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Global IT Asset Management Industry to Surpass US$ 2 Billion by 2032; Cloud-based Deployment to be Prominent

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Archives, Commentary, Global Trade Daily, Technology

Global IT Asset Management Industry to Surpass US$ 2 Billion by 2032; Cloud-based Deployment to be Prominent

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According to a recent study published by Future Market Insights, the IT asset management market is expected to reach US$ 2.3 Billion by 2032, expanding at a CAGR of 6.9%. Growing need to manage audits and meet regulatory compliance standards, growing need to manage and optimize the purchase, deployment, maintenance, utilization, and disposal of software applications within the business, and lower software spend cost are expected to accelerate the market growth during the forecast period.

Additionally, growing need for improving organizational productivity by deploying advanced technology to meet the business needs is also stimulating market growth.  From 2015 to 2021, IT asset management demand expanded at a CAGR of 7.5%, closing at a valuation of US$ 1.1 Billion. Moreover, an absolute dollar opportunity worth US$ 1.1 Billion has been forecast for the market during the coming decade.

Key Takeaways from the Market Study

  • Global IT asset management market to reach US$ 1.2 Billion by 2022-end
  • The U.S to account for the highest value share of US$ 320.8 Million of global market demand for IT asset management in 2032
  • By deployment, the cloud category constitutes the bulk of IT asset management market with a CAGR of 7.0%
  • IT asset management solutions for large enterprises to remain preferred, flourishing at a 6.2% CAGR
  • India to emerge as a highly opportunistic market, documenting a value of US$ 224.8 Million
  • China and Japan to document value CAGRs of 2.3% and 7.8% respectively until 2032
  • Global IT asset management market to nearly double during the forecast period

“Increasing adoption of cloud and digital transformation among large enterprises, as well as SMEs across several verticals is an essential factor propelling the market growth of IT asset management,” remarks an FMI analyst.

Competitive Landscape

Players in the global IT Asset Management Market focus on expanding their global reach through various strategies, such as; partnerships, collaborations, and partnerships. The players are also making a significant investment in R&D to add innovations to their products which would help them in strengthening their position in the global market. Some of the recent developments among the key players are:

  • In July 2021, Snow Software introduced Snow Atlas, the first integrated platform built to help organizations discover, monitor, and optimize their technology investments both on-premises and in the cloud. The first solutions available on the new cloud-native platform are SAM, SaaS management, and ITSM integrations which were earlier delivered as a service, are now in early access.
  • In May 2021, Flexera introduced interoperability between its Software Vulnerability Manager solution and VMware Workspace ONE Unified Endpoint Management. Through this interoperability, customers will be able to identify, prioritize, and satisfy the need for third-party patch deployment to remediate software vulnerabilities.

Know More about What the IT Asset Management Market Repost Covers

Future Market Insights offers an unbiased analysis of the global IT Asset Management Market, providing historical data for 2015-2021 and forecast statistics from 2022-2032. To understand opportunities in the IT Asset Management Market, the market is segmented on the basis of enterprise size, deployment, and end-use across five major regions.

About Technology Division at Future Market Insights

The technology team at Future Market Insights offers expert analysis, time efficient research, and strategic recommendations with an objective to provide authentic insights and accurate results to help clients worldwide. With a repertoire of over 100+ reports and 1 million+ data points, the team has been analyzing the industry lucidly in 50+ countries for over a decade. The team provides a brief analysis on key trends including competitive landscape, profit margin, and research development efforts.

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Archives, Global Trade Daily, Special Reports

5 Tips for Keeping Your Business Data Secure

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As a business, you can keep track of data for many customers and from some of the work you have done yourself. Whether it is research or surveys or from other locations, this data is integral to helping you get ahead of the competition. 

It can also be personal information from your customers and keeping this secure and safe from hackers who may like to get ahold of the data is so important. But how are you going to keep the data somewhere you can use it while ensuring that it will stay safe?

The good news is that businesses do have options when it comes to keeping their business data as secure as possible. Some of the steps that you can take to keep your business data secure include:

Come Up With Your Strategy

It is never good to have a vague idea of your procedures and policy. You need to have a formally written IT strategy that has all of the details about your plan. This plan needs to lay out how you plan to protect your resources and data along with steps that everyone must take if something goes wrong. 

Writing the plan is just the first step. You will need to keep it updated and nearby at all times. When something changes along with your business, you need to bring out that plan and make some of the necessary problems as well. 

You may need to sit down with a cybersecurity specialist to help you figure out what steps should be in the plan. This will ensure that nothing is left out of the plan and can help you discover some more of the vulnerabilities that may be present in your network. 

Protect Your Network Against Malware

With a plan in place, you are able to take the necessary steps to keep all of the bad stuff out. Come up with a plan that will ward off malware and any other malicious software that could take your data. 

Always assume that a hacker is trying to get to your data and be proactive. Some of the ways that you can do this include:

-Apply a firewall: While this is not enough to do on its own, your router’s firewall is going to provide a good line of defense so keep it turned on. 

-PC protection: This can include anti-malware and anti-virus protection on your system. You may also need some protection to help protect you against identity theft, suspect websites, and more. 

-Clean out the emails: This is often the job of anti-spam software. This can keep the unwanted, unsecured emails out and protects from accidentally hitting one that can cause issues. 

