Innovative Visions

This may seem like a simple idea for me, but then again this is what I do for a living. Innovative Visions acts as an extension to your company in order to provide you with a different view of your business. But let’s look at one specific example and how this can work for you.

We’re currently working with a number of small businesses who are looking to upgrade some part of their out of date infrastructure. This could be the mail server, phone systems or the firewall and security setup. Whatever it is that you’re looking to upgrade, it inevitably means an investment on your part. It could be a large investment (as compared with your normal operating expenses) or it could be rather small by comparison. But in either instance you have to justify this expense for yourself and/or your management. The key for most businesses is looking at the ROI (what is going to be the timeline and return on investment before this upgrade is paid for?). While this is crucial and should be outlined as a part of every proposal, there are other ways to justify this as well, which may involve analyzing the bigger picture.

Let’s say you need to upgrade your antiquated phone system. Say the ROI on this investment is 24 months before the system has paid for itself through productivity gains and reduced expenses. Well, what about reducing that time to 12 months by reworking your contracts for local, long distance and Internet service? It IS possible as I can tell you from experience. It’s just a matter of looking at the bigger picture and allowing your way of thinking about your business to include your technology on all levels.

I must start by saying that it has been too long since my last post on the proverbial soapbox. In addition, I am not one for making excuses for my actions (or inaction) however I’m going to make an exception this time. I’ve found myself being brought into the middle of a fight of sorts. It’s taking a lot of my time… However, rather than just call it a fight, let’s call it what it really is: Management’s inability to make a decision regarding the company’s technology and its current and future impact on the business and bottom line!

Let me clarify this idea a bit more. This is not ALL management and it’s certainly NOT all companies. However, as an IT Director, Telecom Manager, IT Administrator, et al, how can we effectively communicate the importance of technology to those who control the purse strings?

There are times when it is just a requirement to spend the money to get something fixed and to get the business back online. That’s the EASY part, although the bottle of Tums suffers somewhat! If the phone lines are down and salespeople can’t make or receive calls, this is a problem management can see very clearly. However, do they really recognize the bleeding productivity or monthly costs that they merely just sign a check for, which are REALLY affecting the business’ future?

Again, this comes down to their perception (and ours as well) of technology. Is it a cost center or a profit center in your company? I’m interested in hearing more… If it’s a cost center, how do you accomplish what needs to be done, or do you just do the bare minimum and worry about the future when that comes? If your department is viewed as a profit center (very rare still), is there a proactive approach towards technology from the top, down (and the bottom, up) whereby management wants to actively seek ways to cut costs and improve productivity with technology investment? If it’s the former, how do we go about reshaping this perception? Not an easy task, but I’m interested to hear more of what’s being done in this critically connected area of the business.