MMI recently attended Arrow’s annual May Days education and networking event in Atlanta.  We had a booth manned by our Business Development Executive,  Claire Millsap; Maintenance Consultant, Lilliam Contreras; and Marketing Manager, Trish McLoughlin, who provided valuable information to the attendees, as well as fun and useful giveaways. Having a booth at this convention gave MMI the opportunity to have face to face time with many of our business partners and meet new ones.

 There were a lot of great discussions with those in IBM’s Business Partner channel. Many of these discussions underscored the successes and limitations many of them are seeing with their contract management strategy, such as:

•  “Maintenance renewals provide a valuable annuity stream for our business.”
• “Our customers see value in us helping them manage their hardware and software contracts.”
• “Utilizing our customer’s contract data helps us uncover new business opportunities.” 
•  “Competition is heating up, and we need to provide customers with more value in order to win and keep their business.”
• “We don’t have the right technology to track all our customer data. As a result, we often miss renewal opportunities.”
• “We don’t have the expertise in house to do contract consolidations.”
• “Our customer data is unorganized, making it difficult for our sales teams to leverage it to find new business.”

 This is great feedback. It enables MMI to keep in touch with the needs of our partners and develop solutions to increase their revenue stream.

 In case you didn’t know, MMI builds sound strategies for tracking contract renewals, and license and warranty expirations. Without a good system built around your maintenance business, you could be leaving thousands, if not millions of dollars, on the table for your competition to grab.

Filed under: IBM, IT Asset Management, Maintenance Contract Management, Maintenance Renewals, Service Contract Management, Warranty Management | No Comments »

Managed Maintenance, Inc. (MMI) announces the addition of two new programs to their suite of offerings; both tailored for IBM: The IBM Revenue Identification Program (RI) and IBM Software Licensing Review and Management Program.  With these two new additions, MMI seeks to further assist  IBM sales teams by dramatically cutting their work load pertaining to data mining and opportunity identification.  The ultimate goal of the new programs are to help identify new revenue opportunities within IBM accounts, hit quarterly and annual sales targets and ultimately help to increase customer satisfaction and loyalty to the IBM brand.

The objective of the IBM Revenue Identification Program is to allow IBM sales teams the ability to spend their time actively pursuing revenue generating opportunities.  This will help ensure throughout their accounts, 100% of the exposed hardware and software items within their customers’ infrastructure are being captured for maintenance coverage.  With this program, at the request of IBM, MMI will conduct a complete review & analysis of their customer’s enterprise inventory and provide reports identifying all potential maintenance opportunities, including: 

• machines on warranty not set for post warranty maintenance
• additional hardware maintenance and software maintenance agreements sold by both IBM and IBM channel partners
• all exposed machines
• software services study along with a complete listing of recommended services

 By providing a comprehensive and actionable view of the customer’s infrastructure, this service is designed to not only increase maintenance revenue, but also decrease opportunity identification costs.  In Q4 alone, MMI announced that it had helped to identify and closed more than $1M in opportunity for IBM at the onset of this program.

 The Software Licensing Review and Management Program aims to assist IBM customers who have a difficult time understanding their IBM Passport Advantage Agreements. Software licensing can be challenging and time consuming, especially with multi-core and multiprocessor hardware, virtualization and software-sub-capacity licensing. The service delivers a complete analysis of new and/or existing IBM licensing, support and pricing.  The customer will be assigned an account advocate for license and agreement issues and gain access to the IBMview branded portal 24 hours a day.  End-users can run queries via the portal by product type, install date, PVU count and many other identifiers.  The portal also has the capability of linking hardware equipment to the associated software license.  This program is a go-to resource to help manage software licensing and associated subscription and support contracts, which will help avoid costly audits and compliance issues related to the customer’s software.

To learn more about either of these programs, offered exclusively to IBM, please contact us at infor@managedmaint.com.

Filed under: IBM, IT Asset Management, Maintenance Renewals, Renewal Management, Service Contract Management | No Comments »

MMI recently announced it will be hosting a four part webinar series, the first of which ran on March 21st and successfully reached the goal of educating our business partner community on how to maximize revenue streams through your maintenance business.

A last minute addition to the webinar discussed IBM’s MMS for GB program and how to qualify.  This is an important piece for IBM BP’s since IBM now requires that they perform value added services to support maintenance inventories of end users.  These services can improve:

• Customer Satisfaction
• Opportunity Identification
• Visibility to Offer other IBM Services

Qualifying Requirements for IBM’s MMS for GB Program:
1. A minimum of 2 people trained on ISAT (can be designated to the Distributor)
2. On-line capability to manage a customer’s inventory across the enterprise.(Web Portal)

MMI’s Oneview SaaS Portal not only satisfies the second requirement, it provides a new perspective into your maintenance business, enabling your organization to approach maintenance renewal streams with as much efficiency and actionable information as traditional sales approaches. 

