TECHNOLOGY Staying Current with New Technology Trends in Your Business The only thing constant about technology is change. The constant changes in our tech-driven society can make staying current with technology rather daunting for a business, but getting behind can be even more troublesome down the road. Keeping your company in the loop with the latest-and-greatest technological advancements for your industry can keep your business growing smarter and more efficiently every day. We talked with some savvy, skilled tech companies in Omaha to gather some information that we hope will help you understand not only the importance of keeping up with technology but help direct you to some of the best-qualified professionals in Omaha to help you accomplish that.
Don’t Get Left Behind With all of the information exchanged and stored in the virtual world today, things like security and compliance, Cloud hosting, and disasterrecovery services, are a must for every company’s online strategy. That’s where TierPoint comes in, providing comprehensive IT (Information Technology) support. With a national footprint that includes more than 40 data centers in the country—including two in Omaha—TierPoint delivers a wide range of production and disaster-recovery Cloud solutions with an emphasis on private, secure environments. They also provide professional services for data center and Cloud migrations. “Technology shifts are happening so rapidly that it’s forcing organizations to rethink how they do things,” said TierPoint Regional Vice President Rod Peterson of Omaha. “It is either adopt to remain relevant or be left behind. With some exceptions, the winners are the IT professionals who make the shift away from being technologists to leveraging their IT savvy to solve business problems.” Rod explained that COVID accelerated some distinct trends in technology, both for businesses and individuals. The workRod Peterson from-home trend has burgeoned beyond TierPoint anybody’s wildest imagination, and it is here to stay. With fewer employees working at business sites, the entire IT landscape is changing. “With this, we are experiencing a couple of key shifts,” Rod said. “Virtual Desktop Infrastructure (VDI) is off the charts, so we accelerated the launch of our managed VDI solution—and customer demand has 40 Strictly Business SEPTEMBER 2020
been very high. Corporate real estate is shrinking, which includes internal (IT) data centers. This comes with significant cost savings, which is forcing the outsourcing of production data centers into colocation or to a Cloud solution.” While there is no lack of information about IT solutions available online, don’t try to do it alone. The only way to become an expert is repetition, so it is crucial to bring in the professionals, especially considering how dramatically Ransomware and other cyber-attacks are increasing. Protecting your data and infrastructure to secure your online presence is a necessity, and TierPoint offers a managed firewall service to protect customers from cyber events. It’s not something that most businesses can do in-house, and Rod offers an analogy to explain why hiring IT professionals is so crucial. “I like to use the airplane analogy,” Rod said. “An airline company is in the business of moving people or products, and that requires pilots, mechanics, flight attendants, and countless people who never touch the planes to run the company. Do any of them build their own planes? No. That is an entirely different skillset and not something they do every day, so they rely on those who do. The complexity and rapid changes in IT are much the same way, making it advisable to leverage consultants, contractors, VARs (value-added resellers), and the like to help with IT strategy. Working backward from the business problems that IT needs to solve, you eventually identify the full requirements to help architect the optimal solution. TierPoint built a Professional Services team a few years ago and it has become a strategic differentiator for us over most of our competitors.”
Customized Plans True North Technologies is always at the forefront of mobile app and website development, Search Engine Optimization (SEO), branding, and digital-marketing services in the region. They customize every technology plan to fit each client’s industry-specific needs, including everything from a basic strategy to a comprehensive package. In the end, it’s always about giving each individual client a voice and an open line of communication with their unique clients. “By adding product lines, we are really giving people the tools they need to thrive,” said True North Owner Renee Sobotka. “We Renee Sobotka love what we do, and it shows! We know our True North Technologies #PrintProudDigitalSmart
