LUCRUM in The News…
March 21, 2008
If you happened to pick up the March 21st edition of the Cincinnati Business Courier, you might have read an article about LUCRUM. The article outlines some of the highs and lows that we experienced in 2007, and goes on to talk about some of our future plans for growth. The great thing about having a company blog is that I can immediately share my feedback on the article as part of our ongoing conversation - one that you are welcome to join by placing comments below.
There is only so much information that can be published in a 1/4 page article, so I will elaborate more on it here. LUCRUM is very excited about our partnership with Diane Egbers of Leadership Excelleration Inc (mentioned in the article). Diane has been working with the senior managemnt team to develop a 5 year strategy to address some of the shortcomings mentioned in the article. With her assistance, LUCRUM has made changes to both personnel and policies in an effort to become more nimble and better able to serve the emerging needs of our clients. This effort began in late 2007, and we are already seeing positive results. The Business Development Group has added 4 senior members in the last 4 months, and will be joined by another new member next week. We are not stopping there. Look for LUCRUM to add Business Development personnel in the coming weeks. Along with the new Business Development team members, comes new opportunites and clients. LUCRUM has engaged 10 new clients in the past several months, and is working on exciting data warehousing and business intelligence projects. In addition, we continue to leverage our partnership with Salesforce.com, as we are Cincinnati’s only certified Salesforce provider. The new marketing team led by David E. Bowman, is making great strides in changing our approach to Marketing. We are shifting from the traditional approach of marketing as a monologue to engaging the world in a dialog. My invitation above, seeking comments on this post, is a direct result of that shift in mindset. David is bringing in great young talent like Greg Levine, a recent Xavier graduate, to help further his efforts.
Not only are we investing heavily in restructuring our Business Development Team and Marketing Department, but our Delivery Organization, led by Jodie Heflin, is focusing on providing world class technical solutions for our clients. LUCRUM does not take client satisfaction lightly. In fact, we view it as the key to our future growth and success. Jodie and her team have worked hard to address the systemic problems that led to the issues listed in the Business Courier article. Since her tenure as leader of the Delivery Organization began in September 2007, LUCRUM has been delivering a level of service that is unmatched in the industry.
Ultimately, LUCRUM is a company that is about people. With Andy Erickson as the leader of our talent acquisition effort, LUCRUM is hiring the best and the brightest to join us in our goal of creating world class technical solutions. Be sure to check the People section in future editions of the Business Courier, as I plan on having new hires to LUCRUM making regular appearances there.
In summary, while not all of the information about LUCRUM in the article was positive, the negative information it contains is a part of our past. These problems have been dealt with. We have moved forward. And ultimately we are now a stronger company as a result. We have amazing people, a renewed sense of purpose, and a strategy for success. LUCRUM is focused on the future, and in the spirit of the 2008 theme for the Business Development kickoff meeting in Florida, “the future’s so bright we’ve gotta wear shades.”
Thanks to Laura Baverman for thinking enough of our company to write about us. I have attached a link to the article here. I hope you give it a look. Even more, I hope you will leave your thoughts on the article in the comments below.
Sphere: Related ContentAre People the Answer? Not Necessarily…
March 17, 2008
Happy St. Patty’s Day. We owe much of our country’s early infrastructure development to the large group of Irish immigrants that came over in the 1800’s. Masses of capable workers were the solution to getting the canals, railroads, and roads built in this country over a century ago. My wife’s family is Irish. She’s the 6th of 10 kids and has quite a nice family. In the 1800’s “people” were the answer to most economic growth initiatives. Nowadays, I’m not so sure that’s still the answer.
