Improved Business Efficiency Is Top Priority for Majority of IT

Posted on by gregl

According to a new annual survey of IT organizations in the U.S., 69 percent see “improving business process and efficiency” as their top priority, followed closely by “aligning IT priorities with business growth” at 61 percent, and “increasing overall productivity with new technologies” at 59 percent.

This finding was part of the IT Priorities Survey that TechRepublic and ZDNet will conduct every year as a means of tracking IT health. Indeed, with 2012 as the survey’s first year, the budget benchmark is pretty healthy.

  • More than twice as many organizations increased IT budgets in 2011 as reduced them.
  • IT budgets have gone up for 38.7 percent of organizations, stayed flat for 44.6 percent, and were reduced at just 16.7 percent of responding companies.
  • More than 20 percent of respondents increased their IT budgets this year by more than 10 percent.

Two-thirds (66.2 percent) of businesses with greater than 500 employees are lowering IT infrastructure costs, while only 44.4 percent of businesses with 49 or fewer employees have reduced their IT infrastructure costs.

Cloud Benefits Best Viewed Long Range

Posted on by gregl

Cloud computing often is seen as providing nearly immediate improvements to an organization’s bottom line. But as more enterprises migrate to the cloud, CFOs are encouraged to take a longer-range look at the benefits.

“Cloud computing gives companies of all sizes the opportunity to quickly scale their IT operations, and minimize the fixed costs traditionally associated with major implementation efforts,” writes Dallon Christensen in CFOworld. “However, moving to the cloud does present a unique set of challenges for organizations of all sizes.

“With many IT departments now reporting to the CFO, cost often becomes the key consideration during cloud implementations,” he writes. “When looking for the right cloud technologies, CFOs must focus on long-term productivity and value to their companies. Cloud computing is more than a passing fad, and companies must make sure they are focused on more than the next quarter’s financial results when making their decisions on the future of their IT operations.”

EasyStreet Keeps Its Green Data Center Trouble-Free With VYCON Clean Energy Storage Systems

Posted on by Karen Karger

Thank you to VYCON, who placed this story about EasyStreet in The Data Center Journal:

“Located in the beautiful Northwest — one of the greenest locales in North America — cloud, managed services and colocation provider EasyStreet Online Services, Inc., understands the need to make its data center operations as “green” as possible. Using wind power and flywheel energy storage, EasyStreet has a long-standing green commitment and seized the opportunity to be a beacon of how to build energy-efficient data centers.”

Read more…

Attend Our SharePoint Webinar Series: Information in Motion

Posted on by Karen Karger

Understanding SharePoint’s Key Capabilities and Deployment Options

EasyStreet and Chrysalis | BTS invite you to attend an informative three-part webinar series that will help you unlock SharePoint’s full potential.

Webinar 1: Getting Started with SharePoint
Tuesday, May 8, 10:00 a.m. PST
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‘Webinar 2: SharePoint Advanced Capabilities
Tuesday, May 22, 10:00 a.m. PST
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Webinar 3: SharePoint Deployment Options
Tuesday, June 5, 10:00 a.m. PST
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With a blend of business, technical, strategic and end-user perspectives, the Information in Motion webinar series is designed to help you unlock SharePoint’s best uses for your organization. This series is perfect for both business and technical decision-makers, experienced or new to SharePoint.