Wednesday, April 28, 2010

Leasing Hardware? PAY Attention to the Lease Terms!

Because, if you PAY attention to the lease, you won't PAY penalties at end of lease. Or, if you have business technology money coming out of your ears, and you like spending unnecessary cash, you can ignore my suggestions...

The companies that lease hardware to people like you and me know full well that they're going to make some serious fun-money at the end of the lease. These folks are very aware that the odds are incredibly high you will fail to read, understand, or follow the terms of the agreement. Of equal importance, they know you will fail to monitor "end of lease" requirements. However it plays out, you'll be sending them some hefty un-budgeted checks.

To begin a lease value initiative, start with the big money issues:

1. Precisely when does your lease end? (Miss this date, by even a day, and pay an enormous penalty.)

2. Precisely what is the return process you will be expected to follow? (Fail to follow the process to the letter = pay penalties.)

3. At what date, or dates, must you begin the replacement initiative? (We ALWAYS wait until too late to begin this process - big penalties for being late as well as in disruption of operations while your techies scramble to catch up.)

4. Where is every single leased system and who is responsible for it? (Think you know where everything is located? Think again. Just go try and find a few systems today and consider the cost of this scramble if you wait.)

5. What hardware or software has been added to each system and how will the changes impact the lease terms? (In most cases, leased systems must be returned configured precisely as they were originally delivered. Think you'll remember?)

6. Create and follow - In Advance - a precise plan for for collecting, replacing, auditing, and returning every system covered in the lease. (If you do the planning and management, now, you'll pay a lot less later.)

Remember: The business technology leasing folks KNOW you are going to fail to follow even these basic common sense procedures. They are PLANNING on the penalties you will pay. (Try fooling them.) If you take nothing more than these simple steps, you will significantly reduce the costs, and increase the business value, of leasing technology systems.

Saturday, April 17, 2010

Minimizing Costs & Risks of Business Technologies - Online Seminar Series

Free Online Knowledge Briefing - April 22nd, 2010

For over ten years, I have commented that we lose way too many of our technology dollars to essentially empty IT spending.
Industry studies have consistently backed up my perspectives, with some actually placing losses at more than $10 for every $1 spent. There a plenty of purported solutions to this waste. Unfortunately, very few of them are designed to produce positive ROI without serious additional spending.
On April 22nd, 2010 I'll deliver the first of an online Knowledge Briefing Series covering a wide range of methods any company can use to minimize risks while putting the brakes on wasteful IT spending - without negative impact on your budget or operations.
Tired of the unnecessarily high costs & risks of business technologies? This is your chance to identify the life cycle technology asset management issues that create those problems and to walk through the simple, common sense, and cost effective procedures that you can use to begin saving serious IT dollars.

Each registered participant receives a customized Session Workbook to use in documenting delivered content. We'll add to the Workbook with each new online session we deliver.

Let's conduct a quick cost-benefit analysis...

The Costs?
  • It's free...
  • The methods are proven,
  • I'm not selling you anything and,
  • It's only a single hour out of your day...
The Benefits?
Your company could easily begin converting those all-too-frequently negative technology investments to gaining $5 (or more) in value for every $1 you spend.


You have absolutely nothing to lose and everything to gain.

Series intro URL: Minimizing Technology Costs & Risks, April 22.
Session One: Minimizing Exposure to Punitive Software Non Compliance Audits