by Sean Murray | Apr 17, 2015 | IT, Reduce Overhead Costs, Uncategorized
Technologists love to grouse about how “the bean counters” stand in the way of awesomeness. But guess what? That street goes both ways.
I recently had the opportunity to ask four finance executives from a range of industries — pharma, academia, consulting and retail — what irks them about IT. If you assume their complaints were industry-specific, you’re wrong. In fact, there are remarkable similarities, and the grievances flowed freely.
This might come as a surprise, as more than 80% of the IT executives responding to our 2013 InformationWeek Global CIO Survey rated their relationships with finance as good (48%) or excellent (33%). Unfortunately, your CFO may not feel quite as simpatico.
Top gripes include:
1. The stickiness of the status quo: “We end up with very large budgets that keep us parked in yesterday,” says Keith Perry, VP of finance for Rexanto, which works with pharma companies to add efficiency to the supply chain. It’s the classic 80/20 conundrum, where huge investments in legacy technologies keep IT glued to the past. Most CIOs don’t like that situation any better than CFOs, but they’re often too busy keeping legacy systems running to figure out how to make the break. At least, that’s the charitable assumption. The more jaded tend to conclude that change takes effort, and automation and cloud have an inverse effect on IT job security. Thus we cling to expensive, aging data centers and manual processes.
2. The whiz-bang factor: Even as they resist some advances, CIOs are on the lookout for that next groundbreaking advance that will finally move the business to the next level — without, of course, cutting their budget or head count. And let’s face it, many IT pros are suckers for shiny demos. The problem is, hot and flashy often equals expensive and not fully baked. “IT inadequately researches the benefits and ROI prior to rushing in and spending money on new technology,” says one CFO. From another in the retail industry: “If it works, do not mess with it. There is no need to consistently update hardware to the most current versions.” A related gripe is that IT does not have a firm handle on all of the costs it generates. A new unified communications system might facilitate collaboration, but it comes with training costs and may require adding bandwidth or quality of service to a WAN. Why not just have people use Skype?
If these strike you as contradictory — our CIOs won’t change with the times; our CIOs want to try too many new things — check the underlying theme: CIOs want to spend money and upgrade systems as long as they can still protect their turf. We saw this theme in our last IT Perception Survey, where only 43% of non-IT respondents said they consider their IT teams integral to the business; 54% see IT as a support or maintenance organization and not an innovator. Responses from technologists, of course, were strikingly different.
3. Failure to do risk analysis: CFOs worry not just about straight dollar costs, but risk-based costs, both total potential and average. Risk analysis is needed for basic financial decisions, like insuring against business loss or selecting between self-insuring and buying insurance, with the latter being appropriate for high-volatility situations. Risk analysis is also critical in making purchasing decisions. “I recall an example where [risk analysis] was done well,” says Perry, and as result his company invested in Connected Backup (now Autonomy), an automated endpoint data protection system that worked wherever users happened to be. “Expensive, but worth every penny given that your average laptop seems to have a half-life of 18 months but a waterfall life of twice that, and assuming that a large fraction of your laptops will fail, resulting in significant downtime.” If employees are heavily dependent on PCs and you haven’t bought new systems in a few years, it doesn’t take a high failure rate to make $100 per seat for automatic backup a good deal, but figuring that out requires analysis.
4. Delusions of, if not grandeur, then at least adequacy: Many CFOs believe that IT simply does not deliver the technology innovation they need to effectively run the business. If that again seems counterintuitive to point No. 2, you’re right. But the fact remains that every CFO I spoke with said that IT service levels do not always meet expectations given the cost. One recalled an instance in which IT made a huge investment in a set of software, hardware and processes designed — and effective — for a specific purpose. Things went off the rails to the tune of a multimillion-dollar failure when they tried to reuse the same build to address materially different problems. It was very much a “if you have a hammer, everything looks like a nail” situation. CFOs wish IT teams would know when they’re in over their heads and stop digging. Again, our IT Perception Survey backs this up: Just 18% of non-IT respondents say business users are very or completely satisfied with the quality, timeliness and cost of IT projects. Among IT, it was 29%.
5. Dismissing the “why do we need you?” question: Like line-of-business managers, CFOs are starting to look at doing more with cloud-based providers and spending less on internal IT resources. No one better understands the capex versus opex trade-off, and they’d be lying if they said the idea of gaining leverage to force IT to be more accommodating isn’t attractive. In fact, a controller from a major U.S. university says IT routinely makes projects more difficult than they need to be and blames compliance for roadblocks clearly intended to keep out cloud providers and other service providers and make IT indispensable. “I’m currently fighting to get an advisee company to move off of tape backup to something both cheaper and more effective,” says Perry — without success. “Whether this failure is because IT is treated as a cost center, so isn’t given budget for saving money, or has a cost-center mindset and simply doesn’t try, is not for me to judge.”
