We live in exponential times

This is the first section of my presentation “Making money from the cloud”. You can find the full slides at:

The pace of technological change today is unprecedented. However, most fail to fully appreciate how fast indeed the world is changing around them. This means most don’t really understand the world in which they live.

We all get set in our ways and become comfortable with the familiar because we don’t like change, however the more we fail to embrace change the more obsolete we become. Success today is achieved by those willing to challenge themselves with the ‘uncomfortable’ for which the payoff is knowledge.

A thought provoking video on this topic is The Fourth Industrial Revolution created by the World Economic Forum.

One of the key points made by the video is the following:

“Almost anyone will be able to invent new products and services cheaply and quickly”

The impact of that is going to be immense, in every industry. However, it is going to have the greatest impact on those who are locked into the status quo and the belief that they are immune from competition.

Most people and businesses today believe they reside in a linear world, in that if you do X, Y happens. Alternatively, if you wait X then the result will only have progressed Y ahead.

Unfortunately, nothing could be further from the truth. We live in exponential times where a change X results in Y^N difference, with N constantly increasing. Thus, the further you get along the horizontal axis X, the great the change in Y becomes, trending to vertical.

Thus, the longer you wait in an exponential world, the steeper the curve. The more energy you need to expend to simply keep up. However, the biggest challenge is simply the fact that many still have linear expectations and face an ever growing expectations gaps between where they believe they are and where the reality is.

A great quote which I think sums this up well comes from the former CEO of GE, Jack Welch:

“If the rate of change on the outside exceed the rate of change on the inside, the end is near”

The first challenge is therefore to accept that we live in exponentially changing times. The second challenge is then to actually adapt to that and do something to deal with this. One of the most common excuses hear today is that ‘things are moving so fast, we just can’t keep up’. Yup, welcome to the exponential world. Now show me what you are doing about it? Simply whining about the challenges doesn’t make them go away and every minute you waste doing this, the further things progress. Thus, execution is what matters here.

The greater you allow the gap between belief and reality to become, the greater the risk becomes when change is forced upon you. The longer you wait, the large you allow that gap to become, the more violent the change will be to the point that the chances of survival are minimal. In short, the bigger the gap, the greater the chance of an extinction event, a al Mr Welch.

Like most things however, there is an alternate way of looking at this. If you have an open mind set you’ll see nothing but opportunity. You’ll see that thanks to today’s exponential times you’ll need to invest a very small amount of resources to yield significant resources. The scale and speed you achieve with technology now is unprecedented. Tools such as Azure and Office 365 give ANYONE access to the same resources. They provide the ability to automate and scale beyond anything that was previously possible. The trick is that you can only see these opportunities if you have an open mindset!

Evidence of our exponential world is most evident through the technology we use. The above diagram show the rapid exponential decline in storage pricing with the rapid exponential increase in storage capacity (taken from http://www.go-rbcs.com/articles/the-increasing-pace-of-technology-advancement).

I’ll dig into some other major trends that we see happening in our business world today thanks to technology in upcoming articles, but it is important I feel to set the scene here about how we are living in an exponential world whether you like or not. The question is, as you can’t change your environment, how are you managing your response to it?

The rate of change will only continue to increase. The actions that you take right here and right now are what will determine your personal and business viability in the future. Grasp the opportunity or fade away. The choice is yours.

I don’t seem to have any on me

I’ve been at a number of IT events and conferences of late and I thought I’d share with you something I find utterly amazing.

A huge part of the value of any event is the hallway networking. Most people in the SMB space generate business by referrals rather than any direct marketing. The amazing thing I am finding more and more when I attend these events is the following excuse people tot out when it comes time to exchange business cards. I can’t tell you the number of times I hear “I don’t seem to have any on me” when it comes to being provided with a business card.

Say what? You’ve come to an event and you don’t have ANY business cards? In my own case I work diligently to ensure this never happens. In fact, I ensure that I walk into every event with a wad of business cards in my top pocket ready to hand out to anyone. When that runs out I have further stashes in my bag and wallet. In short, I have a system that ensures I always have a business card ready to hand out.

Any time that I spend more than a few moments speaking with someone I have not met before, I’ll hand over a business card. Why? Because, it makes it easy for them to make contact after the event. My business cards that has clear space on the back of the card that allows them to write a note on the back of the card to remember what we spoke about or how I can help them.

