Thursday, April 30, 2009

2009 HTG Award Presentations

This year marked the first year we have presented the HTG Awards to our membership. We have some of the greatest partners in the IT Channel, and we were able to recognize them on Tuesday evening as part of our HTG Summit in Dallas last week. Here is the list of winners:

Award - Name - Recipient Company
Group of the Year - HTG2 - Facilitator Nate Austin
Rookie of the Year - Amy and Peter Kardel - Clever Ducks
Facilitator of the Year - Erik Thorsell - Success Computer Consulting
Vendor of the Year - Zenith Infotech Ltd.
Spirit Award - Robert Lindley - Innovative Systems, Inc
Leadership Award - Dan Hay - ISOutsource
Founder’s Award - Lyf Wildenberg - Mytech Partners
Friend of HTG - Paul Dippell - Service Leadership, Inc.
Excellence in Partnering - Aaron Booker - Hardlines Co.
Best Practice/Great Idea - Mitch Miller - Dynamic Computer Solutions
Best Practice/Great Idea - Alex Ziogas - AZBS
Best Practice/Great Idea - Andre Vittorio - Idealogical Systems, Inc.

Group Members of the Year
HTG1 - Dan Shundoff - Intellicom
HTG2 - Lyf Wildenberg - Mytech Partners
HTG3 - Steve Riat - Nex-tech
HTG4 - Garrett Brucker - Solve IT
HTG5 - Cohen Barnes - TBC Net, Inc.
HTG6 - Dave Rodman/Jeremy Kurth K&R - Network Solutions
HTG7 - Chris Bates - The Computer Hut
HTG8 - Roy van Norstrand - Usherwood Office Technology
HTG9 - Gary Stein - Netlink Systems Inc.
HTG10 - Randy Biggs - VACS
HTG11 - Raja Pagadala - The Final Step Ltd.
HTG12 - Jamison West - JWCS
HTG13 - Steve Winter - ERGOS Technology
HTG14 - Don Bentz - Preferred IT Group
HTG15 - Amy and Peter Kardel - Clever Ducks
HTG16 - Tom Fox - Tech Experts
HTG17 - Greg Gurev - MySherpa
HTG18 - Ben Rife - Integrity Networks

Congratulations to the winners. We are proud of you!

Tuesday, April 28, 2009

HTG Wrap Up - Blogtalk Radio

Last week IT Thought Leaders converged on Dallas. Will it ever be the same? Small Business IT Thought Leaders and Industry Experts recently invested an entire week to focus on the growth of their businesses at the Q2 meetings of HTG.

Want to know what came out of it? Well tune into Small Business IT Radio on Friday, May 1st 2009 to learn how the cloud will impact your managed services business, what disruptive technologies are on the horizon and how your business will change because of it. How important is marketing and sales to a managed services provider these days? What about financial benchmarketing, why is this important? HTG brings together IT partners from three countries quarterly for in depth, highly focuses and stressful (in a good way) business development and growth focused peer groups that hold each member accountable for the success and challenges in their business.

Tune in Friday May 1st to learn more, showtime is 12 Noon Eastern/9 AM Pacific Time - tune into http://www.blogtalkradio.com/smb/2009/05/01/Thought-Leaders-Converged-On-Dallas. Arlin Sorensen will join host Stuart Crawford and other HTG members for a review of the content that was covered.