Encrypt the Wireless Network

If you are using a wireless network at all, then you need to have some special precautions in place. Encryption is a good place to start, but if it is not done well, hackers are still able to get around it all and can cause trouble. You need to make sure that your router has the right amount of strength to keep others out. 

One way is to use encryption here. Another is to turn off the broadcasting function on the router. This will help make your network invisible. When a hacker is not able to see your wireless network, it is a lot harder for them to hack right through it. 

Watch the Passwords

Even your password can be strengthened to help safeguard all of the data in your system. This can be a hassle to remember, but the more complexity that you get with the password, the easier it is to protect your data and everything on the system. 

There are a few steps that you can take to help safeguard your password. Make sure that it is a minimum of eight characters long and add non-standard characters and numbers as well. This makes it harder for anyone to figure out what the passwords are. 

You should also consider changing up the passwords on occasion to make it harder to guess. Using different credentials that are not words and passwords that are random letters and numbers and special characters can be a good option as well.

You may find in this situation that a password manager is going to come in handy. This makes it easier to keep track of these random passwords so you do not need to write them down and risk them being stolen. 

For your business, make sure that everyone is on the same page when it comes to passwords. Enforce that these passwords need to be strong to help protect the data by setting up rules that everyone must follow. 

Set Up Software Updates

This should be something that is automatic. When you do not complete some of the necessary updates with your software, it makes it much easier for hackers to find some of the vulnerabilities in the system and do what they want inside. 

Hackers are more than happy to scan a network or a website to see which version of the software is running at that time. They can then take a look at which vulnerabilities are present for them to explore in some of the older versions. 

You should take the time to update your device security settings, any operating system you need, and other software to the newest versions and do any other updates as necessary as you use the system. 

You can also set it up so any patches and improvements that come out are going to update for you automatically in the background. This takes out the guesswork on when it needs to be done while protecting your whole network from any potential threats. 

Keeping Your Data Safe

As a business, it is your responsibility to keep all of the data that you use as safe as possible. There are different ways to do this but with the help of some of the steps above, you can keep hackers off and keep all of that data as safe as possible. 

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Archives, Global Trade Daily, Software

Why IT is Key to Every Business’s Success

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Many people in business view IT as the problem solvers to turn to when their computer programs are running slow, they need new batteries for their mouse, or when any other unavoidable technological issues arise. In reality, fixing computers is only a tiny piece of an IT professional’s duties. The IT department’s importance is often underestimated by other teams, but it is actually one of the key drivers to success in every organization.

Implement Tools Across the Organization

When we think we’ve seen all that technology can do, new tools are introduced that can solve problems that you’re experiencing in your everyday life. Whether it’s using smart appliances at home or ordering groceries online, people have become accustomed to the simplified life that technology offers. It’s no surprise that the workplace also follows this popular trend as technology makes professional life much easier.

IT plays an important role in deciding what technology an organization should implement. They might work with the Marketing and Sales departments to find lead generation tools or work with the Customer Service team to find technology that automates chat responses outside of business hours. IT can find the tools that will streamline communication, offer robust security, and automate slow, daily processes.

IT can help every department across an organization determine what technology is best suited for their needs and fill in the gaps. With IT’s help, each department can reach new levels of productivity with the new tools that allow them to focus on the most important part of their jobs.

Keep Up With Technology Maintenance

All of a business’s productivity problems don’t end completely after just finding the right tools. With constantly changing technology, IT helps with maintenance and managing the tools to keep everything running smoothly.

If the software that an employee uses daily is malfunctioning, not only will they not be as effective at their job, but their productivity may turn into a downward spiral. They’ll spend more of their day trying to fix the program that makes no progress on their workload. To prevent this, IT can once again step in to save the day.

IT is essential to an organization because it can stop other employees from wasting their time trying to fix a system. IT knows the world of technology inside and out so they are the best resource for fixing problems as they arise.

Keep Your Business Compliant

One of IT’s most important responsibilities is keeping the organization’s confidential data secure. And because of the extensive compliance regulations that could get a business in trouble if they fail to follow them, IT can literally be your business’s saving grace.

Some compliance regulations may allow only people in certain roles to view or edit a document. Other documents may need to be in a WORM format or be purged after a certain period of time. If you aren’t aware of all the security regulations that you must adhere to and follow them to a tee, you could be in serious legal trouble.

Since part of IT’s job is to worry about security measures, their expertise and training can stop you from ever having to worry about how well your organization does this. Keeping your business compliant can be a simple task with an impressive IT department.

Maintain Credibility Among Customers

If a business fails to adequately prioritize IT and doesn’t provide them with the necessary resources to be successful, a data breach that leaks confidential company information is difficult to avoid. This alone can wreck any customer relationship that you’ve spent years building.

Even if a business is lucky enough that their servers going down doesn’t result in confidential data being intercepted by malicious parties, customers that depend on an organization’s product will be in trouble. If a customer cannot carry out business as usual because of an issue with your system, you could lose all credibility with your customers. Your customers may immediately search for a more dependable solution.

By finding a diverse skill set and the right tools for your IT department, you won’t have to worry about what a security breach could do to your customers and business’s reputation.

