Inc. Magazine recently wrote about Steve Jobs' return to a floundering Apple, back in 1997, and how he restored focus and innovation to get the company back on its feet and into an unprecedented period of growth. And, as they say, the rest is history.

The "focus methodology" Jobs deployed was dubbed the "30% rule". In a nutshell, the concept is that about 30% of a company's ideas for new products and services are good ones that make sense. However, the remaining 70% of ideas, while they may look good on paper, are typically out of the wheelhouse, so to speak. They just don't make sense in terms of using valuable resources to pursue.

As the article articulates, we live in a world of disruption and distraction by shiny objects that appear to be the next big thing or an easy fix to a complex issue. But it also makes the case that you can't be all things to all people; you can't do everything. So, a modicum of careful consideration is needed to save a lot of headaches downstream.

This is especially important for those of you who run IT/Telecom departments, by the way. The pressure by senior management as well as your end users to have access to the latest and greatest in technologies can be overwhelming. Especially given the day to day challenges of maintaining connectivity as well as securing and protecting your network.

As Inc. suggests, managers should look across their departments and organizations and ask some hard questions, such as:

Of course, none of these questions can be answered overnight. This is a process, one that is not quickly taken in a few meetings. No organization likes the idea of turning away from opportunities, whether real or just more shiny objects.

TTI has been helping organizations save significant dollars on their IT/Telecom spend for over 25 years. What does this mean for busy IT departments? It means that the time consuming, error prone process of managing IT/Telecom expense can be dramatically reduced. It means significant savings in areas like invoice overpayments and terminating services that are no longer being used. Finally, it means carving out more time and resources to do some of the things you've been wanting to do and tackle issues that are long overdue.

This should be an exciting time for IT professionals to take your rightful position as a strategic asset to your organization. Applying the 30% rule and improving the way you manage your assets and expenses are good first steps towards building a stronger department and an organization built for growth.