Small businesses and nonprofit organizations have to be leaner than ever before with both human and technology resources. Remember that your organization does not exist for the sake of technology; technology exists to support your organization’s goals. If technology (resources, management, staff) is distracting you from your business goals or dominating your budget, consider alternatives that will help you re-focus on your organization’s core reasons for being (to deliver X product or service).
Top 6 Tips for Maximizing IT Resources in smaller organizations:
- Consider Managed Services. Now available to the small business market, a managed services program allows you to pay only for the IT support you need, either remotely or on-site, instead of a full-time dedicated staff (or your sales guy who does some tech stuff on the side). For more info on this, check out www.techsoftsystems.com.
- Utilize services and platforms that:
- provide web-based applications (allowing more users, more mobility, lower software costs and data back-up)
- host web sites (there is really no benefit anymore to hosting your own)
- provide on-line data back-up (protecting you and your clients)
- Virtualize servers to reduce the need for physical servers.
- Purchase network printers instead of individual printers.
- Don’t waste money on features you don’t need. Small businesses settings don’t need top-of-the-line printers. The more complex a machine, the more there is to go wrong. Also factor in ink costs; the cheapest printer now may cost you a bundle in ink in the future.
- Use a purchasing management program that unites organizations for aggregate purchasing power; you’ll get discounts based on higher volume.
re-S.H.A.P.E. your business.™
Clifford A. Bailey, CEO of TechSoft Systems