One CFO cited an instance in which project managers overrode the CIO’s budget priorities, forcing through a major change that increased costs but ameliorated risk and added flexibility. In some shops, all of this adds up to CFOs not viewing the CIO as a key player in determining business strategy. That may be the biggest fail of all. So what to do? In our 2013 Budget Outlook Survey, Jonathan Feldman boils it down: Adopt a relentless drive to create business productivity, cut costs and create revenue with IT innovation. Get out of resourcing survival mode. Delight those who have provided sufficient resources to run a truly great operation. The CFO might add, stop thinking, and spending, like you’re the only game in town.
by Sean Murray | Apr 10, 2015 | Lawyers, New Jersey, Paul's Picks, Uncategorized
REPRINTED FROM ADVERTISERNEWSSOUTH.COM
NEWTON — Local law firm Hollander, Strelzik, Pasculli, Pasculli, Hinkes, Wojcik, Gacquin, Vandenberg & Hontz is celebrating its 50th year of service to northern New Jersey residents.
The law firm was founded in 1964 by current partner Sanford Hollander, along with Albert Trapasso, and Frank Dolan. It originally employed five other staff members in addition to the three partners.
The firm was originally housed within the Sussex & Merchants National Bank Building on Spring Street. A short time later, the business moved across the Newton Town Square to 40 Park Place, the site it has occupied ever since.
According to Hollander, the keys to the firm’s success have been its ability to evolve as the law has evolved, and by taking advantage of the opportunity to hire attorneys who are specialists in their fields.
“In the beginning, we were generalists, as were most lawyers,” Hollander said. “Although Frank Dolan was a superior trial lawyer. When I came back to Sussex County there must have been 35 lawyers in the entire county. There were more cows than people.”
Hollander says law has changed with the expanding role of government creating rules and regulations.
“It’s incomprehensible how much they have proliferated over the past 50 years,” Hollander said.
He specializes in real estate transactions, estate planning and administration. The firm has continued to expand and now numbers 10 attorneys, along with 10 support staff. Each attorney is able to focus on an area of specialty, such as family law, elder law, workman’s compensation, personal injury, land use, bankruptcy, and other issues.
“There is a unique family spirit in this law firm,” Hollander said. “Everybody likes each other. We strive to serve the best interests of our clients and the public.” He is quick to add, “But that doesn’t mean that we’re not fierce advocates! We work very well with each other and with our clients. We’re always looking for lawyers who will be compatible with us and fit into our culture and philosophy.”
by Sean Murray | Apr 10, 2015 | Medical Industry, Reduce Overhead Costs, Save Money, Uncategorized, Utility Auditing
Allow us to share our 30+ years of healthcare experience. It is our goal to find savings that will allow you to either upgrade systems, operate more efficiently, and to direct more money to your bottom line.
Our auditing is performed on a contingency fee basis. We do the research and legwork required in recovering the money you have already spent and continue to spend. There is no charge to you if we do not find any errors or areas where we can affect savings/reductions. Some examples:
- We saved Lakeland Healthcare over $1200.00 per month on telephone services which they used to pay for a new telephone system for the entire facility. We provided our in house financing on an installment sale basis. This system also provided dial tone to the residents, providing a profit center that generates over $2,000.00 per month.
- Provided a system design that upgraded their 30+ year old Dukane hands free intercom system, into a state of the art audio-visual nurse-call system with 2 way voice to the residents, at a savings of $40,000.00 when compared to a new Dukane system.
- At Liberty Manor Assisted Living we supervised/ acted as G.C. for their low voltage systems including: Telephones for administration as well as the residents, which provided a profit center.
- Integrated the wireless nurse call, wander, door alarms, and fire alarms to wireless, and wired telephones. A full description and magazine article regarding this unique solution is available in a separate white paper.
- We also provide a solution to save on utility expenses, and are expert in discovering billing errors.
by Sean Murray | Mar 30, 2015 | New Jersey, Reduce Overhead Costs, Uncategorized, Utility Auditing, Utility Bills, Water Bills
As Utility Auditors, we see this kind of outrageous over-billing often. $115 million, in this instance, will be refunded thanks to rarely seen sanctions against this type of behavior.
