In part two of a three-part series, Microsoft's Brett Roberts looks at how to set an IT strategy for difficult economic times.
KEY POINTS:
There's a bunch of reasons not to spend money right now, let alone invest in IT. But there are also plenty of valid arguments in favour of focusing on your IT set-up to find ways to save money and make your business more resilient in an uncertain economic climate.
Depending on your cash flow and business pipeline, tough times are a chance to increase your market share and strengthen your existing business. IT can help.
Right now, your current and potential customers and clients will be looking for businesses that are nimble, low-risk and quick off the mark. Smaller and medium-sized businesses are often best placed to offer more value when larger competitors are wrestling with challenges.
Smart IT investment is one of the ways you can achieve the scale and agility you need to realise market growth opportunities. Streamlining your IT is another.
If you're to convert opportunities into an increase in market share, you and your people need to be able to manage increasing demand. That might mean investing in new software products but it's just as likely to mean learning how to use your existing software better.
Take the common DVD player. Assuming you own one, you're likely to use only a small part of its functionality. It does what it's supposed to well, but there are a number of functions you don't understand, let alone use. As for the nest of cables ... that's another story.
Eventually, there'll come a time when you need to buy a new model even though most of what you need in the medium term will exist on your current player. Knowing what functions your DVD player has, and how to use them fully, will maximise the benefits you get.
More importantly, knowing exactly what you own and how to use it makes you a much better judge of when exactly to upgrade - rather than spending money on an upgrade too early (or worse, too late).
In the same way, there are potential financial savings to be liberated on the desktops of your employees by offering simple training or learning about functions the business already owns but that lie mostly unused.
Making the call on when to upgrade software doesn't have to be high-risk. Not if you have your head around the basics and understand how it can make you more competitive and put money in your back pocket.
Challenge your IT provider - ask questions, take an interest in IT in the way you take an interest in other areas of the business: human resources, finance, marketing and sales. Develop business cases showing returns on investment in the same way you do with premises and people.
Being proactive in making sure your software and hardware is up-to-date means you plan better - and spread costs over a longer period of time, rather than being forced to spend a lot of money all at once.
A good start is to treat your IT provider as a business partner - like your accountant or legal adviser. It's likely that your business is almost wholly dependent on technology to function efficiently so it makes sense to accord your IT provider similar status, while at the same time thinking more about your IT investment as part as a strategic operational investment.
Some basic starting points would be:
* Look at your existing investment in IT with them to see if you are getting the most from it, or if incremental improvements can be made.
* Investigate business intelligence software like customer relationship management products as a way to automate manual or repetitive processes. Look for best practice examples in your industry as a guide - your IT provider can help you to identify these.
* Consider ways to reduce IT overheads and data costs through smart document management. Software like SharePoint that hosts documents centrally makes for smarter version control and reduces bandwidth costs.
* Explore energy efficiency options across your printers and PCs. Most have energy saving options, while double-sided printing and paper recycling will make a dent in your costs.
* And at a more technical level, ask your IT provider to examine your IT infrastructure. Can you reduce your hardware requirements?
* Brett Roberts is national technology officer for Microsoft New Zealand.
