Archive for technology
Sustainability Story Will Be Written By Technologists
Posted by: | CommentsThe Greater Richmond Technology Council’s Sustainability Summit on Wednesday, Nov. 12, 2008 led a series of conversations about a variety of sustainability/green topics, from carbon footprint and energy resource management to implementing and best practices for ‘going green’. The discussions, led by business technology experts, touched on IT issues, but were really driven by the recognition that sustainability is a business responsibility enabled by technology.
In all of those conversations, panelists made similar points:
-Sustainability programs are becoming a business imperative, and not just for PR reasons
-Sustainability initiatives can deliver operational efficiencies with clear bottom-line value
-Getting buy-in across the enterprise is the first step to meaningful sustainability efforts
-Technology/IT has become a leading force in enterprise sustainability programs
In his opening remarks to the Summit, Gov. Tim Kaine said that 25% of all development in Virginia has happened in the last 30 years. The state is losing 60,000 acres of open space every year, putting pressure on one of the state’s leading economic sectors: agriculture. These facts make it imperative to develop a statewide environmental policy, which is under development. The Commonwealth has developed an energy plan, with buy-in increased due to rising energy costs. "Low cost doesn’t encourage conservation," said Gov. Kaine, noting that 2009 has been designated as the "eco-year" for his administration.
Gov. Kaine is pressing the Southern Governors’ Association, whose members include 16 southern states, to adopt a regional climate change accord, matching efforts by other regional governors’ associations. This would help to address the concerns of two major industries in the Commonwealth, agriculture and forestry, both of which are highly vulnerable to climate change.
The Summit’s panel discussion "How Big Is Your Carbon Footprint?" explored the importance of determining an enterprise’s carbon impact – the first step in developing a sustainability plan. "Green" calculations have become a regular feature of RFPs, making meaningful data collection and carbon output management a requirement for ongoing business development. The economic landscape dictates change in how business approaches sustainability, which technology & IT can help drive as a central part of 21st century enterprise.
The Carbon Footprint discussion was led by Guy Chapman, Managing Director of Dominion Resources, with input from:
-Steve Cole, Program Strategy Director, IBM Energy & Environment, IBM: discovering an enterprise’s carbon footprint, and then working to reduce it, can create a competitive advantage in addition to environmental benefit.
-David Lobato, Laserjet Business Sustainability & Environmental Programs Manager for the Imaging & Printing Group, Hewlett-Packard: as simple a step as duplex printing, rather than single sheet, can save as much as 800 tons of carbon emissions annually for a mid-sized company.
-Dennis Tracz, Director, James Madison University Center for Entrepreneurship: sustainability has become a new study discipline at the JMU School of Engineering, whose graduates will bring new ideas and new business opportunities to the marketplace.
-Kevin Xiao, a senior at Maggie L. Walker Governors School: Xiao created a carbon emissions calculator that allows individuals to determine the carbon impact of their homes, schools, and workplaces, which helps create awareness and spur positive action to reduce emissions.
The second Summit panel discussion, "Implementing & Best Practices for Going Green", looked at specific ways that companies are approaching sustainability initiatives. Led by Jeff Ziegler, President & CEO, TechTurn, the panel gave real-world examples of their company’s sustainability efforts and results:
-Kevin Gerber, President & CEO, Packet360: sustainability is an enterprise-wide practice. Intelligent data centers sense load decreases, helping decrease power consumption by consolidating virtual machines and enabling them to power off large parts of the data center in off-hours.
-Mike Magruder, Data Center Support Specialist, Federal Reserve Information Technology: consolidation and virtualization are where FRIT has seen the biggest impact, and has driven 80% of the cost savings delivered by green initiatives. What started as a power cost-savings effort helped FRIT realize how big their carbon impact was, driving ongoing efforts at reduction.
-Jim McGlone, VP Sales, Tridium: automated systems that enable communication and power conservation across all platforms of an enterprise can deliver a daunting amount of data, making both monitoring and management a challenge. However, that level of awareness can help get a 20% reduction in resource usage, in addition to the value derived from process automation.
-Jean Peters, Senior VP Strategic Analysis & Planning, Genworth: what started as a voluntary effort, led by an ad hoc committee, has become a complex journey to finding the business value in sustainability. The company has seen a big reduction in power consumption annually (900,000 kilowatts), and has fostered a company-wide culture shift that embraces ongoing carbon reduction efforts.
The third panel, "Energy – Conservation vs. Reliability", discussed how rising demand for IT has added to the drive for energy efficiency. Jeff Zeigler of TechTurn led this conversation, with input from experts in power distribution equipment and data management:
-Dave Rubcich, Director of Sales, Emerson Network Power/Liebert: demand for IT has driven development of power management for running and cooling data centers. Centralization trends have increased demand for ways to control the impact of managing large amounts of data.
-Dennis Tolliver, ISS/Blade Specialist, Hewlett-Packard: deploying Blade servers can help a company shave 30% off the power costs of their data center. Virtualization and software management allows flexible IT asset usage and reduction of physical asset inventory.
-Mark Wensell, VP & GM, Peak 10: data centers have been accused of increasing carbon emissions, but the reality is that aggregating data operations reduces carbon emissions by creating efficiencies, while controlling the data environment, security, and liability.
George Favolaro, Managing Partner, Esty Environmental Partners, gave the Summit keynote address. Favolaro noted that sustainability has become a hot-button issue, particularly for business. Asking the question "why green business?" leads to discoveries in the impact of energy prices, energy security, regulation, and climate change on both a company and its customers. Examining that impact brings process change and efficiencies, product development, revenue savings, reputation enhancement, and brand loyalty.
