If you’ve been paying any sort of attention to technology trends, then you’d know hosted applications are a big deal. Whatever you want to call it – cloud computing, software as a service – hosted software is a great cost and time saver.
So why not ask your IT manager if you’re actually taking advantage of the trend? As Larry Bloch says, you’re doing yourself a disservice if you ignore it.
“There is so much happening in this area now, and so much capability for small business. You have access now to software that was previously only available on a massive enterprise budget.”
“Whether it’s CRM applications, or accounting software, you have a lot of potential here.”
If you ask any IT manager whether your company has a backup system, and if it’s working, of course they’re going to say ‘yes’, even if the answer is ‘no’. After all, they want to keep their jobs.
Anthony Hill, technical director at Geeks2U suggests it’s a much better strategy to ask whether the backup system has actually been tested, and if you can see it in action.
“Have they tested the backup strategy? But not only that, can you actually restore from a backup as well?”
“You need to make sure the policy is in place, yes, but you need to have it tested so it does work in the event of an emergency.”
There are plenty of reasons you shouldn’t spend thousands of dollars on expensive Office software when you can get a solid alternative for nothing.
For many businesses, this isn’t necessarily an option. But a lot of companies don’t require anything more than a word processor or a slideshow presenter, and you shouldn’t spend thousands to get them.
As Anthony Hill says, you need to ask whether you’re taking advantage of free alternatives.
“Everyone loves running Microsoft Office, but there are a number of different free alternatives you can use and they are just as good.”
There is certainly no reason to upgrade as soon as new technology is released. After all, the first version of anything tends to have a lot of bugs.
But as Anthony Hill, says, businesses often let their IT systems lag because they just haven’t invested the time into finding something better. He says you need to be pressuring your IT manager to make sure you’re upgrading as often as you need to.
“I don’t always recommend going straight to the latest and greatest, but we’re seeing a lot of businesses on Windows XP and they well and truly should have upgraded to Windows 7 by now.”
“You need to have strategies for upgrades, replacements, and so on. There’s no point in just waiting until your computers fall over.”
One of the bigger problems with IT equipment is that it tends to break. And so a lot of your time is spent fixing problems that could have been prevented.
As David Markus explains, you need to speak with your manager about moving from a reactionary policy to something more proactive.
“After something breaks, you spend a fortune fixing it. When you get your budget sorted out, you need to look at what needs replacing, and where you can be more proactive to stop things from breaking down all the time.”
“Get rid of the stuff that makes you react all the time.”
Patrick Stafford is a freelance journalist and a former deputy editor of SmartCompany.
