The Datamax Thinking Blog

Considering a Managed IT agreement? Go straight to the partner you're looking to outsource to and ask them these five questions. These inquiries will reveal both their capabilities and what your expectations should be moving forward.

We are a nation of outsourcers. From groceries to household chores to business game plans, we hesitate little in handing it over to someone who specializes in x, y, or z.

It's an old, universal truth: effective communication is key to team and organizational success. Without adapting to more intuitive, better integrated communication and collaboration tools, organizations will continue to hit the same communication barriers again and again. 

There’s this joke about millennials. Give a millennial a smartphone and he’ll live for a day… any longer than that and he’ll become a mindless, soulless, social media zombie.

Yes, it’s an all-too-common dig — a boomer scoffing at the 20-something across the room with his face buried in his phone. But all jokes aside, the next generation of communication systems and devices is transforming the way we work. With millennials now making up the largest generation in the U.S. labor force, the definitions of both “workplace” and “workday” are becoming steadily more hazy.

Is the information on your devices open to anyone who happens to walk inside your office? If so, it can certainly backfire on your organization, and blow the door open for leaking sensitive information.

An open door policy at your organization may be a great initiative for encouraging openness and transparency in the company. But it can also backfire if misused by employees.

Do you have a similar open door policy on your copier? Is the information on your devices open to anyone who happens to walk inside your office? If so, it can certainly backfire on your organization, and blow the door open for leaking sensitive information. It might be time for a change in policy. 

Weeds in your print environment are equally destructive. Excessive printing by users; poor tracking of devices; and even inadequate security policies that can become harmful to your organization.

Pulling weeds – it’s an arduous, thankless and literally painful task.

Albeit, a completely necessary one for a healthy garden or lawn environment. Weeds block out sunlight and steal water. They crowd out your crop space and often camouflage harmful pests or disease. If left unattended, of course, weeds only get worse.

To remain secure against increasingly-sophisticated attacks, organizations need to take a more practical approach: One that involves heightened employee awareness and full executive stewardship of a collaborative, company-wide security initiative.

IT Security: It can often still be considered an “IT issue.”

But it’s more than that. Just as revenue and performance are routinely reviewed, assessed and collaborated on, security should be a talking point inside the executive boardroom and an initiative that involves all employees. It’s not just an IT issue. It’s a business issue that involves your entire organization.

Successful planning and implementation often lies in the inherent capabilities of your production print partner — making long-term value and demonstrated expertise part of your decision making process. 

Ever started a home improvement project that should have been left to the pros?

Whether it was a leaky faucet that led to a monsoon of other issues, or a home renovation gone awry, we’ve been there. We know. With the idea of cutting a few costs, we find out quickly that DIY can quickly lead to “doing it all wrong.”

Underneath all the manual processes, workarounds and network-related deficiencies lies an infrastructure in disarray – not unlike a closet crammed full of clothes collecting dust.

Home organization guru Marie Kondo has created enormous buzz with her Netflix series “Tidying Up with Marie Kondo.” 

Kondo’s unique methodology for decluttering clients’ living spaces, as quirky as it may seem, is fairly simple: Clients take all their personal belongings, put them in a pile, hold each one up, and ask themselves – “does it spark joy?” If not, it’s time to discard.

Reputable technology partners don’t just talk a big game. They measure their performance constantly. And then they prove it on the course by sharing a variety of valuable, game-changing metrics with you, the client.

Tiger Woods’ emotional victory at the Master’s Sunday was a seminal moment in American sports history.

The emotional moments following his final putt – from the family embraces to the chants of “Tiger!” from the crowd - swept the sports world with a comeback story for the ages. Perhaps lost in this dramatic vignette over the weekend were the tireless hours that went into fine-tuning his mechanics day by day, shot by shot. And using technology to his advantage.

With the right preparation, the right equipment, and the right technology partner, your Return on Impression can be as exhilarating as an 85-foot plunge.

Cliff diving in an undoubtedly extreme – yet exhilarating - sport for the athletes mentally and physically strong enough to take the free-fall plunge. 

During the 3-second fall from 85 feet, competition divers experience forces of 2 to 3 Gs when they hit the water. That's nine times stronger than the forces Olympic high divers feel diving from 33-foot (10-meter) high platforms.

The freedom and adrenaline rush that these divers feel is prefaced by immense preparation, years of practice, and taking into account necessary precautions at all times.

Recently-announced features from uniFLOW Online demonstrate 5 key advantages for organizations looking to improve productivity and enhance security in their print environment. 

Athletes will go to extensive (even preposterous) lengths to capture and preserve that competitive edge.

Former Giants Pitcher Steve Kline once wore the same ball cap all season without washing it. His reasoning? The dirt kept him grounded “and reminded me where I came from.” Famous big-wave surfer Laird Hamilton, whose day starts at 5 a.m., consumes three strategically-planned breakfasts every morning to optimize both energy and recovery.