Sunday, April 26, 2009

HTG Q2 in the Books

HTG Q2 2009 has come to an end. What a week we had in Dallas at the Omni. It was an amazing week in every way. The energy level was unbelievable. People were engaged and focused. It was like no other event I have had the privilege of being part of. And I heard that from dozens of vendors as they gave me feedback on their time with us last week. The group meetings were very strong from all reports. Some of you couldn’t get enough of each other starting early on Sunday or working late into the evenings. That is so good to see. When groups are committed to going above and beyond for one another, we are on a very good path. I know there were a number of company deep dives and mini SWOT interactions that will make a difference in the weeks ahead. Hopefully you remember when you get back into the routine and the chaos of the day that the key to making HTG work is to continually build relationships. This isn’t a week every quarter kind of deal. You need to reach out to your fellow group members weekly or even daily if that is what is needed. You are accountable to each other – not for the 48 hours you are in your peer groups – but 24/7/365. Accountability doesn’t turn off and on. It is always on. We need to stay very focused on that. Without accountability I know how you all are – you are just like me. You do what you want when you get around to it. Don’t try telling me any differently – it is the nature of an entrepreneur. So we need to keep the peer pressure on and continue to drive each other to execution. That is what Peer Power is all about.

Back on the farm we have been working hard to get HTG to the next level on the back end. Sue and Nancy have been entering all the information into Quickbooks Pro 2009 as we move off the HTS accounting platform and out onto our own as HTG. Some big changes as we spread our wings and leave the HTS nest. ConnectWise has given HTG three licenses to use in managing our membership and vendor relationships, so that is beginning to take shape as well. HP, SonicWALL and Microsoft have provided HTG hardware and the needed licensing to allow us to spin up the new SharePoint MOSS portal that we are all enjoying and will be the communication platform for our future. Vlad Mazek of OwnWebNow is hosting for us at his Dallas based data center. There has been a lot of activity as we have spun HTG off as a separate organization and are beginning to build a sustainable program for the future.

The advisory board of Dan Hay (finance), Brad Schow (membership), Stuart Crawford (press and media), Lyf Wildenberg (Communication and platform) and Scott Scrogin (Administration) have been doing a great job helping us through the transition. Ken Shetler (contractor managing vendors) along with myself, Nancy, Mary and Sue have been focused on driving revenue and putting a sustainable program in place so HTG will last into the future. There is much to celebrate and be excited about for the future.

But as with all things, change happens and sometimes people struggle to adapt. There have been some bumps in the road as we have moved toward our HTG 2.0 vision. A bit of execution was lacking on the staff side, and a bit of inflexibility on the part of some members has made the last few months challenging on some days. With over 270 companies involved now in both our programs, and at least that many ideas and personalities, I recognize that we cannot make every person happy all the time. Some are driven by money, some schedule, some personal wishes, some just want it their way. I wish we could meet each and every wish and expectation, but we cannot. So the thing I want to encourage you to remember is this: HTG is not about you. Those are some famous words that come from a bestselling book about a different topic, but they are related to our mission with HTG as well. HTG is about community and not any single member. It is about making an impact in each member’s business, leadership and life. That happens in different ways and at a different speed for each, but make no mistake about it, we are focused on driving change. We will be a disruptive change in your business and life. For some that is uncomfortable. To you I apologize in advance but want you to know the pursuit will continue. HTG will continue to grow and evolve, and our HTG 3.0 strategy will take us to another level once we get it completely defined. Just this week I read a manuscript for a new book coming out in May. It is a business parable and had some very wise ideas to share. Here are a few key nuggets:

1. Pursuing perfection requires that we be willing to be uncomfortable. If you are always striving to get better, then you are always growing. You have to embrace discomfort as part of your growth process.
2. Those who want to be average and good like to be comfortable. But you are either getting better or getting worse – there is no standing still.
3. 5% of our life is made up of performance, but 95% is spent preparing, practicing and waiting to perform. We have to be disciplined in the 95%.
4. To succeed we need to focus on improving each day. We have to take necessary action steps to get better each day, week, month and year.
5. Ask yourself each day – what do I need to do today to create the success and outcomes I desire?

