Summer 2011

Catalyst Magazine

Your business is growing and you want to make sure that your technology keeps pace.

For medium-sized businesses, maintaining a competitive business edge with the right technology can be challenging if you don’t have the time, staff or the business process expertise. In fact, the second most common technology challenge medium-sized businesses struggle with, according to a July 2010 study by SMB Group, is understanding how different technology solutions can help their business.

Consulting services is a common option that savvy IT leaders are exploring to move their businesses forward and stay competitive. This makes smart business sense on many levels. An outside consultant can help assess the effectiveness of IT infrastructure and offer advice, whether the advice is focused on server virtualization or migrating to a new email system.

The overarching point is while your business may need the same technology solutions as a much larger company, consulting options need to be tailored to your size, budget, IT environment and potential for growth.

This issue of Catalyst is devoted to helping you navigate and understand the services arena — from consulting to support services to software as a service (SaaS).

We showcase companies that have experience with a services partner. PensionsFirst Analytics LLP in London, for example, needed a partner to help it through a very tight deadline. The company had to move from conception to live operations of its first corporate data site in just four months. Since the company is a pension-fund manager dealing with changes in legislation and other challenges, the deadline was even more daunting. Yet they were successful, and the story of their journey is detailed on page 18. For PensionsFirst, the lesson learned was that choosing the right technology partner was critical.

We hope you enjoy the articles in this issue, and we look forward to hearing about how we can help you as your business prospers and grows.
 

 Jeff Hamlin 




Jeff Hamlin
Dell, Marketing Director, US Medium Business
 

 

 

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    How midsize firms are utilizing outside resources for IT services and support.

  2. Global market pulse

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    As MBs grow, they tend to blanket themselves with more security solutions.

  3. Protect yourself from nasty spills

    Protect yourself from nasty spills

    Working out of the office can be tough on your equipment.

  4. Finding mobile security in the cloud

    Finding mobile security in the cloud

    Today’s increasingly mobile workforce means making sure workers have technology tools that give them access to data wherever and whenever they need it.

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    The right fit

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    The term “IT consulting services” often conjures up images of technology specialists with multiple degrees.

  6. 12 weeks to a high-performance virtualized data center

    12 weeks to a high-performance virtualized data center

    For any company to go from conception to live operations of its first corporate data site and do so in just 4 months is a daunting task under the best of circumstances.

  7. TEST CENTER: IDG REVIEWS

    TEST CENTER: IDG REVIEWS

    IT departments are dealing with an avalanche of smartphones and tablets that are inundating company networks.

  8. Virtualization: A user’s guide

    Virtualization: A user’s guide

    You understand the power of virtualization. But deployment raises issues.

  9. IT trend spotting

    IT trend spotting

    The U.S. tech sector grew about twice as fast as the overall U.S.

  10. SPECIAL REPORT: Deeley Harley-Davidson

    SPECIAL REPORT: Deeley Harley-Davidson

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    Canada’s exclusive Harley-Davidson® distributor reengineered its IT environment and gained shorter response cycles.