A successful business is driven by a successful IT department. As technology becomes increasingly popular with more impressive capabilities than ever before, it’s vital that an organization provides the necessary resources to an IT department to stay on top of any issues.

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Katie Casaday is a marketing content writer at eFileCabinet where she specializes in computer software and document management topics. She graduated from Utah State University with a BA in Global Communication. She has experience writing about B2B technology companies and besides enjoying writing, she loves nature and taking hikes with her companion, a Border Collie named Margo.

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Archives, Global Logistics, Global Trade Daily

4 Procurement Analysis Issues Facing Manufacturing Companies

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The procurement process at manufacturing companies such as consumer products (CP), food and beverage, and industrial can be very complex. It involves the sourcing of hundreds, if not thousands, of commodities and raw material ingredients from many different suppliers worldwide. Budgets, standards-setting, and forecasting need to be completed up to 12-18 months in advance. Often there are several systems in place to manage this process including ERP, MRP, and siloed spreadsheets, making it challenging to track coverage and spending.

Let’s explore 4 common issues in procurement as well as the business benefits of implementing an advanced analytics solution built specifically for managing the procurement process in manufacturing companies.

Issue #1: Managing commodity price risk

Business Challenges

Companies that are procuring commodities, raw materials, energy, or packaging to produce finished goods are exposed to increasingly volatile commodity prices. With market prices constantly changing, it is difficult for buyers to plan and budget, and is impossible to know the future spend for any given commodity. Often procurement groups are required to budget and forecast costs for thousands of items at a time, for months or years in advance. Without a commodity procurement system in place, this is a time consuming, manual process and there is no way to get a comprehensive view of price risk.

The Solution

Manufacturing companies need a system that automates and consolidates procurement data into one central location that allows you to track, monitor, and manage commodity price risk. The solution should integrate market price curves with data from ERP, MRP, accounting, spreadsheets, and other systems to provide accurate forecasting and budgeting capabilities.

Business Benefits

Procurement solution leverages predictive analytics to react to the market faster and gain a competitive advantage. The solution enables business users to view real-time coverage as well as the plan and maintain coverage within corporate governance policies. Users can also create additional insights that address specific questions without the help of IT, leading to better, faster decision making.

Issue #2: Lack of real-time information

Business Challenges

It is difficult for manufacturers to get true visibility into their exposures and risk when data is being stored in multiple systems. Coverage and pricing are usually managed in individual buyers’ spreadsheets and is time-consuming to manually combine the impact of physicals, futures, and FX.

The Solution

Manufacturers need a solution that manages planning, coverage, financial hedges, and risk in a single platform. They need to be able to manage cost models, consolidate exposure, have integrated derivatives and FX modules, and run complex forecasting scenarios.

Business Benefits

Procurement solution allows you to uncover hidden risks, make better, more informed decisions, and promptly take corrective actions. With the ability to run advanced simulations on market changes, coverage, spend, and variance, you can better evaluate how projected changes will affect the bottom line, as well as predict the impact to coverage before taking action.

Issue #3: The “spread out” spreadsheet

Business Challenges

It is widely known that spreadsheets are prone to manual errors and significantly increase operational work, yet most manufacturing firms still use a large number of custom spreadsheets to manage commodity risk and procurement. It can take weeks of effort to consolidate plans, monitor rates, and check for anomalies every time new forecasts come in.

Additionally, spreadsheet usage in procurement creates a lot of risk to the business due to the inevitable lack of data integration, auditability, and process controls. They provide no history of why changes were made and are dependent on the individuals who own the spreadsheets and write their own macros. This makes it very challenging to consolidate information for accurate forecasting and planning while also keeping the company’s data secure.

The Solution

These companies require a solution that maintains data in a structured form with the ability to trace and audit every transaction within the system. Role-based access should be set up as well as alerts, warnings, and exception tracking to highlight discrepancies in real-time. Workflows in the system will help create more process efficiencies and increased collaboration.

Business Benefits

Procurement Analysis solution enables procurement teams to reduce the time spent on operational tasks by up to 50%. This frees up valuable time to focus more on business strategy instead of collecting data and preparing reports. Updated volume forecasts can be accessed on-demand, rather than having to wait for a monthly or quarterly update, enabling teams to take corrective actions immediately.

Issue #4: No standards for cost models

Business Challenges

Manufacturers that have multiple business units within the procurement department usually do not have standardized cost models across buyers. Individual buyers will maintain their own spreadsheets, making it impossible to derive any insights or analysis. Because of the sheer volume and complexity of the models, maintaining and updating them takes a significant amount of time. Even with this manual effort, spreadsheets do not provide any visibility on the secondary cost components that make up total costs. These cost components may have a huge impact on spend and play a key role when negotiating contracts with suppliers.

The Solution

These companies need a flexible cost model framework that makes it easy to standardize and capture information in a structured manner to enable deeper analysis. The system should automatically update the components of each cost model and take minimal effort to maintain.

Business Benefits

Procurement solution allows you to establish organization-wide standards to enable the use of cost models to set budgets, learn individual cost contributors, and make automatic corrections to coverage. It also provides the ability to analyze how individual components of a cost model have performed relative to each other or to the market.

