subject: Five Ways to Stop IT Ruining Your Business [print this page] 1 Deny that the I.T1 Deny that the I.T. that runs your business is critical and not like your home PC
Because the technology is often the same some businesses fall into the trap of thinking that their business I.T. is just the same as their home PC. You have treat your I.T. as an integral part of your business that demands your professional attention as much as sales or production or staffing. This includes ensuring that everything that you do is properly robust, secure and reliable. Businesses usually stop working for days or weeks at a time when the I.T. goes down how much would that cost you in lost sales, production, or just extra time to catch up with backlogs?
Why not think through and write down a "safe use" policy that deals with the major threats to your IT confidentiality, integrity and availability?
2 Forget computers wear out
Dell recommends that the useful life of a front line server is about three years, and the longer that you use a PC, server, or anything the more likely it is to wear out. But somewhere in many smaller businesses, often sat in the back of a cupboard, usually covered in dust, alone and ignored, is a server, a network switch, or other equipment on which the business relies. It has been running away quietly for several years. You probably never turn it off, and if you do that's not necessarily good for it either. Just imagine your hard disks with all your data and systems on them that have been spinning away at 5,000 or 7,000 RPM, 24 hours a day, for how many years is it now?
Should you have a plan for a hardware replacement programme, maybe even funding it from the depreciation that you are charging each year on the equipment?
3 Refuse to accept that mostly data doesn't back itself up
Experience show that even where a back up drive is installed small businesses often do not back their data up regularly. You do of course, but do you ever test to make sure that you can retrieve your data? But even if you back up at the end of every day and your system fails you are still risking everything that has gone on since the last tape back up. Technology has moved on since you bought that tape drive and online data storage has come down dramatically in price.
Why not put in a RAID protected (don't ask) Networked Attached Storage device (box of hard disks) for a few hundred pounds and get your data to back itself up automatically throughout the day.
4 Ignore the truth, that like a suit, the fact that the software fitted you 10 years ago doesn't mean it does now
Assuming that you were diligent and you bought the best software available for the business at the time, it may no longer right for you. Maybe because your business has changed, or the old software may be missing functions that would now make your life easier for example if you sell via the web or through Amazon does your software take the transactions straight from the website into your sales, fulfillment and accounting systems?
So take a long hard look at the way your business works and ask can we use our existing software better, or would additional or updated software help us do better?
5 Fail to understand that I.T. is about more than hardware and software
IT is there to help your people operate more effectively, so making your investment successful requires making sure that they are using what you have spent hard earned cash on to maximum effect. We often refer to IT as People, Processes and Technology in that order. Ask yourself
1.Do I understand how all of the functions in the software can help to streamline our business processes?
2.Have we properly trained staff to use the software?
Peter Cross
Director PNC Consulting Ltd
Five Ways to Stop IT Ruining Your Business
By: Peter Cross
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