Cloud is a state of the business, not just IT - Gigaom.com

By Mark Thiele, Switch Jun. 10, 2012, 3:30pm PT 11 Comments

In my last blog I posited that cloud and by extension cloud management was a strategic versus tactical activity and as such should have the appropriate people involved in definition gathering and decision making for a variety of reasons. Now, I’d like to cover several examples of why cloud management is strategic in nature and clarify why the CIO, and others outside of the purely technical staff are critical to project and solution success.

For a legacy IT organization to adopt cloud solutions without significant organizational realignment and improved business participation, the benefits would largely be wasted. It’s akin to thinking you can put a modern 500-horse power engine in a 1970’s economy car and get all the same performance and protection characteristics you would enjoy in a 2012 model year luxury sedan.

In fact, the introduction of cloud without organizational improvements would likely increase enterprise risk and potentially cost. The real opportunity of a cloud operating model comes from the alignment of technical solutions, people, and process. So when a business opportunity presents itself, your processes and technology will seamlessly keep pace with the natural development of the initiative.

Keeping pace means more than just creating a new pile of IT resources quickly, it means a repeatable process that also provides the appropriate controls and governance in order to minimize risk to your business, provided at the appropriate value to the opportunity.

For those trying to figure this realignment out, here are examples of how your cloud operating model (which includes cloud management) can provide real differentiation in the way IT solutions are delivered.

Can you easily swap hardware? Hypervisors?

A real cloud-operating model enables you to plug in different cloud providers, different hypervisors, different hardware, different PaaS solutions, different provisioning systems, monitoring systems, etc. Through true contestability you have the opportunity of replacing key portions of your infrastructure for better or lower cost solutions, without risking the larger framework or architectural design of the environment.

Ask yourself these questions. Under your current model:

Can you use a mix of external providers such as Amazon EC2, TerreMark, Savvis, and CSC? Easily change from HP to Cisco hardware (or vice versa)? Switch from VMWare to HyperV 3 (or vice versa)? Can you easily adopt a new provisioning/scripting framework like chef/puppet/cfengine? Reuse the policy enforcement and auditing system you currently have while making any of the changes above? Reuse your procurement portal and provisioning workflows while achieving the above?

If your answer to these questions isn’t, “Yes, it would be easy and relatively inexpensive,” then you aren’t operating under a true cloud-operating model. Very few companies have these kinds of capabilities, because until just recently the management platforms needed didn’t exist. But they are coming online and are different from traditional enterprise software in that they were designed from scratch to be abstractions above hypervisors and cloud providers.

Plus, there is very little traction in this space from established vendors, the majority of which all want to build vertically integrated solutions that specifically do not allow this form of inter-platform competition.
It’s easy to get lost in the cool technology here and lose focus on how you would actually achieve a vendor neutral platform and what the financial impacts would be. As an example, let’s start with the Commonwealth Bank of Australia (CBA). It was able to cut its IT spend by 10 percent by encouraging its vendors to compete for workloads.

CBA did it by implementing a cloud management solution and then performing expert vendor management to allow it to quickly adopt new vendors and to gain leverage over existing ones. In just two years it pulled this off using off-the-shelf software and freed up $100 million a year going forward to reinvest in new capabilities.

Don’t let business processes slow down your cloud.

Many companies implementing a cloud solution completely miss the boat on their first pass. IT often focuses so hard on basic server provisioning that they lose site of the bigger picture. While server provisioning is interesting, it’s likely one of the smallest benefits. The real advantages are obtained by moving up the stack and giving the business the ability to deploy applications and solutions much faster.

The primary examples are any company wanting to deploy Agile Development, DevOps, or PaaS solutions. A great example of using a cloud management operating model is UBS and its workplace automation solution. UBS implemented a cloud management solution to deploy virtual desktop infrastructure (VDI) but not traditional VDI.