Start making the most profitable business decisions

Today’s modern manufacturing companies are benefiting from advanced analytics software. By integrating all of your procurement data and performing real-time analysis, you can start making the most profitable, fact-based business decisions.

Eka Software Solutions is a global leader in providing digital commodity management solutions, driven by cloud, blockchain, machine learning and analytics.

To talk to Eka experts please write to info@eka1.com

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Archives, Executive Education, Global Trade Daily

Investing in Technology to Build Knowledge-Based Companies

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Executives understand how knowledge management as facilitating organizational processes and activities uses information technology to organize existing information. Information technology plays a crucial role in creating, retrieving, storing and applying organizational knowledge stated by Maryam Alavi and Dorothy Leidner’s MIS Quarterly review.

Executives focus on individuals as the major source of knowledge and show how followers tie together so that they can affect the sharing, storage, transfer, and apply knowledge within organizations. Executives, therefore, see these connections, and the related shared knowledge and memory, as central to the effectiveness of knowledge management.

How Technology Matters?

Executives are well versed today on information technology and usually have a fleet of followers in this department that they can depend on. Sandy Weil, a financial executive, wanted one number when he left the office that determined his value at risk. His technology team delivered and came up with one number called VAR (Value At Risk). Wiel slept much better knowing what risk he faced while running one of the largest financial organizations in the world. He was controlling operational risk and inspiring employees to follow where he leads.

Technology, as one would imagine, is often associated with information and communication dispersed within companies. Considerable alignment between information technology and the knowledge-based view connects the two to develop and disseminate knowledge throughout the organization which, in turn, is an important factor of sustainable competitive advantage.

Executives agree with Robert Grant, who states that knowledge integration is one of the main reasons for the existence of companies. Furthermore, Andrew Gold, Arvind Malhotra, and Albert Segars suggest information technology as an important resource for strategic planning for knowledge integration. Olivier Caya posits that information technology enables knowledge integration by using three possible mechanisms:

1. Impersonal

2. Personal

3. Collective

Executives can use the impersonal mechanism to enact regulations, procedures, and rules aimed at coordinating intellectual capital within organizations. Information technology disseminates protocols among members and allows them to be knowledgeable of their progress toward meeting determined milestones stated in the strategic plans.

The personal mechanism is used by executives to vertically and horizontally exchange knowledge between employees and collective mechanism is used when information technology manifests itself as a synthesizer of ideas and knowledge acquired from multiple organizational members. Thus, information technology encourages people to embark on technological facilities, such as shared electronic workspaces, to provide new ideas and possible solutions for solving organizational problems. As a result, it is viewed that information technology plays a critical role in integrating knowledge and is therefore aligned with the knowledge-based view.

Executives can use information technology as a communication mechanism manifestation and deployment and decision-aid technology. For example, Hsin-Jung Hsieh argues that communication technology provides ways to enhance interactions among members and departments within organizations. This type of technology eliminates the barriers of organizational communications while improving the extent of knowledge sharing and access for all followers at various levels of the organization.

Thus, there is a strong correlation between communication technology and social capital view that sheds light on the development of relationships within organizations to aggregate human capital into social capital so as to provide further information and opportunities for all members. This subsequently creates valuable resources for an organization as a whole.

Furthermore, decision-aid technology develops cohesive infrastructures to store and retrieve the knowledge to enable followers in creating more innovative solutions to problems and managing operational risks. Ergo, information technology supports knowledge by enabling interactions and providing more comprehensive and effective solutions to solve organizational problems.

Unleashing the Power of Knowledge in Companies

Today, technology has changed the business world ten-fold. Every day there is an easier way to process, access, and disseminate information. Technology – now referred to as Information technology – is an internal resource that increasingly facilitates organizational communication and improves the search for knowledge. When executives have people in place to manage information technology, the organization can see increased revenues, better satisfaction by employees and customers, and most importantly enhance their own effectiveness as leaders.

The social capital view supports the idea that knowledge creation is highly dependent on developing organizational communications and interactions. Information technology enables organizations to overcome space constraints in communication, and promotes the depth and range of knowledge access and sharing within companies.  More specifically, communication technologies can be employed to enhance the conversations and knowledge exchanges between organizational members. Scholars such as Andrew Gold, Arvind Malhotra and Albert Segars argue that this knowledge shared through information technology could positively contribute to knowledge integration.

I also introduced executives to what the scholar Robert Grant describes using the knowledge-based view. Highlighting knowledge integration as a major reason for the existence of a company. Knowledge sharing itself can develop more innovative climates and facilitate knowledge creation in organizations. Thus, communication technologies can play a crucial role in improving knowledge creation.

Communication technology is an internal resource that develops and integrates organizational knowledge as the most strategic factor of competitiveness. As executives use expert systems for decision-making, technology becomes a decision-aid. As mentioned earlier, decision-aid technology can be also considered as a facilitator of the knowledge creation process by providing the essential infrastructures to store and retrieve organizational knowledge.

Executives agree with Shahnawaz Muhammed who highlights major functions for information technology and explains that information technology enhances learning and sharing knowledge by providing access to knowledge, and stimulates new ideas and knowledge generation, transfers an individual’s knowledge to other members and departments, and improves knowledge capturing, storing, and accumulating, aiming at achieving organizational goals. Bringing us to the conclusion that information tech has a positive association with knowledge management performance in companies.

