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Clearly, the Future Will Be Cloudy

May 2nd, 2013

Gartner predicts that the worldwide public cloud services market will top $131 billion for 2013, an 18.5% increase over 2012′s $111 billion. The largest segment is cloud advertising at 48% of the total market (2012), but infrastructure as a service (Iaas) is the fastest growing.

In 2012, IaaS—cloud storage, computing, and printing services—grew 42.4%, reaching $6.1 billion, and is expected to hit $9 billion in 2013. Here’s the complete breakdown of cloud services and their share of 2012 revenues:

Cloud advertising; 48%
(BPaas) business process services, second-largest market segment after advertising; 28%
(Saas, Software as a Service) application services; 14.7%
(IaaS) system infrastructure services; 5.5%
Management and security services; 2.8%
(PaaS, Platform as a Service) application infrastructure services; 1%

The various cloud services segments are separated by large gaps and are growing at different rates, so it is actually a bit early to tell what the relative sizes will be in a mature industry. Despite this uncertainty, there is clearly strong and growing demand for every kind of cloud service. Part of this is because the business decision to use cloud services is as clear as the one that leads companies to rent laptops for conferences and temporary projects—it lets you avoid the expense of hardware purchases and the hassle of repairs, maintain at least 99% uptime, and watch everything just work. Cloud service providers make some of the very same arguments.

Global market growing

When Gartner looks at the global cloud services market, it finds that emerging regions—North Africa, Asia, the Middle East, Latin America, etc.—have high growth, but smaller markets. (The exception is China, which is both large and growing.) Conversely, more mature regions—Europe, North America, Japan, the mature Asian/Pacific economies—have larger markets, but low growth. When entering a new foreign market, Apple, like many successful firms, uses cross-cultural marketing techniques to reach the particular nations and cultures involved. Viewing each country or region with regard to its unique cultures, languages, and traditions is just good business, which is why Apple does it for everything from the MacBook to the iPhone. Generally speaking, cloud service providers entering a foreign market will succeed to the degree that they succeed at this.

First, of course, cloud service providers must recognize the opportunity that is beyond the U.S., Canada, and Mexico. Of the total world spending on new cloud services from now through the end of 2016, Gartner expects the North American market to account for 59%, Europe 24%. Smaller markets—led by “Greater China,” Indonesia, India, Argentina, Mexico, and Brazil—may account for fewer dollars in spending, but will achieve higher growth rates. Gartner’s chief of research, Ed Anderson, advises the many cloud service providers to serve the mature markets while reaching out to the emerging ones “to capitalize on the high growth of these regions, particularly Latin America and Greater China.”

If your firm is growth-oriented, we have productivity solutions that can save you precious capital, free you from the indebtedness that robs you of flexibility when you most need it, and help you be as productive as possible. It works with render farms like it works with mass storage or breakout session equipment—no investment, no headaches. It just works. Call us at (877) 266-7725, send a message, or fill out the Quick Rental Quote form.

Best Training Session Upgrades

August 14th, 2012

For several millennia, the methods use in education and training created a one-way street, a model whereby groups of people would sit still and listen to a lecture, essentially. With the advent of modern audio video technology, the “lecturer” could be a movie or a slideshow, but it was still a lecture. With the Internet, you could also just sit in front of an iMac rental, unengaged and passive – but thankfully, the one-way street model is fading fast, as a slew of interactive teaching technologies make learning a cooperative venture.

Of course, for some purposes and subjects, watching videos is great, but the more someone is engaged with the learning process, the better the results. Good teaching is still much more than technology, but when you use tools, use them effectively. Here are a few ideas for the best training session upgrades.

Touch technology

Even with the old-fashioned lecture model, adding touch technology is a quick way to expand and extend the lessons. Whether it’s a breakout session at a conference or training time at corporate HQ, a room with an all-in-one multitouch display PC at each seat would work ideally. With the right app, of course, audience members could also use their own touch-enabled smart phones or tablets.