Managing the entire supply chain is critical, creating a cycle of leadership from suppliers through operations to planning. In the work Esty Environmental Partners does with companies such as American Eagle outfitters, Hanes Brands, Nestle Waters, Dow, and TechTurn, Favolaro has seen how doing something as basic as standardizing the boxes that products are shipped in can have a significant impact on reducing a company’s carbon footprint.
The common themes repeated in every conversation at the Summit – that "green" is becoming a business imperative, that sustainability programs can drive operational efficiencies and revenue savings, that culture change is critical to putting a "green" initiative in place, that technology is helping business create meaningful reductions in carbon emissions – indicate that sustainability has become a core issue for 21st century business. As IT has merged into all aspects of enterprise, it has become a driver of both the power of business data, and the importance of environmentally responsible business practice.
David & Goliath…and Storytelling
Posted by: | CommentsDavid and Goliath – the little guy vs. the behemoth. Every small electronics retailer looks at Best Buy and wishes for a good slingshot. Wal-Mart opens down the street, and even Food Lion can start to feel like a small player.
You’re a small business owner. Definitely a David. You believe you’ve uncovered and crafted your business’ best story. The one that you just know will have the world – or at least a stampede of customers – beating a path to your door. You weave it into all your marketing materials, your advertising, your web presence, and you’re using the core elements every time you get a chance to talk about your business.
Let’s say you’re a small IT services company. Do you have competition?
Does McDonald’s have hamburgers?
Not only do you have to compete against your marketplace’s Goliaths, but also against the host of Davids – small companies like your own. You also have to pay close attention to all the elements of the story you’re telling, and extremely close attention to the parts of your story being told by your customers.
It may seem that your story, and the story of every other "small IT services company" David in the known universe, would be the same, right? Wrong. Remember, this story about your company is really about you, your team, and your philosophy. Your story has to truthfully communicate to your potential customer a clear idea of what kind of experience they’ll have doing business with you.
What can they expect when they call your company? What approach do you take toward figuring out the best answers for your customers needs? Who’s doing the happy dance when your company’s name is mentioned? And…who ISN’T doing the happy dance? This last one is often overlooked, and it could be the rock to the forehead that takes your business down.
The same rules hold for mega-enterprise, too – just on a much larger scale. Managing customer expectations is just as critical to a Goliath as it is to you. Wal-Mart tells a story: every-day low prices. Microsoft tells a story: software for every possible use and user. Your story needs to communicate as clearly, and you need to pay even closer attention to customer feedback than the big dudes do. Your company might not end up having to monitor a site like walmartsucks.com, but if you don’t listen to and manage customer problems at their outset…well, I hear getting hit in the head with a rock really hurts. Can really put you out of action. Sometimes permanently.
One of the pitfalls of being a Goliath is that every David in the world is out there revving up his slingshot, just aching for a chance to let fly and take you down. However, David also needs to watch his back. Failing to tell a true story, not dealing immediately and fairly with customer problems, ignoring team morale issues – all of these are potential business-killers. There are plenty of stones out there, and plenty of slingshots in the hands of your competition.
Bottom line? Even if you think of yourself as a David, you have Goliath’s weaknesses if you’re not paying close attention to the whole story being told by your company.
That’s my story, and I’m stickin’ to it.
How Technology Is Revolutionizing the Trucking Industry – GetLoaded.com
Posted by: | CommentsHere’s an example of what I mean when I say “tell a story” – this is a press release I wrote last week in advance of an event that took place this morning. Please notice that at no time during this release is anyone “pleased to announce” anything- that phrase literally makes me grind my teeth.
Richmond, VA –- July 12, 2007 – Truckers, those sailors of the concrete and asphalt seas, are at the hub of American commerce, carrying everything – groceries and clothing, plasma TVs and medical supplies – from manufacturers and distributors to consumers across the nation. The margins in the trucking industry are razor-thin, with time between loads and fuel costs often eating into already small profits. The daily challenge for trucking companies is matching freight loads with trucks nearby, cutting down-time and empty-truck runs. In 1999, GetLoaded.com opened its web portal as a truck and load-matching board, using the internet to revolutionize business process management for the transportation and logistics industry.
Bryan Jones, President of GetLoaded.com, will tell the Greater Richmond Technology Council (GRTC) how the company has combined the internet with a cutting edge computer platform and a user–friendly interface to revolutionize the trucking and freight industry. Mr. Jones will be the featured speaker at the monthly GRTC Good Morning Technology! Breakfast at The Place at Innsbrook in Glen Allen, Virginia on Friday, July 20, 2007, 7:30am to 9:00am.
As the leading internet load board, Getloaded.com handles over 140,000 loads a day for 27,000 trucking companies with upwards of 500,000 trucks. Managing and growing that volume of business, and providing value to all their customers, tech-savvy or not, has been GetLoaded.com’s goal since the company was started.
“We designed the site to be simple, fast, and easy to use, knowing that there is a wide range of comfort with technology in our industry,” says Jones. “Overall, the trucking industry is far more technology savvy than most people realize.” Truckers who have used GetLoaded.com to accelerate their own success include Chris Doran of LTD Trucking, who credits his relationship with GetLoaded.com as the reason his company grew from five trucks to thirty in six months.
The GRTC’s July breakfast is sponsored by Peak 10 Data Center Solutions. Peak 10 Richmond specializes in managed hosting services for businesses with complex needs and mission critical operations. Its world-class Richmond data center is staffed by skilled engineers and support personnel to ensure the security, integrity and availability of its customers’ technology infrastructure 24 hours a day, seven days a week.
The Greater Richmond Technology Council is an association of businesses and organizations working together to promote the success of technology companies, and the growth of the technology sector of the Central Virginia economy.