In Conclusion

Standing on the shoulders of scholars before us, I indicate that information technology is a major factor for knowledge management success and supports the positive impact of information technology on knowledge management performance.

For executives, this article can portray a more detailed picture of the effects of information technology on knowledge management. Many organizations still implement knowledge management initiatives without sufficient consideration of their technological infrastructures.

When executives ensure the effectiveness of knowledge management projects they increase control and lesson operational risk. I also suggest that a firm’s ability to enhance knowledge management can be highly affected when executives implement information technology. Furthermore, I suggest that scholars take these ideas and continue to conduct research using executives as the focal point so that academic scholarship can meet the needs of managerial implications at the higher echelons of organizations worldwide.

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Mostafa Sayyadi works with senior business leaders to effectively develop innovation in companies and helps companies—from start-ups to the Fortune 100—succeed by improving the effectiveness of their leaders. He is a business book author and a long-time contributor to business publications and his work has been featured in top-flight business publications.

Archives, Global Trade Daily, Special Reports

IT Job Satisfaction: Six Keys to Keeping Your Top IT Talent

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Technology roles are among the most difficult to fill. Demand exceeds supply in the industry, so talented tech workers can afford to be choosy when looking for work.

For IT teams, this makes retention crucial. When you struggle to replace employees who voluntarily leave the company, there are negative impacts to productivity, customer service, information security, and profitability. Employee loyalty is essential to your success.

So what inspires loyalty? Job satisfaction. Satisfied employees are less likely to look for new work and less likely to consider other opportunities. The latter is especially important in IT because the average IT pro receives 32 job solicitations each week.

To improve retention and loyalty and avoid the struggles that come with recruiting new employees, focus on boosting job satisfaction. We reviewed more than a dozen surveys and research studies to uncover the most important factors that contribute to IT job satisfaction. Here’s what we found.

Strong coworker relationships increase job satisfaction

In a survey conducted by Spiceworks last year, IT professionals ranked how 10 different factors contributed to their happiness at work. The results: strong coworker relationships have the biggest positive impact on employee satisfaction. Survey respondents rated coworker relationships as even more important than pay, stress levels, and work hours.

Unfortunately, improving coworker relationships is much more complicated than improving pay, work hours, or vacation time. Employees evaluate their coworkers independently, forming relationships based on compatibility of personality, shared goals and interests, and many other highly individualized reasons.

You can’t simply decide for everyone to become friends, but you can create an environment that encourages employees to form friendships. A few ways to do that is to:

Hire people you can see yourself being friends with. By hiring people compatible with your own personality, you build a team of people who are more likely to share interests and values.

Change your seating arrangement. Even if employees don’t have enough in common with their coworkers to form friendships, changing desks occasionally gives them an opportunity to meet people from other departments that might be worth befriending.

Provide opportunities for interaction outside of the office. It’s hard to get to know your coworkers on a personal level when all of your interactions center around work.

Boredom increases dissatisfaction

A survey conducted by TEKsystems found that only 48 percent of entry- to mid-level IT professionals feel as though they’re doing the most satisfying work of their careers. And while the numbers are trending upwards—from only 39 percent in 2014—more than half are not as satisfied as they could be with the work they’re doing in their current positions.

To prevent job dissatisfaction resulting from boredom, provide employees with plenty of opportunities to do interesting, meaningful, or challenging work:

Change things up.  If employees aren’t challenged in their current roles, consider moving them onto a team where they can do something different or learn a new technology.

Encourage them to pursue other interests. Provide professional development funds that employees can use to learn something new, give them time to focus on pet projects that are outside of the scope of their day-to-day responsibilities, or make your employment contracts more flexible so they can work on a side gig in their own time.

Give them more responsibilities. When employees outgrow their current roles and find themselves bored and unchallenged, their natural inclination is to look for a new position.

Funding and awareness play a part in IT job satisfaction

A survey by Campus Technology looked at job satisfaction for IT professionals in higher education institutions and found that inadequate funding for projects and new technology and administrators not understanding what they do both created job dissatisfaction.

Lack of funding is often the direct result of poor communication between IT and the individuals who make funding decisions. If leaders don’t understand how investing in technology will benefit the entire organization, they’ll never sign off on the investment.

For many organizations, IT operates in a silo—and often with an us-versus-them mentality. This is usually the result of non-technical sponsors and leaders making unreasonable demands and failing to see issues from the perspective of those who understand the technology.

But eliminating employee dissatisfaction caused by these issues requires breaking down those silos and working as a team. Consider hiring someone to operate as a liaison between IT and non-technical departments and leadership. Choose someone who’s spent time on both sides of the fence who has the ability to present IT concerns in terms of overall business benefits.

Improving communication between technical and nontechnical divisions reduces the risk of IT employees becoming dissatisfied because they feel misunderstood and underappreciated. Additionally, it increases the chance that your department receives the funding needed to stay on top of technological advances and trends.

Salary matters, but not as much as you think

A survey conducted by TechTarget found that salary also impacts job satisfaction. However, the impact of salary on job satisfaction is much smaller than that of other, more important factors like work that’s intellectually challenging and a supportive work environment.

