Ahhhhhhh to Argggggggg to WOW I want that!

Life in the mountains.  Ahhhhhh

Doing business in the mountains.  Arrrggggg

Face to face time is still essential to business.  I guess we could video chat but it is not the same as a good sales pitch and a hand shake.


The things that are needed for presentations like monitors, computers, projectors, samples, information sheets, price lists, credit apps, well the list goes on all need to go with you because the population in the West and in the mountains are few and far between.

Now after creating that list and you put it all together.  You look at your car, or your luggage for the next plane.


NO WAY is that all going to fit.  Now comes the balancing act of what to bring and what to leave behind..

Let's start with all of the paper you wanted to bring.

Now you can load all of your files from you desk top to your laptop or even better put it on a thumb drive.


You would still need to bring your laptop to get your files off of the thumb drive.  


Maybe you could use a computer at your destination to get to the files on your thumb drive? 

What if you lost your thumb drive?


What if your laptop fell and you were not able to reboot?

CRAP!


Here is a thought.


The company you work for has many departments, they all have meetings, and updates to products and services are changing daily.


The Corporate office would make changes and updates available to you through an access point on the Internet.


You are now getting the latest greatest form versions, up-to-date prices, and the whole sales force are selling from the same information.
WOW!


You could leave your desk top computer on your desk top, your lap top computer at home.
You would only need to pack your smart phone and your tablet.(iPad 2) for all of your paper that you would usually bring with you.

The information portal would be information from the corporate office and it would be available in the "Cloud" Internet portal.  Your information is encrypted on servers using 256-bit AES and there is a user name and a password is given to you to access the files that you need.  


The Corporate office would manage their users, groups and access permissions. Monitor file and user activities.


Still with me?   Let's add the ability for you to access all of your orders, contracts, POs, and interactions with a client from this portal.  AND you were able to sign a document right on your iPad and have it sent directly to the Corporate office.

WOW!


One more thing.  If your office had a natural disaster and you needed all of your information, this portal would have everything you need.

I'll tell you that today..... it is possible.


Now for the rest of the stuff in your pile.
Bring the "Best of the Best" and leave the rest.


Give a good hand shake, and look 'em in the eye.


If you would like to know more about how to manage your information and collaborate with co-workers, the office, and with clients with security and ease, contact me at Mountain Scanners. 


 Let me know what you are trying to do with your information and we will come up with a plan the will work for your specific need(s)_.




Jon Zalinski
Jon@Mountain-Scanners.com
www.Mountain-Scanners.com

The Silver Bullet for Business

Just by clicking on this and reading this short post tells me that you are searching for some competitive advantage to what  you are doing now and you are trying to figure out how to make the future brighter.

No, it is not a Coors product for business.

Did you think SharePoint was or is your Silver Bullet?
I have heard support payables for SharePoint exceed the purchase price for the software itself.

ECM is a buzz acronym that is thrown around like a dirty tissue.

How do you make sense of it all?  Do you trust the sales guy giving you "the pitch"?
No way!?

I would tell you to focus on what business problem are you trying to solve.
For example:
Are you trying to rubber stamp you brand message look and feel?
Are you trying to collaborate on a project with employees all over the county?
Are you trying to automate business processes for all of the ways you work with paper today?
What is it that you are trying to address?

I would say that you are now searching for specialized Silver Guns rather than a Silver Bullet.
Need to hit a stationary long range target or is your target of short distance and on the move?

Most westerns show a fella with a side arm of some sort AND a rifle.

I would say that you should do the same.

For more information about your specific industry check our our website and look under the "solutions" tab.
www.mountain-scanners.com
or you can contact me at Mountain Scanners.
Jon@Mountain-Scanners.com

Follow this blog for more insights.
Thanks,
Jon Zalinski

What is most important asset to manage in your SMB?

What is most important asset to manage in your SMB?

Information – Build an information management strategy based on your informational governance framework.

It will position your business for growth.

Here’s how…

Target: Business owners without a CIO.

The role of a CIO: Chief Information Officer is responsible for reducing the overload of the sum of information and increasing the throughput of the valuable information.

Who decides what is VALUABLE?  Start here.

               Owners/ Executives

               Finance/ Bookkeeper/ Accountant

               Legal/ Fed/ State/ Compliance/ CYA/ Lawyer

               Users/ Employees/ People you work with and work for

What information matters most to them? 

What business processes are supported?

What is the timeliness, relevancy, accuracy, consistency, of this information?

