One day, the senior plant manager of Widget Co., Incorporated retired.  After nearly forty years of service, this unsung genius could finally look forward to sleeping in, playing golf, and traveling when and where he liked.

Some six months into his retirement, the President at Widget Co. called our retired hero.

"Jack?"  Asked Mr. President.

"Yes Tom."  Replied the retiree.

"Jack we have a problem.  Now I know that you're retired.  I'm not asking you to come back to work or do any heavy lifting.  We have a problem in the plant and we need your expertise to identify the problem.  We've been trying to fix it ourselves for months, but we can't seem to find the problem.  Obviously, we expect a bill for your services."

The two discussed some details of the problem.  Jack replied that he'd be at the plant first thing Monday of the following week.

That Monday, Jack arrived at the plant and met with all the senior engineers.  Many theories were presented.  A list of attempted fixes were submitted to Jack for his review.  Jack listened intently to all of the Widget Co. engineers.  He occassionally nodded and sometimes smiled.  Mostly, he listened.

When lunch time came, the others invited Jack to the cafeteria.  Jack declined, wishing to review some schematics.  He said he would be along shortly.

When the rest of the engineers returned from lunch, they found the master blueprints for the plant on a table.  Jack had posted a sticky note with an arrow and a big red X written on the note.  "Here's your problem" was written under the X in Jack's all-too-familiar handwriting.  Jack was gone.

That afternoon, inspections were made.  Jack was right - the problem existed exactly where he said.  Parts were ordered, repairs scheduled, and the Widget Co. plant was back in full operation by the end of the week.

The following Monday, the Widget Co. President received a letter from Jack.  It was an invoice.  As the president opened the invoice he noticed that there was one line for "Diagnostic Consulting."  The he looked at the bottom line.  Jack's invoice was for $60,000.00.

A little shaken, the president called Jack.

"Hi Jack, Tom here.  Listen Jack, I have some questions about your invoice.  Would you mind providing an itemized invoice for us?"

"No problem, Tom."  Jack assured him.

The next day, another letter arrived from Jack.  His invoice read as follows:

Sticky Note - 1 - $.50
Magic Marker - 1 - $1.50
Knowing where to put the mark - 1 - $59,998.00

And THAT - my dear readers - is why you pay professionals.  You don't pay computer professionals to click a mouse or type on a keyboard.  You pay them for what they know.  

Decisions - who's qualified to make them?
What qualifies someone to make a purchasing decision on behalf of a business?  Is it their expertise?  Knowledge?  Title or position?  Length of time with the company?  Past record at decision making?  Are they an owner, or owner family / friend?

The reality is this: decision makers know nothing about what they're making a decision about.  In private discussions and back-office conversations, most decisions are made by "gut."  The decision maker gets a "sense" or a "feeling" about  a decision.  

Later on, when there are problems, the decision maker conveniently remembers "red flags" or a "sinking feeling" early on.  The decision maker regrets that they should have acted on on those indicators, rather than "giving the benefit of the doubt" to the company or person they've hired. 

Problems, then, are cast as a result of benevolence, not ignorance.  The company/person hired is always to blame.  The decision maker is never to blame.

The Con - why technology is still a growth industry in a down economy
In fact, what's going on is a guessing game.  Only a few people truly understand technology.  Most people have to take advice, form ill-suited analogies, and eventually guess about how to make technology decision.

Guessing games are best exemplified by the shell game, or three-card monte.  What appears to be a simple task is an elaborate ruse, run by the hustler, to extract money from the "mark."  You can call any business a "mark" for a technology hustle.  

The best fun is to watch decision makers try to understand technology.  The most common reactions to technology decisions: glazed eyes, deer-in-headlights, and stifled yawns.  In short: ignorance, terror, and boredom.  

What you don't know can kill you.  If you're not an expert, don't try to be one.  You only hurt you by lying to yourself and aggrandizing your powers of decision making.  What makes you think you have even the first clue of how to make a decision about technology?  

Most people have trouble buying a television or digital camera.  How are you going to make a decision about technology when you're talking about hundreds-of-thousands of dollars?  You can't.  You will fail - not because you're a bad decision maker - but because you're not the person running the hustle.  

Show me the money - and I'll show you savings! (wink, wink)
Technology companies exist to make money.  They use people's ignorance of technology as leverage.  When there are problems, it's never the company you've hired.  It's the equipment, or the software, the vendor, or the "new technology".  

You, the client, are cast as a fool - being too stupid to have seen the whole picture.  Then you're told you have to buy more things, pay for more service - all the while being told how much you're saving.

If you hire someone, don't they work for you?
When you hire an attorney, you expect to get advice that is in your best interest.  The same goes when you hire an accountant, or visit your dentist or family doctor.  Most of these professions ascribe to a code of ethics.  

In technology, notice the acute lack of professional associations and uniform code of ethics.  Notice that the salesmen who give advice, or help "train" you, are the same people selling you equipment and software.  

Even if you hire an IT employee, consider that they use their position and knowledge - and exploit your ignorance - to assert their dominance and secure their job position.  When you don't know how the game is played, you lose.

To do the same thing and expect a different result is insanity.  Hiring a different company or IT person isn't the answer.  You've already tried that.  To get a different result, you have to do things differently.  

In order to have a different approach to technology, you have to work with a business that is structured differently.  You have to work with a company that will work for results that benefit you.  If a company is structured fleece you, no matter how hard they try not to, you get fleeced.  

Orbis Technology, Inc. is organized around the principle of serving our customers first.  Our obligation is to help serve your best interests.  It's why we don't sell things.  It's why we don't employ sales people.  It's why we only have top-level experts, and no entry-level positions or apprenticeship program.  Orbis give you only the best, every time.