And while company culture and interesting projects may be more important than salary, you shouldn’t neglect the role that salary plays in keeping employees happy. Few people will stay in a job—even one that they love—if they don’t make enough to pay their bills.

If you’re concerned that employee salaries are contributing to dissatisfaction, follow the lead of other companies in the industry and take an innovative approach to setting salaries:

Pay Silicon Valley rates, even if you’re not in Silicon Valley. Basecamp’s headquarters is in Chicago, but the company employs people who live all over the world. While the company could get away with setting salaries based on cost of living where employees work—or cost of living in Chicago—all employees earn Silicon Valley rates.

Pay people to move somewhere with a lower cost of living. If you can’t afford Silicon Valley rates, consider an incentive for employees to move somewhere less expensive. Zapier offers its employees a $10,000 relocation package to move out of Silicon Valley and into an area with a lower cost of living.

Work with HR to personalize employee benefits. Even if you can’t increase salaries, there are opportunities to put more money in employees’ pockets with personalized benefits. For example, Student Loan Hero offers its employees student loan debt repayment matching. BambooHR employees get an annual $2,000 vacation stipend.

Job training is important for both employees and employers

A survey by The Conference Board found that one of the areas employees are least satisfied with at work is educational and job training programs. Data from a survey from CompTIA shows that this concern is particularly important for IT professionals because one of their top concerns is that their skills quickly become obsolete.

Wish list items for IT professionals further highlight the impact that training, education, and advancement have on job satisfaction.

More than half of IT professionals choose their careers because of their “passion/interest in technology.” That interest doesn’t subside when employees master a particular technology. IT pros are hungry to continue learning, experimenting, and innovating. When their job enables them to do so, they’re much more satisfied.

At the same time, employers expect that one of the most difficult hiring challenges they’ll face this year will be “finding workers with expertise in emerging tech fields.”

Professional development opportunities, on-the-job training, and education stipends increase employee satisfaction. Plus, they limit the need for employers to seek new hires who have experience with emerging technologies; you’re able to fill new roles with existing employees.

There are a number of ways to provide IT employees with development opportunities:

-Provide funds for employees to attend industry conferences, earn certifications, take courses, or pursue additional degrees.

-Distribute a list of local mentorship opportunities, trade organizations, and community IT groups, and subsidize any membership fees.

-Hire industry leaders/experts to host an on-site seminar or training for your group once a quarter, or host monthly lunch-and-learn events.

When work is meaningful, other factors are less impactful

In both 2017 and 2018, Elon Musk’s SpaceX landed a spot on Glassdoor’s “employees’ choice” list of best places to work. The company has an overall 4.4-star rating, 96 percent of employees approve of Musk as CEO, and 90 percent of employees would recommend working for SpaceX to friends. By all accounts, SpaceX employees are satisfied with their jobs.

But a recent study from PayScale shows that SpaceX employees earn less than employees of other top tech companies and experience the highest amounts of stress.

So why are employees who are underpaid and overstressed so satisfied with their jobs? SpaceX employees feel that their work is meaningful. SpaceX earned the highest rating of all of the companies PayScale compared in the “high job meaning” category.

Of course, when your job is to build the technology needed to colonize other planets, it’s not hard to find meaning in it. But not all companies have such inspiring goals. Even so, that doesn’t mean it’s impossible to make the work your employees do meaningful.

According to Michael G. Pratt, professor of management and organization at Boston College, “Meaningfulness is about the why, not just about what.” Help employees understand the “why” behind their day-to-day responsibilities to help them find meaning in their work:

-Connect IT’s tasks to overall company goals.

-Share stories of how IT projects helped end users.

-Publicize the company’s mission, values, and contributions.

The most important factors for IT job satisfaction

Like any employee of any industry, IT professionals want to earn a reasonable living, avoid unhealthy amounts of stress, and access important benefits. But those things are just the starting point for IT job satisfaction. True satisfaction stems from filling more complex needs.

People seek careers in IT because they’re good at what they do and interested in using their skills to build innovative products and solve complex problems. They seek challenges, are motivated by learning, and thrive when collaborating with like-minded people. They don’t mind dealing with stress if they’re contributing to something meaningful.

The companies that win the talent war will be those that work to improve the more fundamental aspects of IT job satisfaction. They’ll attract and retain top talent by building a department where employees find true fulfillment with their teams, work, and future prospects with the company.

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Jessica Greene is a staff writer at Spoke.

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3 Guiding Principles for Digital Transformation Success