Instead the UBS version of VDI is a mixed set of services that are delivered to iPads and Android devices backed by a set of traditional desktops to do the workflow automation. The user almost never sees the desktop, and the desktops are stateless. Further, depending on the user, it automatically routes them to a freely available desktop in the correct country, running the correct software and profile for that individual.

Another major benefit of a cloud management platform is that it coalesces many different solutions and products under a single umbrella. This complexity reduction can directly translate into increased uptime and improved stability as well as cost savings. A major financial institution with 15000 servers was able to save almost $30 million a year just in complexity management.

Reduced work orders to configure solutions, fewer vendor products, fewer project managers allocated to managing change and best of all fewer meetings. It all adds up. This is why your cloud management strategy has to integrate many different things.

It’s not enough to say you are just going to focus on deployment of a virtual machine (VM). You need to focus on how you will deploy that VM’s storage, networking, compute, DNS entries, the software on the VM, and the firewalls in between. You also need to consider where to deploy or what regulations will apply depending on what you’re deploying and where it’s deployed, etc.

Leave out any of these and instead of a single simple solution you have something that requires project management, meetings, and more. Not having these systems fully automated and managed by a policy configuration engine also means that the risk of failure due to simple things like fat fingering mistakes go up dramatically.
The lesson here is the strategic use and management of cloud can help you scale your IT (and your business), but first you have to get your IT and business ready to scale.

Mark Thiele is executive VP of Data Center Tech at Switch, the operator of the SuperNAP data center in Las Vegas. Thiele blogs at SwitchScribe and at Data Center Pulse, where is also president and founder. He can be found on Twitter at @mthiele10.

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Cloud is a state of the business, not just IT - Gigaom.com

By Mark Thiele, Switch Jun. 10, 2012, 3:30pm PT 11 Comments

In my last blog I posited that cloud and by extension cloud management was a strategic versus tactical activity and as such should have the appropriate people involved in definition gathering and decision making for a variety of reasons. Now, I’d like to cover several examples of why cloud management is strategic in nature and clarify why the CIO, and others outside of the purely technical staff are critical to project and solution success.

For a legacy IT organization to adopt cloud solutions without significant organizational realignment and improved business participation, the benefits would largely be wasted. It’s akin to thinking you can put a modern 500-horse power engine in a 1970’s economy car and get all the same performance and protection characteristics you would enjoy in a 2012 model year luxury sedan.

In fact, the introduction of cloud without organizational improvements would likely increase enterprise risk and potentially cost. The real opportunity of a cloud operating model comes from the alignment of technical solutions, people, and process. So when a business opportunity presents itself, your processes and technology will seamlessly keep pace with the natural development of the initiative.

Keeping pace means more than just creating a new pile of IT resources quickly, it means a repeatable process that also provides the appropriate controls and governance in order to minimize risk to your business, provided at the appropriate value to the opportunity.

For those trying to figure this realignment out, here are examples of how your cloud operating model (which includes cloud management) can provide real differentiation in the way IT solutions are delivered.

Can you easily swap hardware? Hypervisors?

A real cloud-operating model enables you to plug in different cloud providers, different hypervisors, different hardware, different PaaS solutions, different provisioning systems, monitoring systems, etc. Through true contestability you have the opportunity of replacing key portions of your infrastructure for better or lower cost solutions, without risking the larger framework or architectural design of the environment.

Ask yourself these questions. Under your current model:

Can you use a mix of external providers such as Amazon EC2, TerreMark, Savvis, and CSC? Easily change from HP to Cisco hardware (or vice versa)? Switch from VMWare to HyperV 3 (or vice versa)? Can you easily adopt a new provisioning/scripting framework like chef/puppet/cfengine? Reuse the policy enforcement and auditing system you currently have while making any of the changes above? Reuse your procurement portal and provisioning workflows while achieving the above?

If your answer to these questions isn’t, “Yes, it would be easy and relatively inexpensive,” then you aren’t operating under a true cloud-operating model. Very few companies have these kinds of capabilities, because until just recently the management platforms needed didn’t exist. But they are coming online and are different from traditional enterprise software in that they were designed from scratch to be abstractions above hypervisors and cloud providers.