If I don’t receive a business card from you, you are telling me that I have to remember who you are. You are also telling me that you aren’t particularly organised or apparently really serious about business networking. In short, you significantly reduce your chances of doing business with me at all by not giving me a business card. if that applies to everyone you meet an event, wow, are you doing yourself out of loads of opportunities.

At the very last conference I attended that ran over 2 days I didn’t receive a SINGLE business card from new contacts I met, NOT ONE! I’m sorry, but there is simply no excuse when attending these events NOT to have your business cards ready to hand out to everyone you meet!

Like I said earlier, I have a system to ensure that I have plenty of business cards before I walk through the door of any event. I also have a system to ensure that I have cards ready in my top pocket before I walk into any event. And I have a system to ensure I hand cards out when I meet a new contact. The common secret? I have a system!

In an environment where I constantly hear of businesses looking to grow, find new clients and opportunities, I’m amazed at how fundamental mistakes like not having a business card ready are common. It is almost as though people are working to not get business!

Thus, a simple tip to stand out from the crowd and win more business is to ensure you have a wad of business cards ready before you walk into any event you attend. If you haven’t got a business card to give me when we speak, then I’m probably not going to be able to help you much until I get one. However, you may only get one chance to connect with someone. So why leave it to chance? Develop a system and you’ll attract far more business than those who don’t!

Advice from a reforming hoarder

One the biggest challenges we face in this time of abundance is accumulating “stuff”. So many, myself included, have far more “stuff” that we need or can ever use. If you set your mind to it you’ll be surprised at how much stuff you can actually get rid of. Less stuff means less to worry about, less to store, etc, etc. The benefits are endless.

Our accumulation of “stuff” also bleeds across into our digital lives. Don’t believe me? How many digital photos have you got stored away somewhere that you have never looked at and are unlikely to every look at? One your computer? On your phone? In the cloud? I’ll bet plenty. Now think about some of your business processes in light of the technology you use.

One of things that I see with many businesses is that they never in fact ‘replace’ processes with new technology, they simply ‘add’ new technology to what they already have. Why? Of course it is human nature to desire remaining with the familiar, but doing so comes at a price. That price is ‘accumulating more unnecessary ‘stuff’.

A good example I recently came across was the implementation of Yammer, an enterprise social network available via Office 365. Many businesses now have access to Yammer but they fail to really integrate it into their business. Why? Because they view it as an addition to their businesses processes rather than a way of actually replacing an older system they have.

What do I mean? Take the example of reporting something unsafe in the workplace. An older approach might have been to submit a report, attend a committee meeting or request help from another team. All of that takes time and is generally a very siloed process. Now imagine what may be possible if you replaced that whole process using a tool like Yammer.

In this case, someone finds an issue and posts a message, including photos, to a dedicated public Yammer group. The responsible business group can then view the information, request further clarification or details as well as solicit input from other parties, all in one location. Everything remain visible to all parties at all times. Best thing is because all of that information is public, it is searchable at any time in the future, providing ongoing business value.

Not fully adopting a new system leaves overhead that not only slows down the process but also makes it more complex for those involved. The simpler things are, the less mistakes are made and the fewer things break.

We have a tendency in this modern world to accumulate ‘stuff’. We do exactly the same with technology. There is a widespread failure to implement new technologies as replacements for old processes. We want the new but hold onto the old and typically end up with twice what we need to get the job done. That is inefficient. Technology has then become something that encumbers rather than enables.

Next time you implement or evaluate a new technology for your business, consider it in light of what it can replace. What processes can this new technology actually help you replace completely rather than just supplement? This can be challenging but when you start living in a world of less you soon find there is room for so much more.

Answering common questions with Office 365 Part 3

This is the third article in a series of typical customers questions around Office 365. These questions were part of presentation I did with two other resellers at the Australian Microsoft Partner Conference in 2016. You’ll find the first part of the series here:

Answering common questions with Office 365 Part 1

Answering common questions with Office 365 Part 2

The question for this article is:

My team has to manage a lot of documents for a lot of clients and we have trouble working effectively with this information when you also combine it with data from email and other sources. How can Office 365 be used to allow my business to be more effective with the information we are producing?