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Many companies have adopted digital technology to transform their business. But the transition can be a challenging process, and studies show that digital transformation projects often fail to reach company expectations.
This happens for a variety of reasons, says J. Eduardo Campos, co-founder with his wife, Erica, of Embedded-Knowledge Inc. (www.embedded-knowledge.com) and co-author with her of From Problem Solving to Solution Design: Turning Ideas into Actions.
“It’s often due to ineffective communication between the IT department and business teams,” Campos says. “But overall it really comes down to an inability to problem-solve and a tendency to lose sight of teamwork and the big-picture business plan.
“To have a successful digital transformation depends greatly on employees working together, but too many organizations are siloed, thus hampering the communication and creating obstacles in the process.”
Campos offers three ways company leaders can deal with problems in digital transformation:
Define the essential problem. Campos says digital transformational programs fail when company leaders don’t grasp the root of the problem they hope digital transformation will solve. “Beware of solving the symptoms instead of the problem,” Campos says. “To define the essential problem, you first need to step back, reflect, and clearly define what you are trying to address. Detaching yourself from a problem and trying to see it from a different perspective, you then will have a better view of how things interact with each other. There are often multiple layers to why a problem exists, so ask a series of whys that drill down to the answer.”
Design solutions. Once the problem is identified, setting goals and assessing options come next. ”It’s not unusual to find yourself in a situation where the problems you identified are part of a dynamic environment, affected by constant changes that require you to revisit your goals and options regularly,” Campos says. “This is where technology and software can be very helpful in making sure everything is being tracked appropriately without any information getting lost. in addition to technology, using risk management concepts can be a very effective way to help keep consistency throughout the solution design process.”
Engage stakeholders. Digital transformation often represents a massive change for personnel. Campos says it’s vital for the decision-makers to craft a stakeholder engagement plan that addresses all aspects of a recommended solution. “Clearly identify whom will be impacted by the solution, either positively or negatively, and how to handle stakeholder reactions,” Campos says. “You want them to be willing to commit to your recommendation because they indeed want it, not because you are selling it to them. And when you are influencing the decision-making process, be sure to show your stakeholders your appreciation of varying opinions.”
“Achieving success in digital transformation brings together people, process, and technology,” Campos says. “Many businesses never get far past the launch point of their digital transformation because that triad of people, process and technology isn’t in sync, and problems that could have been solved were not.”
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J. Eduardo Campos is co-author with his wife, Erica, of From Problem Solving to Solution Design: Turning Ideas into Actions. Campos spent 13 years at Microsoft, first as a cybersecurity advisor, then leading innovative projects at the highest levels of government in the U.S. and abroad.  His consulting firm, Embedded Knowledge Inc. (www.embedded-knowledge.com), works with organizations and entrepreneurs developing customized business strategies and forming partnerships focused on designing creative solutions to complex problems.
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It’s Time for an Indian-U.S. Digital Alliance

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With two of largest economies in the world – the EU and China – developing their own digital economy frameworks and governance systems and seeking to export those to their respective spheres of influence, America and India risk being isolated. With its comprehensive digital economy regulatory regime, including limits on cross border data flows, onerous privacy rules, and aggressive antitrust enforcement directed at U.S. internet companies, the EU is seeking to export its digital governance model globally. China is doing the same.

Its strategy of a protected domestic market, coupled with a state that is a massive provider of data to Chinese IT firms, being exported through its digital silk road initiative.

If India and the United States do not want to live in an increasingly bi-polar digital world with some nations in the EU digital regulatory block and others as digital colonies of China, it is time for a high-level digital alliance between India and the United States.

Such a partnership makes eminent sense. Today, the two countries are already partners in areas ranging from trade and investment, defence and counter-terrorism, science and technology, and energy and health, among others. Goods and services trade between the two countries topped US$142bn in 2018 with a joint resolve of taking it to US$500bn by 2024.

As India is a leader in IT services, fielding global leading companies like WIPRO, TCS and Infosys, and the United States is home to the world’s leading digital economy firms, becoming partners in digital is the next logical step.

However, increasingly, economic policy in the two countries is fueled by nation-first rhetoric. Such an approach has the potential of putting both countries at loggerheads. For instance, India’s position on local storage of sensitive data of its citizens, particularly in payments, e-commerce, and social media sectors, has raised the hackles of American companies, as have a series of restrictions against U.S. firms from entering the e-commerce market.

Yet, apparent discord is no reason to weaken the resolve of deepening engagement in existing areas and expanding in others. In fact, such episodes must prompt a course correction through comprehensive review of causes, and designing of mechanisms to prevent and promptly resolve possible discords in future.

One key Indian position is primarily informed by difficulty of its law enforcement agencies to get timely access to data of potential rogue elements that may be stored outside India. Yet, rather than ban cross border data transfers to the United States, a well negotiated arrangement between the two countries which inter alia minimises restrictions on cross border data flow, maintains high levels of data protection, and does not compromise the ability of Indian government to access necessary data in genuine cases will be a win-win situation for both countries.

Resolving these kinds of existing and potential disputes through formalized mechanisms like advance notification and structured consultation could go a long way in deepening partnership between the two nations.

However, the scope of digital alliance need not be limited to dispute resolution. The emerging new IT-based innovation wave is bringing stakeholders across jurisdictions closer than ever. A range of intermediaries has emerged to increase convenience, safety, speed, and economy of digital experience, within and across borders. Regulation on accountability, dominance, grievance redress, and taxation in digital economy will need greater cooperation among governments than ever before.

India and the United States can lead the way in working towards establishing best practices by entering into early engagements at senior government levels on these issues under a broader digital alliance. The on-going 2+2 dialogue on defence and security issues between the two countries could be a good template. The digital alliance can also benefit from close partnerships between industry and civil society of the two nations.

Finally, each nation leads in certain areas, with India ahead of the United States in programs like smart cities and digital identity systems, both implemented under the Modi government. Also, India has taken important steps in fighting digital piracy, with the Delhi high court’s recent decision that provides a new tool for rights-holders to better protect the creativity that is tied up in their copyright.