Plus, there is very little traction in this space from established vendors, the majority of which all want to build vertically integrated solutions that specifically do not allow this form of inter-platform competition.
It’s easy to get lost in the cool technology here and lose focus on how you would actually achieve a vendor neutral platform and what the financial impacts would be. As an example, let’s start with the Commonwealth Bank of Australia (CBA). It was able to cut its IT spend by 10 percent by encouraging its vendors to compete for workloads.

CBA did it by implementing a cloud management solution and then performing expert vendor management to allow it to quickly adopt new vendors and to gain leverage over existing ones. In just two years it pulled this off using off-the-shelf software and freed up $100 million a year going forward to reinvest in new capabilities.

Don’t let business processes slow down your cloud.

Many companies implementing a cloud solution completely miss the boat on their first pass. IT often focuses so hard on basic server provisioning that they lose site of the bigger picture. While server provisioning is interesting, it’s likely one of the smallest benefits. The real advantages are obtained by moving up the stack and giving the business the ability to deploy applications and solutions much faster.

The primary examples are any company wanting to deploy Agile Development, DevOps, or PaaS solutions. A great example of using a cloud management operating model is UBS and its workplace automation solution. UBS implemented a cloud management solution to deploy virtual desktop infrastructure (VDI) but not traditional VDI.

Instead the UBS version of VDI is a mixed set of services that are delivered to iPads and Android devices backed by a set of traditional desktops to do the workflow automation. The user almost never sees the desktop, and the desktops are stateless. Further, depending on the user, it automatically routes them to a freely available desktop in the correct country, running the correct software and profile for that individual.

Another major benefit of a cloud management platform is that it coalesces many different solutions and products under a single umbrella. This complexity reduction can directly translate into increased uptime and improved stability as well as cost savings. A major financial institution with 15000 servers was able to save almost $30 million a year just in complexity management.

Reduced work orders to configure solutions, fewer vendor products, fewer project managers allocated to managing change and best of all fewer meetings. It all adds up. This is why your cloud management strategy has to integrate many different things.

It’s not enough to say you are just going to focus on deployment of a virtual machine (VM). You need to focus on how you will deploy that VM’s storage, networking, compute, DNS entries, the software on the VM, and the firewalls in between. You also need to consider where to deploy or what regulations will apply depending on what you’re deploying and where it’s deployed, etc.

Leave out any of these and instead of a single simple solution you have something that requires project management, meetings, and more. Not having these systems fully automated and managed by a policy configuration engine also means that the risk of failure due to simple things like fat fingering mistakes go up dramatically.
The lesson here is the strategic use and management of cloud can help you scale your IT (and your business), but first you have to get your IT and business ready to scale.

Mark Thiele is executive VP of Data Center Tech at Switch, the operator of the SuperNAP data center in Las Vegas. Thiele blogs at SwitchScribe and at Data Center Pulse, where is also president and founder. He can be found on Twitter at @mthiele10.

Related research and analysis from GigaOM Pro:
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Doing Business in Iraq Workshop: U.S. Department of State Engaging U.S. Businesses on Iraq - U.S. Department of State

Today, the U.S. Department of State’s Office of Iraq Affairs hosted a Doing Business in Iraq Workshop in Washington, D.C, where over 100 U.S. businesses interested in all sectors of the Iraqi economy registered. The workshop is part of a larger initiative that aims to engage, educate, and support U.S. businesses as well as provide information on the business climate, risk factors, and upcoming business opportunities in Iraq. It is intended to broaden the pool of U.S. businesses interested in the Iraqi market.

Speakers included the Iraqi ambassador, officials from the Department of State, the Department of Commerce, the Overseas Private Investment Corporation, the Export Import Bank, and U.S. diplomats in Iraq via live video feed from three locations. The various presentations addressed upcoming business opportunities, information on relevant Iraq legislation, and financing options. There was a particular focus on the near term priority areas for Iraq: electricity, transportation, public works, water and oil The Government of Iraq has allocated $32 billion of its 2012 budget for public investment.

