2009 Weather Report – Cloudy
My letters usually have some sort of double entendre intended to make you smile, help you understand technology and get a feel for Quartet. This “weather report” angle might be the cheapest one yet, but “cloudy” is so versatile I had to use it. It sums up our 2009 perspectives, it is a relevant technical trend and it will help introduce several new services.
Let’s get the obvious metaphor out of the way. We don’t know what is happening in the economy, so Quartet’s outlook for 2009 is cloudy. There’s more though. Financial sector deleveraging is well underway and those that aren’t struggling with the implications of that are waiting for the dust to settle, or the clouds to clear. IT outsourcing does well in this sort of environment as companies strive to cut costs and focus on core competencies. If you are in one of those camps, I encourage you to call us. Our business model leverages scale economies and service distribution efficiency – it is not based on change order requests from rigidly defined contracts. A traditional (read large) IT service company will earn 30% or more from change order fees and in this environment, that additional level of uncertainty is unacceptable. With Quartet think flexible, outcome based contracts, flat fee assignments and full cost disclosure.
Cloud computing is one of the emerging trends we should all be aware of, but especially smaller companies. With cloud computing your software and data reside on servers that are accessed through the internet. Quartet was actually a pioneer in a form of cloud computing. In 1998 we offered shared servers in office buildings and we still do a version of that with our virtualization services. Our traditional hosted telephony services are part of the cloud computing trend. We also did a six month, multi-client trial of cloud computing in 2004, but it was crippled by internet instability and inconsistent browser interfaces. However, the latest version of cloud computing has broader promise. Microsoft, Google and others are offering word processing, email, data, spreadsheet and other capabilities on a monthly fee basis. The internet is much more stable now, the software is better and the fees are reasonable. While there are still bugs in the cloud and it won’t be for everyone, cloud computing has excellent potential to lower capital, operating and support costs.
Which brings us to the final overworking of the cloud metaphor; Quartet is pleased to announce two new clouded services. Neither requires any capital and both are reasonably priced, have self-service web portals and are fully supported by our staff. Our new Security service include anti-spam, anti-virus, intrusion detection, reporting and others features that will give you all the protection and compliance you require. Quartet’s new Data Storage service provides automated on-line backup for desktops, laptops and servers no matter where they are. No tapes and no discipline required. See the services section of this site for more detail.
I tell my staff that they have to deal with more and more ambiguity as they progress in their careers, but I didn’t fully appreciate it until the past few months. Everything is changing. Somebody might have moved the cheese. If you are as confused as we are, have heart. We’ll do our part by sorting through technology to find you ways to do more with less. We wish you all the best in 2009 and as always, I personally welcome your calls and emails.
Regards,
Robert Bracey
President
BTW – if all this cloud talk is getting to you, enter our “Get Away to the Sun” contest at the top of the page. Chances of winning are very good!
