Buying Tech

In this episode of BuyingTech we go deeper into Category Management with some common tools and techniques that can help you develop a strategy. We use servers as an example and look at some of the aspects of the server industry you should consider, and how you can use them to work out how best to approach the market. Discussion points include practical approaches looking at: - Recap - what are servers? - Two common server architectures and how they require very different approaches - x86 vs SPARC - Other related purchases such as hardware support, administration and operating system suppoer - Stakeholder interviews - Past and expected future server spend analysis - Contracts and addressable spend - Understanding the server industry and it's trends - Supplier and customer positioning - News - the latest huge data breach - it's a big one! [ Future tech review coming in episode 6 as a result] Download or subscribe to this show at https://www.buyingtech.net

In this episode of BuyingTech we talk about Category Management and how it can help deliver better outcomes for your business. We use enterprise storage as an example and start to develop a list of what we need to know and understand in order to use Category Management to develop a strategy for the storage space in your company. Discussion points include: - What is Category Management? - How can it be used to buy technology? - What is storage, and what are the primary types of storage companies use? - What are storage arrays? - Storage spend and demand (internal) analysis - Storage industry and supplier (external) analysis - Understanding your internal storage customers In the next episode (Category Management Part 2) we will look at the tools you can use to answer all these questions and put together the data that will allow you to create a category strategy. Download or subscribe to this show at https://www.buyingtech.net

Can we really improve IT systems through relationships? You bet! In this episode of BuyingTech we talk about Relationship Management and how it can genuinely impact your IT and network systems. Are your key relationships as good as they could be? Listen and find out! We will discuss Supplier Relationship Management (SRM) including: What is relationship management? How you actually establish a genuine and balanced business relationship Strength beyond contracts Different perspectives of the same relationship What do you do when something goes wrong? Recognising you are dealing with individuals, and they also have a role representing the company they work for How relationships and knowledge can help with better (and easier!) negotiated outcomes How to improve surety of supply Adding value to your supplier's business Reducing risk with knowdlege Obtaining additional market advantage Becoming a customer of choice It's not hard, and it can make a large difference when done well. Download or subscribe to this show at https://www.buyingtech.net

Secure Technology Asset Disposal - That shiny new system is now installed, but what happened to the old one? In this episode of Buying Tech we talk about the safe disposal and risk management of your surplus or old technology assets including servers, storage, PCs, printers, routers, media and cell phones. Think you are disposing of your old tech properly and minimising risk? Listen and see! We will cover risk identification and mitigation including: Identifying potentially risky assets How your contracts may create a corporate liability upon certain asset disposal Chain of custody Secure wiping for various media types Environmental concerns including minimising additions to landfill and unnecessary resource consumption. Asset sales and making money from the grey market. We also discuss key risks and issues to consider: how to protect key company and customer data, and how to minimise environmental impact. So do your company, your clients and the environment a favor and see how well you do! Download or subscribe to this show at https://www.buyingtech.net

Cloud computing - We all talk about it, but what exactly is it and how do we buy it? In this episode of Buying Tech we talk about PCs, servers, apps and virtualization - and how these concepts relate to cloud computing for small, large and enterprise/government scale IT. We will cover various types of cloud offerings and what they involve: Infrastructure As a Service (IaaS) Software as a service (SaaS) Storage as a Service (STaaS) Security as a Service (SECaaS), and; Platform as a Service (PaaS). We also discuss key risks and issues to consider: are backups still important and what else do we need to think about if considering moving something - or everything - to the cloud? Connectivity, security, data privacy, planning for the future, contractual concerns and financial issues, as well as some of the pros and cons of cloud versus more traditional approaches to deploying and operating your IT systems. Download or subscribe to this show at https://www.buyingtech.net

Welcome to Buying Tech! This episode is a brief introduction of myself and this Podcast.