Category: Business

Information AND Technology

Post author By Bob Martens
Post date August 2, 2013

A good friend of mine, Nate Beran, just put up something he calls IT vs I&T. It is a really great read about where the general IT industry is heading and where people can be placing themselves to not just keep their positions (a valuable thing to be sure), but to also be of greater value to the organization you are working with/for.
Here’s is the quote that gets to the heart of the unique opportunity available to I&T workers right now:

IT has a special place in business. We’re often one of the few business units that spans the entire organization. Everything we do affects every team in the business.

That is 100% true. Currently technology is such a central part of almost everything that is done in every organization, but more and more parts of what IT has traditionally overseen is getting pushed outside by various stakeholders in the company in pursuit of every larger profits, opportunities, or sometimes even kickbacks.

However, IT still is in the position to see how all of the disparate pieces are currently working together and to give insight into where pain points are because, guess what, we often are trying to smooth out those pain points for people. Spending time trying to think proactively instead of only reacting to issues gets momentum going forward.

While I don’t think IT will ever go away, the role of an IT worker is changing. There will always need to be someone to answer that call at 7:00 am when your Comcast lines go dim, but there is a greater need for people to take a look at the whole and then come up with ideas on how to make that whole work … better.

Work for that.

Business Technology

IT Getting Pushed Out

Bradley Chambers put up a good post tonight titled Managed Service Providers And Employees Who Don’t Need the IT Department. I recommend that any person working in IT go on over and take a look at what he has to say about the future of IT departments everywhere.

While I don’t think I can agree with the entirety of the post, I happen to think that one key passage says a lot about where IT departments should be aiming at the moment.

You’ve got to become more than just a broke/fix person or a SysAdmin. You’ve got to help turn your IT department into a solutions department. You’ve got to be able to do things that the MSP can’t. You’ve got to be able to solve business problems with technology that create operational efficiencies (now you are paying your own way). You need to be able to connect puzzle pieces.

That about sums it up. It is not enough to just “keep the lights on” anymore, but it is time to start pushing things forward in different areas to try to stay ahead of what people are doing. Sadly, working in IT can be a very reactive place (the network is down, you need to fix that).

However, and I say this for myself, time needs to be spent on trying to find areas to help push things forward in a good way. It might mean that I need to get out of my comfort zone, but it also means that the zone might expand just a little bit at the same time.

Business Life Technology

My First Year in the App Store

Post author By Bob Martens
Post date April 23, 2013

Trevor McKendrick is going to be releasing a number of posts outlining how his first year as a member of the App Store went. The first post is a good introduction and I’m subscribed for the rest.

I especially liked the transformation his app has undertaken in just a single year. Quite a difference, but still amazingly useful in the first iteration.

Inspiration to say the least.

Tags Apple, iOS

Business Life

Taking Pride in Local

Post author By Bob Martens
Post date March 7, 2013

I’m not ashamed to say it, but I am unreasonably excited about the possible $6,000,000 expansion (New Ulm Journal link) August Schell Brewing Company of New Ulm is planning on undertaking over the next couple of years.

Why am I excited about the possibility of a brewery expanding from 130,000 barrels per year to 230,000 barrels per year capacity? I don’t work there. I don’t even know personally many people who have ties with the brewery.

However, it IS local.

Local is vitally important because local is what you see, what you feel, what you touch, what you can intimately know because of its proximity.

For me, that is more true than anything because New Ulm is the city I was born and raised in (nearby really, living on a farm you don’t really get to live IN a city) and now spend time raising a family as well. Old, very old, and established companies talking multi-million dollar expansions is at least a signal for a future in a small town when the outside world might want to write us off.

Taking pride in what is local also provides plain support for the people who are here, the people who are a part of this community, and the people who you are raising your kids with. You don’t necessarily have to have anything to DO with it, but just being excited about it and sharing it with other people is something, albeit a small something, but something.

One thing my family likes to do during the one-third of the year you can be outdoors in Minnesota is to take long walks downtown. It is a good experience to get out and walk around the town and see what is happening not just in your neighborhood, but in the whole of the city as well. You get a better feel for what is LOCAL. If you don’t get out there, you might miss some amazing things happening around you every single day.

As example of that in New Ulm is The Grand. Right now it is also undergoing an expansive remodel to turn the oldest hotel in New Ulm into a home for the arts in the area. It features live music, wine tasting, and a very unique eating experience for South-Central Minnesota.

However, you probably would miss it if you were not told about it by someone who has visited or take the time to really take a good long look at what is around you. It has no flashy sign but it contains the things you would want to find for a place to sit down and relax.

If I do restart New Ulm Wiki (which is currently offline), it will be to have tool to show off what is local to New Ulm because I can’t help but think we are missing a lot by rushing through life.