How Much Data this Year...

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End Of Summer, End of Days - What Next?

The 23rd of September, fall equinox, was the last day of summer up here in the northern hemisphere.

The Spring Equinox seems like decades ago.  Remembering the Turn that was Summer 2011 one can barely imagine what the next 3 months will bring.

What about the next 12 months?

Unemployment is still up.

Gold is way up.  HP down.

Since 2007, that will be five years ago pretty soon, the only aspect of our world that has steadily increased is the use of technology.  Our technology has forced the growth of content faster and faster.

There isn't today and there never will be, a paperless office - Less paper, but never paperless.

The social networks carry more and more.  Netflix is chewing up bandwidth,  FB has become mundane.  Tablets shipping everywhere, $99.

The Apple store at Fashion Island was packed on a Tuesday afternoon.

Droid, Win8, HP is out, no their in, no their out, wait...we don't know, iPad 2, iPhone 5, thin client, zero client - and the cloud.

That always growing, ever changing "cloud" - Google, Salesforce, Box, on and on.

What about managed print Services(MpS) or selling copiers?  With all this cool stuff going on, you're selling copiers?

Really?

Bill Hewlett and David Packard - The HP That Was...

"...The Sky Shall Blow the Heavens into Stars..."

September, 2011.

I was reminded today by Jennifer Shutwell, (Leopard and Senior Consultant at Photizo) about "the HP Way".  A set of norms and values HP, the company, lived by and extolled.

I decided to learn more.

Wandering around the 'net, hunting down the HP that was, I found myself a bit morose and feeling bad for today's HP employees, the HP'rs who have been there for more then 5 years.

The ones who bought into the HP ideals -  respect, achievement, contribution, integrity, teamwork, flexibility and innovation.

Those who didn't believe in product launches, silo'd divisions, marketing-by-chaos, press leaks, bribes, spying on employees, questionable expense accounts, revolving door leadership, pompous, aloof executives shouting "ka-ching" on stage or the decimation of every channel birthed.

No.  Right now, I see ten's of thousands of HP employees feeling betrayed, alone and broken.

I mean, where do you go after HP?

If a company, an American Company, one that was built out of a garage on a foundation of hard work, failure and recovery, American ingenuity and honesty can let you down, who can you trust?

Who can you believe in?  General Motors?  General Electric? Boeing?

I wonder how many really, great employees scrambled away or where turned out by HP over the past decade?  How many opportunities were missed, squandered, thrown away, because the HP board appointed oh so many wrong CEO's.

How often do you think innovation was squashed, hidden and digested within the bowls of that once great ship?

Lamborghini Aventador - Relentless Force

Holy CRAP!!!! Meg is In, Leo is Lost...and HP/Mother Blue? Slow-Motion, Disintegration

"...the Sky Shall Shatter the Heavens into Stars..."

2011

HP has let Leo go - not surprising, and still shocking.

Meg is in, not surprising and still shocking.

The leaks, the rumors, the change in plans, the mystery, intrigue and tragedy that is HP.

Remember what started it ALL - Hurd's girl. Which is only saying Hurd started this.

But Meg? No really?

I do not dislike Meg, its just that I was out here when she ran for governor.

Stilted. Stiff. Planned, formula, handled.

No innovation. She appeared stuck in the old ways. She was overly advised, not genuine.

It seems to me, the HP board resurrected captain Ahab from the depths and put her on the bridge of the USS Ronald Reagan.

DOTC is calling it right now - NO GOOD SHALL COME OF THIS.


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Earth and Water - Focus and Vision

"We can survive in MpS on either Focus or Vision, but to thrive beyond the temporary confines of toner and service, one needs both – Focus and Vision, Earth and Water."

Check the full post.

Just don't go demanding "Earth and Water" from Leonidas...jus sayin

Is HP Considering Another Seismic Shift? Apotheker, Going Away?

HP stock is up 7% today based on a rumor that Leo is Leaving?

