July 2016 Issue

IT and Millennials: Oil and Water? or Spark and Ignite?  Okay, we'll state the obvious: millennials, or Gen Y, is now the largest generation in America. And they are pushing the technology envelope in ways we couldn't imagine even a decade ago. If you run an IT department, you are no doubt painfully aware of this. So the question is: Are you paving the way with an infrastructure that can support this new tech savvy generation of workers? Or are you trying to hang onto the status quo as long as possible? An interesting article in CIO.com discusses the millennial "shake-up" in workplaces throughout the U.S. as management struggles to get their arms around the new communications styles, the mobilized ways of working and the technology that enables it all. Here are three key elements that stand out as consistently creating challenges for IT/Telecom when it comes to building a millennial communications model. If you can embrace the following on the front end, the back end processes should fall more evenly into place. 1. Legacy systems are out. A joint survey, conducted by Microsoft and SurveyMonkey, targeted 1,000 millennials in the U.S. in an effort to learn what would help them to "thrive in the workplace". Ninety-three percent of those polled identified having up-to-date modern technology as one of the most critical aspects in the workplace. 2. Variety and choice are essential.    Today there are plenty of tools and apps; many of which accomplish basically the same goals. But try to force a single corporate solution on younger employees and you may quickly come to wish you had taken the time to offer more options. Taking a one size fits all approach doesn't work for digital communications. Ironically, in this case, a single uniform communications method tends to isolate people, rather than facilitating integrated communications, like it did a couple decades ago. 3. Listening really will pay off.   Before you invest in what you think is the next great platform, take the time up front to listen to your employees. Ask them what they need to improve their own job performance, and how they can be more productive. True, you may spend more on the front end to give people more choices, but you will avoid the hassle and waste of trying to please everyone with a set of watered down tools that no one, regardless of their age, will want to use.   The bottom line is that millennials, like any group of employees, want access to the best technology to do their jobs. And they will continue to push until they get it. But that's something IT folks have grown used to over the years. As soon as one piece of technology kicks in and runs smoothly, chances are it's already out of date. Use the input of your millennials to keep pace. You may find that they are the spark that ignites innovation! Kevin Young, Founder, CEO/CDR-DATA  Stay Connected

Big Data or Small Data?   We hear about Big Data all the time now; transactional data, behavioral data, data from devices and applications, and the list goes on. But what about the data that is sitting right in front of you? What are we talking about? Find out here.    About CDR-DATA CDR-Data applications are supported by products that, collectively, provide  you with all the resources needed to  effectively manage your communications and personnel expenses without having to add resources. eCDR®: All the reporting options and flexibility needed to effectively manage and allocate telecommunications expense. Easy to use and customizable.     eBill-Back®: Fast, accurate telecommunications billing system for business centers, shared-tenant environments and any business requiring bill back of end users. Call us or drop us an email: cdrinfo@cdrdata.com . Visit us at www.cdrdata.com.

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