Many people ask why we have to change. The individual peer groups are the core of HTG, and always will be for that matter, but the reality of growth is beginning to hit those which have been together the longest. Call it a plateau, hitting the wall, struggling to continue providing value – the game has to change if we are going to continue to be relevant in the businesses we serve. HTG has to penetrate to a different level with more managers in these organizations. Those at the top can only create so much change before they need to bring up another set of leaders to drive things deeper into the organization. It has to happen or HTG will die. I know those still in the dating and honeymoon periods think it is crazy to change what they feel is working just fine. But things won’t be fine forever without change. That is the crux of the matter. We must continue to increase the value HTG brings, we much continue to drive value to our members, we must continue to grow and become more or what has been will cease to be. It is that simple. All organizations change over time. They either find ways to remain vibrant and relevant, or they are relegated to a corner and become a piece of history. We are not willing to let that happen. Of course that means that there will be some whining and gnashing of teeth. It would be much easier to just let it run it’s course and avoid all the change. Change is always a lot more work than status quo. But I won’t let something which I know can continue to make a significant impact in the businesses and lives of our memberships ride off into the sunset. We will change. Each member will need to determine if the value they receive is worth the cost. Some may choose to opt out and move on. But my challenge is to focus on what we can become and not on what we have been. HTG is not about the past, it is absolutely about the future and that is very bright. I look forward to continuing to drive change into HTG so we can grow together as we take everyone to new heights and a new level of performance and life!

Monday, April 20, 2009

HTG Summit 2009

This week over 400 people will come to Dallas to the Omni Mandalay for the Q2 meetings of HTG. All 19 of our groups are meeting this week. All our vendor sponsors will be here to engage with us. We have a keynote address from Bob Burg on Tuesday. Wednesday is filled with 18 breakout sessions featuring the best and brightest from within the HTG ranks as well as the industry as a whole. It is going to be a great week!

Today the core focus of HTG is in full swing. We have 11 peer groups meeting in their own communities tackling the problems that each face. That is the real key to HTG - a community of 12 companies focused on helping each other reach their goals and take their business to the next level. It is powerful stuff. Those goals may be growing their business, overcoming a challenge, tackling a life issue - it doesn't really matter what it is - the groups dive in and help one another. The value is in helping each other achieve and execute. As that happens, good things happen to all. It is the Go Giver in action.

Part of the focus for HTG is also beyond business. It is about life. This morning (like each morning this week), we began our day with over 30 attendees gathered for morning devotions in the Presidential Suite on the 28th floor at 6:30 AM. That is execution in full swing. We had a weekend prayer vigil coordinated by one of our HTG members where 48 people prayed for 30 minutes each to ask for God's blessing over this week of activities. There will be many other life interactions this week - some spiritual in nature - others around family, marriages and people - but all about relationship. That is really the bottom line for HTG. It is about the relationships we have. At work, home, play, spiritually - life boils down to relationships. We all need to focus on taking care of them whether they are with a customer, employee, spouse, child, banker, lawyer or God Himself - relationships matter and do create the outcome of our life. How are your relationships going? What score would those you are in a relationship with give you?

Thursday, April 16, 2009

Who is Direct Anyway?

With the buzz in the channel about the new announcement that Dell is going to offer managed services directly to small and medium businesses, I dug out a letter we sent to our clients back in 2002 that I originally borrowed from Ted Warner of Connecting Point Greeley. Not sure if Ted is the original source, but he was my source back in 2002 when we were all bent out of shape about Dell's push down to our SMB clients. My perspective is that Dell will do what Dell does. They sell direct - always have - always will. That is their business model and they are very good at what they do. They "use" partners when it is in their best interest. They have no understanding of what it really means to partner - they just know how to get to their end goal - sell more stuff. Nothing wrong with that - it is what they are and what they do. But when it looks like a duck and quacks like a duck, it probably is a duck. Dell is a direct reseller and that is what they do. No sense sugar coating the truth. And no sense whining about it either. It is reality, and we need to leverage the fact that we are really the direct solution for our customers and provide what Dell or any large org never will - personal and local touch that truly cares about our customers and their needs.