Distributed learning

Speaking of “old-fashioned” models of learning, the Internet education boom proves that “meeting rooms” can be as big as the entire world. CRE can outfit your various geographic locations to create a single, virtual training room over the Web, using our specially prepared tablet PC rentals, iPads or other devices. Distributed learning models can also include archived materials that can be accessed and reviewed by students at any time, similar to a company “knowledge base.” (In fact, training materials can be a great foundation for knowledge uses and operations manuals, too.)

ARS for training and teaching

Today’s Audience Response System (ARS) technology is no one-size-fits-all solution, but a completely customizable one. Web-based “polling” applications offer wireless response/voting systems that let presenters ask participants interactive questions. Software from one firm, C3 Softworks, features customizable game templates for presenting learning materials. Presenters can create media-rich training games with their own audio, video and still images included.

A different approach

We can’t wrap up a blog on training and teaching without mentioning the latest attempts to upgrade… you! Specifically your brain: Firms like Lumosity have created exercises and games that claim to “improve your brain health” and result in “significant improvements in working memory and attention.” While a healthy skepticism is always helpful, the firm does provide links to its research findings, and the study of “enhanced learning” continues in many labs around the world.

CRE will keep you moving forward, too, with everything from event production rentals to post-production gear and mass storage solutions. One call or e-mail, or a trip to our Quick Rental Quote form, gets it done. Call now!

10 Tips to Rejuvenate Your Business, Part 2

May 31st, 2012

In Rejuvenate-Part 1, we talked about doing business in a bad economy and offered 5 tips to grow your business. One of the takeaways is the importance of optimism. Another important principle is “actions speak louder than words” – and the challenge humans always face is taking insights and ideas and acting upon them to effect positive change. Talk is cheap. And inaction is expensive.

As you get ideas, get right into action. If there’s a conference coming up where you will hold a breakout session, setting up one of CRE’s Audience Response Systems (ARS) gets you immediate feedback on anything “new and improved” that you incorporate into your presentation.

So what else can an organization do to grow? Here are the final five tips:

6. Marketing fundamentals. As we start the third decade of the Internet Marketing Strategy Era, many websites still lack proper menus, user-friendly layout, consistent style, etc. At the very least, use your color scheme and logo throughout all marketing materials (print and digital) and support your branding with buzzword-free value propositions. Even if your firm is small and on a tight budget, an iMac from CRE has all you need to create and maintain a clean, effective website.

7. Creative funding. Most businesses fail due to undercapitalization (not enough dough). If you need funding, think creatively, as venture capitalists are presently occupied putting out fires in their existing portfolios. Speak with friends and family about investing, and don’t forget “shadow investors” like suppliers that might offer extended terms in exchange for a long-term purchase order, special discounts, rebates and/or other perks.

8. New partnerships. Both UPS and FedEx are installing workstations like computer rentals at their larger customers’ locations. This doesn’t merely save time and money, but makes the shippers proactive business partners with their customers. If you don’t have the clout of a Fortune 500 firm, you can still approach shippers and suppliers for special terms, just-in-time deliveries, co-op ads, joint promotions, etc.

9. Honest PR. The press releases that most webmasters and editors get are full of fluff and buzzwords. What business doesn’t claim “market leadership” or “best practices”? Avoid words and phrases that editors see every day. Original, honest PR – written in plain English, please! – will separate you from the pack.

10. No boundaries. Companies should position themselves to serve customers around the world, unless it makes no sense. If your product or service fills a need in other countries, and you don’t have resources or staff there, then connect with a local manufacturer, dealer or distributor with the established presence you need.

Speaking of needs, CRE has everything from event production rentals to high-octane post-production gear like render farms and mass storage. One call or e-mail, or a trip to our Quick Rental Quote form, is all it takes. Call now!

10 Tips to Rejuvenate Your Business, Part 1

May 29th, 2012

As the U.S. economy sputters along, it’s hard to know what to believe from the financial analysts in the media. If you base business decisions solely on industry trends and financial indicators, even with guidance from the “latest and greatest” book of the moment, you’ll be depressed, confused or both.

Don’t despair! There really are ways to survive – even grow – in times of economic uncertainty, and the following 10 suggestions (five today, five in Thursday’s Part 2) will help you concoct your own, unique plan. From marketing strategies to website components, here are the first five of 10 tips to rejuvenate your business.

