Online retailers win the price war, but local retailers can own the customer. FootZone in Bend Oregon (my source for athletic shoes) is a great example of a retailer that is successfully creating a wedge in the online marketplace. Their high touch approach is to match you with the best shoe in a warm and inviting environment. While it is clear that they have expert knowledge in shoe design - they also have a strong competency in developing strong and trusted relationships. It is really amazing that I walk out with a pair of shoes and never see price. How can you, as a retailer or service provider, develop this type of environment where the service and experience overshadow price and the low price alternative?

There is no magic wand for determining a defensible ROI for an IT project – ROIs are very unique to each enterprise. This is due to the fact that companies see markets and opportunities differently -they tend to focus on different operating activities that develop a unique set of capabilities and competencies that lead to some sort of competitive advantage. With that, companies have different key performance indicators and success factors. Until you understand what is important to your enterprise, developing a compelling ROI for your next IT initiative will be challenging. Read more.

TechSpace Bend is hosting their 2nd Art Hop this month. Learn more here: http://www.techspacebend.com/

Joel Olson and Christian Buckley are coming to Bend to talk about SharePoint 2010. We are excited to have this duo in town - these guys speak all over the world and are renowned experts. Learn more at http://coisug.info

TechSpace Bend launched with great response from the community. Once people walk in the door, "they get it." There are only 3 work-desks available and plenty of drop-in space. The conference room rocks and the 60Mbps internet connectivity is excellent. http://techspacebend.com

IBM has done an excellent job in capturing the new role and voice of the CIO and IT Manager. If you think your job is about technology, you might be wrong. In fact, as IBM points out, the CIO and IT Manager should be focusing on high value activities including business strategy and innovation. Review the Executive Summary of the IBM CIO Study.   Or download the full copy here (registration required).

Co-working spaces are a great way to share information and to collaborate in a user friendly open environment. Ned Space has successfully implemented the model in Portland and is now considering Bend Oregon. There is no doubt that Bend Oregon has the perfect environment to support such an initiative. Help Ned Space make the decision to open a Bend office by taking this brief survey: http://bit.ly/nsbend Drop by BendTech to review a great article on the topic: http://blog.bendtech.com/2010/01/important-take-the-nedspace-survey-and-spread-the-word/

COISUG, (Central Oregon Information User Group) will be hosting INX for a discussion surrounding Desktop Virtualization, or rather VDI. There is no doubt that the industry is moving back to thin driving down support cost and increasing efficiencies. Learn more here: http://www.coisug.info/?p=271

Press Release: http://portland.dbusinessnews.com/shownews.php?newsid=188883&type_news=latest

The Tech Alliance of Central Oregon, will host Roger McNamee as a guest speaker for our kickoff event from 5:00-7:00 p.m. at Silver Moon Brewery before his band Moonalice performs for the public at 9:00 p.m. Roger will speak about Mobile Web Innovation, and draw from his extensive background in technology startups to talk about innovation in the industry. The Tech Alliance supports the existing Central Oregon technology community and helps build the emerging technology infrastructure for our region. The Tech Talk is free, but the concert is $10. For more info please see the summary of the event specifcs and more about the Tech Alliance, and Roger McNamee here: http://businessnetwork.meetup.com/53/calendar/10985579/