4 reasons why you should invest in Maintenance Service Contracts Sales and Management:
1. Substantial repeatable revenue streams
2. Connects manufacturers and channel partners with their end-users.
3. Improved brand/vendor loyalty.
4. Increased communication with customers as a way to boost all sales into the end-user enterprise through improved life-cycle management.

The next segment of this webinar discussed how archaic business practices have a negative effect on renewal revenue streams due to ineffective tools and costly contract management mechanisms… making the secret to increasing service contract revenue the use of online tools with interactive contract management capabilities. 

Online tools should have these key elements:
1. Ability to handle dynamic data and multiple data sources
2. On-demand access and available from anywhere
3. Multiple levels of access and associated security regarding the available data to different parties based on access levels.
4. Performance measurements and metrics
5. Dynamically and in real-time communication electronically between all users in an identified down-line.

Claire Millsap, the presenter of this webinar and MMI’s Business Development Executive then went on to discuss in detail: setting up the database and maintaining the data, multi-level access and security protocols, and performance measurements.

The bottom line for this webinar is to convey the benefits of managing your opportunity.  
 
Increased Pipeline Management = Higher Revenues
• Decreased Cost of Sales Procurement
• Continued Process Tuning and Improvements
• On-Going Consulting with customer
• A More Valuable Business With Guaranteed Annuity Revenues

This webinar drove home the importance of proactive notification to drive revenue through the use of an all in one online tool, as well as how to leverage multi-vendor knowledge in your accounts to block out the competition and shield your customers from cumbersome processes and invoicing mechanisms.

To view this webinar presentation, Part One: How to Differentiate Yourself from the Competition and Lock in Your Clients, click here.

Jordan Lebowitz
Business Advocate, MMI
E: jlebowitz@managedmaint.com / O: 561.869.4399 x 1101
Website: www.managedmaint.com

Filed under: Uncategorized | No Comments »

In today’s technology oriented business world, more and more companies are using Software As A Service (SaaS) in their daily operations. Instead of purchasing and owning the business applications required to run the enterprise, the company uses applications provided as a service, usually over the internet. MMI’s Oneview web portal is a good example of SaaS.

The SaaS provider hosts the application, which it owns, on secure servers that it owns, operates and maintains. It enables software utilization without major expenditure or extended implementation time frames. Using the SaaS model, MMI’s Oneview, gives your business 24/7 access to view and manage you hardware and software assets and licenses, without having to purchase application software, nor spend time and resources on implementation. It is easy to use and requires minimal training, enabling your users to immediately start tracking your maintenance support needs. Some of the advantages to using SaaS include:

• Low cost – No hardware or software to purchase, only a monthly access fee to the provider.
• Faster implementation – Does not require setup of hardware or the installation of software, personnel can get started using the system immediately.
• No updates or upgrades to install. – Enhancements are made available automatically.
• Improved support – Support is included with the subscription fee.
• Access to your data anywhere, anytime.
• Better reliability.

It also provides comprehensive security, backup and disaster recovery, thus allowing your company to spend less time managing applications and more time on your  core business.

Although its use has many advantages, some organizations might find it difficult to relinquish control or trust a third party to manage their applications and data. Others are in industries that require specific business applications for which there are no SaaS solutions available. However, if your enterprise has clear objectives and defined business processes, consider looking into using hosted applications, instead of on-premise solutions, and start saving time and money.

To learn more about Onveview, visit http://www.managedmaint.com/content/welcome-oneview

Filed under: IT Asset Management, Maintenance Contract Management, Service Contract Management, Warranty Renewals | No Comments »

MMI’s contract management portal has always delivered an easier way to manage the complex tasks associated with managing hardware, software, warranty and service contracts. With the revisions and enhancements in the new version of ONEview, now more than ever is the time to avail your business of this great time saving and revenue detecting tool.

Here are 10 simple reasons why you should have ONEview 2.0:

1.    IMPROVE DATA QUALITY

ONEview helps with the aggregation of install dates, warranty exits and renewals. It adds the ability to mine data and proactively identify ongoing contract opportunities, technology refreshes, and refurbish or decommission assets.

2.    IMPROVE BUSINESS ANALYTICS

ONEview enables you to have accurate reporting and analytics of your business.

3.    ACCURATE FORCASTING AND PIPELINE  DEVELOPMENT

ONEview enables your company to accurately forecast annuity business and renewal opportunities 36 months in advance.

4.    ACCURATELY BUDGET AND STAFF TECHNICAL AND SUPPORT TEAMS

ONEview identifies possible cost reductions by helping you forecast potential service-contract renewals, and allocate the necessary personnel to support those contracts.