To that end, here is something from the archives that we used some 6 years ago. Amazing how most of it still fits today:

Large direct marketing computer manufacturers talk about the message “Be Direct” in all of their print and television ads. Their message infers that it is infinitely better to deal with a website or a tele-sales rep at the end of a toll free number hundreds or thousands of miles away. We couldn’t disagree with them more.

To us, “Being Direct” means having real salespeople, and real engineering personnel working face-to-face with our customers. We listen to our customers’ needs and work to develop solutions that will help their businesses. Your success directly impacts our future. Unless we help to make you successful, we have no future while our distant competitor and their toll free number is only concerned about the order you may need to place at this moment. We partner directly with a wide variety of hardware and software manufacturers to craft the exact solutions that will serve the needs of your business. We take the time to evaluate what is best for your long-term needs, not the immediate sale that a telemarketer may want to make to hit their daily quota. When you have problems, we will be there directly to assist you. The “Direct” people don’t have their own service personnel; choosing instead to contract indirectly with other companies to do work. In some cases, they even select us to do their work since we can be a direct response to their indirect problem.

As we deal directly with each customer, our job is to provide you with options. We directly represent the best companies in the industry and we directly present you with solutions that include a broad range of products and services. The people who urge you to “Go Direct” can do little more than provide you with products and try to fix them over the phone when they break. If they can’t make the repair remotely, they call and ask one of us as a local reseller to go and make the repair directly with the end user. In your relationship with us, you have a partner that is committed to helping you now and into the future; business-to-business and face-to-face. Which begs the question….

Who is really being direct???

Saturday, April 11, 2009

Are you a Good Communicator?

In times of economic challenge, business professionals who want to lead from a position of strength need more than high IQ. They also need proficient communication skills.
Communication cannot succeed without listening. Are you listening?
You say you want to listen, you know how important it is to pay attention to your clients, your colleagues, your spouse, your family, but… you’re busy, you don’t have time right now, there is so much to do.
So you keep doing, and keep talking, even though stopping to listen can more quickly and easily
  • reduce professional and personal stress,
  • calm rising tempers,
  • clarify misunderstandings,
  • give you access to new opportunities
  • increase sales
Have you ever had someone say: “You seem to know exactly what I’m thinking. How did you do that?”
Tune in to Small Business IT Radio and hear what Jean Hudson has to say!

That’s Power Listening at work!

Jean Hudson is founder and CEO of execuCoach International, a Calgary-based leadership and personal development company. She has over 20 years experience as facilitator, speaker, writer, and coach. Her presentations and articles have been enjoyed by audiences across North America and Europe.
Jean holds a masters degree in collaborative leadership, and a master certificate in NLP (neuro-linguistic programming) which is the study of how top-level achievers think, act, and communicate.
Jean is not an expert in your field. She is an expert in accessing the strengths and resources of individuals and teams, then developing the skills to behave and communicate in ways that magnify achievement.
Join Jean online with Stuart Crawford of Bulletproof InfoTech on his weekly Small Business IT Radio program. Show time is April 17 at Noon Eastern/9 AM Pacific. Tune in online or listen later.
Tune in to Small Business IT Radio and hear what Jean Hudson has to say!

Friday, April 10, 2009

Looking for an Opportunity to Prospect

Have you heard of the Microsoft LET team. LET stands for Local Engagement Team and their mission in life is to help SMB partners connect with small businesses. To that end, they are rolling out a great program that just may be of interest to you.

How Microsoft can help Jump Start Your Prospecting

Are you a Microsoft Partner? If you are, Microsoft will agree to sponsor up to 5 local Chamber of Commerce events at any Chamber of Commerce you choose to work with by furnishing up to 5 copies of a Microsoft Software Package (Microsoft Office, MSFT Streets And Trips, SBA, etc) to you to be used as raffle prizes at these Chamber Events.

This is a tremendous way for you to generate leads for your products and services as you collect business cards or registration forms for these raffles!

