Every day, you have to make choices regarding your operational budget. There are always more funding needs than available dollars, it seems. On top of that, every day brings new technology challenges, from having to replace an old computer to purchasing new software licenses.
How do you decide which expenditures will provide your company with the most benefit – while also ensuring that your company has the tools it needs to meet its growth goals?
A technology assessment is an excellent place to start.
Does My Company Need a Technology Assessment?
Many owners of small-to-medium sized businesses have very little idea of the extent and nature of the technology which resides in their own organization. This is not through fault of their own – employees may come in with their own laptop, a department head may use their budget to replace a printer or purchase a needed software application. Businesses often grow in bits and pieces, and on an as-needed basis.
If you have never completed a technology assessment, you may find it to be illuminating. Here are some great benefits to undertaking this effort.
- You Can Learn Where Your Vulnerabilities Lie: By speaking with your employees and clients, you can identify what problems they are having, and where frustrations exist. For instance, you may find out that your order processing software runs too slowly, or that the computers in the customer service department routinely get hung up since the new CRM install.
- You Will Have an Accurate Inventory: It is important to understand what you currently own. A technology assessment provides a detailed inventory of every laptop, every desktop computer, every router and every printer in your organization.You should record serial and model numbers, as well as operating system and application versions currently installed. This is not only useful to your internal operations, but is an excellent list to keep on hand for insurance purposes.
- You Can Adjust to Meet Operational Needs: Once you know exactly what hardware and software that you have onsite, you can compare your inventory against your vulnerabilities. Whether shuffling desktops or updating everyone’s operating system, there may be quick solutions to some of your problems.
- You Can Plan and Budget for the Next Steps: It should always be a goal to standardize equipment, software updates, and password protocols across the organization. This will allow you to plan for company wide hardware upgrades, creating economies of scale; as well as ensuring that your employees are up to date with security patches and measures.Automating software updates and initiating automatic monthly password changes is a positive step for IT security.
Is a Consultation with Experts Necessary?
As with every business decision you make, you will measure the cost against the benefit of any project. Given how effectively a technology assessment can streamline your business and manage costs, there is little doubt that you should perform an annual review. But why should you hire a managed services IT firm to help?
- Time is Money: Everyone has the best of intentions when embarking on a project such as this. But you have your regular responsibilities, and there is only so much time in a day. By hiring a team of experts, you can be assured that the job is being done, without long nights at the office or neglected everyday tasks.
- Knowledge is Power: A technology assessment is nothing new to a managed services firm. We know what to look for, what to ask, and what products, software, or processes will be most effective for your organization. We can save you time and money, both in conducting and implementing the technology business plan.
A business technology assessment is one of the best ways for you to manage ongoing overhead and operational costs in your organization. And the team at Alliance IT has the expertise you need to maximize the benefits while minimizing lost productivity and wasted money.
Call today for your consultation.