5.    INCREASED VISIBILITY TO CHANNEL PERFORMANCE

ONEview reporting and analytics enables you to track sales and financial performance.

6.    INCREASED UP-SELL AND CROSS-SELL OPPORTUNITIES

ONEview advanced reporting allows you to quickly assess what additional maintenance services are available and determine which markets are using what assets. You can leverage the information to sell on those environments.

7.    PROACTIVE ENTERPRISE MANAGEMENT

ONEview has the ability to manipulate data views in summary, detailed formats and establish proactive email notifications and pertinent data analysis. It is customizable with easy to view screens.

8.    HIGHER CUSTOMER SATISFACTION

ONEview offers end-users easy, self-service access to information for analysis and sharing of information across the organization. It includes flexible, customizable report presentation and profile-based data, all with minimal training requirements.

9.    ACCURATE ONGOING INVENTORY AND SOFTWARE LICENSING MANAGEMENT

ONEview makes it easy to analyze and track warranties, software license support and subscriptions. It simplifies the renewal process and prevents lapses in coverage.

10. “STICKY” END-USER INTERFACE

The ease of use of ONEview encourages customers’ to return and conduct their business transactions and receive marketing material via the portal, offering the VAR an opportunity to develop customer loyalty and additional sales from the recurring and ongoing interaction with end users through ONEview.

So now that you know just a little more of what ONEview can do for your business, isn’t time to join other successful companies in enjoying the enhanced benefits of ONEview 2.0?

Check out some of the enhanced features of MMI’s new web portal at http://tinyurl.com/76hzo48

For more information about MMI and its services, visit http://www.managedmaint.com

Filed under: IT Asset Management, Maintenance Contract Management, Maintenance Renewals | No Comments »

Managed Maintenance, Inc. staff is largely comprised of women, including a mostly female leadership team. In the U.S. technology business world, where women in IT jobs are only at 25% and in tech companies executive positions at 11%, it makes MMI a company at the forefront of gender diversity in the technology world.

Our co-founder, President and CEO, Tina Lux-Boim, has spent more than 15 years in the technology industry, with expertise in Hardware Maintenance and Software Licensing. Prior to founding MMI, she ran two business units at a major provider of IT infrastructure solutions. Tina has been recognized as one of the top Women of the Channel in 2010 and 2011. Other members of our executive team are Claire Millsap and Lina Sosa.

Lina is MMI’s VP of Business Execution, overseeing daily business execution and managing the associated staff. She has extensive experience in sales and marketing for the technology Business Partner channel. Claire is our Channel Business Development Executive, responsible for MMI’s sales methodology. Prior to joining our company, she worked with an IBM Business Partner managing maintenance contracts and renewals.

Additional members of management are in Human Resources, Marketing and Finance, as well as in supervisory capacities and team leadership. In total, women account for 73% of MMI’s workforce.

It is interesting to note that women have been present in the IT world from the very first general purpose, electronic computer, ENIAC. Its 6 programmers were all women. Also, statistics have shown that:

1. Technology companies with more women on their management teams have 34% higher return on investment.
2. The presence of women on technology teams increase the team’s problem solving ability and creativity.
3. Start-ups run by women use less capital and are more likely to survive the transition to established company.

According to the National Chapter for Women and Information Technology (NCWIT) statistics “Having gender diversity in the workplace expands the qualified talent pool, improves the bottom line, enhances innovation and promotes quality”.

As a largely female staffed technology company, we are proud to be part of these statistics. The women at Managed Maintenance, along with the rest of our team, bring a wealth of knowledge in the technology field that continues to make us a successful and growing enterprise.

Statistical information thanks to Women in Technology International (WITI) www.witi.org and the National Chapter for Women and Information Technology (NCWIT) www.ncwit.org

To learn more about our management team and Managed Maintenance and its services visit us at www.managedmaint.com

Filed under: IBM, Maintenance Contract Management, Service Contract Management, Tina Lux-Boim | No Comments »

Although IT equipment is usually sold with a warranty, the warranty typically ranges from one to three years. If it fails while under warranty, the vendor resolves the problem at no additional cost; but what happens if the failure occurs after the warranty has expired? If you call the vendor to repair the system, you have to pay for time and materials, sometimes travel time as well; it all adds up to a costly, unbudgeted expense. The solution to “after warranty care” is a maintenance contract. A contract  provides you with an extended warranty for as long as it is in effect.

Maintenance contracts can be obtained from the original equipment manufacturers (OEMs), with options for you to choose the type of coverage and length of the contract. However, the manufacturers are not the only option when you are seeking a maintenance contract provider. Today’s business world is seeing the emergence of various third party providers of maintenance contracts. So the question is: Do you choose an OEM or a third party provider?