The United States leads in broadband and progress to 5G and e-government. When it comes to these kinds of digital policy innovations, a formal partnership can help two-way learning and implementation with appropriate customization.

Given their past and present partnership, India and the United States are not only naturally placed to develop a shared global vision for digital economy but are also equally equipped to present an optimal alternative to the Chinese or EU approaches. The time is right for a digital alliance between India and the United States. The leadership in both countries needs to realise this and actively work towards achieving the same before it’s too late.

Mehta is Founder Secretary General of CUTS International, a global economy policy research and advocacy group headquartered in India. Atkinson is Founder and President of Information Technology and Innovation Foundation, the world’s top think tank for science and technology policy, headquartered in the United States.

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5 Outdated IT Practices That Companies Need To Eliminate

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Technology changes nearly as quickly as the calendar flips. A new device or upgrade that was trending not long ago may become antiquated or obsolete before you know it.

Information technology is integral to most businesses today, but keeping up with the interrelated parts of IT and the advancements – from software to cyber security to social media platforms – isn’t always prioritized. IT experts say companies falling behind in that category could see their business slip as a result. 

“Over the last several years, many IT practices have become fixed and inflexible,” says Chris Hoose (www.choosenetworks.com), an IT consultant who works with small businesses. “While older concepts are a good springboard, some have become ineffective. There are many you can reconsider and/or eliminate.”

Hoose looks at five IT practices he thinks businesses should stop using:

Outdated software. One of the biggest security vulnerabilities a company can face is one of the simplest to address: outdated software. “There are many risks associated with using unsupported or outdated software, and hackers love to exploit these gaps,” Hoose says. “Then there are the inevitable problems of a system failure or antiquated workflows that slow a company’s productivity. Although upgrading software – including your operating systems – can be time-consuming and expensive, doing so can safeguard your organization and create more room for innovations.”

In-house server hosting. Much of today’s modern software is hosted in the cloud. “Most cloud vendors are able to provide public, private or hybrid cloud hosting based on your requirements,” Hoose says. “With such extensive cloud capability, there is no reason anymore to rely on in-house server hosting. Migrating to these versions can not only help save your business the costs of purchasing and maintaining software, but also the costs of maintenance and upkeep on servers.” Another plus of cloud computing is the added security of cloud disaster recovery, a backup and restore capability that enables companies to recover data and switch to a secondary operational mode.

Inflexible work environment. The new wave of the workforce is an IT strategy that includes video cameras and laptops for team members to facilitate remote work and remote communications. “If your firm doesn’t have that flexibility, they risk being left behind,” Hoose says. “Flexible work arrangements improve a company’s effectiveness and morale. It’s one of the best uses of today’s IT.”

Newsgroups and discussion forums. These popular mediums once served as portals where questions were raised from the team and answers were provided in a question-and-answer format. Better alternatives, Hoose says, are options like Facebook, Hangouts or Slack. “The format is far more intuitive and user-friendly with social media pages than with conventional discussion forums,” he says. “Also, multiple answers can be handled easily with social-media pages.”

Unnecessary complexity. Hoose says an overly complex structure is the core failing of legacy systems. “Rethink your architecture and prioritize for simplicity,” he says. “When modernizing your systems, less is more in terms of both architecture and functionality. You can start by implementing only the most important features. Make sure the new application will worrk well with the rest of the tools used in your business by default. Whatever applications you choose, make sure you use a solid and future-ready technology stack to deliver optimal performance.”

“Many executives are unsure, or even unaware, of the risk that obsolescence presents to their technology portfolios,” Hoose says. “Their uncertainty stems from not having the right data and dealing with conflicting points of view on priority, value, and risk.”

About Chris Hoose

Chris Hoose (www.choosenetworks.com) is the president of Choose Networks, an IT consulting firm for small businesses. Hoose started the company in 2001 to give large-scale solutions and support to businesses that can’t afford their own in-house IT department. He earned a Master of Information Systems Management from Friends University.

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Transplace Appoints New Chief Technology Officer

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Leading provider of transportation management services company Transplace, confirmed Jim French will take the role as Chief Technology Officer. French will lead company initiatives involving  IT infrastructure and development report to his predecessor, Mike Dieter,  who will evolve into the role of Chief Information Officer.

“I am honored to join a leading technology company such as Transplace,” said French. “Transplace has a strong reputation as a technology innovator with a customer-focused culture. I look forward to helping guide Transplace’s ongoing pursuit to deliver logistics solutions that deliver measurable value to its customers.”

French brings over 30 years of experience with information technology, inclusive of his previous role as  CTO at MoneyGram International where he oversaw all technology at the company including application development, enterprise architecture, service management, infrastructure network operations, internal financial, marketing and legal systems and end-user computing.

“Jim’s extensive experience in technology innovation and leadership make him a perfect fit for Transplace,” said Transplace CEO Frank McGuigan. “As a technology company, it is important to have dynamic leaders who are able to direct and foster our IT planning and performance. Having both Jim and Mike as part of Transplace’s leadership team will better position the company to deliver innovative technology solutions that drive supply chain efficiencies and improve financial performance and service for our customers.”

Source: Outlook Marketing Services