Greetings from ARK Solutions!
ARK Solutions, Inc. is excited to announce the first addition of “The Connector”. This Quarterly Newsletter is designed to keep you up to date with the latest company news, industry trends, and to keep us connected to our most valuable asset: YOU THE CONSULTANT!
As many of you already know ARK Solutions, Inc. has been growing organically over the past 6 years. The critical success factors that have fostered such growth have been winning direct clients while continuing to maintain and build relationships with our vendors, partners, and consultants. Our team has made a conscious effort to grow which is reflected in our work product. Since we come from the industry we are educated and aware of our market and competition. We often say that our team doesn’t speak English they speak SAPanese. In this industry it’s difficult to have a true competitive advantage but we continue to grow steadily year after year due to key differentiators. We like to call these differentiators ARKValues which encompass: Quality, Integrity, Respect, Client Focus, Team Work, Caring about Communities/Environment, and Client Value Creation. Due to our values, ethics, knowledge, and relationships we have been able to avoid the adverse effects of this economic down turn. Experience has taught us how to sustain ourselves through tough economic challenges by understanding our niche market, having foresight, being prepared, and taking strategic risks. Our timeline speaks for itself just check out A Quick Recap below. As a well oiled machine our internal team keeps making that steady climb uphill towards the mountain top because they are secure in our solid foundation. While others these days are laying-off their employees we are continuing to HIRE! The hiring trend we are experiencing is largely due to our multiple Local Government Contracts that give us the potential to branch out. We continue to strive to reach new heights by setting the bar and then breaking it. Currently we are working towards breaking into the Federal Market Arena. This is a market that is monopolized by some of the biggest consulting firms in the world but that won’t stop us. We have made several attempts and failed but our vision continues to drive us and success is our only option. ARK Solutions is continually reinventing itself while remaining flexible and as a result we are not only staying afloat but we’re smooth sailing. However, we realize that all this is not possible without the help or our most valuable asset: YOU THE CONSULTANT!
Announcement
ARK Solutions, Inc. is proud to announce that we have been awarded The City of Phoenix’s RFQ for the 2009-2010 Qualified Vendors List (QVL) for Information Technology Professional Services.
Special congratulations to our Proposal Team: Hoda Pahlavani, Deepak Arora, and Rishu Sharma for their commitment, dedication, and contribution!
ARK Solutions, Inc. would also like to congratulate Team HOWREY for successfully go-live with their SAP implementation. Special congratulations to our Team Members who have worked diligently and rigorously to make this happen. This was a particularly challenging implementation as it was the first SAP implementation in US for the legal industry!
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Services: DAY 5
ARK Solutions, Inc. has rolled out a new process in 2009 known as Day 5. Day 5 is designed with you in mind. Our consultants consistently have requested to have options for the lag time they experience either in-between projects, during vacation time, or on Fridays when it is not required for them to be on a client site. Day 5 provides a solution for the down time you experience and helps put a little extra cash in your pocket. In today’s economy everyone could benefit from a little extra cushion room. If this sounds like something you would like to be a part of then please visit DAY 5 on our website and sign up!
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ARKGreen
We at ARK, recognize our need and responsibility to actively address environmental concerns. We all can do our part in preserving our environment. We don’t just say we’re committed to be an eco-friendly company we back it up. In 2009 we initiated ARKGreen. This plan promotes an eco friendly environment that encompasses all ARK Solutions employees around the world. It also includes incorporating earth day as a company holiday to promote company designated eco friendly activities. We also have committed ourselves to planting a tree for every new client we get.
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Each Quarter we would like to take the opportunity to acknowledge and appreciate one of our many amazing consultants. This Quarter the honor goes to:
Mihaela A. Oroveanu – SAP HR Consultant
With over 6 years of SAP HR leadership experience including three full cycle implementations and one upgrade in addition to her over 20 years of IT industry experience which included numerous maintenance projects, Mihaela Oroveanu brings knowledge, judgment, excellent customer relations and troubleshooting skills to the table.
An accomplished SAP HR Consultant, Senior Functional Analyst, Project Manager, and QA Analyst Mihaela’s expertise, creativity, sense of urgency, dedication and strong organizational and leadership skills have earned her a respectful reputation around the Globe. Prior to joining ARK Solutions, Mihaela enjoyed a successful career as a consultant for Fujitsu, helping them deliver on time and budget to major SAP HR clients including Wyeth Pharmaceuticals and Pelican Products. She also worked with Convergys in their IT department as a Senior Functional Analyst, traveling to Hungary where she guided SAP implementations for major corporations.
Mihaela holds second Bachelor of Science in Computer Information Sciences, Information Systems/Science Track at the University of North Florida and a Bachelor fin Business Administration with major in Economics and Minor in Management Information Systems in Bucharest, Romania. She is fluent in Romanian and French. When Mihaela is not at work, she enjoys traveling, entertaining friends and family at her home in Florida and spending time with her husband, daughter and son.
We all have heard the saying “It’s not what you know but WHO you know” and as our careers begin to advance further along we realize the truth behind this statement. Networking is one of the biggest keys to not only to expand your circle but to bring in new business for yourself. If you’re like most people the idea of having to network might sound slightly intimidating. We believe that a big reason someone might be intimidated is because they might not have the right tools. After all knowledge is power. Here are eight networking tips about getting yourself out there. Keep in mind it’s not only important to make new contacts but to maintain and keep them. It would serve you best to periodically stay in touch with all your contacts even when you don’t have a self-serving need. That way when a need arises your contacts will be more willing to extend a helping hand. Happy Networking!
