BrightSurfer

One of the most daunting challenges for a small business owner looking to integrate computer technology into their business is figuring out what to buy and how to appropriately fit it into your business. Information technology is such a vast field of rapidly-evolving products that it is very difficult for the casual or time-pressed consumer to reach a clear understanding of available hardware, software, and services.

You don’t need to be a rocket scientist to make appropriate decisions on IT, however. All you need is a little guidance.

Don’t buy more than you need. The typical small home business does not require tens of thousands of dollars in equipment and software for productivity. (There are a few businesses that do require specialized equipment for production purposes, of course, but that’s not part of your IT strategy.) As your business moves to mid-size, you will generally need appropriate networking products to allow company-wide collaboration on projects and services. Regardless of the size of your business, it is important to avoid over-expansion and overspending. Your business goal is to keep your productivity tools as simple and effective as possible. With more that you have to learn and maintain, your IT budget will go higher and your employees will need to spend more time figuring out how to use it all.

Focus on your running your business and not on running a well-funded digital toy collection. The complexity of IT can become a distraction, as well as the excitement of running all the latest, cutting-edge applications. Budget your time as you would budget your spending. You can look up much that you’d like to know through consumer magazines like Fast Company and eWeek, as well as online resources like CNet, but remember that you can’t learn everything at once. Learn some of what you need to know at first, and then put a couple of hours each week or month into additional news reading. If your understanding of IT is still rather weak after your initial attempts at research, you could benefit heavily from an IT consulting service to provide the IT services that your business needs. In any case, don’t allow yourself to obsess over the details of your computer equipment; you have a business to run, and you have customers to serve.

Make your equipment and data secure. A computer-related catastrophe can destroy your business in a number of ways. Make sure that your data is always backed up (more than one backup strategy does not hurt) and always protected by the latest anti-virus software. Use applications and network services that are mature products and are proven stable, so that downtime does not interfere constantly with your business. Make sure that your network and computer terminals are operated in a secure manner and are protected from intruders both inside your company and out on the Internet. Keep all of your software up-to-date with the latest versions released from their vendors. Never forget that people who you trust can, accidentally or purposefully, wreck your computer equipment; make sure that your employees are trained to use your systems appropriately, have your personnel policies reflect your security goals, and keep unnecessary access away from those who do not need it.

That’s really all there is to it. As I said above, it’s best not to obsess over the details if you’re not in the IT business. The particulars of IT change constantly, and products generally get easier to use over time, not harder, so you have much to look forward as your business grows over time. Remember that the goals of new technology are to make your business simpler, easier, and more efficient. Keep your IT plans manageable and maintain your assets responsibly, and you will surely achieve those goals.

This entry was posted on Monday, January 15th, 2007 at 12:05 pm and is filed under Brightsurfer Feature. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed. You can leave a response, or trackback from your own site.