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LGE Execs is all about helping industries and companies grow more efficient. That’s why we’re so excited to serve as the virtual CFO resource for the Open Compute Project Foundation, a global organization dedicated to moving the IT industry toward an “open-source” architecture. We will be helping the Foundation submit its non-profit documentation, create budgets and business plans, and implement ongoing strategies as it continues to grow and evolve.
According to its mission statement, the Open Compute Project Foundation seeks to improve the efficiency of data center design, storage and servers by “openly sharing ideas, specifications and other intellectual property.” This group, which originated as a small engineering team at Facebook, believes that the compute engine is transitioning from the old server-centric model to one that revolves around the data center. For them, this evolution calls for a move from discreet products to a “plug and play” environment based on open-design systems and standards. In this environment, for instance, a data center could have three different providers of blade servers, and each provider’s products would prove equally compatible. And instead of having to select from among 300 different replacement motherboards to choose from, purchasers could simply pick one of five super-compatible models.
Open Compute is also pushing hard for the sharing of data center knowledge among consumers, contributors and technology suppliers, with everyone pitching in on the process of ongoing improvements and optimization. The Foundation enjoys the support of such heavy hitters as Intel, Facebook, Rackspace and others. These industry leaders are now declaring that their hardware suppliers must comply with Open Compute standards. It’s the future of data centers — and the future looks bright!
Check out Open Compute’s Facebook site for more details about who’s involved — and feel free to ask us about our involvement with it.
Have you read or heard of “The 4-Hour Workweek?” This popular book by Timothy Ferriss addresses the concept of “outsourcing your life” by hiring others to do literally everything you don’t want to do or realistically shouldn’t bother doing yourself. Ferris encourages people trade in the weekly 40-hour grind for short, focused bursts of genuine productivity. By handing off any tasks that can be done more cost-effectively by outside providers or suppliers, you can focus your own valuable time on getting the big things done — and get them done in a tiny fraction of the time most people do. If someone in the world does it, chances are that you can outsource it.
We talk a lot about executive outsourcing, and Dell and other companies have gotten on board with that concept, but “The 4-Hour Workweek” illustrates the sheer range of outsourcing’s possibilities once a little creativity is applied. Rackspace is a great example of innovative thinking (and doing). The company’s startup funding efforts are not only helping to support general entrepreneurialism, but they are also serving the community by boosting economic development on the historically-underprivileged East Side of San Antonio. Rackspace’s ingenuity extends to its business model, which revolves around firms outsourcing compute power and storage — just as we outsource executive functions.
This is the future of work, as far as we’re concerned. Rackspace has built its success by outsourcing yet another task that people didn’t think could be outsourced. This evolution is bound to continue as outsourcing boosts efficiency and productivity for industry after industry. Who knows — someday you may be enjoying a four-hour workweek yourself, as long as you have the right resources in tow.
Could executive functions prove to be one of those resources?
The current economic downturn has got the casino chains looking for ways to optimize their profitability, as I recently found in my consulting work for one such company. But since the casino industry is closely related to the hospitality industry, it only made sense that we could transplant some of the best practices from that world into this relatively closed circle to breathe new life into the company’s supply chain operations.
I spent many formative years at FedEx — an amazingly productive period in which I and many other future executives received an in-depth education in the company's core strengths, including process management and customer satisfaction. We were always at or near the top of the industry in these qualities. Little did I realize at the time that someday a homebuilder would be hiring me for precisely that reason. The homebuilding industry was falling flat in both areas, and these guys decided they wanted to do better. So they looked outside their own industry to a veteran of a company known for getting those things right.
Medical expertise is an essential aspect of healthcare, but over the years a myth seems to have built up that it's the only essential aspect. For this reason, healthcare companies and organizations don't always have the right people in the right positions.
But that isn't necessarily the best way to run a business, especially when your business faces the turbulence that the healthcare industry is currently undergoing. When times get tough, businesses in any field look to optimize costs and streamline their best practices, including the supply chain, procurement, IT and other systems.
Some years ago, LGE Execs' Walt Atkinson, then an airline executive, decided to launch his own airline. His first priority: "Getting the right people in place. I ran three airlines before I decided to embark on this, but I didn't have the expertise." Atkinson invested substantial time and money in securing the key players to fill the think tank, including a marketing person and an expert on the FAA certification process. He made sure he had the connections, both locally and in Washington D.C., to build a strong foundation for success. In short, he hired people who knew the things he didn't know.
A previous post on this site mentioned a new trend in corporate hiring — the short-term "wait and see approach." During the economic downtown of the past few years, an increasing number of companies have decided to pare down their permanent full-time staff so they can run lean and mean. Many of them rely on LGE Execs to supply them with short-term executives on a contracts basis — experienced hands who can fill critical gaps quickly and efficiently without saddling the company with an indefinite employment burden.
Hiring seems to be on the rise–at least in companies that have "paused" while the economy reset. That's especially true in states that have heavy concentrations in high-tech (although California has their own set of unique issues).
But the overall process of hiring has changed. Companies are not so quick to pad their infrastructures with full-time employees. Because most companies had to learn to do more with less during the economic downturn, many have continued to consolidate their full-time headcount and keep their executive teams small and allocating responsibilities more efficiently. They're also hiring short-term executive contractors that can hit the ground running to solve problems–and they also avoid lengthy interview cycles, costly full-time salaries and benefits, and being stuck with an unproductive mis-hire.
I believe this trend is here to stay.
It's true that there are still companies that are taking a "wait and see" attitude about the economy, and may return to previous levels of hiring in the future, but most entities that manufacture products are constantly looking to cut costs and be more efficient.
Hiring executives and managers for short-term projects or for staff augmentation (where they know they can get rid of dead weight at a moment's notice) is the current trend for growth in general.
Strong product managers and product marketers that can work on contract are also in high demand. There's a big difference between these two skill sets, and many companies have hired for one and gotten the other. As a full-time employee, their options are more limited than with contractors that can more easily be replaced.
At an executive level, there doesn't seem to be one specific expertise that is in higher demand. Companies are looking to fill a gap, and that's everything from interim CEOs, CMOs, COOs, CFOs and so on. In my world (software) it's the traditional senior engineer or anyone that has dealt with network security that are high on the demand list.
The opportunities for growth tend to be in contracting needed expertise, and that presents an excellent opportunity for entrepreneurs and service companies like LGE Execs that can come in and fill these gaps in the short term.
Many companies have opted to hire Chief Marketing Officers in lieu of the traditional vice president. Texas Entrepreneur Networks sat down with John Doyle of LGE Execs to discuss the emergence of this new position in Corporate America, and how it differs from the run-of-the-mill marketing executive.
VCs are looking for the next billion dollar bet, but that doesn't mean that you can't find investment from an Angel Investor. John Doyle from LGE Execs talks about getting your business plan ready for what investors are looking for.