This workshop, beyond building the economic agenda with Iraq, is part of Secretary Clinton’s Jobs Diplomacy effort, a series of actions that are part of the Economic Statecraft agenda focused on promoting American businesses abroad. Building upon Deputy Secretary Nides’ June 2011 Business Forum on Iraq, Department economic officers have met U.S. businesses potentially interested in the Iraqi market and successfully encouraged over 30 U.S. businesses to participate in the first American pavilion at Baghdad International Trade Fair in 20 years. Moving forward, similar workshops will be held for U.S. businesses, with both webinars and workshops for specific sectors. The State Department will continue to work on extending U.S. business ties with Iraq as well as supporting the business promotion efforts of the U.S. Department of Commerce.

While Iraq has experienced significant economic growth over the last several years, efforts to rebuild its economy are still in the early stages. Business engagements like these are one way to ensure Iraq’s economy continues to recover from war and isolation and that U.S. businesses are aware of and able to benefit from new opportunities in Iraq.

View the original article here

Doing Business in Iraq Workshop: U.S. Department of State Engaging U.S. Businesses on Iraq - U.S. Department of State

Today, the U.S. Department of State’s Office of Iraq Affairs hosted a Doing Business in Iraq Workshop in Washington, D.C, where over 100 U.S. businesses interested in all sectors of the Iraqi economy registered. The workshop is part of a larger initiative that aims to engage, educate, and support U.S. businesses as well as provide information on the business climate, risk factors, and upcoming business opportunities in Iraq. It is intended to broaden the pool of U.S. businesses interested in the Iraqi market.

Speakers included the Iraqi ambassador, officials from the Department of State, the Department of Commerce, the Overseas Private Investment Corporation, the Export Import Bank, and U.S. diplomats in Iraq via live video feed from three locations. The various presentations addressed upcoming business opportunities, information on relevant Iraq legislation, and financing options. There was a particular focus on the near term priority areas for Iraq: electricity, transportation, public works, water and oil The Government of Iraq has allocated $32 billion of its 2012 budget for public investment.

This workshop, beyond building the economic agenda with Iraq, is part of Secretary Clinton’s Jobs Diplomacy effort, a series of actions that are part of the Economic Statecraft agenda focused on promoting American businesses abroad. Building upon Deputy Secretary Nides’ June 2011 Business Forum on Iraq, Department economic officers have met U.S. businesses potentially interested in the Iraqi market and successfully encouraged over 30 U.S. businesses to participate in the first American pavilion at Baghdad International Trade Fair in 20 years. Moving forward, similar workshops will be held for U.S. businesses, with both webinars and workshops for specific sectors. The State Department will continue to work on extending U.S. business ties with Iraq as well as supporting the business promotion efforts of the U.S. Department of Commerce.

While Iraq has experienced significant economic growth over the last several years, efforts to rebuild its economy are still in the early stages. Business engagements like these are one way to ensure Iraq’s economy continues to recover from war and isolation and that U.S. businesses are aware of and able to benefit from new opportunities in Iraq.

View the original article here

Doing Business in Iraq Workshop: U.S. Department of State Engaging U.S. Businesses on Iraq - U.S. Department of State

Today, the U.S. Department of State’s Office of Iraq Affairs hosted a Doing Business in Iraq Workshop in Washington, D.C, where over 100 U.S. businesses interested in all sectors of the Iraqi economy registered. The workshop is part of a larger initiative that aims to engage, educate, and support U.S. businesses as well as provide information on the business climate, risk factors, and upcoming business opportunities in Iraq. It is intended to broaden the pool of U.S. businesses interested in the Iraqi market.