Rejuvenate your Business

1. Pinpoint marketing. Who are your customers – exactly? How do you get your message to the right desktop, laptop and/or iPad rental? Your advertising, partnerships, distribution channels and retail strategy must work together to win and retain your prime customers. If you can’t readily identify them, revise your model until you can. Then consider opt-in mailing lists for pinpoint marketing.

2. Quick answers. A first-rate website answers customers’ questions, often before they ask, with a thorough FAQ (Frequently Asked Questions) page. Website visitors should be invited to speak with customer service personnel via their preferred means – real-time messaging, phone, e-mail, even video chat – further ensuring a positive customer experience.

3. No hype. Sure, the new wireless tablets from Apple, Acer, Samsung and others are wildly popular. But buying everyone on your conference team a new one because they’re “cool” is not a good idea. In fact, the cost-effective move is to call CRE for a deal on tablet PC rentals, not make a four-figure capital expenditure for geek chic!

4. Flexible pricing. When chaos is the order of the day for the global economy, you must be flexible. It’s a delicate balancing act, but you should be reasonable in negotiations, creative about bringing in new customers – and up to speed on how flexible pricing mixes with marketing in new and interesting ways.

5. Maximum outsourcing. Minimizing fixed costs is crucial, so the latest “efficiency expert” idea is to outsource such core functions as marketing, HR, finance, IT and manufacturing, getting specialists with greater proficiency for less than the cost of new, full-time employees. The same principle is at work in #3 above, namely: Slow down, crunch the numbers and decide whether to rent laptops or buy them, create a phone bank in-house or hire a contractor, build a new exhibit booth or repaint last year’s, etc.

What one person can you talk to about everything from laptops to exhibit booths? An expert Account Executive at CRE, that’s who. You can call or e-mail to talk about computers, tablets, audiovisual equipment rentals and everything else you may need. Already have a list? Visit our Quick Rental Quote form and you’ll be done in no time!

Don’t forget to return for 10 Tips to Rejuvenate Your Business, Part 2, on Thursday.

Virtual Conferences: Ready for Prime Time?

May 8th, 2012

The National Real Estate OnLine Convention and Exposition in April 2002 is typically cited as the world’s first “virtual conference.” Produced by the Real Estate CyberSpace Society, it attracted 10,000 pre-registered real estate professionals from 28 countries and drew another 15,000 “online walk-ins” over the event’s five days.

In 2009, one Microsoft division made its annual industry analyst event a virtual one. Sessions streamed over the web, meetings between executives and customers took place via tablet PC rentals, and the keynote featured slides with LiveMeeting. Surely one of the premier tech firms of all time would revolutionize the virtual conference, right? Wrong. Seven years after the first one, virtual conferences just weren’t catching on, although they’re starting to now.

Video Conference

Psychology, not video conferencing technology

After a decade of declining prices for videoconferencing technology – plasma display rentals, wall-sized screens and media-friendly computers – it turns out that it’s not technology, but psychology, that is holding up progress. User forums and corporate networks have their share of rants, raves and predictions (“Real-time 3D full-wall HD surround-sound conferencing coming soon!”) but much of the talk is about “intangibles.”

A common refrain is that there is “no substitute for personal interaction,” and that talking is still more efficient than iMessaging with an iPad rental. People pay attention to much more than the words they’re hearing, too, reading body language, interpreting “vibes” and observing how folks relate to one another. If you reflect on the number of intriguing conversations you’ve had in hallways, elevators and lunch lines, you know the intrinsic value of informal conversations.

Characteristics of virtual conferences

Virtual conferences save on obvious costs like air fare, hotels, dining and so forth, but you will still need event production rentals – just different ones than usual. Still, before there can be successful, smooth-running virtual conferences, they have to evolve the following characteristics:

• Excellent planning and execution. A virtual conference is a big, complicated production. Don’t underestimate the effort.

• Fail-safe technology. Streaming media is great, but everything needs to work regardless of what the attendees bring to the event (MacBook, PC laptop, smart phone).

• New model. There is still no consensus on the best model for virtual conferencing, although “informative” and “interactive” are two buzzwords that echo across the Internet. (Ideas, anyone?)