There are so many ways that this question can be answered with Office 365. Consider the following as simply an overview of what is possible.

The most important thing to appreciate about Office 365 is that all the information you put in there is searchable. The results from any search are ‘security trimmed’. That means you only see results that you have access to view.

For most users Delve provides a single pane of glass across nearly all of your Office 365 services.

How can I find people and information in Office Delve?

I have written articles about the importance of Delve but this one probably sums up things best:

Delve should be the centre of your Office 365 universe

Delve is available across all Office 365 suites and if you haven’t as yet looked at it then start here:

Introducing Office Delve

What is Office Delve?

How does Office Delve know what is relevant to me?

Also importantly, you can get Delve on your mobile devices:

Introducing Office Delve Mobile Apps

as well as you Windows 10 desktop:

Delve on Windows 10 app

Most Office 365 users also get a personal location called OneDrive for Business in which they can store all their documents.

What is OneDrive for Business?

They will get around 1TB of space into which they can store and share their personal files. This means they can move information stored on their local desktop, PC, USB drives, etc into a secure location that only they have access to and that they can share from with others, inside and outside the organisation if they want. It is important to note that OneDrive for Business is not designed as a file server replacement, it is designed for personal use. SharePoint Team Sites and Office 365 Groups are more the locations for information that needs to be shared with a teams of people.

There are many other products that do personal file sharing but here’s an overview of why OneDrive for Business is a superior technology.

Why OneDrive for Business

Given that Office 365 is much more than just emails and file storage I’d recommend you review my article:

Where to put data in Office 365?

to give you a better idea of what all the options are.

Now I mentioned Office 365 Groups as another location in which you can save your information. Office 365 Groups is great if you simply need an email distribution and single place to store common files. For a better idea of what Office 365 Groups are all about have a look at:

Office 365 groups: A quick tour of new user and admin experiences

If you then needs to add tasks to your collaboration you should have a look at Office 365 Planner:

Get started quickly with Microsoft Planner

However, if your needs exceed the functionality of both Office 365 Groups and Planner then it is time to consider SharePoint Team Sites for a fully blown ‘intranet’ style experience.

What is SharePoint

Getting started with SharePoint

Remember, that everything you put into a SharePoint Team Site is searchable, including the text inside documents. Team Sites allow you to create a hierarchical structure much like a file server but add in collaboration features like calendars, wikis, lists, etc.

You can get more functionality by using ‘metadata’ to tag your information to make it easier for your users to filter and sort.

Create managed metadata column

Set up metadata navigation for a list or library

The great thing is that you can customise your metadata to exactly suit your needs.

Another service available to Enterprise Office 365 Plans is a private video portal called Office 365 Video. In here you can place and share videos with your team. This is a great place for training resources as well as recordings from Skype for Business.

Meet Office 365 video

Manage your Office 365 video portal

You can also embed these videos directly into your SharePoint Team Site quickly and easily.

Another member of the Microsoft Cloud family is CRM. This allows you to manage contacts, sales, etc. but will soon also allow you to manage your financials thanks to the recently announced Dynamics 365.

Dynamics 365

Turning business process into business advantage for organizations everywhere

The big advantage these additional Microsoft Cloud products provide is the fact that access is governed by the same login users have for Office 365. This provides greater integration and management that few other services can match.

Another location that your team can collaborate together is in Yammer. Yammer provides an enterprise social network to share information publically which has so many benefits to the business. I’ve outlined many of these here:

The Business of Yammer

Don’t forget also that many Office 365 suites provide your users with the latest Office desktop software on their PC’s, Macs and mobile devices. They get at least 5 installation on each platform to ensure that everyone has the same version of the software. As an Office 365 subscriber you receive continuing free upgrades to this software automatically so you don’t need to worry whether everyone has the ‘latest’. They will.

Finally, Office 365 is also going to provide you the ability to automate your business process and information via a number of different tools such as:

Microsoft Flow

Microsoft Powerapps

SharePoint Workflows

In summary, Office 365 gives a lot of ways to manage and work more effectively with your information. It also provides you with the opportunity to improve the way you work today, become more effective and save time. It really is a single platform dedicated to better information management, accessed via a single login that is always constantly evolving and improving. In short, Office 365 is more than email and file storage, it is a full suite of productivity services to help your business better manage your information.