Speakers included the Iraqi ambassador, officials from the Department of State, the Department of Commerce, the Overseas Private Investment Corporation, the Export Import Bank, and U.S. diplomats in Iraq via live video feed from three locations. The various presentations addressed upcoming business opportunities, information on relevant Iraq legislation, and financing options. There was a particular focus on the near term priority areas for Iraq: electricity, transportation, public works, water and oil The Government of Iraq has allocated $32 billion of its 2012 budget for public investment.

This workshop, beyond building the economic agenda with Iraq, is part of Secretary Clinton’s Jobs Diplomacy effort, a series of actions that are part of the Economic Statecraft agenda focused on promoting American businesses abroad. Building upon Deputy Secretary Nides’ June 2011 Business Forum on Iraq, Department economic officers have met U.S. businesses potentially interested in the Iraqi market and successfully encouraged over 30 U.S. businesses to participate in the first American pavilion at Baghdad International Trade Fair in 20 years. Moving forward, similar workshops will be held for U.S. businesses, with both webinars and workshops for specific sectors. The State Department will continue to work on extending U.S. business ties with Iraq as well as supporting the business promotion efforts of the U.S. Department of Commerce.

While Iraq has experienced significant economic growth over the last several years, efforts to rebuild its economy are still in the early stages. Business engagements like these are one way to ensure Iraq’s economy continues to recover from war and isolation and that U.S. businesses are aware of and able to benefit from new opportunities in Iraq.

View the original article here

Doing Business in Iraq Workshop: U.S. Department of State Engaging U.S. Businesses on Iraq - U.S. Department of State

Today, the U.S. Department of State’s Office of Iraq Affairs hosted a Doing Business in Iraq Workshop in Washington, D.C, where over 100 U.S. businesses interested in all sectors of the Iraqi economy registered. The workshop is part of a larger initiative that aims to engage, educate, and support U.S. businesses as well as provide information on the business climate, risk factors, and upcoming business opportunities in Iraq. It is intended to broaden the pool of U.S. businesses interested in the Iraqi market.

Speakers included the Iraqi ambassador, officials from the Department of State, the Department of Commerce, the Overseas Private Investment Corporation, the Export Import Bank, and U.S. diplomats in Iraq via live video feed from three locations. The various presentations addressed upcoming business opportunities, information on relevant Iraq legislation, and financing options. There was a particular focus on the near term priority areas for Iraq: electricity, transportation, public works, water and oil The Government of Iraq has allocated $32 billion of its 2012 budget for public investment.

This workshop, beyond building the economic agenda with Iraq, is part of Secretary Clinton’s Jobs Diplomacy effort, a series of actions that are part of the Economic Statecraft agenda focused on promoting American businesses abroad. Building upon Deputy Secretary Nides’ June 2011 Business Forum on Iraq, Department economic officers have met U.S. businesses potentially interested in the Iraqi market and successfully encouraged over 30 U.S. businesses to participate in the first American pavilion at Baghdad International Trade Fair in 20 years. Moving forward, similar workshops will be held for U.S. businesses, with both webinars and workshops for specific sectors. The State Department will continue to work on extending U.S. business ties with Iraq as well as supporting the business promotion efforts of the U.S. Department of Commerce.

While Iraq has experienced significant economic growth over the last several years, efforts to rebuild its economy are still in the early stages. Business engagements like these are one way to ensure Iraq’s economy continues to recover from war and isolation and that U.S. businesses are aware of and able to benefit from new opportunities in Iraq.

View the original article here

Doing Business in Iraq Workshop: U.S. Department of State Engaging U.S. Businesses on Iraq - U.S. Department of State

Today, the U.S. Department of State’s Office of Iraq Affairs hosted a Doing Business in Iraq Workshop in Washington, D.C, where over 100 U.S. businesses interested in all sectors of the Iraqi economy registered. The workshop is part of a larger initiative that aims to engage, educate, and support U.S. businesses as well as provide information on the business climate, risk factors, and upcoming business opportunities in Iraq. It is intended to broaden the pool of U.S. businesses interested in the Iraqi market.