In a March 4th article in the Dayton Business Journal (Dayton, Ohio….the one team that should have made it into the NCAA March Madness and didn’t) there’s an article that quotes Robert Half, the Menlo Park, California-based IT Staffing firm, that shows Ohio has a robust hiring plan in IT for 2008. By polling CIO’s at Ohio-based Headquarters of large firms, they see a “fertile job market” where 10% of them are predicting adding staff in Cincinnati while 4% are predicting staff reductions. There’s other cities mentioned as well that show an increase in hiring people into IT. I have a problem with the very concept the article was written on. It’s really a “nothing article” since IT isn’t about “how many people are in your organization” but rather how are you increasing productivity of your end users, your vendors, your clients! We are in a race to add more computing power unleashing the power of DATA. Everyone defaults their focus on IT meaning Technology and thus, Technology is taken care of by PEOPLE. Then we talk about “how many people are in your organization?” as if one has an army of talent to lead into battle in the world economy…not so, from my viewpoint. The article didn’t say what the other 86% of the CIO’s are doing in the Cincinnati market??? The stronger companies are focusing on creating collaborative environments where the power of INFORMATION and not TECHNOLOGY is the key to their value proposition.Nick Carr in his recent book The Big Switch is espousing that the IT world is going to change significantly one more time. This metamorphosis is going to close down separate Data Centers just like the industrial revolution 100 years ago reallocated individual power generation dynamo’s into a centralized power generation model shared through the electric grid. In their case, the grid had to be built after the centralized power generation facilities went up. In our case, the grid is the Internet and all of that fiber that started to be laid 10 years ago and is now providing huge bandwidth. Centralized data centers needed centralized people to run the physical aspects of them. Frankly, the logical attributes are virtualized just in the same manner the centralized data centers’ hardware and processing infrastructure are being virtualized. Everything from developing logical architecture (SOA), application requirements, application development and testing, and even managing all of the databases once in production can be done “anywhere, anytime, by anyone.” People are certainly needed and yet, processes are even more important. For maximum productivity, the people shouldn’t be in Ohio. Let’s be frank. The people should be where the processes are most mature and their costs become the lowest common denominator (read: Asia although our falling dollar may make other places and even the US more competitive). By providing computing power “just in time” with managed services on a “just in time” basis as well, there isn’t much of a need for an IT organization. Perhaps we rename IT the “Processes and Measures Services Organization.” Even the word “Information” is not needed since Information is an assumed need every time!
Ironically, Robert Half does have a division called Provititi whose main services offerings are centered around “Processes and Measures!!!” Now that’s cool! So, next time, I hope the Dayton Business Journal writes a story about Productivity Improvement measures for the Ohio-based companies! (I would be happy to serve as a source.)
Excellence Without Exception - 2008 Heath Care Conference Recap
March 13, 2008
Last week I attended the Greater Cincinnati Health Council 12th Annual Health Conference & Expo, where LUCRUM was an exhibitor. The theme of the conference “SOLUTIONS 2008 EXCELLENCE WITHOUT EXCEPTION,” and the event was very well attended. This was LUCRUM’s 2nd year as an exhibitor, and my first year working the booth.
Attendance at our booth was GREAT the whole day! I spent the day meeting and speaking with a variety of healthcare personnel discussing Healthcare and IT. There was a lot of talk about the unique challenges that Health Care organizations face in implementing and capitalizing on Information Technology to reduce costs and improve the patient experience. This was a huge opportunity for LUCRUM to get recognized and educate attendees on our capabilities. We handed out dozens of invitations to our upcoming webinar - 5 Simple Steps to IT Health. I am looking forward to hearing my colleague, Marlene Schrand, give this presentation next week, as I know that she will deliver 30 minutes of insightful information.
As for the seminar, The LUCRUM Logo Triangle Highlighters and Globe Stress Balls were a hot item! Talk about getting your name out there where it hasn’t been before! LUCRUM Globe Stress Balls will be flying around Hospital ER’s, Conference Rooms and Nurses Stations for quite a while! Hopefully they don’t result in any new admissions or ER visits.
These regional industry conferences are a great way to make contact with a large number of prospective clients and re-enforce our commitment to current clients. I look forward to representing LUCRUM in future conferences. It is encouraging and exciting when I see our Sales, Delivery, and Marketing departments work so well together at these events.
To register for the March 20 webinar, simply visit the Contact LUCRUM page here on the site. I hope you will join us.
Sphere: Related Content30 Minutes
March 13, 2008
For those of you who managed to get to Orlando for the HIMSS08 conference, you know one of the important topics was how to make IT projects successful within Healthcare. But when it comes right down to a practical, ‘how do you really do this’ plan – where do you start? So I’ve put together a ‘to the point’ webinar to discuss 5 key steps you need to take when implementing a new IT system. And you’ll probably be surprised to find that none of those steps have anything to do with technology – it’s all about people, process, and planning. Get that right and you’re 80% of the way there. So please join me for 30 minutes – (that’s it – I promise!). It will be time well spent.
