By Steven Karachinsky, CEO, Stack8
In today’s business environment, one thing is certain: all companies need to get the most out of their investments. And that includes investments made in technology. What happens when the time and resources required to manage your technology precludes you from progressing and getting value from your investments?
It’s a question that many companies face, and previously, not one that was easily answered.
But to get to the answer, we need to start with the problem. And without a doubt, one of the biggest problems facing businesses I speak with is finding the time to invest in and get the most out of their Unified Communications (UC) solutions. Why? They simply don’t have the staff or the bandwidth to turn on the full functionality of these vast systems. The multiple daily tasks that need to be done in order to keep things up and running prevent their highly trained/certified resources from delivering more value from their technology investments. Sound familiar?
Recently it struck me as odd that as we approach 2014, despite the incredible evolution of Unified Communications, very little has changed or evolved from an operational perspective since the early 2000s. These tasks should be made faster, and easier. IT needed to be liberated, and provisioning tools were the key.
So we developed a provisioning product to do just that – SMACS – the Stack8 Moves, Adds & Changes System. Provisioning tools like SMACS help businesses overcome the complexity of managing users/devices within applications, making technology even easier and simpler to use. They are also one way companies are filling important gaps in this market by taking great technology and finding innovative ways to simplify it for users.
So what’s the big deal? Who cares if an A+ product is now an A++ product? You should. Because at the end of the day, liberating your IT operations should be a priority for all businesses interested in increasing their bottom line.
Consider that SMACS provisions devices and makes changes in seconds across your user base, as opposed to hours. Or that by leveraging provisioning technology, you can push all MAC related functions to help desk or level 1 support – thus freeing up senior, highly skilled and valuable resources.
Or consider that provisioning allows you to democratize the operations and tasks required to manage users. In doing so your IT team can be more autonomous, faster and more efficient in a completely secure environment. Essentially, provisioning gives you all the benefits from a cloud or hosted service without the commitment to a single provider or incurring ongoing costs. The ultimate benefit is cost savings, pure and simple. The ROI for investments in provisioning technology is just 6-9 months.
As with all good innovation, provisioning also leads to other pleasant surprises for businesses. For example, provisioning helps retain top talent by moving routine and administrative tasks to more appropriate individuals or teams. Those valuable, highly skilled individuals are now free to work on interesting and challenging projects, keeping them motivated and happy.
In 2014, with everyone and everything being connected and the Internet of Everything becoming reality, the opportunity for improvement and results is phenomenal. And liberating your IT operations with provisioning is just the beginning of many great things to come for Cisco customers.
Steven Karachinsky is the Founder & CEO of Stack8 Technologies. Steven is responsible for Stack8’s vision and works closely with the leadership team to set strategy and foster a culture of innovation throughout the organization. He leads a highly knowledgeable and experienced technical team, who provide professional and managed services that focus on clients’ Unified Communications needs, reducing costs, improving business processes and enhancing the user experience. To contact Steven directly or to find out more about Stack8’s products and services email him at: stevenk@stack8.com
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