My TechDecisions Podcast – Episode 18, John Krikke of Onward Computer Systems

In this episode of MyTechDecisions Podcast, host Jonathan Blackwood speaks with John Krikke, Vice President of Onward Computer Systems.

John Krikke holds a number of technical certifications and plays an active role in CompTIA’s Canadian IT Business community. Currently he is a member of the CompTIA Partner Advisory Council, representing the interests of IT companies to CompTIA, the world’s leading tech association. He was selected for this advocacy role based on his successful community-engagement activities, as well as his considerable knowledge about technology, business, and market opportunities. In the past, he was the SMB Partner Area Lead for Canada, acting as liaison between Microsoft and the SMB partner community. John sits on a number of advisory panels and boards and regularly participates in industry conferences.

We invited John onto the podcast to speak about IT hardware. An ever-expanding portion of the IT technology portfolio, hardware can count as anything from printers to servers to tablets. With the rise of connected devices as part of the Internet of Things (IoT), IT hardware even includes sensors, smart cameras, and more. In our interview we focus mainly on devices and servers.

John discusses the different considerations around bring your own device (BYOD) environments versus environments where the employer supplies things like smartphones and tablets.

In BYOD environments John explains the difficulties of management and security. How do you manage devices that are owned by your employees but contain information specific to your organization? How do you wipe that information away in the case of a cyberattack?

When the employer supplies devices the considerations fall to what your IT department can support. Specifications are key in this area. Organizations need to decide on Tier 1 or Tier 2 support, prosumer or corporate solutions, standardized or various products, and more? John gives advice on what to think about when purchasing – or leasing – a suite of hardware devices for employees.

In terms of servers, John stresses the differences between on-premises storage versus that in the cloud. He explains when you might want to consider cloud services and when you want information physically available at your site. In many cases companies will decide on a hybrid solution, but in that case what information should go where? John gives you some things to think about to help make that decision.

Finally, John explains how to write an RFP for IT hardware that will get you the solutions you’re looking for. We discuss the need to clearly define your network abilities and restrictions, as well as the needs of your organization moving forward, in order to give the respondent enough information to determine the solution that’s right for you. Choosing the right partner is important, and John will help you determine how to find an IT provider that can design a solution that fits your company culture.

I encourage anyone inside or outside of the IT department to listen to the interview and think about how far-reaching IT hardware really is. If you even use a smartphone at your workplace then this you’ll want to listen to what John has to say.

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