Will the New Year Bring IT Resolutions?
With the New Year approaching us, this is the time of year that everyone starts pondering about their New year resolutions. Many people vow to exercise more, eat more healthy, spend more time with their family and/or friends, etc… New years resolutions usually has people starting to reflect on their life and things they may want to change. Will you do that in your business life also? As we move into the next year, it is a great time of year to think about your IT initiatives and things you need to change or things you may have been putting off most the year.
Here are some themes as business owners or IT Managers you may want to consider as you are deciding what changes you want to make next year:
- Simplify. Maybe you are still using paper or excel spreadsheets to run your business. 2016 should be the year for you to digitize and streamline your business processes to ensure your staff is as effective as possible. Are there complex procedures or duplication of efforts in your business? Resolve to change this.
- Growth. One thing that is common among a lot of organizations is every year they create a growth plan. How many new employees do they want to add or what revenue levels they want to achieve? With this growth plan, it is also important to consider your current network and IT assets and come to an understanding of if what you currently have can support this growth plan. Are you going to need more hardware and licenses? Can your server(s) handle an increase in headcount, as well as data? Organizations that can plan their technology needs to allow for growth are going to keep their business moving in the right direction. Overloading your systems and servers can cause business downtime, ultimately costing your organization money.
- Don’t Repeat. There may be one big incident you recall, or maybe there were several smaller incidents, but the key to a successful business is to not repeat the same mistakes again. Did you install new systems and hardware to allow you to prevent any outages that you may have experienced in the last 12 months? Did you get a virus due to outdated software? Think back to all of the technology set backs you experienced and make a plan to ensure those don’t happen again next year.
- Consider the Cloud. Cloud technology has become a major factor in many businesses. Especially if you are a small business where cloud can allow you to compete on a much larger scale. Whether you just utilize a cloud-based software or if you offload your entire network infrastructure to the cloud, you may be able to save money into the next year and also keep up with the latest technology trends.
The first step towards ramping up your business in 2016 is to have a written business plan. Please take the time to ensure that this plan includes a strategy for technology as well. Writing a business plan can help business owners prioritize how to spend their time and money and to set measurable goals. It can also help identify current or future obstacles so you can better anticipate and avoid potential risks. Technology is a large part of helping organizations run effectively. Make sure that you are giving it as much thought and preparation as you are the rest of your business. If you need help determining what technology updates you need to make going into 2016, 2W Tech can perform a network assessment and help you develop a written plan.
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