To Register simply visit the Contact LÛCRUM page and select register for webinar.
Sphere: Related ContentMore Birthday Fun
February 18, 2008
More birthday fun, courtesy of LUCRUM recruiter / amateur videographer Andy Erickson. Here is a clip from our birthday lunch last week. Note that the most popular response to “what do you love about LUCRUM?” was the people - with Andy’s mom coming in a distant second. All in good fun. It is a great place to work. I just surpassed 15 days (business days) with the company, and it is already clear to me why the company has been around for that same number of years. Great people. Thanks for the footage Andy.
Sphere: Related ContentLUCRUM: 15 Years and Counting…
February 16, 2008
Today’s the 15th anniversary of the founding of LUCRUM. Wow, that’s seems like a long time ago! At the same time, it also feels like yesterday! Our industry is a great industry because it never gets boring. The idea that we can problem solve in our customers’ business using some of the latest technology and techniques is still as rich in opportunity as the first day we were in business. I still remember that first day. I called about 20 different customer/prospects that I knew in the regional marketplace with the announcement that I had formed a new consulting company called, “Client Server Associates.” We were going to focus on the new paradigm of developing business software outside of the mainframe on PC’s and their network servers. It was a very “bleeding edge” concept at the time, and as you know, the rest is history.
It was also very “new” to think of business cycles lasting only a few years instead of the normal 7 year cycles. In fact, I was brash enough at the age of 33 to tell customers that the cycles were going to be “months-long” instead of years long. Boy, was I ever disruptive! In today’s economy, the switch from “build product and the market will come” to “mass customization of all products and services” has created such a huge market in business consulting and developing software solutions. I’ve skied out in Utah this season a few times and the ski “ticket” is now an RFID card that “swipes you” when you go through the turnstiles onto the ski lift! No more checking your ski tag! They also allow for you to go to their website and see how many ski runs you made and what the vertical feet added up to! Another benefit for the avid skier! Our whole world is going to change over the next five years in leveraging the RFID technology, mobile computing with Blackberries and other platforms, as well as the whole concept of “predicting” what the customer wants and suggestively selling or recommending your services in a way that you think they “really know you.” The fact is, they really do know you! “Predicting” needs and requirements is a big portion of the “data management” strategy of any company. They won’t be able to do this themselves in most situations since most companies don’t have an “inventive and build” culture. This is where LUCRUM is going to leverage our strengths and brain-power to provide these kind of services for the market. It’s going to be a very interesting “next 5 years!”
Happy Anniversary! JB
And We’re Off…TheFutureValueofBusiness.com
February 13, 2008
I am now mid way through my 3rd week here at LUCRUM, and it is amazing. I have spent the last 2 weeks getting to know my co-workers, developing an initial needs assessment, and working on putting my stamp on the company’s marketing efforts.
First and foremost has been the launch of this blog. Everyone I have spoken with is extremely excited about the project - though it represents a considerable shift in approach. It will be interesting to see this web log come to life. There should be no shortage of interesting content. I am just hoping that I can keep up.
One co-worker, Andy Erickson, got so excited about the project following a conversation we had on my first day, he launched his own blog to compliment this one. Already he has developed a following here in Cincinnati, and I look forward to having him contributing to the content of thefuturevalueofbusiness.com
It’s not just Andy. Seemingly everyone here at LUCRUM is excited about joining the blogosphere. From Sales to HR, Marketing to Finance, Developers, Coders, Project Managers, and more - people are really interested. My challenge will be turning that curiosity into action - i.e. content. I believe I am up to the challenge.
I am particularly interested in reading posts from the leader of LUCRUM, John Bostick. John is truly a renaissance man. He has started numerous successful companies, traveled the world, given lectures in China, and climbed Mt. Rainier. He even teaches classes in wine and gourmet cooking at Jungle Jim’s here in Cincinnati. He is extremely well read, very articulate, and a true man of vision. I am certain that he will author many interesting posts in the days ahead.
The best part is that it does not stop with John. There are so many people with so much to share. This is going to be fun. If you are interested in hearing our story, and telling us yours, I hope you will subscribe to the site either via RSS or email. Both are available on the home page and can be set up with just a few keystrokes.
My name is David, and I blog (among other things) for a living.
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