TR Forums

kamikaziechameleon wrote:

Working in the family business. I'll go down with the ship, lol. I don't let it stress me, just keep pushing in the right direction "Successful people do daily what losers do occasionally." I'm young and will eventually win out. They won't fire me for doing what needs to be done. I just catch an undue amount of flack sometimes.

How does the family business compare to your last environment. I've always been fascinated by the idea, especially seeing how inept other corporations are.

Usacomp2k3 wrote:

kamikaziechameleon wrote:

Working in the family business. I'll go down with the ship, lol. I don't let it stress me, just keep pushing in the right direction "Successful people do daily what losers do occasionally." I'm young and will eventually win out. They won't fire me for doing what needs to be done. I just catch an undue amount of flack sometimes.

How does the family business compare to your last environment. I've always been fascinated by the idea, especially seeing how inept other corporations are.
Thanks,
-AJ
aka usacomp2k3

In a smaller family business everyone is family, even the people you don't get along with. Every dollar matters because it could be split up in end of the year bonuses. This company is fiscally very prudent, beyond the point of reason. It comes from a good place though. That is why my role is to get info from you guys to make the case to effect a real change. Small companies are also full of ego's so getting things to change is hard.

kamikaziechameleon wrote:

Small companies are also full of ego's so getting things to change is hard.

That's not a phenomenon that is limited to small companies!

Honestly, 10-year-old desktops, I'd make the case that they should upgrade to something modern--assuming the software will work with Win7 64bit and your vendors allow you to use IE9 or 10. They can even spread deployment over a year, 1 or 2 computers a month. Do you have LCDs? Try to get some low-cost 24" LCDs rotated in if you have old CRTs. Our pencil pushers get more productivity from Excel and that junk with 1920x1200 24" LCDs than they did from 1280x1024 19" LCDs, sometimes going with a dual-monitor setup of some type.

That's low-hanging fruit, cheap and immediate results. Maybe if you are able to show some measurable benefits there, they will be more open to your other technology suggestions and opinions. Plus from a support standpoint, it's harder to get stuff for older systems at Best Buy or OfficeMax or whatever their preferred/approved "vendor" is for IT-related junk.

Scrotos wrote:

Honestly, 10-year-old desktops, ...

Yeah, that's even worse than the old Pentium D I was dealing with yesterday. Upgraded with parts from other PCs in the boneyard and reformatted with Windows 7, because someone needed a lab machine ASAP. We're in the middle of a transition (buyout) so the procurement process for new equipment is a mess. Easier and faster to re-purpose existing carcasses, or buy cheap off-lease/refurbs at TigerDirect (which someone else also just did), to keep it under the radar.

just brew it! wrote:

kamikaziechameleon wrote:

Small companies are also full of ego's so getting things to change is hard.

That's not a phenomenon that is limited to small companies!

Thanks for that assurance, lol Put a Smile on my face.

Scrotos wrote:

Plus from a support standpoint, it's harder to get stuff for older systems at Best Buy or OfficeMax or whatever their preferred/approved "vendor" is for IT-related junk.

I got a laugh out of the approved Vender reference. Its Micro Center for us, lol.

just brew it! wrote:

Scrotos wrote:

Honestly, 10-year-old desktops, ...

Yeah, that's even worse than the old Pentium D I was dealing with yesterday. Upgraded with parts from other PCs in the boneyard and reformatted with Windows 7, because someone needed a lab machine ASAP. We're in the middle of a transition (buyout) so the procurement process for new equipment is a mess. Easier and faster to re-purpose existing carcasses, or buy cheap off-lease/refurbs at TigerDirect (which someone else also just did), to keep it under the radar.

I'd rather we get assets than a different kind of liability. Really we need to change our approach to IT. I can't be lead sales for a product and trying to figure this all out. That is just a broken mentality. Its never worked out for the company before why would it now. The further we get from the 90's the less acceptable technical incompetence becomes. The more your customers not only expect but need.

Hey guys,

So I'm finally starting to get traction. Say the same thing long enough and people start to think you might be onto something.

So I've been going to some product events and watching youtube videos but I still really really really prefer how you all communicate value. So if I'm looking to parse a couple different database solutions for my company should I post here or start a new thread???

In the interim while waiting for your input to that question I'll frame out the debate/thoughts I have. We need a mobile sales CRM, like sales force or Microsoft CRM 2013. Any outright preferences here??? Then the next part of this question is I'd like this CRM to blend well with a ERP or accounting database. Quick Books or Microsoft Dynamics ERP?

The reason being we are a manufacturer, contractor, warehouse, and an engineering outfit. We can't just run on a spread sheet and a CRM like some small companies, we really need a decent Accounting/ERP solution for managing the insanity.

For this type of integration I am intuitively drawn to Microsoft, but I really can't get allot of feed back on this stuff outside what product sales people tell me.

So its salesforce/Quickbooks vs MS Dynamics CRM/ERP

Thanks again you guys are the best!!!

Scrotos wrote:

Then you need to release more chaff and flares!

I took these recommendations to heart and put up a fight over the last bit of time to get the change in mind set from management. This was really worth a good laugh too thanks.