Lower Your Cost of Computer Technology Ownership
IT System manufacturers typically attach a lifecycle somewhere between six months and one year to their computer technology products. After this period, the manufacturers will discontinue these products in an effort to make room for the newest in cutting edge technology. These products are often not compatible with existing technology, which is both frustrating and expensive for businesses and individual end users. Many organizations and individuals are now turning towards computer secondary market providers and partners to help alleviate this problem.
Short computer product lifecycles affect enterprises and the public sector on many levels and at many stages, including planning, buying, upgrading, and accessorizing an IT infrastructure.
Organizations within the computer secondary market are catering to the end users, both business and the public, in an effort to help to extend the life of computer and other technology products, Sometimes life spans on technology products will be extended by as much as three fold, which obviously has huge implications to the bottom line of those making IT investments.
So how does the computer secondary market work? In a nutshell, a reselling partner will purchase large quantities of older technology products directly from the IT manufacturer. The manufacturer is happy to remove these products from their shelves at discounted rates for two reasons. The first is that they must make room for their newer computer equipment and technology products. The second reason is that, by carefully choosing reputable partners for their secondary market programs, they able to satisfy existing customers without compromising their ability to attract new customers in the primary market. Once the reselling partner has purchased directly from the manufacturer, it will then offer the existing technologies to enterprises and individuals, usually for lower prices than it was originally sold for at retail outlets, or even by the manufacturer, itself. This enables IT users to purchase discontinued replacement parts, upgrades and even accessories long after the products have been removed from the primary market shelves. The leading and most reputable resellers will often have a huge and diverse inventory of discounted products acquired from most, if not all, of the major computer equipment manufacturers. As an added bonus, because the focus of these resellers is not to sell only the “latest and greatest” in technological equipment, they seem to have a certain determination to find the perfect fit for an organization or individual.
There are technology resellers within the secondary market that will offer worldwide online customer service and support, 24 hours per day, seven days per week. These resellers are working with the original equipment manufacturers and will help to reduce the costs of a typical IT infrastructure. With a commitment to technology platform maintenance and longevity, they will often advise and provide perfectly suited solutions to an organization’s unique needs and system requirements. They may also be able to assist with leasing options or other considerations as manufacturers are not the only organizations that resellers may work with to provide all encompassing solutions for their customers.
With such short lifecycles attached to computer technology products, it is only logical that so many organizations and individuals are now turning towards computer secondary market providers and partners to help alleviate this problem.
For more information on new and refurbished computer products visit your IBM OCP reseller at itxchange.com
This is totally wicked!
Video Rating: 4 / 5
Management Information Systems: Managing the Digital Firm (9th Edition)
For sophmore, junior, senior, and MBA-level MIS and Information Systems courses. These authoritative authors continue to define the MIS course by integrating coverage of essential new technologies, their applications, and their impact on managerial decisions.
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(out of 8 reviews)
List Price: $ 135.33
Price: $ 14.95
Review by SuccessEssence for Management Information Systems: Managing the Digital Firm (9th Edition)
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I have never left a review on Amazon before (I’ve been a customer since 1997) and had no intention of doing so, when I initially searched this book description for some unrelated information.
However, after reading the previous two reviews related to this book I now feel compelled to give my review. Neither of the previous reviews had anything even remotely substantive regarding the actual material in the book. The only pertinent information the previous two reviewers touched upon concerned a typo. I challenge anyone to show me a 700+ page textbook that doesn’t contain at least one typo.
The rest of the review pertains to the reviewer trying to grind an axe with regard to US programmers (which I am not). Maybe if he actually read the book, he would’ve left a different review. The other review is concerning a vendor/shipping issue.
I give this book 5 stars because I feel it is a good general overview source concerning the Information Technology industry at the time of this posting (1/06).
This book is well written and laid out in a very systematical and logical format, which allows the reader to reference the book “ala carte” style. If I want a refresher on networking or databases relating to the corporate world from a managerial perspective, this is a great source.
If you are looking to learn the latest version of Oracle or become certified in Linux, then I suggest looking elsewhere.
Review by George Coppedge for Management Information Systems: Managing the Digital Firm (9th Edition)
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I’m an IT professor and have used this book to teach a previous class a year or so ago. While the contents provide a sufficient overview of the IT function and case studies for grad-level students, it is unfortunately very dry stuff for most students. It is also poorly organized.
Having used other textbooks for undergrads, this book fails in comparison. What my (and presumably all) business students are looking for are more immediately actionable knowledge, practical skills, and a much more compelling presentation. (The Technology in Action series is outstanding in all these respects!)
Hopefully, the Laudons will ‘sexify’ their new textbooks with more flash and interesting content. If Apple, Nokia, Sony, Google, and other firms can make tech ultra-cool, I don’t see why we can’t have IT textbooks to match them.
Review by Joe Hand for Management Information Systems: Managing the Digital Firm (9th Edition)
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This is a very good book, and I found it to be quite relevant. I’ve been in an IT management position for 20 years and this is one of the better books I’ve seen on the subject/topic.
Review by Peter Smith for Management Information Systems: Managing the Digital Firm (9th Edition)
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First, some background. I recently had to use this text for an introductory MIS class that was a pre-requisite – I am studying for a Bachelors in Finance. I already have a degree in Electrical Engineering, and have taken several post-graduate level classes in insurance and risk management. I have worked as a business analyst and an IT Project Manager.
I have in the past had several classes with texts which are `Not Good.’ However, it really takes a tome like Laudon to make you appreciate just how far even `Not Good’ is from `Bad’. The closest analogy I can make is that reading this book is like watching, for the first time, a movie with such a ludicrous plot, with such wooden acting, with such terrible direction, that for the first time you realize that all other movies you have seen that you would previously have characterized as terrible were in fact, `Not Bad’.
I haven’t smoked marijuana in several years now, but upon starting chapter one I immediately felt that sense of randomly wandering thought, jumping from topic to topic without any sense of direction or connection. The book just seems to be a big collection of non-sequitur following non-sequitur. Although there is some attempt made to organize the material, consider this. The first three chapters deal with `Managing The Digital Firm’, `IS in the Enterprise’, and `IS, Organizations, Management, and Strategy’. There really is no pedagogical distinction there. Chapters four and five continue with `The Digital Firm: e-business and e-commerce’, and `Ethical and Social Issues in the Digital Firm’. Were I to sit down and write a book called `IT and Companies That Use IT and Kinda How They Use It’ by simply spilling any random thought I might have on the topic onto paper, I believe I could come up with a better organized and more relevant text.
I want to agree with the prior reviewer who noted that the book is long on management speak and short on useful information. `Leverage’ seems to be the feel good word for folks spewing BS at the moment, and there is no shortage of such usage in this text.
Unfortunately, if you’re buying this book you likely need it for a class, and this review will not sway you. In closing, the only positive thing I can say for this book is that it reminded me of how stupid I used to get when I smoked grass. It’s a shame one cannot give zero stars.
Review by John Doe for Management Information Systems: Managing the Digital Firm (9th Edition)
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This book leaves me hanging. The book repeatedly talks about leaders needing to be transformational and devise a IS strategy for their organizations — okay that’s great; how about providing some insight. It’s one thing to say MIS is a strategic discipline (which this books does) and it’s another thing to go out and do it (which this book doesn’t describe and hasn’t a clue).
The books if full of manager’s jargon but and is light on the details. After reading, you’ll be able to sound like a manager and probably be able to do little else.