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Paul Hoffmann

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Senior Director Cloud & Technology Solutions, Ingram Micro

115 points

25 years in Internet and Technology, extensive experience in outsourcing, product management, marketing and sales. Internet pioneer who helped start one of the first web hosting and colocation groups.

WEB: Ingram Micro Cloud

April 21, 2012

Paul Hoffmann and 6 other people answered this question at this roundtable

Defining Cloud Computing [2/23 @ 11 am]

Is cloud computing a technology or an IT service or both?

I think the best way to look at cloud is as an IT solution that combines services and technology in new ways that make the technology more available and affordable, particularly to smaller businesses. more

Information Technology

Cloud Computing

Enterprise Computing

April 21, 2012

Paul Hoffmann and 8 other people answered this question

Cloud computing models: What is best for a small company?

Cloud is a useful option that offers financial benefits (less capital outlay), service benefits (higher uptimes), support benefits (more knowledgeable people supporting your enviroment) and flexibility (easier to add/delete/switch). As noted, you need to determine how the solution will fit and/or benefit your business, but ... more

Information Technology

Cloud Computing

May 22, 2011

Paul Hoffmann and 2 other people answered this question

What is significant about SAP's in-memory technology? Will it be disruptive?

I definitely believe that in-memory solutions will be significant, given the downward trending costs of flash storage. EMC just announced Lightning, Oracle has Exadata and Fusion IO has insertable PCI-E flash cards. All bring the memory solution directly to the DB, providing for significantly improved ... more

Information Technology

Business Intelligence

May 22, 2011

Paul Hoffmann and 7 other people answered this question

What is the most important factor in regional or national site selection for data centers?

Recently went through this exercise on a global basis. We had a few key criteria for selecting candidates: natural disasters, stability of local government and economy, fiber density, network hub locations, tier 3 or higher, available space, location relative to our facilities. In the US, ... more

Information Technology

March 19, 2011

Paul Hoffmann and 27 other people answered this question

Best practices for gaining confidence as a public speaker?

As always, some good thoughts on this. I've done a fair amount of public speaking and as such, I always liked to watch others to see how they approach it. One of the best I've observed is Scott McNealy when he was running Sun. I ... more

May 20, 2010

Paul Hoffmann and 1 other person answered this question

Do you see any difference between old and new with a B2E (end user) vs B2B biz model?

I definitely do see differences. The prevelance of technology and channels to reach consumers has changed the dynamic for reaching them significantly. On a broad scale, now there are lots of mechanisms to reach consumers. That is both a good and bad thing. Good for ... more

Marketing Automation

May 12, 2010

tushar chora selected a best answer for

can a consolidater reduce the failure of outsourcing projects?

read an article by an IT veteran Mr. Murthy......http://bit.ly/9lbDyt,give your views if its really necessary to go through a consolidater? more

Information Technology

April 12, 2010

Paul Hoffmann answered this question

Where can I find llc information?

LLCs are a state concept (at the federal level, you have to select a partnership or a corporation) so look at the state sites for more information (for example CA has info here: http://www.sos.ca.gov/business/be/starting-a-business-types.htm). Each state has some slightly different rules and requirements (and I ... more

Financial Services

April 12, 2010

Paul Hoffmann and 2 other people answered this question

From the IT perspective, what are the goals of business integration?

Foremost, and unfortunately not many IT departments do this, I believe IT needs to recognize that their customers are the employees of their company (and of course, the company's customers are too). Everything that IT does needs to reflect this overriding concept.
Keeping this in ... more

Information Technology

March 25, 2010

Paul Hoffmann and 1 other person answered this question

what are the key points to be addressed while drafting a contract for SaaS

As Graeme pointed out, the perspective is important (are you the supplier or buyer). If you are the supplier, then the main thing I would add is to be careful with separating service features from contractual obligations. Some people get into trouble with clients by ... more

Information Technology

March 25, 2010

Paul Hoffmann and 4 other people answered this question

How important is Web Design when it comes to First Impressions of a Website

You could ask the same question if you were building a brick and mortar store. And the answer is the same then too, the look of your store is very important. That being said, to invoke another cliche, looks aren't everything. While a "pretty" site ... more

Information Technology

March 25, 2010

Paul Hoffmann and 8 other people answered this question

How does running a startup differ from running an established company?

Wow, could write a book on this topic (and I'm sure some have). For me, two of the most obvious differences are that in a startup you have to do many (if not all) things yourself and that you have to wear many hats. In ... more

General Management

March 8, 2010

Paul Hoffmann and 1 other person answered this question

Where is a good place to research web hosting server reviews?

There are a lot of hosting reviews out there. CNET has a decent grid for comparing and ranking some of their top providers (shared and dedicated). Of course with any of them, you have to be wary of bias towards certain sites. One thing you ... more

Information Technology

Hosting and Bandwidth

March 8, 2010

Paul Hoffmann and 2 other people answered this question

What is dedicated server colocation?

