Running a successful business requires staying on top of a myriad of situations, and making lots of decisions. If you are like many small to medium sized business owners, those decisions are often made in order to address an emergency situation. Your accountant’s laptop stopped working, so you need to purchase a new one. The accounts receivable printer broke, so you had to run down to office supply and pick up a replacement. Or perhaps, business has been so good that you need to upgrade your servers – and fast!
While many organizations operate in this type of reactionary mode, it makes it hard to track assets, stick to an IT budget, and run your company in the most productive and efficient way. The fact that your employees are all working from mobile devices when you leave your premises – and a true understanding of company assets is truly hard to determine. A hardware technology assessment is your answer.
What is a Hardware Technology Assessment?
A hardware technology assessment takes on the task of identifying all of the hardware components of the IT network which you currently own. The assessment will record the age, condition and serial numbers of the hardware; which business process/department utilizes each piece of hardware; and all operating system and release information attached to each device. Record all of this information in one document. It is very important that this record is comprehensive and exhaustive, so that you can make the smartest decisions as to how to move forward with the knowledge.
Here’s a Hint: This assessment is the perfect way to ensure that your insurance policy is sufficient to cover all of your hardware and office equipment. If you do suffer a catastrophic loss of your facility, this list of equipment will be invaluable in making your claim. If possible, take photos of each piece of equipment as well, and keep with your records.
Once you document each piece of hardware which your company owns and utilizes, you can start to outline any deficiencies which may exist. Some problems may have been revealed during your inventory – for instance, you may have learned that software being utilized was no longer supported, or the desktop units in your accounting department were antiquated.
The next step is to speak with management and staff to determine the ways in which the existing technology fails to support them in their day to day work. Perhaps customer service complains that their order processing application keeps crashing their laptop, or that some needed applications are not adequately supported by the manufacturer. Because your employees work on this equipment every day, they are your best source of information as to how your technology is impeding your efficiency and productivity. In some cases, new equipment may be necessary to keep pace with the market and maintain a competitive edge.
You may be able to reassign some of the technology. Your marketing department’s printer may work well, but not have the high resolution capability they need. Meanwhile, your front office administration needs a new printer, and so the equipment can be reassigned. Therefore you are purchasing only one new printer, instead of two.
A hardware technology assessment not only shows you where you are, but can provide a roadmap to where you need to go. By understanding the needs of your organization and the assets you currently own, you can strategically budget and plan for necessary upgrades. By performing an assessment annually, you can stay on top of your internal inventory and budget – and Alliance IT can help. Call us today to learn more about how you can explore ways to streamline your business through technology.