Perhaps in 2012 we will finally see the emergence of a workable virtual conferencing model. Most people need to be engaged and drawn into the action, but how this will get done virtually is still a mystery. Stay tuned and we’ll keep you posted as “virtual” turns into “reality” in the conference industry.

Here’s a dose of reality for you: CRE is your one-stop shop for trade show convention rentals, high-tech and high-powered post-production gear, potent laptops and desktop PCs, Macs, mass storage and more. A single call or e-mail, or a trip to our Quick Rental Quote page, puts an expert Account Executive to work solving your problem. Call now!

6 Top Marketing Tips During a Recession

April 19th, 2012

In a slow economy, management takes a hard look at all expenses. Some firms choose to rent laptops rather than buy them, and make other cost-effective changes, but should resist zeroing out the marketing budget. It seems counter-intuitive, but a recession can be an excellent time to inject some fresh thinking into your marketing efforts.

Here are six top tips for marketing in recessionary times.

1. Do an e-mail newsletter. Every modern iMac and Windows PC has an e-mail program with easy-to-use templates (“stationery”), so you don’t need design chops. Keeping the message short, focused and useful increases the likelihood that it will be forwarded (a good thing). However you assemble your mailing list, put an opt-out message in the footer of the newsletter.

2. Revisit your Rolodex. If there are still names, phone numbers and e-mail addresses buried in your business card pile and old paper-based Rolodex, it’s way past time to get them into your computer’s Address Book. Make a habit of visiting your (digital) Rolodex regularly.

3. Update and upgrade. When business is slow, especially in small to medium-sized businesses (SMBs), some “free time” should be invested in your online presence. Whether you’re using Facebook as a business portal, working the “circles” in Google+ or doing a blog on the new all-in-one multitouch display PC, the Internet has a nearly limitless number of ways to connect, promote – and prevail!

4. Volunteer and contribute. Whether you are a creative pro that uses our AJA Io HD rental in post-production, or a CPA that “counts the beans” in the company coffers, you have valuable skills. Consider volunteering, on a one-shot or ongoing basis, at a local nonprofit. Share your corporate know-how, lend a helping hand and meet all kinds of people. You never know what it might lead to.

5. Start a breakfast meeting. One or two breakfasts each week – with former clients, current colleagues, even future competitors – can keep you abreast of potential opportunities. Take along a MacBook for written and/or verbal notes, and if you keep things interesting and useful, you could be moving from a table for two to the banquet room real soon.

6. Search offline, too. If you save all your e-mail (by archiving or using Gmail), and hang on to Post-It notes and inked-up napkins, then you should search all of it – there’s no telling what might spark a new idea. Notions that didn’t make sense at a certain time or in a certain context might be just right for today’s – or tomorrow’s – challenges.

To meet your big challenges – in post-production, at trade shows or with corporate presentations – you need the best tools and techniques. Simply call or e-mail CRE Rentals and an experienced Account Executive will assist you, or use the Quick Rental Quote form if you know what you need. We’re always ready with the right solution – right now!

8 Tips to Polish your Presentation

March 22nd, 2012

Microsoft PowerPoint is the leading software for creating slide presentations, but the tips here can be applied to any workflow using open source, commercial or proprietary software, on a Windows PC or an iMac. Of the many commonsense tips for writing, designing and delivering an effective presentation, the top eight are below for your consideration.

1. Key phrases, essential info – Use key phrases and essential information only. Repeat key phrases from your top three or four points. Text should be short and sweet with a maximum of three bullets, as “negative” surrounding space makes it easy to read.

2. Go with the flow – Make your presentation easy to follow by having the title at the top of the slides. If you are using one of CRE’s Audience Response Systems rentals you should confirm with your audience that they can see the slide copy from the back rows.

3. No font follies – Use fonts designed for reading, like Verdana, Arial or Times New Roman. Use two fonts at most, one for headings and one for copy (no hard-to-read script). A MacBook Pro, or any other late-model Mac, will have excellent typefaces for all uses.

