trends in cloud computing services. In the worst-case scenario, it could ...
Read More
The HCM market continues to be a growth category in technology representing over $17 billion in total worldwide spend in 2021. Global HCM players have been working feverishly to solidify and grow their base of Clients and get them locked into a platform for several years to shore up stock price and shareholder value. Like most market dominant players, these firms are more focused on driving average revenue per Client up, than they are on innovation. But with the rapid pace of change in the workforce, many customers are finding these large market players are not nimble enough to meet their needs. And if the investment money flow is any ...
Read More
We know. Making a difference can be tough in IT given the multiple layers of bureaucracy, sacred cows, and politics that is ever present in almost every organization. And of course, there are often sound and practical reasons why change is not a good idea, but what is almost always a good idea, is to at least investigate and plan for change. Only in this way are you actually ready (mentally and physically) to propose and follow through with it. So, as you read through the below items, some may sound familiar and or best practices while others could be a fresh initiative to take on that may get you on the path of significantly lowering your ...
Read More
Preface In 2007, NET(net) developed a program for Private Equity firms to improve the operational efficiencies of their portfolio companies by reducing IT costs with no diminution of business value. As our Private Equity partners went through the global financial crisis in 2008, they modified their approach to the capital markets, extending their holding horizons, and looked to make up the difference in missed returns with improved value (predicated on the operational efficiencies they created). No category performed as well as IT spend, and no partner performed as well as NET(net). In 2022, we see a similar situation as many of our clients ...
Read More
If you’re reading this article, it’s probably because you have a Microsoft Enterprise Agreement that’s about due to renew. Most of Microsoft EA’s expire / renew in June because that’s Microsoft’s fiscal year-end. Of course, here we are in late May and so the fun has barely started! A few questions to ask yourself: Did you get your renewal quotes back yet? How are you liking the massive price increases compared to your expiring deal? Happy with those? Has Microsoft been exceptionally accommodating and responsive throughout the process? If you answered yes to all the above - good. No need to keep reading. For the 99% of the rest of you, ...
Read More
At the forefront of a global recession, where business forecasts are softening, but input costs continue to increase, clients are thinking about ways they can lower the burden without damaging their businesses and are turning again towards IT cost reductions as the preferred strategy as cost savings often come with no diminution of business value. Read our recent article, “The #1 Thing CEOs Can Do to Prepare for the Global Recession” for more context. Increasingly, in the pursuit of IT Cost Savings, clients are looking for professional assistance to figure out how best to help them save. Our industry sub-segment of IT Cost Reduction ...
Read More
In 2020, the world economy shrank by 4.3%. During this time, many organizations were in ‘emergency’ spending mode to enable their enterprises with ‘Work from Anywhere (WFA)’ features for remote access and edge computing which, in many cases, resulted in sub-optimized purchasing that has only worsened over time as costs continue to rise and business forecasts continue to slow. See our previous blogs on this topic: Like a Bad Hangover, Did You Wake Up in 2022 Budgeting Season and Wonder Where Your Money was Spent? Is ‘Overspend’ Culture Impeding Your Digital Transformation Just as the global economy seemed to be bouncing back from the negative ...
Read More
We get it. You've been deluged with the advertisements on television and social media from the major wireless carriers touting their 5G roll out, with hyperbolic comparisons touting that ‘their network’ is more available and robust than the competition. Mobile phone manufacturers are pushing the availability of their devices on 5G and how life changing it will be. Articles abound from all the business forums on IoT and 5G, and what a seismic shift it will be. 5G is also propelling this notion of Industry 4.0, and how it will accelerate that process. All this promise is, well, promising. But in the real world of managing a business, growing ...
Read More
