AZCOMP Technologies IT - January 2021

AZCOMP Technologies IT - January 2021

855-556-4677 www.azcomp.com/it

JANUARY 2021

Empowering Small Practices to Deliver the Best Care

IT

DON’T GET ‘BLOCKBUSTERED’! BENSON BASHFORD ON ADOPTING NEW IDEAS

Everybody knows what happened to Blockbuster, so why talk about it? Because I don’t think most people actually know the story. At AZCOMP, we have a saying: “Don’t get ‘Blockbustered.’” But what does that mean? What did Blockbuster do so wrong that they were discarded like the torn movie stub from their logo? Recently, I had the opportunity to watch a speech by Marc Randolph, one of the people who drove Netflix to power and wealth — and drove Blockbuster to the poorhouse. And I was fascinated by the story he shared. First off, let’s get this out of the way: Randolph and Netflix were aggressive. Early in the speech, he showed a slide of a random office building in Dallas and said, “Some people prefer Disneyland or the Grand Tetons, but for me, this is the happiest place on earth.” Why? Because on the 27th floor of that building was Blockbuster’s corporate headquarters. Even from the start, Netflix knew who the competition was, and they were out for blood. I bring this up not to encourage you to go for the competition’s jugular but to drive home a point: When you get “Blockbustered,” it has a lot less to do with what you do than with what the other guy does. In most cases — and certainly in Blockbuster’s case — when you become complacent, you perish. Like many companies, AZCOMP starts each year with a SWOT analysis: Strengths, Weaknesses, Opportunities, and Threats. No matter how big or little your business is, a SWOT meeting is a chance to radically shift the way you do business. Strangely, not many businesses use SWOT meetings that way. Actually, it’s not strange at all; it makes sense. Big changes are uncomfortable, even if they’re backed up by research and planning. But companies that see fantastic success are the ones unafraid to make those radical shifts. While Blockbuster was doing well, Netflix was renting DVDs by mail. They also sold DVDs, but rentals were where they knew the real money was with a recurring monthly model like Amazon. But Netflix had a problem: Most customers were choosing to buy the DVDs, not rent them.

Short term, it seemed like suicide; after all, sales were the bulk of their revenue stream. But they made a bet that most customers would choose to rent if buying wasn’t an option, and they knew that the rental model would differentiate them from other online retailers like Amazon. And they were right. It hurt for a few months, but then rentals shot through the roof, laying the groundwork for the recurring streaming subscription service of today. I want you to imagine doing something like that yourself. It never hurts to think about it, and dreaming big and bold is the first step in success. Netflix was great at that, and it was also great at quickly testing out new ideas — almost to the point of absurdity. They’d roll out tests with websites that had misspellings, programs that crashed regularly, and experimental documentation that barely covered the salient points of whatever they were trying out. But this allowed them to easily test new ideas in the wild. “You’ll learn more in five minutes in front of a customer than you’ll learn in five months in R&D,” says Randolph, pointing to their success as evidence. You can bet I’m bringing some of that thinking to our own SWOT meeting this year! As I wrap this up, I want you to understand that AZCOMP is very interested in our clients staying healthy and relevant. And right now, you need to know that the pandemic accelerated the adoption of online service options by over half a decade in many cases. If people can skip an experience in person — whether that’s a trip to the bank or a stay in a waiting room — they’re choosing

to do so, period. At the same time, business owners like you are having to wear a lot of hats, and for many of you, “tech-savvy” is not a hat that fits very comfortably. That’s okay, not because you can choose to ignore what’s going on but because there’s help available to you. And with our help, getting “Blockbustered” won’t be part of the deal.

So Netflix had a SWOT meeting. And then they stopped selling DVDs altogether.

–Benson Bashford

855-556-4677 AZCOMP Technologies www.azcomp.com/it • 1

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SIMPLE SAFEGUARDS AGAINST SIMPLE HACKS!

Start 2021 Safely by Going Back to the Basics

Cybercrime always sounds exciting, but the truth is that most perpetrators aren’t uber-hackers — and that means you don’t need to be a tech wunderkind to stop them. Good habits and common sense will keep you safe, which is why we’re starting 2021 with a review of the basics of cybersecurity. RULE 1: EVERYONE IS A TARGET. Even you can be targeted for what you have access to, like your company accounts. And don’t be too sure about your own security: To a hacker in the former Soviet bloc, a couple hundred American dollars go a long way, never mind your credit card number! RULE 2: TRUST NO ONE. Hackers can clone email addresses and phone numbers, and the bold ones won’t hesitate to play make-believe on the phone. Don’t give out personal, financial, or account info via text or email. Hackers can fake websites, too, so double-check the URL and be careful what you click on.

should always be used if available, as well. Then, make sure you have robust malware and antivirus protection on all devices. Last, keep that software updated along with all your other software. RULE 4: GET PHYSICAL. Never forget that your tech is vulnerable in the real world, too. Leaving laptops or mobile devices unattended is asking for trouble; it only takes seconds to plug in a USB installer, look up someone’s passwords, or just steal the equipment altogether. RULE 5: MOBILE DEVICES MATTER. Our phones store a tremendous amount of >Page 1 Page 2 Page 3 Page 4

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