Speakers included the Iraqi ambassador, officials from the Department of State, the Department of Commerce, the Overseas Private Investment Corporation, the Export Import Bank, and U.S. diplomats in Iraq via live video feed from three locations. The various presentations addressed upcoming business opportunities, information on relevant Iraq legislation, and financing options. There was a particular focus on the near term priority areas for Iraq: electricity, transportation, public works, water and oil The Government of Iraq has allocated $32 billion of its 2012 budget for public investment.

This workshop, beyond building the economic agenda with Iraq, is part of Secretary Clinton’s Jobs Diplomacy effort, a series of actions that are part of the Economic Statecraft agenda focused on promoting American businesses abroad. Building upon Deputy Secretary Nides’ June 2011 Business Forum on Iraq, Department economic officers have met U.S. businesses potentially interested in the Iraqi market and successfully encouraged over 30 U.S. businesses to participate in the first American pavilion at Baghdad International Trade Fair in 20 years. Moving forward, similar workshops will be held for U.S. businesses, with both webinars and workshops for specific sectors. The State Department will continue to work on extending U.S. business ties with Iraq as well as supporting the business promotion efforts of the U.S. Department of Commerce.

While Iraq has experienced significant economic growth over the last several years, efforts to rebuild its economy are still in the early stages. Business engagements like these are one way to ensure Iraq’s economy continues to recover from war and isolation and that U.S. businesses are aware of and able to benefit from new opportunities in Iraq.

View the original article here

FAW on state recce

Calcutta, Feb. 28: Chinese automotive casting maker FAW (First Automotive Works) Foundry Company is planning to partner local companies for business opportunities in India. A company delegation today met state government officials in a "fact-finding mission" to explore investment chances in Bengal.

"There was a meeting with them (company delegates) where we appraised them of the advantages they could avail in the state," Somesh Bhattacharya, special secretary to the department of commerce and industries of the Bengal government, told The Telegraph.

He added that the state government could provide all necessary support to them in terms of water, minerals and alloys and other necessary raw materials required for a casting unit.

Sun Feng, president of FAW Foundry, said the company was interested to know the nature of the automotive casting sector in India and would like to partner a local company.

He is leading a delegation of seven members who will participate in a global foundry meet in Bangalore. They are also planning to visit Tata Motors' Pune plant.

Based in Changchun, FAW Foundry is a part of FAW Group, which is the largest auto maker in China.

"They were looking for joint venture partners. We have informed them that they could take advantage of the 100 per cent FDI that is allowed in this sector," said Ashok Aikat, president of the Bharat Chamber of Commerce. The delegates were also appraised by the chamber of the existence of a major foundry belt in Howrah.

Aikat said the company could look at SAIL, Hindustan Motor or locomotive manufacturing units as potential customers.

In 2009, FAW entered into an agreement with India-Russian joint venture Ural India to set up a manufacturing unit for trucks and buses. The project is yet to gain momentum.

It is the Chinese firm's second attempt to explore business opportunities in Bengal and the first under the new government.

View the original article here

State Patty's -- a missed opportunity - Centre Daily

It is truly ashame that downtown State College workers will lose out on a day of pay and businesses will lose out of a strong Saturday when they close for State Patty's Day.

This student drink fest holiday is a mess but it's not because of bars and local workers. They are doing their jobs.

Again, the community and Penn State has dropped the ball and has not expanding their horizons when planning for State Patty's.

Again, they are content with asking businesses to close, jacking up parking rates, bringing every officer from here to Pittsburgh here and hoping for the best.

The community will be held hostage -- again. State Patty's is here.

I've written several times that State College and Penn State should build on State Patty's and create a winter festival with activities for green-clad students and community members. Add music, sports and other activities to the mix, encourage businesses to open and sell great food, and enjoy it together.

Every time I've written this I've gotten calls and emails from readers thanking me, agreeing. Every time. Yet I don't remember one of these readers writing a letter or coming forward publicly to talk about this.