Doug,
Just to help expand on the answer. Colocation is simply when a service provider sells you space in a datacenter (theirs or someone elses). The space can be a cage, a rack or a shelf in a rack (i.e. part of a rack). The ... more

Information Technology

Dedicated Server Colocation

Hosting and Bandwidth

March 8, 2010

Paul Hoffmann answered this question

What are the benefits of hiring an ASP .Net developer?

Christian,
I've done both (including run a company that provides contract .Net developers). A lot of it depends on how you want to use the developer. The reality is that cost can be very similar (when you fully load the cost). And loyalty is not ... more

Information Technology

March 8, 2010

Paul Hoffmann and 1 other person answered this question

How to start a LLC?

Bill,
I'm not an expert in this, but I've started a few and know a number of others who have as well. The simplest thing to do is use a service to make sure you get everything submitted correctly. I used Quickinc.com. There are a ... more

Financial Services

Limited Liability Corporation

Jan. 19, 2010

Paul Hoffmann answered this question

Where can I find information on contract information technology services?

Ryan,
I'm in SoCal too. You weren't specific on what kind of contractor you needed (developer, tester, analyst, manager, etc.) which has some bearing on where you look. But in general, if you are hiring just one or two, I would suggest going with a ... more

Information Technology

Recruitment Agencies

Jan. 6, 2010

Paul Hoffmann answered this question

What tasks and responsibilities fall under IT management?

I would suggest starting backwards and looking at what the IT Manager will be tasked with at your company. Even though it is a new position, I imagine you have technology, vendors and people that he/she will need to take care of. Particularly talk to ... more

Information Technology

Jan. 6, 2010

Paul Hoffmann and 1 other person answered this question

What are the challenges of information security management?

First you need to identify what you want to secure. It is usually useful to create groups or classes of information. Then you look at how it is stored, how it is used and accessed and who has access to it. Finally, you need to ... more

General Management

Information Technology

Security Requirements

Dec. 3, 2009

Paul Hoffmann and 3 other people answered this question

How can I tell if a business web hosting service is reputable?

One of the first things I would suggest is to find out who the real company is behind the company. Many small hosting companies have a myriad of operating names. Sometimes simply looking up who the domain name is registered to will give you this. ... more

Information Technology

Hosting and Bandwidth

Aug. 19, 2009

Paul Hoffmann and 1 other person answered this question

If you host your own webiste, where should you host the emergency website

It depends on where you are hosting the primary site and what your goals are in terms of disaster recovery. At a very simple level, I never liked the concept of keeping a perfectly good server sitting around doing nothing. That is I don't like ... more

Information Technology

Hosting and Bandwidth

Aug. 19, 2009

Paul Hoffmann and 3 other people answered this question

Software Startup Company looking for business advice

Congrats on taking the plunge. There are lots of resources out there. But you can also get sucked in and overwhelmed. One of the first things you need to decide is where to set it up. Unless you have some unique company needs, most just ... more

Information Technology

Software Development

Aug. 17, 2009

Paul Hoffmann and 1 other person answered this question

Is cash flow the best way to value a business?

This is a bit of an opinion answer, but in general, it depends on the business/industry. A few businesses I've worked in (clothing manufacturing, consulting/staffing) are very cash flow dependent. As such, valuing a business on cash flow is very prudent in this space. In ... more

Financial Services

July 28, 2009

Paul Hoffmann and 1 other person answered this question

Has anyone worked with external Agile Software Development Services out of LATAM? Anyone used Argentina resources?

What kind of support are you looking for? I used to run a nearshore software development and testing company out of Guadalajara, Mexico. There are many talented developers and engineers in Mexico. The big benefit is that the time zone is central and the flights ... more

Information Technology

July 28, 2009

Paul Hoffmann and 1 other person answered this question

How do you monitor your managed server?

Andrea,
The first place I would suggest going is to the company managing your server. They are likely doing some monitoring and may provide you with a way to view the monitor (via a web page) and/or get notifications (cell, text or email). Aside from ... more

Information Technology

Servers and Storage

July 21, 2009

Paul Hoffmann and 1 other person answered this question

Have you deployed a Facebook application and seen any real revenue from it?

Graham,
I've deployed a few and have not seen any direct revenue growth from it. That being said, I consider them successful initiatives. One of the great things about the Internet is that it has tremendous reach and basically unlimited ongoing interactions. What I mean ... more

July 21, 2009

Paul Hoffmann and 6 other people answered this question

Creating a disaster recovery plan

Stephen,
I posted a small research piece on disaster avoidance and recovery on this site that you might want to take a look at.
pH more

Information Technology

Servers and Storage

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Information Technology

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