Eight Networking Tips
Think about networking as a game, as a sport, as a personal challenge. Below are some strategies for success.
1. Brainstorm for Contacts
Think of everyone who could possibly serve as a contact. Don't limit yourself to people who could clearly help you out - friendly, accessible people in unrelated fields often have contacts they would be happy to share with you. Also, people who, through either work or volunteer activities, have contact with a diverse crowd can be extremely helpful. To get you started with your list, here are some suggestions:
- Family friends
- Local politicians
- Relatives
- Journalists
- Neighbors
- Business executives
- Professors
- Non-profit directors
- Alumni
- Your physician
- Former employees
- Your hair dresser
- Former co-workers
- Prominent community members
2. Where the Contacts Are
- Local alumni association
- Conventions
- Class reunions
- Club meetings
- Cocktail parties
- Internet list-serves
- Fundraisers
- Volunteer opportunities
- Business conferences
- Continuing education classes
3. Be Prepared
Networking is a little like planning a political campaign. While it's essential that you are honest and relaxed, you should not wing it. Just as politicians think about what they tactically need to accomplish, convey, and gain when they make an appearance or give a speech, you should approach networking opportunities with a game plan. Before you confidently and charmingly sashay into a business conference room, a dinner party, or group event, do your homework. Find out who will be there, or do your best to list who you think will probably be present. Then decide who you would most like to meet. When you have your list of potential contacts, thoroughly research their work and their backgrounds and then make up some questions and conversational statements that reflect your research. And finally, think critically about what your goals are for your networking function. What information do you want to walk away with? What do you want to convey to the people you meet? But, as is always true, it's important to be flexible and to perceive opportunities you didn't plan to confront.
4. Networking Knows No Boundaries
Business conferences, informational interviews, college reunions, and cocktail parties are obvious networking opportunities - you expect to walk away with a few business cards and some recommendations for potential rolodex entries. But the reality is that invaluable contacts and enviable opportunities often surprise us. Good networkers are flexible people who approach connection-making as a fluid enterprise that extends far beyond hotel conference room walls. You never know who will step onto the adjacent elliptical trainer at the gym; who will be parked behind you in an interminable grocery store line; who will sit next to you on an airplane; or who will be under the hair dryer next to you at the beauty salon. Don't let these opportunities pass you by. While it may have been sheer luck that you bumped into an affable CEO, your savvy approach to networking can turn a banal exchange into a pivotal moment in your career path. Always be ready to make a contact and exchange business cards. And remember, don't hesitate to network someone who has no obvious connection to your ambitions: Your new contact may be able to give you relevant names of his or her friends and colleagues.
5. Follow Up
After you meet with a contact, it is absolutely essential to write a thank you note. Tell your contact how much he or she helped you, and refer to particularly helpful, specific advice. Everyone - even the most high-level executive - likes to feel appreciated. In addition to immediate follow-up after a meeting or conversation, keep in touch with your contacts. This way, they may think of you if an opportunity comes up, and they will also be forthcoming with new advice. It's important to stay on their radar screens without being imposing or invasive.
6. What Goes Around Comes Around
If you want to be treated with respect, treat others with respect. If you want your phone calls and email messages returned, call and write back to the people who contact you. If you want big-wigs to make time for you, make yourself available to others whom you might be able to help out. It's that simple.
The higher up you climb in the professional world, the more you'll find that everyone knows everyone else. Thus, if you're impolite, curt, condescending, or disposed to burning bridges, you'll cultivate a reputation that will serve as a constant obstacle. Remember - the people who seem little now will one day be running companies and making decisions. If you treated them with kindness and respect when they were green, they'll remember and return the favor later.
7. Make It Easy For Your Contacts
When you call, meet with, or write to a potential contact, make it as easy as possible for them to help you. Explain what you specifically want, and ask detail-oriented questions.
For example, "I'm new to area and am looking to meet people in the Art Industry. Do you know anyone who works at the Arts Council? May I have their names and phone numbers? May I use your name when I introduce myself to them?" Another entrée into a productive conversation is to solicit career tips and advice from your contact. Most people love to talk about themselves. By asking for your contact to offer valuable insight from his or her personal experiences and successes, he or she will feel important and respected. Who doesn't like to feel like an expert?
Be sure to avoid making general demands, such as, "Do you know of any contacts in the Art Industry that would be good for me?" This sort of question is overwhelming and it puts an undue burden on your contact.
8. Stay Organized
Keep a record of your networking. Whether you do this in a Rolodex, in a notebook, or in a database file on your computer, it's important to keep track of your contacts. Make sure your system has plenty of room for contacts' names, addresses, phone numbers, companies, job titles, how you met them, and subsequent conversations you've had with them.
With the wave of the social networking phenomena more and more businesses are joining this internet revolution. Many of our consultants have inquired about ways to stay connected and want to have a forum to voice their ideas or projects. ARK is no stranger to such invaluable tools. We realize that many of you already utilize these tools personally and we would like to provide a professional vehicle where the flow of communication between us all is endless. Stayed tuned for Q-3, we will be creating an online community for us all to stay better connected and informed via Blogs, Facebook, Twitter, and LinkedIn.
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