What do we have this weekend? A 9 p.m. start for Penn State's game with Northwestern. Anything else? Any activities in State College that could be put together for a winter festival?

Not this year. I hope State Patty's goes as well as it can and nobody gets hurt.

I suggest for next year Penn State and State College officials and Penn State student leaders and organizations get together and plan something big. The community and the students would deserve it.

-- Bob Heisse

View the original article here

State expands opportunities for minority, women-owned businesses - LoHud.com

ALBANY — State officials announced a plan on Tuesday to provide financial assistance to minority- and women-owned businesses, expanding on successful initiatives enacted in recent years.

The new program, called the New York State Surety Bond Assistance Program, helps minority- and women-owned businesses ? called MWBEs ? to secure bonds and state contracts. The program will provide credit to businesses through a revolving loan fund.

The fund will provide lines of credit up to 30 percent of the contract amount to companies for each project. The program would provide $200 million in bonds over the next five years, officials said.

?This is a significant advancement,? said Alfonso David, the state?s deputy secretary for civil rights. ?Minority-and-women-owned businesses have had significant challenges obtaining credit, so we?re very proud of this program.?

David said the program would help create 2,200 direct and indirect jobs in the state and add $328 million in revenue from goods and services purchased by the companies.

The program comes on the heels of laws passed in recent years under the Cuomo and Paterson administrations. In 2010, Gov. David Paterson signed into law four bills that encouraged growth of MWBEs and allowed for better state financial support.

In recent years, the number of MWBEs has grown in New York. For example, the firms that are involved with investment banking and the issuance of debt went from 4.2 percent MWBE in 2007 to 23.9 percent in 2010.

Last July, Gov. Andrew Cuomo created the Bonding Guarantee Assistance Program, which provided $10 million to help MWBEs secure credit.

As part of Cuomo?s 2012-2013 budget, the governor included $1.6 million in additional funding for MWBE operating funds. The budget is required to be approved by lawmakers by April 1.

Yrthya Dinzey-Flores, the state?s chief diversity officer, said the program will initially aim to offer bond assistance to 90 companies.

Kenneth Adams, the president of the Empire State Development Corp., said the new program was important to help MWBEs grow .

?These are small firms by definition. They don?t have a long track record ? within the state, so it?s very, very difficult for them to get that bond,? Adams said.

Other initiatives announced Tuesday are designed to help MWBEs expand in New York.

MWBEs participation will now be reported through a new electronic compliance database, the officials said. In the past, there was no standard method of reporting within New York?s contract procurement process.

The state will be better equipped to monitor whether or not state agencies are hiring MWBEs in line with the governor?s desire for improved participation, state officials said.

Officials said MWBE firms will now be able to be certified by municipalities and the federal government faster through agreements reached with the Port Authority of New York and New Jersey, the U.S. Department of Transportation and other government agencies.

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Business fraternities draw more than 200 to networking mixer - State News

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Three MSU business fraternities — Alpha Kappa Psi, Delta Sigma Pi and Phi Chi Theta — held their inaugural business networking mixer from 7-9 p.m. Tuesday at the Union.

More than 40 representatives from companies including General Motors Co., IBM and Target were present for the event, which drew more than 200 people.

“One of the biggest goals for this evening is to really grab attention on campus,” accounting senior and fraternity consultant for Delta Sigma Pi Savina Mehta said. “We really want people to think of the business fraternities on campus when they’re recruiting.”

The evening was a first for the three fraternities, as they had never organized an event together in the past.

“This is a huge step for us,” Mehta said. “We’re hoping this will be the base for starting the very first Michigan State business fraternity career fair.”

Calvin Lai, the vice president of Alpha Kappa Psi and a marketing senior, said it was a great opportunity for them to learn to work together.

“Based on the outcome of this event, it will determine if we should expand the mixer to all business students in the Broad College next year,” he said.

Although companies were not recruiting Tuesday, the event provided students and representatives alike the chance to network.

