IT success in difficult times
What a year it has been! It is now clear that the current economic recession/depression is going to have a significant impact on the way business will be done going forward. Everyone is rethinking all aspects of the enterprise, and this is especially the case with IT. In upcoming posts I will discuss where I think the market is going and how Mojeaix is going to position itself for new opportunities.
I want to comment on basic business principals and connect how they influence the direction I see IT services heading. Let's first remember that all businesses need the following regardless of the economic climate:
How can a business stand apart from its competitors? One way is to offer innovative tools and services that the competition does not. Levering information technology to innovate is an obvious choice. However, the barrier to innovation is that companies often spend 75% of their technology budgets keeping legacy infrastructure going and the remaining 25% goes to bringing other obsolete parts of their infrastructure more or less current. This leaves little room for innovation or adding new services that will help to attract and retain customers.
Like innovation, technological tools are often used as labour multipliers. It is undisputed that technological advances have made the last 50 years the most productive in the history of man. In fact, most companies would not be able to do any business at all if they were to lose access to their vital technological infrastructure. I find it amazing that so many businesses, knowing how crucial technology is to productivity, tolerate substandard or under performing tools in their organizations. That the do this when the cost of acquisition of up-to-date tools is very low is nothing less than shocking.
Another value of technology is that it allows the enterprise to respond quickly to changing conditions. This flexibility helps companies adapt and deal with challenges quickly. If a certain set of business decisions are not working, they can be easily adjusted. Flexibility lowers the risks associated with any product, organizational or market changes. A company is now free to find the tactical approach that best suits their strategic plan.
Finally, technology lowers risk. By enabling best practices in planning, building, managing and implementation, business can increase security, increase compliance with regulations and quickly recover from disasters even as the threats increase exponentially in number and complexity.
Most small and medium businesses or SMBs are not experts in managing an enterprise infrastructure. They traditionally have looked to value added resellers or VARs to help them unlock the ROI inherent in available technology. The key objective of any VAR is to deliver the technology solutions needed by businesses on time and on budget. This is known as effectiveness. IT consultancies like Mojeaix extend the role of the VAR and can also help their clients go beyond the effective delivery of IT services. Mojeaix also helps businesses be more strategic in determining which technology tools they should be implementing without losing focus on the need for effective implementation. Since most business are focused on operations, they rarely are able to take advantage of many proven technologies or know when a technology has matured to point where it can deliver ROI.
It is the goal of Mojeaix to deliver technology solutions effectively and to help its clients maximize the strategic alignment of its technology solutions. This dual focus is what allows us to help companies unlock the full value of their investments in IT infrastructure.
I want to comment on basic business principals and connect how they influence the direction I see IT services heading. Let's first remember that all businesses need the following regardless of the economic climate:
- to attract and retain customers;
- to maximize productivity;
- to manage operations and change; and,
- to lower risk.
How can a business stand apart from its competitors? One way is to offer innovative tools and services that the competition does not. Levering information technology to innovate is an obvious choice. However, the barrier to innovation is that companies often spend 75% of their technology budgets keeping legacy infrastructure going and the remaining 25% goes to bringing other obsolete parts of their infrastructure more or less current. This leaves little room for innovation or adding new services that will help to attract and retain customers.
Like innovation, technological tools are often used as labour multipliers. It is undisputed that technological advances have made the last 50 years the most productive in the history of man. In fact, most companies would not be able to do any business at all if they were to lose access to their vital technological infrastructure. I find it amazing that so many businesses, knowing how crucial technology is to productivity, tolerate substandard or under performing tools in their organizations. That the do this when the cost of acquisition of up-to-date tools is very low is nothing less than shocking.
Another value of technology is that it allows the enterprise to respond quickly to changing conditions. This flexibility helps companies adapt and deal with challenges quickly. If a certain set of business decisions are not working, they can be easily adjusted. Flexibility lowers the risks associated with any product, organizational or market changes. A company is now free to find the tactical approach that best suits their strategic plan.
Finally, technology lowers risk. By enabling best practices in planning, building, managing and implementation, business can increase security, increase compliance with regulations and quickly recover from disasters even as the threats increase exponentially in number and complexity.
Most small and medium businesses or SMBs are not experts in managing an enterprise infrastructure. They traditionally have looked to value added resellers or VARs to help them unlock the ROI inherent in available technology. The key objective of any VAR is to deliver the technology solutions needed by businesses on time and on budget. This is known as effectiveness. IT consultancies like Mojeaix extend the role of the VAR and can also help their clients go beyond the effective delivery of IT services. Mojeaix also helps businesses be more strategic in determining which technology tools they should be implementing without losing focus on the need for effective implementation. Since most business are focused on operations, they rarely are able to take advantage of many proven technologies or know when a technology has matured to point where it can deliver ROI.
It is the goal of Mojeaix to deliver technology solutions effectively and to help its clients maximize the strategic alignment of its technology solutions. This dual focus is what allows us to help companies unlock the full value of their investments in IT infrastructure.
posted by Mojeaix at 2:02 PM
