RAK’s The Word: December 2013

Welcome to the homestretch of 2013! In a mere 4 weeks, we will be celebrating opening day of what we all hope will be our best year yet. For those next four weeks, I’m sure everyone will be consumed with end of the year business activities, holiday shopping, and getting in some quality time with family and friends. Before we get lost in the shuffle of snow and cookies, we wanted to take some time to review November and gear up for the final month of the year.

In November, we were excited to continue our work with Able Alarm. We identified an opportunity that will enhance their current communications system with a cloud-based hosted VoIP solution and will pay for itself in less than 3 months. After that, the realized savings will be approximately 40% of their current spend. Not bad at all.

We have also been enjoying our continued work with ChemJet and have assisted with the successful negotiation of a cloud-based hosted VoIP solution which was installed in the closing weeks of November. This solution will provide a more flexible platform that ChemJet will be able to expand as their needs arise and will still save approximately 17% of their current spend while eliminating the need for ongoing maintenance.

Since it’s the end of another year, it’s nice to take some time to reflect on all that these last 365 days have brought us. Of course, there have been many draining struggles and overwhelming joys. While we tend to want to forget the “bad” events, it’s important to reflect on them to see what we have learned as well as what else we could learn. It’s not a time to be hard on ourselves, but to remember that we’re all human, discover in what ways we can be the best versions of ourselves, and move forward. Oh, and yes: celebrate those joyous moments. Keep them close and build upon their vision. Use them as momentum to create even more of those wonderful moments in the new year.

As the holiday season gets more hectic every year, one of the most important things we can do is to treat ourselves and others well. Whether it is going for a walk with your partner, having lunch with a co-worker, or shutting off your cellphone for a few hours to spend quality time with friends, stopping to enjoy the final moments of the year can do wonders for our physical and emotional health. We here at RAK will be doing our best to lighten the season, and we hope that all of you enjoy a happy, healthy holiday and new year.

Respectfully,
Anne Kulinski & the RAK Consulting Family