Erick Simpson of MSP University is hosting a webinar with special guest Michael "MJ" Murphy, Business Development Manager, Microsoft. Together they'll discuss how to take advantage of this tremendous opportunity from Microsoft.

To register go to this link: https://www2.gotomeeting.com/register/243535459

All you need to do as a Microsoft Registered, Certified or Gold Partner to receive this benefit is agree to attend each Chamber Event and conduct the raffle of the Office Prize. This gets you in front of local business, demonstrates your relationship with Microsoft and builds your credibility in your local markets - YOU WIN!

When marketed with your local Chamber of Commerce, this acts as a hook, creating fresh buzz around the Chamber events and driving attendance - THE CHAMBER WINS!

The Chamber helps get the word out about Microsoft software and its sponsorship of the event - MICROSOFT WINS!

Wow, I've heard of win-wins before, but this is a 3-way win!

I have worked with the LET team and they are a great group that is committed to help ussucceed. They have other ideas too, so reach out and get involved with your local rep. Now more than ever it is networking with people that helps us win business. Take a listen to this webcast, get involved and make things happen!

Saturday, April 4, 2009

The Power of Community Takes Another Big Step

I have been in Orlando the last few days at the Ingram Micro VTN event. Having been part of this organization for a long long time, I have seen lots of changes. Some good, some not so good, but the premise of VTN has been and continues to be community and putting members together in an environment that makes it possible for all to take their business to a higher level. There have been some detours along that path as competing interests and other distractions have caused an occasional trip down a path going no where fast. But the team at Ingram has done one thing well over time - listen to the partners. And while it would be good for some of that to happen before the decisions are made rather than course correction after, the good news is they do listen and respond. Kirk, Ryan, Bill, Holly, Laura and the rest of that team have made some significant strides in taking VTN to a new level. Fresh perspectives on the advisory council, fresh content at the events, a renewed emphasis on chapters, more focus on Service Leadership benchmarking and a host of other changes that have taken things to a new level.

The event this week just verified to me that VTN is on the right course for the future. While I was sick for a portion of the event, the focus was right on and the messaging crisp. If VAR's want to survive in today's economy, we better learn how to sell. I would go further and say the VAR of the future actually is a sales company. The current mix of sales, marketing, technical expertise and operations is going to change drastically in the next 10 years. The need for technical resources will be significantly diminished by the move to the cloud. Operational and backend functions will be outsourced. Marketing will be handed off to experts who drive appointments. Our major role as VAR's will be to serve as a quarterback for our clients - we will be in the people business - guiding clients to the right combination of resources to help them get their work done. We will deliver very little of it ourselves beyond playing the role of strategic relationship management. Like it or not, it is coming and coming quickly. The things we have valued the last 20 years - deep technical expertise and solution selling - will quickly give way to business analysis and intelligence. We will become consultants in the true sense of the word.

Many in the channel haven't gotten that vision quite yet. But the announcement of John Fago as the new Senior Director in charge of VTN and other Ingram communities has just cemented the future of those communities for me. I have had the privilege of working with John for over 10 years in multiple roles. I knew from day one that he was a winner. He never says no, it is always lets see what makes sense. He is not confined to the normal inside the box thinking. He lives outside the box and steps inside often enough to keep things grounded. But most importantly he knows when to embrace change and help lead people there. In a few words, Fago gets it. The few times I have disagreed on strategy or a discussion with John over the last 1o years, by the time we were able to talk through it and work on it together there was always agreement that led to a better result. I have a hard time getting to that with my bride of 30 plus years. I have always been a Fago fan. I always will be. But my hats are off to the Ingram executive team for putting John in this role. You have sealed success for VTN with a stamp that will go far to further differentiate your place in the channel. Thank you for continuing to invest in your partners through VTN and other communities. HTG and myself personally, look forward to kicking some ____ as we take partnering, community and channel health to a whole new level in the next few years. The teams are in place. The time is now. Let's make it happen!