Mojeaix Weblog

What a year it has been! It is now clear that the current economic recession/depression is going to have a significant impact on the way business will be done going forward. Everyone is rethinking all aspects of the enterprise, and this is especially the case with IT. In upcoming posts I will discuss where I think the market is going and how Mojeaix is going to position itself for new opportunities.

I want to comment on basic business principals and connect how they influence the direction I see IT services heading. Let's first remember that all businesses need the following regardless of the economic climate:

• to attract and retain customers;
• to maximize productivity;
• to manage operations and change; and,
• to lower risk.

Businesses that do each of the above better than their competitors will win. I think most successful companies do outstanding in one or two categories. The game changing companies perform high in all categories. They might not be the best in any one but they excel in all. For example, Tiger Woods is not the best in golf when it comes to how long he can drive the ball, or in the short game, or putting. He happen to do consistently do well in all three and that is what makes him the world's best player.

How can a business stand apart from its competitors? One way is to offer innovative tools and services that the competition does not. Levering information technology to innovate is an obvious choice. However, the barrier to innovation is that companies often spend 75% of their technology budgets keeping legacy infrastructure going and the remaining 25% goes to bringing other obsolete parts of their infrastructure more or less current. This leaves little room for innovation or adding new services that will help to attract and retain customers.

Like innovation, technological tools are often used as labour multipliers. It is undisputed that technological advances have made the last 50 years the most productive in the history of man. In fact, most companies would not be able to do any business at all if they were to lose access to their vital technological infrastructure. I find it amazing that so many businesses, knowing how crucial technology is to productivity, tolerate substandard or under performing tools in their organizations. That the do this when the cost of acquisition of up-to-date tools is very low is nothing less than shocking.

Another value of technology is that it allows the enterprise to respond quickly to changing conditions. This flexibility helps companies adapt and deal with challenges quickly. If a certain set of business decisions are not working, they can be easily adjusted. Flexibility lowers the risks associated with any product, organizational or market changes. A company is now free to find the tactical approach that best suits their strategic plan.

Finally, technology lowers risk. By enabling best practices in planning, building, managing and implementation, business can increase security, increase compliance with regulations and quickly recover from disasters even as the threats increase exponentially in number and complexity.

Most small and medium businesses or SMBs are not experts in managing an enterprise infrastructure. They traditionally have looked to value added resellers or VARs to help them unlock the ROI inherent in available technology. The key objective of any VAR is to deliver the technology solutions needed by businesses on time and on budget. This is known as effectiveness. IT consultancies like Mojeaix extend the role of the VAR and can also help their clients go beyond the effective delivery of IT services. Mojeaix also helps businesses be more strategic in determining which technology tools they should be implementing without losing focus on the need for effective implementation. Since most business are focused on operations, they rarely are able to take advantage of many proven technologies or know when a technology has matured to point where it can deliver ROI.

It is the goal of Mojeaix to deliver technology solutions effectively and to help its clients maximize the strategic alignment of its technology solutions. This dual focus is what allows us to help companies unlock the full value of their investments in IT infrastructure.

As of May 1st, Mojeaix has completed its move from 22 College Street to 1240 Bay Street, Suite 406 in beautiful Yorkville. We are officially now a Bay Street company. This puts us right in the middle of the action and positions Mojeaix for continued growth.

A lot of work went into this and many people helped. I would like to thank Mirrah Kim from City Commercial Realty Services. She was our real estate agent. Mirrah is a real pro and was a complete pleasure to work with. Tom Flood of Transmetro is our new building manager and he was such a gentleman. We feel lucky to be working with him.

I would also like to thank Danny Toye of Tomac Interiors. Danny and his excellent team were able to get our space ready for move in in a very short time. He did quality work so the place is looking great.

I would also like to thank Caffery Van Horne for his interior design and decor tips. Everyone should check out his amazing studio at 33 Roy Square. He is able to do amazing things with small spaces. I would like to thank Charmaine Denton of Denton Associates for helping organize everything. She is an excellent business consultant and an amazing resource.

There are many others to thank, but most importantly I would like to thank our President and CEO, Tim Leonard. Were it not for him, none of this would be possible.

In the first week of June we are planning on introducing our new space to friends and business associates. We look forward to meeting everyone. If you wish to make sure you are included on the guest list please let us know by sending an email to info@mojeaix.com.

Cheers.

The one point that associates seized upon after reading my last post was where I said I was "slow" in the development of the Mojeaix website. They felt that it was: 1) inaccurate, since I was more methodical and thorough than slow; and, 2) needlessly deprecated Mojeaix's ability to deliver services in a public forum.

Well, I feel whatever the reasons for my perceived slowness, the fact is, for some clients and for myself, Mojeaix does not provide needed solutions fast enough. There are times when being slow actually helps the end result. A better solution is often formulated through careful planning and fullness of time. Being slow is not always bad.

With respect to deprecating Mojeaix in a public forum, I feel that my weblog should be as candid as possible. This is where you can come and see my unvarnished opinions, free from marketing hype (not that I would do that anyways, right?).

I think Mojeaix is rather slow at this stage, both in internal service delivery and external service delivery. Too darned slow. It is my goal to help Mojeaix execute more quickly and still meet my high standards (and they are very high). Currently, Mojeaix biggest challenge is that it relies wholly on me for service delivery and practically everything else. My near-term goal is to add additional highly qualified staff to the mix. I would like to add a qualified technical assistant and a sales manager on the Mojeaix team. Know of any takers? Let me know.

Thanks for listening,
Alexi Helligar