What is the knowledge value of all of the information that you incorporate in your day-in and day-out duties?

By asking these questions to your “information stakeholders” you are creating a team that will value different information differently, but now you are shedding light on what information is an assest to your company and why.  Now it is a matter of asset management tied to business process and business outcome.

Therefore, you started asking questions and getting more answers.  What do you do next?  What is the next step?

Create a strategy model that will be your guide.

·        Identify key stakeholders who understand the risk and reward potential of restructuring valuable information.

·        Ensure the strategy includes activities, deliverables that support and facilitate or otherwise add value to the current business goals.

·        Tie the strategy to business outcomes that everyone agrees are business goals.

·        Make sure the scope is very clear.

Now you can decide from among all of the different types of information, the different people who consume it, and the regulators who may be interested in it, and deliver value by managing the parts that you are able and guiding the information towards a strategy that delivers value.  This information (asset) should now flow toward the people, the processes, and the business outcomes that are most important to the business outcome.

Each stakeholder can split their information into thirds.

 1/3 Valuable

 1/3 Not So Valuable

 1/3 No Value

Once you have gathered this information and picked it apart from all of your stakeholders, you can then build your information governance framework for your company. 

This process is a building block toward “information agility” and ultimately and information strategy that provides the ability to deliver the right information, at the right time, to the right person or people, in the right format, for the right reason.

By striving to achieve “corporate information agility”, you will position your company and its information strategy to grow valuable information that will in-turn grow your business.

I will take this a step further.

Now look across your business as a whole.  Consider that timely accurate information will always yield timely accurate business decisions and results.  How about the risk and reward potential of information by merit?  Timeliness = Value   How about search?  Think of it in terms of content and data quality.  How about Analytics?  The idea of optimizing the way you process your analysis.  How about access?  Stakeholders can now access the right information for the right reasons.

Now you have flipped your IT department from the NO department to the YES department.  You are essentially enabling your stakeholders while controlling the risk.

You are now in control from a risk context, but more importantly you are “in the driver’s seat” from a reward context.

Start your engines.  You’re back in the driver’s seat.

If you would like more information about how to establish your company's information governance framework or would like to work on your information strategy, please visit our website www.mountain-scanners.com or you can send me an email.  jon@mountain-scanners.com

Jon Zalinski

Mountain Scanners

Better Your Business

What if you could access all of your files on your cell phone.  Would an iPad help you at work?  What if your business forms were all digital?  What if you could cut down your keystrokes?  How about using a scanner to process invoices?  How about real time data transfer on a secure site that you can access anywhere or any time?



WORK SMARTER-  Is a phrase that you hear and say to yourself that makes sense, but you do nothing about. Why?  Fear?  I don't know why.  I ask you to think about what you do- your daily duties.  How do you complete those tasks?  Is there a way to do them better or smarter?  What would you need for this to happen?

Ok, still think about that?  Make a "what if" list.  The list might be split into columns.  The first column would list the things that you could do, let's say, smarter.  The second column would be the things you needed to enable you to work smarter.  The third column would be the cost associated with that solution.  Most people stop there.  I would say add a 4th column.  The 4th column would be the benefit column.  This could be saving 5 minutes per day, or increase speed. or even cost savings.

This 4th column is the one to concentrate on.  Associate a cost to your "work smarter" list.  Break this down to the immediate cost benefit and multiply that for a month and then a year.

Organize this list by cost savings and get to it.

Ask each person in your department to do the same.  Review your lists and pick 3 things to move on.  Commit to it and make it happen.  Your business and your staff will thank you for formulating some direction that improves their working conditions, improves the inner workings of the business, and saves the company money.




If you would like to learn more ways of how we can help your business,
please visit our website http://www.mountain-scanners.com
or
Email me
jon@mountain-scanners.com

Jon Zalinski
Mountain Scanners

Super Bowl Businesses

Hi and welcome to the Super Bowl of Businesses!

VS.

Mature  vs. Young
New vs. Old
"Always on the move" vs. "up the middle slow and go"
Restrictive vs. Agile
Making adjustments in the field vs. Getting to the office to decide
In House vs. In The Cloud
No vs. Yes IT

Here we go.  It is the First quarter of a long game for 2011.  Who will win?  Either side plays the game very differently.  I see an emerging quality to successful businesses and it effects their future recruiting as well.

To put a solid team together for the next three quarters and even into the years to follow, companies that get to the "Big Show" are the ones that utilized their tools.