If you believe your business or investment property has been overbilled – on any utilities – do not hesitate to contact a Professional Utility Auditor – Immediately. Applied Utility Auditors offers no – risk services. We only get paid if you get a refund. Don’t get over your head in overhead.
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IN CASE YOU MISSED IT:
JCP&L rates to drop slightly after ruling
March 18, 2015 Last updated: Wednesday, March 18, 2015, 5:29 PM
By DAVE SHEINGOLD
Staff Writer |
The Record
Electricity users in six Passaic County communities and all of Morris County will see their rates drop slightly in the next few months following a ruling Wednesday by state regulators that sanctioned Jersey Central Power & Light for overbilling customers, but also let the company recoup money spent repairing damage from major storms.
In a unanimous vote at a meeting in Trenton, the Board of Public Utilities ordered JCP&L to refund $115 million to customers through the rate reduction, mostly to cover overcharges for power grid maintenance throughout its northern and central New Jersey territory from 2008 to 2011.
But the board also ordered that ratepayers pay for $736 million JCP&L spent restoring power following Superstorm Sandy and other bouts of severe weather since then that caused blackouts of up to two weeks.
The net result of formulas that parcel out those expenses over varying periods of time will be a $34 million cut in the company’s annual revenue and a drop of 1.2 percent, or $1.68, in its average residential monthly bill, according to the board. The exact month when bills will drop has not been set, but should come this spring, said BPU spokesman Greg Reinert.
JCP&L’s 1.1 million customers include 15,400 in six Passaic County municipalities – Wayne, West Milford, Wanaque, Pompton Lakes, Bloomingdale and Ringwood – and 197,000 in Morris County.
“Today’s order ensures that JCP&L is providing safe and proper service at just and reasonable rates, while also securing and being mindful of the company’s financial integrity,” said BPU President Richard Mroz.
The decision represents a middle-ground between a $207.5 million revenue reduction sought by a state consumer advocacy office and a request by JCP&L for a rate hike to cover increased expenses and storm-related costs.
In January, a state administrative law judge largely sided with claims by the office, known as the Division of Rate Counsel, that JCP&L used complex accounting techniques to return too much profit to its parent company, FirstEnergy Corp. of Akron, OH. The judge said the issue of storm costs should be addressed in a separate proceeding.
The BPU, however, combined both matters into one.
The ruling was criticized by Stefanie Brand, director of the Rate Counsel’s office, for rejecting the office’s request for retroactive rate cuts and postponement of storm-cost repayment.
“I’m disappointed,” she said. “It’s still a reduction. But I think they should have taken into account the fact that ratepayers had been paying too much for a number of years. They could have phased this in.” She declined to say if the order would be appealed.
Ronald Morano, a spokesman for JCP&L, said the company would review the order before commenting, but noted that it planned $254 million in improvements this year. Those include new circuits, upgraded utility poles, flood-proofing around power transfer stations and tree-trimming around power lines. The latter effort is aimed at a key problem in the company’s largely suburban and rural territory.
Wednesday’s ruling ends an unusually long-running case involving claims that disputed, in highly arcane terms, the write-offs, equipment depreciation and other accounting techniques used to set rates that generate JCP&L’s revenues. A key issue was whether JCP&L collected too much to cover its federal taxes and then used that money to offset taxes owed by other FirstEnergy subsidiaries.
Brand’s office also accused the company of improperly cutting costs, especially on grid maintenance and tree-trimming. JCP&L responded with a case of its own, seeking rate hikes.
by Sean Murray | Mar 23, 2015 | Business Intelligence, Cyber Security, Uncategorized
An article in the Wall Street Journal – in the height of tax season – announced that TurboTax was temporarily suspending transmission of state e-filed tax returns in response to a surge in complaints from consumers who logged into their TurboTax accounts only to find thieves had already claimed a refund in their name. That news comes as the most recent of a long trend of cyber threats including cyberattacks against Home Depot, JP Morgan Chase and Anthem, Inc. Fraudulent return filings stealing millions of dollars of taxpayer refunds are on the rise. The IRS estimated that it paid $5.2 billion in fraudulent ID- theft-related refunds in 2013 and they’re expecting that number to significantly increase in 2014.