4. Simple language and NO CAPS! – On slides, punctuation marks diminish readability, and thus understanding, as do obscure words and all capital letters. All caps is also interpreted in our Internet culture as SHOUTING, but all it screams is, “low class!”

5. Play it safe– Themes or templates must be appropriate for the target viewers. For business, a no-nonsense layout is best. If you display your slides on a large-screen plasma display rentals, you can use any colors you like and get bright, clear, lifelike images.

6. Use images often – All kinds of images “speak louder than words” – charts, photos, graphs, even embedded video – and help keep your audience tuned in. Don’t do too many text-only slides.

7. Don’t overdo it – A reasonable number of slides ensures that the presentation will not be too long. One slide per minute is a common benchmark. Use digital recorder rentals to get your spoken presentation in sync with the slides.

8. Keep it simple – Transition effects and animation can add some emphasis (and fun), but the slides are visual aids for your presentation, not the focal point. Use a single transition style consistently.

If you have an upcoming presentation, call or e-mail an experienced CRE Account Executive and talk about displays, audio visual (AV) equipment rentals and everything else you may need. Already know what you need? Visit our Quick Rental Quote form and you’ll be on your way in no time!

Green Tech Update

March 6th, 2012

The green movement is no longer a fringe phenomenon, but a mainstream business strategy and lifestyle choice. One study shows that 56% of Americans are willing to pay a premium for green electronics that use less energy and are easily recycled. Thus, saving energy while reducing waste is a goal for manufacturers of tech devices, from the high-powered render farms that media professionals rely on, to new laptops that weigh (and cost) less all the time.

A comprehensive “green tech strategy” is unique for every product, addressing energy, cost, waste and sustainability in all phases of its life – R&D, design, manufacturing, marketing and sales, usage and disposal/recycling. Lenovo’s new ThinkPad laptops, for instance, use 10-25% recycled plastic. Apple products, from the entire Macintosh line to CRE’s popular iPad rentals, are designed with great attention to raw materials, advanced manufacturing techniques and easy recycling.

Multiple solutions

Companies are creating both hardware and software solutions. New energy-efficient desktops can run on one-third of the power a four-year-old PC requires. Intel’s new chips are more powerful without using more energy, like the one that appears destined for an updated Mac Pro. There are various methods for keeping computers in low-energy mode until users need more “juice” for tough tasks.

Even mundane products like office equipment rentals get the energy-smart treatment. Hewlett-Packard and other firms are making great progress with printers, scanners and “all-in-ones” that snap out of sleep mode quickly when needed, then go back to snoozing until needed again. Various new energy sources and strategies are being studied, but the best ways to reduce the overall eco-impact of computing are common sense and low-tech:

plug computers, monitors and printers into a single power strip and turn them off when not in use;
set your monitor to darken during inactivity, not run a bright, watt-hungry light show;
keep air slots unblocked, don’t let dust build up inside your PC and “keep it cool” computer-wise; and
extend the useful life of high-tech devices with proper care and maintenance.

We’re getting there

Tech firms need to consider environmental impact when crafting IT solutions and developing products for long, useful lives. Whether it’s a specialized Xserve RAID or something as common as a PC desktop computer rental, when high-tech devices reach the end of their usefulness, manufacturers and retailers work together to ensure that reusable components are properly reclaimed and recycled. Cradle to grave environmental responsibility? Not quite, but we’re getting there!

CRE takes its commitment to the environment seriously, the same way we take every customer question, concern or need. Got a conference coming up where you need to make a big splash with big plasma display rentals? Need some energy-efficient iMac rentals for that new project? One call or e-mail puts an experienced Account Executive on the job for you. If you know what you need, visit the Quick Rental Quote form and be on your way in minutes!

Challenge Your Tech Preconceptions

February 9th, 2012

A major problem facing businesses today is the tendency to hang on to poorly conceived, mistaken and/or outdated procedures. With every imaginable kind of firm now computerized and net-connected, there is always plenty of confusion and controversy over what to do as technology continues its huge leaps forward. (We recently blogged about the CES 2012 conference that showcased many of the newest “leapers.”)

