know | Future is dedicated to providing CIO for hire services primarily to the Advertising, Marketing, Design and Creative industries. The focus is to provide high level consulting on the deployment of information technology both as it relates to internal IT services such as infrastructure, vertical applications, IT policies, etc. as well as providing support for technology and new media initiatives on behalf of the agencies clients.
Know | Future provides CIO-for-hire services to small and mid size creative shops ranging from ad agencies to PR firms.We can bring to you not only a depth of knowledge both in the internal workings of IT as a support to the creative process, but also a resource to help navigate the continual fracturing of media and entertainment delivery mechanisms to the consumer. Small and midsize firms are caught in a scale trap: they are too small to afford top notch IT, too big to ignore the demands of clients and the competitive landscape of the marketplace. There is a third way though, where smart thinking and a common sense approach can bridge the gap and provide world class IT at reasonable cost. The primary intent is not to provide day to day IT support, but rather to supplement that 30% high level planning and specialized knowledge that is often missing from a small agency IT, be it in-house or outsourced.
Even if you currently outsource your IT to a technical consultant, it is highly unlikely that they understand your business in enough detail to be able to affect your bottom line in a positive way. It is also often very inefficient to spend the time educating those outside resources or inside personnel in your business as well as have them do research on appropriate solutions for our industry. What we can bring is focused results in an efficient time scale.
Current and Past clients include Modernista!, Toth Brand Imaging, Corey McPherson Nash, PJA Advertising, Partners + Simons and Tracey/Edvwards/O'Neil
Some recent projects include:
Detailed IT assessments and technology audits
These assessments include but are not limited to:
Infrastructure – Local area network, wide area network, internet connectivity, servers, storage, backup systems, security systems, e-mail system.
End user computing – Desktop/laptop profiles, software licensing.
IT Personnel – Skill set analysis, performance evaluation.
Operations – IT policies and procedures, helpdesk support and management, training.
Data processing – Finance systems, intranet/extranet, other systems.
The assessments usually include not only in-depth interviews of key personnel on the business side as well as IT, but also the development and deployment of a custom IT survey.
Deliverables for these assessments at minimum include a presentation to senior management of an IT report card with broad recommendations. At the other end of the spectrum, detailed multiyear plans can be provided.
Analysis of needs and selection of a Financial/ERP system
A recent client needed help assessing the current landscape of agency solutions for financial as well as project management, timesheet, job costing and other business operations. Based on the needs of the company, a set of alternative providers was presented along with a detailed cost analysis projection comparison for the systems selected as well as our best recommendation.
Develop Capital and expense budgets for IT
For a retainer client, we developed a detailed IT capital and expense plan and set a roadmap for the IT projects to be completed. Developing the capital plan included identifying business driven priorities as well as providing decisions on particular vendors and technologies to invest in.
Deploy a test/demo installation of Microsoft Active Directory/Exchange 2003
As part of the process of decision to replace a limited e-mail system, we designed and deployed an Exchange 2003 infrastructure for testing and proof of concept to senior management. Over the next couple of months, we will also be managing the live rollout now that the project has been approved.
Design an SMS based campaign to reach Gen X/Yérs
In support of a client agency's pitch to a prospect, know | Future was called in to serve as the New Media component of the creative presentation. We partnered with the agency throughout the process, from the RFP response, capablities pitch, through the final creative presentation including analysis of target needs and development of concepts and methodologies to reach a critical growth market for the client.
