The road to solving real business problems, issues
Colorado is a unique economy with numerous industries that have diverse Information Technology (IT) needs. Our economy spreads across many verticals: agriculture, mining, oil and gas exploration and the developing “green economy,” to name a few. But technology enhancements and innovation by many IT service providers in Colorado has ensured that we remain a leading technology state with many emerging leaders across all industries. Colorado plays host to a large number of technology companies that come here because of the unique business environment, qualified employee base and to leverage the quality of life.
The success of any business depends on achievement of business goals. In today’s economy, if you don’t have effective IT, you cannot meet your business objectives with predictability or efficiency. Companies find themselves in a continuum of re-invention and innovation to meet market demand and stay ahead of their competition. The need to continuously analyze business gaps, deficiencies and competitive advantages is a key strategy for most, especially in a challenging economic environment.
It is a challenge to innovate and grow revenues while operating within a lagging economy even for the most efficient IT departments. But meeting demands and reducing costs are the balancing acts that all CIOs face every day, regardless of the state of the economy. The sacrifice of IT spend, alone, could lead to significant impacts on strategic sales campaigns, loss of revenue potential or simply time- to-market for strategic products that could significantly reduce a company’s market potential.
So what are the demands that are predominant today for most companies? The need to have a balanced IT strategy that maximizes every dollar spent on IT initiatives, while at the same time leverages the company’s key resources for those strategic projects, is a predominant trend – Outsourcing, Right Shoring and even significant spend on making strategic information available and easily accessible to the business have been the order of the day in the most recent past.
It is even more apparent today that companies are focused not only on cost-saving initiatives, but also on the future and towards expanding their capacity, enhancing their capabilities, and investing in their growth. And since most companies are not in the business of IT, partnering with IT service providers has increasingly become the standard approach to addressing their IT strategies.
IT service providers perform these services, and more, and enhance strategic capabilities for many Fortune 500 companies based here in Colorado, nationally and internationally. This is where a 35-year-old Colorado-based IT services company like CIBER fits into the picture. As an illustration, our service teams have seen increasing demand this year as a result of customer initiatives, and this drives our own strategic investments to meet our customer’s demands.
Of paramount importance today, companies should carefully consider partnering with IT service providers that understand their business needs, namely those that can provide a flexible work approach that is conducive to collaboration. The provider must be focused on achieving the most critical goals and must understand the importance of the business priorities. Keeping in mind these considerations when selecting such partners is the most effective approach and will ensure that the IT solution solves real business problems.
Those IT services companies that operate effectively in the services area must be able to better attract and retain specialized IT professionals with the right motivation and incentives for the work ethic needed to deliver results. These individuals come at a premium and we continue to see a tight marketplace that remains a challenge for most companies.
Finally our experience shows us that regardless of economic conditions, one thing remains constant: Businesses will continue to drive continuous improvement, modernization and technology innovation necessary to keep them competitive, efficient and in business to drive value for their customers. n