We’ll use a common IT task – saving system reports (individually or en masse), as an example. An IT professional blogged recently about reviewing his two-year-old “best practices” documentation for saving these reports, or logs. He realized that the tasks had evolved over time and were not as described. He thought the documentation should reflect what was really happening. Good idea, right? Post It

“Good” is not always “right”

It may make sense from a “best practices” perspective to revise the documentation, but this assumes that what is happening is what’s supposed to be happening. Before we can decide if the material is still valid, we need to determine if it was valid in the first place with some pointed questions:

Why do we create and keep logs to begin with?
Who looks at them, and are they the right people?
What do they really do with the logs?
Should the logs be archived, or deleted after X number of days?
Are we asking the right people the right questions?

It turns out that the company was saving 300GB of logs nightly – the new daily reports plus a ton of old ones – on the same Xserve RAID devices CRE rents. This represented a real waste of resources, employee time and money, as few people looked at them. After determining what was really needed – and when, by whom, how much, etc. – our IT hero recommended that the company only save a week’s worth of logs in addition to the dailies.

Now the logs were compact, 10MB files small enough to review on an iPad rental. Our IT manager saved his company beaucoup bucks, brought new efficiencies and eliminated waste. He ended his tale by encouraging businesses to ask some hard questions:

• Do you review your security policies, workplace procedures, documentation, training materials and best practices regularly?

• Have you established (and updated as necessary) a way to gauge how relevant and effective these materials are in achieving your corporate goals?

• Do all the employees that use the logs have sufficient input into these discussions?

• How can your firm avoid the common pitfall of automatically adopting what sounds familiar and reasonable, whether or not it is properly thought out?

From intense post-production work, to a wide range of first-rate trade show convention rentals, our expert Account Executives can fix you right up. With a simple call or e-mail, or a visit to our Quick Rental Quote form, you’ll find us ready to help!

iPad Drives Conference Attendees to Websites

November 30th, 2011

Recent studies show that the popular iPad rental is an increasingly significant source of web traffic in the U.S. With a little planning – and some strategic insight into the ever-busier two-way street of mobile media – you can attend conferences and be confident in your ability to drive attendees to your website with iPad. Here’s how.

Traffic leader

The respected web analytics firm, comScore, reports that smartphones and tablets (from iPhones to WiFi-enabled tablet PC rentals) accounted for nearly 7% of total U.S. web traffic in August 2011. About two-thirds of that was from phones, the balance from tablets. Astonishingly, the iPad grabbed over 97% of tablet traffic.

But the iPad is also driving more web traffic than Apple’s own iPhone – a 46.8% share of all traffic originating from iOS devices (again, in August), as opposed to the iPhone’s 42.6%. Tellingly, the total iOS share of U.S. mobile web traffic that month was 58.5% – that’s market penetration, folks. This is true despite the continuing growth of Android, which just released version 4.0 (“Ice Cream Sandwich”).

In the mix of communication

Clearly, the iPad is right “in the mix” when it comes to communications today. What makes it so potent as a marketing device – before, during and after conferences – is its portability, for one thing. But the real power lies in its “double connectivity” (WiFI and cell) and all the great apps that have been customized for it. Although the MacBook Pro is portable, too, Apple’s tablet is supremely flexible, adaptable and focused.

With access to e-mail, social networking sites and the rest of the web, you can use your iPad in real-time from your exhibit booth to draw attendees there. In addition to communications apps, the iPad has a full array of office tools for creating, editing, printing, sending and otherwise managing all of your marketing materials. You can announce breakout sessions, invite participants to interactive presentations powered by Audience Response Systems (ARS) and steer attendees to both your booth and your website.

Bottom line for business professionals

According to comScore, in 2010 over 115 million Americans used mobile devices to browse the web, use/download apps or access content. This is nearly 20% greater than just the previous year – and the numbers are even more impressive among business users. Whether using a PC desktop computer rental or a mobile device, business users have come to depend on the ability to reach their targets – worldwide, around town and in a sea of conference attendees.

When you need more than just an Xserve RAID array or other high-tech tool – when you need a solution, a plan, a strategy – you need CRE. One call or e-mail, or one visit to our Quick Rental Quote online form, and an Account Executive is on the job for you. Just let us know what you need to do!

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