The TurboTax problem, due to cyber thieves, brings to light a key security issue – end users (individual people) are getting hacked from their home computers. We speculate that thieves did not break into TurboTax and steal identities, there was no breach of their security that they could detect. Instead, thieves are stealing your logon information directly from your home and office computers. How? Often through malware/spyware that loads onto your machine through virus-infected e-mails in your inbox or by visiting infected/compromised websites. Rootkits (a type of virus) is a collection of tools (programs) that may consist of spyware and other programs that secretly monitor your network traffic and record keystrokes as you use your computer and send the information back to the hacker who gathers this information and sometimes uses or sells it on the dark web to criminals. Another way cyber criminals gain access to your information is through their ability to hack into your e-mail account. Most people have easy to remember passwords that are also easy to crack which hackers use a tactic called social engineering. A cyber thief cracks your e-mail password, logs in as you, can easily search through your e- mail and gather all sorts of financial information about you (how many of us get our monthly bank and quarterly investment information e-mailed to us instead of paper-mailed?). They then access those financial sites and use the “reset logon” or “reset password” features most sites permit, wait for the “reset” e-mail to hit your e-mail account and change the logon information. Some of the more secure sites have implemented security questions as an extra level of security which can prevent hacking.
There’s definitely a trend for thieves to get into your computer and gather enough information about you to file a fake tax return. At Wiss we’ve had a handful of clients experience this. Our firm has very sophisticated, multi-level security in place to protect our clients’ data, but thieves had stolen enough information from clients’ home computer to fill out a fake return and get some sort of refund delivered to an account that was then closed. We became aware of it when we went to file the actual return and the taxing authority rejected it because one had already been filed for that taxpayer’s social security information. Working with the taxing authority to register the theft, file the correct return and secure the refund for the client is an arduous task that can take many months and requires a ton of paperwork and proof of identity by the taxing authority.
So what can you do to protect yourself? Here are some basic things you can do:
1. Install and maintain a quality anti-virus software which will check for viruses on your home and/or office computer on a regular basis which also checks for viruses on incoming email. Just as important as installing anti-virus software is to update it regularly. As new versions are released upgrades should be installed. Cyber thieves and hackers are fast and adaptable. New
viruses are discovered hourly so it’s very important to make sure your anti-virus software updates on an automatic schedule which should be set to an hourly basis.
2. Firewalls either on your network and/or computer must be enabled, configured properly, and updated. Firewalls can keep the bad guys out and your data safe.
3. Never open unknown or suspicious e-mail. Know your senders and know what you subscribe to. Social engineering and phishing tactics are used to infiltrate your computer, meaning they enter your computer when you open the e-mail containing the virus. For example, an email from a frequent contact may appear to be from them but the email address behind the person’s name is from a cyber-thief. Viruses can do things like track keystrokes and send the information back to the cyber thief who can then access any accounts you’ve visited on your computer.
4. Obtain your software from reputable sources – downloading programs you’ve purchased from shady sources or freeware sites are most likely infected. Be sure to keep your system and programs up to date as security patches are released periodically. Internet browsers have security features in them such as popup blockers, smart screen filters, ActiveX filtering and security features that should be enabled and configured properly.
5. Hackers often leave infected USB drives unattended for you to pick up in the hopes that you plug it into your computer so they can gain access. Most virus scan software will scan media as it is introduced to your computer. As a best practice you should always scan all media before introducing to your computer and network.
6. Don’t keep sensitive financial passwords, logons and other information in your online mail or transmit this information electronically. I can’t tell you how many clients we see who store their social security number, logons with passwords for financial institutions and other data as a “contact or email from themselves” in their mailbox or keep scans of social security cards stored in their online photo album or on their computer desktop or “C” drive. This is prime fodder for cyber thieves who have applications to scan and pick up this information quickly and easily.
7. Thieves are also highly-adept at figuring out passwords and utilize complex password cracking programs so you need to keep a step ahead of them by making your password impenetrable:
a. The longer the password, the tougher it is to crack so try to use 10 or 12 character passwords that mix letters and numbers. Best way to do a password: pick a sentence or phrase you can easily remember and then use the first letters/numbers of each word, alternating capitals and lowercase and adding a special character somewhere. For example, take the phrase: “Jack and Jill went up a hill” which can be typed as, J@cknJiL!w3nt^Ahi!! . That’s a tough password to crack.
b. Be unpredictable – don’t use birthdays, your name, common words, SSN, etc. in any partof the password.
c. Do not use the same password for multiple accounts.
d. Do not text message, email passwords or store passwords electronically.
e. Change your password regularly (make it a practice to change them quarterly)
f. Do not use sticky notes on your monitor or desk with logon information. This is extremely dangerous.
g. Never give your passwords to anyone.
In addition to taking these basic steps to protect yourself online, it’s also a very wise idea to get your tax preparer your tax information as quickly as possible in the start of the year. The faster we can prepare your return and file it, the less chance a thief has to file a fake one and steal your return. Plan on getting your information to us as soon as you possibly can.