“It’s just as much about us as it is about them,” said Luke Vanzo, a partner of finance firm New York Life who attended the event. “For me it’s about billboarding for our companies so when (the students) go off and see a post or a job description, and they recognize my face with the name New York Life, they’ll think, ‘That’s someone I want to have an interview with.’”

Lai said the purpose of the mixer was to create an opportunity for fraternity members to meet businesses not only for internships and full-time job opportunities, but for valuable advice regarding career paths.

Another important aspect of the meeting was to allow networking among the business students themselves.

“I think it’s really good to just network with each other because we all go to Michigan State,” human resource management senior Colleen Grattan said.

Grattan, who has been a part of Phi Chi Theta for four years, said she already has a job but came out to the event to mingle with fellow Spartans.

“Hopefully we can continue this and work together,” Grattan said. “We’re all going to be out in the real world, and you can lean on people from Michigan State, especially if they’re involved in these programs.”

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Business fraternities draw more than 200 to networking mixer - State News

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Three MSU business fraternities — Alpha Kappa Psi, Delta Sigma Pi and Phi Chi Theta — held their inaugural business networking mixer from 7-9 p.m. Tuesday at the Union.

More than 40 representatives from companies including General Motors Co., IBM and Target were present for the event, which drew more than 200 people.

“One of the biggest goals for this evening is to really grab attention on campus,” accounting senior and fraternity consultant for Delta Sigma Pi Savina Mehta said. “We really want people to think of the business fraternities on campus when they’re recruiting.”

The evening was a first for the three fraternities, as they had never organized an event together in the past.

“This is a huge step for us,” Mehta said. “We’re hoping this will be the base for starting the very first Michigan State business fraternity career fair.”

Calvin Lai, the vice president of Alpha Kappa Psi and a marketing senior, said it was a great opportunity for them to learn to work together.

“Based on the outcome of this event, it will determine if we should expand the mixer to all business students in the Broad College next year,” he said.

Although companies were not recruiting Tuesday, the event provided students and representatives alike the chance to network.

“It’s just as much about us as it is about them,” said Luke Vanzo, a partner of finance firm New York Life who attended the event. “For me it’s about billboarding for our companies so when (the students) go off and see a post or a job description, and they recognize my face with the name New York Life, they’ll think, ‘That’s someone I want to have an interview with.’”

Lai said the purpose of the mixer was to create an opportunity for fraternity members to meet businesses not only for internships and full-time job opportunities, but for valuable advice regarding career paths.

Another important aspect of the meeting was to allow networking among the business students themselves.

“I think it’s really good to just network with each other because we all go to Michigan State,” human resource management senior Colleen Grattan said.

Grattan, who has been a part of Phi Chi Theta for four years, said she already has a job but came out to the event to mingle with fellow Spartans.

“Hopefully we can continue this and work together,” Grattan said. “We’re all going to be out in the real world, and you can lean on people from Michigan State, especially if they’re involved in these programs.”

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State Rep. Jehan Gordon to Co-Host Small Business Networking Event - msnbc.com

PEORIA, Ill. -- State Rep. Jehan Gordon will co-host a small business event where lenders will have the opportunity to present their loan information to small businesses.

"Over the past few years, it has been very difficult for businesses to find banks that are willing to make loans. Small business growth is a key component of our economic recovery, and making sure businesses and lenders are talking to each other is necessary," said Gordon. "This event will be an opportunity for lenders to meet with businesses that are looking to grow and for businesses to meet those individuals who can help them in securing financing."

She will host the "How to Access Capital for Your Business" workshop with the Illinois Department of Financial Regulation and the Peoria Area Chamber of Commerce.

It will take place February 10 from 7:30 to 9:30 a.m. at the Peoria NEXT Innovation Center, located at 801 W. Main St. in Peoria. Those interested in attending the workshop are asked to RSVP to Gordon's office at repjgordon@gmail.com or by calling 309-681-1992.

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State close to luring large business, Deal says - Gainesville Times

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