When I meet with customers, I’m often asked this question. As the CTO of EMC Managed Services, I cross paths with some of the most intriguing engineering minds in the industry right here within EMC. They all possess the DNA for that maniacal drive to build the next big thing. However, being from our services arm of EMC, we don’t build anything. Our mission is to realize the value of our products and manage them to drive the most out of them for our customers. That’s it.
With that said, how do you improve an environment when you have an established clientele and infrastructure? Do you scale up, down or horizontally with your offerings? Or do you leave well enough alone and simply rest on your laurels? Of course you don’t do the latter. Everyone should be working towards an improved “everything.”
Sometimes, the next big thing is making better use of what you already have. Imagine the first car radio, or the first mobile phone? Radios existed, phones were common. However, both were improved upon and applied differently; and their new features have become the “new normal.”
Here is an example of the “EASY” factor applied at a parking garage at DFW Airport where I am frequently delayed. The parking garage concept has existed for as long as there have been cars, but this implementation embodies the easy factor. You simply drive down the main aisle and immediately see an open position via the green light over an unoccupied parking spot. The easy factor, that we all should be striving for within our products and services, may just be a new solution to an age-old problem.
What’s the lesson learned here? Managed services are all about the customer experience and removing complexity where possible. We believe in enhancing any organization to realize a greater efficiency in the consumption of IT. As in any managed services organization – whether EMC’s own services organization or our partners’ services arms—that’s what we strive to do every day……………….right after we park.
