Leveraging technology as an asset for business growth requires not only up-todate technical skills but also savvy business sense. As its name implies, Enhanced Network Solutions (ENS) Group augments its expertise in technology with a unique business-minded approach to compliment the specific business processes of each of its clients.

"Too often, businesses look at technology firms only for general installation and support of their computer systems; however, at ENS, we take a broader perspective on technology. We act as the 'Chief Information Officer' to actually manage a company's technology investment," says Matt Gerber, ENS Vice President. "Our professional services practice helps clients align their technology needs with their business from two aspects. One aspect is preparing technology budgets and action plans to support the client's existing business plan. The second aspect is developing a framework for our clients that will increase awareness of technology opportunities that potentially make contributions to their business, thus positively enhancing the bottom line."

With an extensive knowledge base and commitment to continuous learning, the locally owned and operated professional services firm has evolved into a business process consulting company. "Technology does not have to be viewed as a financial necessity just one more expense of doing business," says Gerber. "Unfortunately, too many companies miss out by looking at technology as an expense rather than an asset. Many companies think of technology in terms of having to buy a faster PC for an employee, or having to have a company email system. Information technology can and should work for them, not the other way around. We help our clients increase revenues and decrease expenses by becoming more productive and efficient. Often, it may not even involve increasing or modifying their current system as much as it is learning to use what they already have to its full capacity."

To help companies manage their technology systems, ENS has developed two professional service practices: 1) Virtual CIO and 2) SmartSource TM. "Essentially, we've branded our managed outsource practices," says Gerber. "Now, a company can turn over their systems and the management of those systems to our team and they can concentrate on what they do best."

"These are not shrink-wrapped packages," says Tim Savage, ENS President. "They're tailored programs designed to create a partnership with our clients. We help our clients define expectations, customize the services as appropriate, and provide support and management to meet those expectations."

Virtual CIO (VCIO)

The Virtual CIO (Chief Information Officer) practice was designed by ENS to help businesses across a broad spectrum of activities, from retail sales to front office operations to production environments.

Many companies have lots of ideas on technology, but don't know how to execute them; ENS wants to bridge that gap. "People tend to get too comfortable with the technology they use every day," says Savage. "Sometimes the creativity and the thought processes aren't as rejuvenating as they could be. They may just need someone to brainstorm with, strategize, and see things from a different perspective. Most of our VCIO clients don't have a CIO today. Most businesses in the community are small to midsize companies who can't afford a high-level, highpaid CIO, yet they could really benefit from having the expertise available to them."

With VCIO, ENS can help leverage the right technology to help a business succeed, while putting the products, services, and budgets together to plan for expenses.

"When we work with a company in the VCIO program, if there's a project they want to do, we'll ask first why they need it, what it's used for, how often it's used, and so on. Obviously, as a technology consulting company, we believe that technology can solve a lot of problems. However, we're not going to try to sell a technology solution just because we're a technology company. We want to make sure that we can fill their business needs and meet their goals. At the end of the day, we may end up telling our clients they do not need to spend any money on a technical solution, but rather they just need to rethink a process within their organization to achieve better results," says Gerber.

Another facet of the VCIO program is an analysis of 'silos,' or 'islands,' of information deposited throughout an organization. "When various departments use similar information which isn't shared among those departments, processes are often duplicated," says Gerber. "For example, the same information may be keyed in several times, allowing larger margins for error. We try to help our clients integrate those processes to alleviate any errors or deficiencies in their business. We help analyze their business process and how information flows through the organization to determine if the current technology facilitates or hinders the process. Once determined, the client knows whether their current system works great or maybe needs modification. Either way, our clients have improved visibility into their business process from both a business and technology viewpoint.

"As companies continue to invest in information systems, executives must weigh the advantages and benefits of these investments against factors such as costs and risks. Increasingly, executives expect IT managers to prepare a business case for the value of technology expenditures. Some companies may have an internal IT

Manager who is good at fixing a PC or upgrading an operating system, but most of them truly don't understand how they contribute to the business as a whole," says Gerber. "At ENS, we know how technology best contributes to business and how it doesn't. Serving as an excellent tool for communication between IT and executives, our VCIO consultants use their experience in business and technical solutions to develop a statement of the economic value (ROI) and the benefits of technology investments being considered. After guiding a company through this process, we can also take it to the next level and costeffectively implement it."

SmartSourceTM

SmartSourceTM uses a pre-defined support plan designed to meet a company's business and technology goals through ENS managed outsource services. "It's the next level of partnership after working with us on the VCIO level," says Gerber. "With SmartSourceTM the client transfers management of their entire (or partial) technology environment to ENS and we provide the services to help that business meet its specific goals. In most cases, we can reduce technology expenses while gaining business value, uptime and reliability."

SmartSourceTM also allows a 'bigger-picture' view - from strategic consulting all the way down to integration and daily support. "Our clients won't have all their eggs in one basket," says Savage, "they are going to see more than just one person working on their project. We have a broad range of professional consultants who understand their particular environment. Because our consultants work in a variety of other environments, they can put that expertise to work for them as well. Our consultants see a wide array of technologies and ideas. We can add a lot of outside value to a client's business and help them become more competitive."

One of ENS's goals for SmartSourceTM is to help clients recognize and understand that they are experts at doing something specific, and they don't need to be technology experts too.

"Generally, the reason a company exists isn't to manage technology, computers or software. It's usually producing a worldclass product or providing an outstanding service. So why would a company want to spend a large portion of their revenues and time trying to manage technology when they can let the experts do it? With ENS, clients can focus on what they do well for their customers, while we focus on what we do well for our customers. We don't consider ourselves as a vendor - we're a partner. It's more of a 'core competency' issue - if we partner, we'll both succeed."