Watch out for the answers to more common questions with Office 365 coming soon.

Business cards are for giving away

The reason that I attend many events these days is simply because of the networking opportunity. People buy from people, not from websites, not from brochures, etc. They buy from people they know. This means it is critical to actually go out, show your face and connect with people one on one. Nothing drives opportunity faster than meeting with people in my experience.

So why, if meeting people is so beneficial do so many overlook the most basic thing you can do when you meet people at networking events?

It never ceases to amaze me how many people you meet who have some excuse for not having a business card they can give you. For me, part of the discipline of getting ready for a networking event is to ensure I have a wad of business cards in my top pocket every time. Typically, as soon as I meet someone at an event, they get a business card from my top pocket, automatically.

Your business cards do you no good sitting in a holder on your desk or locked away somewhere! The challenge you should set yourself at any networking event is to aim to give away ALL your business cards. That is the only acceptable excuse for not having cards in my books. Then bring more next time and give those all away.

If I don’t get a business card from a new contact, especially if they say they don’t have any on them, the chances of my doing business with them drops dramatically. Firstly, how do I contact or even remember them? Secondly, it tells me that aren’t organised, not really serious about making contact and you know what? Don’t really care about making it easy for me to work with them.

So, whatever system you need to develop, make sure that before you enter ANY networking event you have a wad of business cards you can give to everyone you meet. Doing so will increase your business I guarantee! Success is a system not a random sequence of events.

Office 365 Advisor/Direct incentive changes coming

If you are NOT an IT reseller who makes money from being the ‘Partner of Record (POR)’ then you can safely ignore this article. However, if you are indeed a Microsoft partner who generates an important amount of income to your business from being an Online Services Advisor (OSA) then you should read on because you might get a bit of a shock.

I have always discouraged resellers from placing too much focus on the rebates they received from Microsoft from just selling Office 365. The main reason is that it takes away the focus from the new model of adding value to the old model of just reselling. As I forecast, now that Office 365 is gaining wider adoption the emphasis is shifting from actually selling Office 365 to implementing it. This also means that incentives are also shifting in that direction.

There are going to be major changes to the O365 Online Service Advisor (OSA) commissions model after 1 Oct 2016. In summary (from what I can determine), the major points are:

1. Partner needs a minimum silver competency in cloud productivity to claim incentives after October 1 2016.

2. Commissions will be based on product usage not licence count. The incentive is calculated based on Online Services Usage Rate Card value of eligible Office 365, EMS, Microsoft Intune and other SKUs. The commission rate will be 10%.

3. Sell only commissions will drop to 3% until 1st July 2017 on existing managed tenants acquired prior to 1 Oct 2016. After 30th June 2017 no more manage only commissions will be paid on any tenant.

4. Sell only commissions will be 0% for all tenants acquired after 1 Oct 2016.

References

https://partner.microsoft.com/membership/partner-incentives

http://www.channelpronetwork.com/news/end-approaches-microsoft-online-services-advisor-incentives

If you are not on CSP already you really need to make the shift along with your customer licenses! However, you should be really focusing on providing services that add value to the Office 365 product and any revenue derived from actually selling licenses is simply ‘nice to have’.

Need to Know podcast–Episode 112

Marc and I kick off the show with a few topical news items and then I dive into an interview with Rayanne Buchianico from Sell my MSP. Rayanne and I cover off what you need to know about selling your IT business. We examine the reasons and how to go about actually doing the selling. There is more to it than you think but that doesn’t mean it’s a process you should put off. even if you currently don’t plan to sell your IT business you never know what the future might hold. The smart move is always be positioning your business for sale, that give you the maximum advantage.

You can listen to this episode at:

http://ciaops.podbean.com/e/episode-112-rayanne-buchianico/

The podcast is also available on Stitcher at:

http://www.stitcher.com/podcast/ciaops/need-to-know-podcast?refid=stpr

Don’t forget to give the show a rating as well as send me any feedback or suggestions you may have for the show.

Resources

@marckean

@directorcia

http://www.sellmymsp.com/

http://www.abcsolutionsfl.com

http://www.sellmymsp.com/begin-with-the-end-in-mind/

http://www.sellmymsp.com/tips-for-doing-what-it-takes-to-sell/