There are three advantages to using a third party provider:

1. Low maintenance prices
2. Support for multiple manufacturers – all in a single contract
3. Support for older systems no longer handled by the OEM

These may sound great; however, you also need to consider the disadvantages, which include:

1. Quality of service
2. Availability of parts
3. Downtime

The technicians employed by third party providers usually will have training on equipment for multiple manufacturers. Generally, they will be lower paid technicians and they will not be top notch. Some of these companies do not have their own service technicians, but contract the repairs to another provider. Under these circumstances, you cannot be sure of the quality of service.

Also, parts can become an issue when getting service from a third party provider, as often they are not stored locally and they will not have the parts the same day. Small third party maintenance companies may not keep many parts in-house, thus having to buy it when your system fails and wait for its arrival. The result is downtime and loss of productivity for you.

Additionally, because of the uncertainty of the quality of service and response time, critical equipment, such as servers that run your business, should not be covered by a third party maintenance contract. You should get an on-site, same day contract from the OEM to ensure minimal downtime.

Usually, maintenance contracts from the OEM cannot compete in cost with the third party provider, as the OEM price is often expensive in comparison; however it offers the benefits of:

1. Factory trained, specialized technicians
2. Multiple levels of technical expertise to cover all service needs
3. Large warehouses of parts with immediate availability
4. Multiple levels of coverage

 An OEM maintenance contract ensures that your business does not experience loss of revenue because of downtime while waiting for parts and service, and you know the repairs are being handled by expertly trained personnel. Hardware and software is a major investment in any business; the peace of mind that you will have from knowing these valuable assets malfunctions will be promptly and accurately resolved far outweighs the cost of the OEM maintenance contract.

Just remember, when you purchase a service maintenance contract to protect your IT equipment investment, select the best coverage for your business needs that brings you the best quality of work and the least possible downtime.

Filed under: IT Asset Management, Maintenance Contract Management, Service Contract Management, Warranty Management | No Comments »

As the end of the first month of 2012 approaches, we at MMI asked our employees to share any business related New Year’s resolutions they had made. Here is what some of them had to say:

ADAM – “Establish better communications internally and nourish a learning environment.  I have succeed in training the IBM team on the new ONEview 2.0 and will continue to engage my team members so we can all benefit from what we learn”

CELESTE – “Educate more IBM TSLs, SDMs and/or DPMs on MMI’s value”. I have tasked myself to send out an email next week to all of my present TSL’s, inquiring who will be taking on any account of mine … I plan on coordinating a conference call with all present and impending TSL’s, SDMs and DPMs to educate any new comers, and to get feedback from the IBMers who have history with MMI”

LILLIAM – “Work more on our CRM system”

EILEEN – “Making an effort not to impose my opinions on others. Just because I have them, doesn’t mean everyone wants to hear them. – Sadly, thus far, it has been dismal”

LINA – “I will implement a quarterly goal system in which we will track and measure our Team goals as well as our individual goals. This will help us hold each other accountable and ensure that we meet them”

TRACY – “Moving forward I want to learn more about all of the other offerings at MMI. Get better understanding of the jobs of the IBM/Partner programs. Learn more about Arrow/IBM projects to help in making suggestions that could grow our business”

Whether for business or personal, New Year’s resolutions are a good way to “kick off” a new direction. From the responses received, MMI’s staff seems headind towards improvement in the workplace. What are your employees doing to improve and better your business?

For ways to better your contract management tasks, check out MMI’s offerings at:  http://www.managedmaint.com/content/managed-maintenance-service-offerings

Filed under: Customer Contract Management, IBM, Maintenance Contract Management | No Comments »

MMI will soon be releasing the new version of their contract management tool ONEview. It has been a long road and hard work from the Development team, but it is finally here.  Taking ideas from the end users, and MMI’s own staff, many additions and revisions have been implemented to make the new and improved version  more robust and easier to use.

ONEview 2.0 has been featured by Information Management as one of the new products coming out in January 2012. http://tinyurl.com/7cqalx8

The release is scheduled for January 21, 2012. Take a quick peek at some of the new features at: http://tinyurl.com/76hzo48

Filed under: Customer Contract Management, IT Asset Management, Maintenance Contract Management, Renewal Management, Service Contract Management, Service Renewal Management | No Comments »

In January, Managed Maintenance, Inc. is releasing the much anticipated Version 2.0 of their web-based portal application, ONEview.  MMI’s ONEview portal eases the burden of end-user customers in managing all of their company hardware, software, and maintenance and warranty contracts, while also providing an important tool for technology providers looking to grow and manage this valuable annuity-based revenue stream.  The release of ONEview Version 2.0 has been much anticipated by users, and it is scheduled for Saturday, January 21st.

To learn more, please read the official Press Release at http://tinyurl.com/7ycw3mb

Filed under: Customer Contract Management, IT Asset Management, Maintenance Contract Management, Warranty Management, Warranty Renewals | No Comments »