As if we haven't had enough transformation this past summer, it seems rumors are flying around Wall Street and the internet regarding HP's board thinking about letting Leo go.

Oh, it gets better.

Seems the board is thinking about getting Meg Whitman of EBay fame to lead Mother Blue.

WOW!

ECi and Digital Gateway - Merging/Acquired/Transforming/Converging

The Transformers keep on coming.

Reliable sources report that Digital Gateway and ECi will become one - no details yet.

Digital Gateway, the 2011 MPSA Leadership Award, is a class-act and infrastructure pillar in our little industry.

Indeed, I use it everyday in my practice.

ECI is a legacy application in imaging - we all know both.

Expect more details in the following days.

The "Transformation" moves forward...

Thank you, "Deep Throat".

Selling Managed Print Services: The VAR Vs. Us

The oldest profession in the world isn’t prostitution, it’s professional selling. Selling one to one; one to many; many to many; retail; B2B; to that hottie in the corner; to your girlfriend, wife, sons, daughters, mothers, fathers, sales manager, cop, judge, jury; to ourselves – we all sell, and we always have.


Our industry is turning another corner – contracting and expanding at the same time. We’re looking for the next frontier and eyeing the IT cluster.

Thinking about getting into selling servers, storage, networks and network management, aren’t you? Putting all those monitors, PCs, switches and hard drives under a contract and tying that all into a 36-month “rip and replace” strategy, right? Sure.

How hard can it be?

Copiers have been connected now for more than a decade. All your devices scan; you’ve sold or heard of a “fax-server.” Your dealership has at least one “Content Specialist,” and RiKon/Xerox employ thousands of cycle-extending PS peeps – not that there’s anything wrong with that.

There's More...


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#BoA Bank of America and the Signature Card

Today, I found myself in a Bank of America, finishing up what I figured would be a 15 minute job.

Sixty minutes later, I was out the door; a new signature card in the system, an additional account added to the DOTC one, new BoA online user account, second ATM card secured and activated, checks ordered.

While completing a wire transfer, all my personal information was set up so I would rarely, if ever, need to step foot into another branch again.

Taping out on the Droid,  registration completed and passage confirmed for the upcoming Preo/HP event in Seattle, DOA procedures outlined and initiated for one of lastweeks installs(I was told that HP's never arrived dead, I was misinformed), client confirmation of delivery and invoicing for 3 Edgelines.

All from inside the bank.

No Fax
No PC
No Printing

Photizo in May, Preo/SNi in June, World Expo July, rained out Xerox in August, Muratec/Vegas, SuppliesNetwork/HP Seattle in September, OPS Elite October

What do you say we finish this year out in Australia? Eh?

I spent 2 days and 5 nights in Vegas last week, for my very first Muratec dealer conference.

It was awful nice being invited, on account, I just signed up 30 days ago and haven't sold a single box.

The venue could be called small and intimate relative to the bigger shows, like Photizo, or the other OEM's - I liked it.

A little bit of background.

When I first got into selling technology, there was IBM PS/2's and Compaq desktops; the MicroChannel versus EISA architecture  - #1 and #2.  The Compaq folks were more willing, more attentive, and more fun - their events rocked.

IBM? Unless you're Mike Stramaglio, how much fun can you have in a pinstripe suit at 12:30 AM?

When I served time in IKON, there was Canon at #1 with Ricoh a very close #2.  Again, the Ricoh folks, tried harder, worked with us, and were a hell of a lot more fun, especially in Vegas, at the Wynn.(Jus sayin, I've seen them in action)

Just like Compaq, Ricoh knew their place as well, at number 2. They knew. They didn't pretend to be the largest or most installed. They didn't have big laser beams and fog machines at the national conference.

Point is this, #2 always tries harder - so wouldn't an admitted "third tier" player try even harder?

The answer, Yes.

Red Tails: "...We Fight...We Fight...We Fight..."