Ok, I can't go on with the metaphor any longer, but you get it.  Companies the rely on legacy systems might make it to see 2012 but they are not positioned to gain momentum and market share for the years to come.  The rest of the market are gaining market share by meeting their internal and external needs through the use of some intelligent tools.

Information technology is exploding with apps, cloud options,  hardware devices, and users are bringing them to work.  The Work Place better keep up.  The ones that do will grab the new up-and-comers that will help propel the business even further.

Ask yourself when you go to work tomorrow. 
What technology to I use at home that I do NOT use at work?
Now ask...What if I could?
Put a team together and ask this question.  Then come up with ways to use that technology at work.

If you are having trouble coming up with answers give me a call.
We are always coming up with solutions for our clients.  We will find a solution that meets your needs.
Because that is what we do.

For more information, visit our website. http://www.mountain-scanners.com/
Or you can contact me jon@mountain-scanners.com

Jon Zalinski
Mountain Scanners

1 2 3 ... 789

I just read a "How To" article.  Most of what I read are information management topics.  As I read, I felt that it started slow and then skipped the middle and ended real fast. 

I am in the industry and I could understand what I was reading, but thought that if someone outside of the industry where to read this it would go right over their head.  The opportunity to connect with a potential customer or/and existing user was wasted.

So I would like to take a stab at a "How To" post.  I will try to keep it simple and cohesive.

How to start managing your organization's information with the technology of today.

1. What technology exists that my company would benefit from?
2. How much does it cost?
3. How will the company manage and store this information?

I will list a few web sites that you may want to look up.  These are companies that help mange information.  (Probably faster, and cheaper than you do now.) Check youtube as well.

1. http://www.box.net/   Video
2. http://www.laserfiche.com/
3. http://www.filebound.com/
4. http://www.dropbox.com/  Video
5. http://www.salesforce.com/  Video
6. http://www.zoho.com/  Video
7. http://www.lincware.com/  Video

Most of these websites have pricing info available on their website.  If they do not I am able to get you that info.

And to answer that last question of ...How will the company manage and store this information?
You probably have the hardware already.  You may want to look at the new hardware available.  Like an iPad or some newer smartphones.  Maybe a document scanner for your laptop or office.
For in-house server based solutions you may need to verify your computer's operating systems, space and speed requirements.

There is a whole industry dedicated to information management and there are companies out there the will listen to your specific needs.  They will come back to you with multiple options that will meet your needs.  This will cut down on your time and frustration trying to figure all of this out on your own.

Usually this consultation is FREE!  It would be worth a few meetings to get a better grasp on what they recommend and how it would work in your company.

If you would like a Free consultation from Mountain Scanners?  You can get in touch with me here.
jon@mountain-scanners.com
If you would like more info on Mountain Scanners?  Visit our web site http://www.mountain-scanners.com/
Thanks.

A four letter word that might help business.

I have recently started to think that every company "levels off".  They hit a plateau and stay there.  So then I ask "Why?".  Why does this happen, and why do other companies, doing the same thing, grow?
 
One of my conclusions is that these companies have different tolerances for risk or change.  RISK is the four letter word.  Let me explain. 
 
Would your business invest, let's say, 10k today knowing that your ROI (return on investment) was 6 months?  What if it would save your company money on month 7 and every month after.  Would you do this for your business?
 
Most would say "Yes".  I'd do that. 
 
Now what if that 10k investment involved 4 meetings that took an hour each. 
 
Now from these meeting you discover that every employee will change their duties just a bit.
 
Would you still invest the 10k?
 
If there was a pause there, you most likely will not invest the 10k, and would not move your business from where it sits today. (Company B)
 
If you didn't even blink and said "yes" about the 10k investment because it will save or make your company money in the same year, then you have a higher risk tolerance.  Your company will move from where it sits today into a more progressive position. (Company A)
 
This higher risk tolerance will propel the Company A beyond the Company B.
 
I am suggesting that if you could increase your risk tolerance that you will see a break in your plateau.
 
Train yourself into recognizing plateaus in your business and try different ways to break through. 
Repeat this pattern for every plateau.
 
So your business looks something like this.
 

Open yourself up to some risk and learn what your company can do. 

If you would like to find out more about Mountain Scanners, please visit our website.

http://www.mountain-scanners.com/

If you have a question for me, just send me an email.

jon@mountain-scanners.com

Jon Zalinski