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Steven Olson

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President/Partner, Strategic Growth Solutions

85 points

Dedicated technology executive with a history of success in leading progressive Information Technology organizations within various industries including financial services, transportation, insurance, and manufacturing in both domestic and international settings. Dynamic leader combining technology expertise with solid business acumen; skilled ...

Dedicated technology executive with a history of success in leading progressive Information Technology organizations within various industries including financial services, transportation, insurance, and manufacturing in both domestic and international settings. Dynamic leader combining technology expertise with solid business acumen; skilled at aligning technology vision and direction with business strategy to drive performance and achieve superior results. Proven expertise in cultivating relationships and partnering with business unit management, analyzing clients’ needs, exploring new technologies and deploying innovative solutions. Strategic developer; expert in all aspects of project management from concept and design to implementation with budgets of up to $30 million. Advanced communicator with demonstrated ability to lead talented teams; mentoring, empowering and motivating others to act.

Areas of expertise include:

IT Strategic Planning • e-Business • Wireless Technologies • Business Intelligence • Vendor Management
Financial Administration • Project Management • Supply Chain Management • Technology Deployment
Team Building • Training & Development • Relationship Building • P&L Management • Budgeting

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WEB: SGS

May 17, 2012

Steven Olson and 6 other people answered this question

Who in companies drives the decision to implement mobile solutions - business or IT?

Business users should be the driving force for deployment of mobile applications, and authorize the budget for this endeavor. However, sometimes IT may become the initiator when they determine that through efficiency analysis that some business functions may be performed more effectively on a mobile/remote ... more

Information Technology

March 26, 2012

Steven Olson and 6 other people answered this question at this roundtable

Defining Cloud Computing [2/23 @ 11 am]

Is cloud inherently a disruptive technology, or is it simply giving a new name to old processes?

Remotely hosted business application systems is not new. I have been either supporting or using remotely hosted systems since the late 1970’s. However, the availability and number of systems has increased dramatically as time has moved on, which has led to much lower pricing. Communications ... more

Information Technology

Cloud Computing

Enterprise Computing

March 21, 2012

Steven Olson and 2 other people answered this question

Will limited user participation impact the likelihood of the business intelligence system development & implementation success?

I agree with Barry on the use of an existing model. Business users often are confused as to establishing clear goals. An existing model will stimulate the thought process during working sessions. Keeping goals in mind can provide structure such as for deeper competitive insights, ... more

Information Technology

Business Intelligence

Jan. 12, 2012

Steven Olson and 15 other people answered this question

What would you consider the top 10 cloud apps for small businesses?

I use a variety of simple, but effective cloud based services:
For online storage of documents I use three services. The reason I use all three is due to the convenience of my clients, that may be using any of these:
• Box.net
• Google ... more

Information Technology

Cloud Computing

Nov. 1, 2011

Steven Olson and 12 other people answered this question

Who will win the smartphone wars: Google or Apple?

Samsung has taken a significant lead in shipments of smartphones. In the 3rd quarter of 2011 Samsung shipped 27.8 million units and Apple shipped 17.1 million globally. These numbers do not include HTC, that outsells Samsung in Android phones in the US. As of last ... more

Information Technology

Oct. 25, 2011

Steven Olson and 17 other people answered this question

What is the key to teamwork?

"Coming together is a beginning.
Keeping together is progress.
Working together is success. "
~ Henry Ford
Steve Olson

Human Resources

Information Technology

Oct. 11, 2011

Steven Olson and 5 other people answered this question

POLL: Which technological advancement has brought the most positive change to your business?

I have found that the collaboration tools have advanced significantly, which has enhanced problem solving while working in physically separate places. These tools include Skype, Go-To-Meeting, Office Live/SharePoint and now Google Docs, to name a few.
Steve Olson more

Information Technology

Cloud Computing

Oct. 4, 2011

Steven Olson recommends this answer by JP Morgenthal

What are the top 5 benchmarks for measuring a Cloud Infrastructure provider?

1. Solvency
2. Support options
3. Self-service provisioning interface usability
4. API support
5. Cost
The factors you recommended in your question are really difficult to benchmark since providers all size their offerings differently. I definitely would be interested in testing that they provide the promised level of service I ... more

Information Technology

Cloud Benchmarks

Cloud Computing

Sept. 8, 2011

Steven Olson answered this question

Do you think Salesforce for Quickbooks will be a popular solution among SMBs?

I think that a partnership is a good idea, but the advantages will come from what level of integration can be achieved. This would most likely be driven by the CRM capabilities of Salesforce and the Customer/Vendor portions of Quickbooks relating actual orders being processed ... more

Information Technology

Sept. 8, 2011

Steven Olson recommends this answer by James Myers

How does consideration of disaster recovery impact data center planning?

I have enjoyed reading the responses to this question. They all have great input and spot on regarding some key issues with DR and data center planning. From a Contingency Now perspective we always start at the business layer and work our way down to ... more

Information Technology

Disaster Recovery

Sept. 7, 2011

Steven Olson recommends this answer by James Myers

Are you satisfied with the ROI you've received on your current Cloud Computing services?

A question in business continuity over these past years is; "is there an ROI in business continuity"? The short answer is "no". But when you have a business interruption event the ROI of investing in business continuity is immeasurable. It's a risk management issue. How ... more

Information Technology

Sept. 2, 2011

Steven Olson recommends this answer by Dave Brock

What are the most common challenges managers face?

Lot's of good pointss here, taking the discussion a little different direction, focusing on the transition from individual contributor to management, the biggest challenge is understanding their job is different. Rather than doing it themselves--for example in sales--closing the deal, their job is now to ... more

General Management

Human Resources

Sept. 2, 2011

Steven Olson answered this question

Have you ever taken a team based approach to managing projects?

Using a team based approach can be an effective way to obtain better input as to potential problems and solutions from all of the participants. The Agile methodology employs a team approach as one of the basic precepts. A SCRUM of the team members is ... more

Information Technology

Project Management

Sept. 1, 2011

Steven Olson and 4 other people answered this question

If AT&T can't purchase T-Mobile, who should?

The question is ‘Who should’ purchase T-Mobile, not if someone should. I agree that unless a new entrant into the market would be preferable to one of the existing three, AT&T Verizon and Sprint. However, what other companies have the financial strength to do so ... more

Information Technology

Aug. 23, 2011

Steven Olson and 2 other people answered this question

Android is now the smartphone leader in the mobile OS market. Is there room for further growth?

The issue surrounding further growth for Android should be framed in terms of sustainable growth and market share. I believe a key issue effecting this is the development of new Google Apps capable of running on both Google’s servers and Android in a harmonious fashion. ... more

Information Technology

Aug. 11, 2011

Steven Olson and 7 other people answered this question

What are your tips for organizations looking to define a 3-5 year IT strategy?

In planning your long term IT strategy, make sure that your understanding of the business strategy is current. ERP, CRM and Data warehousing all play essential parts in the IT strategy, which should focus on delivery of the IT solutions. This entails infrastructure and mobility ... more

Information Technology

April 11, 2011

Steven Olson is now following Dock David Treece and 3 other people

Following 2 Topics

Information Technology

Following 4 People

Followed by 33 People

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