Choosing the right technology to support the growth of your business |
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| Technology - Features | |
| Written by John Bannatyne, Head of Sales, Solution1 | |
| Monday, 03 March 2008 | |
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As businesses grow, they need more bandwidth and a better internet connection that can support the increase in online activity as they start to send and receive more information. These businesses need to be confident that they have the right technology in place to get their jobs done. Many SME owners do not consider themselves technology experts nor do they have access to in-house IT support, hence often seek advice from a friend or local expert who will give them a bit of time to advise on their needs. This often leads to short term solutions and purchasing decisions being made based on their immediate needs. This can lead to serious implications for the future growth and performance of the business. Short term solutions to your technology needs may address immediate issues, but often this will lead to additional complexity of technology, slow internet connections as the business grows and ultimately reduced productivity of the business. In essence, what you save now you will pay for later. Find an expert So where does a company start when they need to assess their technology and telephony requirements? This is often the biggest obstacle that small business will face. Arguably the most important step to take is to find an expert who understands your business and is able to explain to you what they recommend in a language that you understand. Once you have found this partner, you need to work hand in hand with them to ensure that all the aspects of your business are taken into consideration. This includes looking at the company strategy and direction, as well as a host of other factors such as size, location(s), customer profile, current technology and telephony systems in place and internal levels of technical expertise. This process needs to be a collaborative effort. Whilst the communication service provider may be the technical experts, they need to be given direction by you. You need to tell them what your plans are for the business and give them your financial parameters, so they can provide the appropriate solutions to meet your needs. Fully scalable, cost effective solution The right communications partner will work with you to take the complexity out of your technology and telephony requirements and create a tailored solution as opposed to giving you something off the shelf. Once you have identified exactly what the business needs are over the next few years, your technology partner will be able to make realistic recommendations of what you need in terms of infrastructure now and in the future. They should be able to guide you through the process, advising you on the suite of technology devices and services needed, as well as advising you on the right telephone infrastructure and tariffs that saves you money and helps to support the growth of your business. Your partner should be looking to provide you with a fully scalable, cost effective solution that can support your business as it grows, so that you do not have to spend more money upgrading the network every time you bring on new employees or additional locations. Critical applications Selecting the right type of internet connection for your business is key. If your provider asks the right questions about your business, it can become apparent whether a user is best suited to a fixed internet connection or if they need a wireless infrastructure enabling staff to hot desk and be mobile. User profiles based on roles and requirements will help define the correct communications solution needed for your employees. The next step is to look at which applications are critical to the success of your business and necessary to support you and your staff in getting their job done. For example, every employee may need to access email and company files whilst on the move. It is possible to ensure that you have secure access to all the company information, regardless of where it is stored – at your main office, or having your technology hosted by your communications partner at their data centre. These can all be provided as hosted services, where your technology and telephony hardware are stored, looked after and managed by your partner. This option is a very cost effective way of helping you address any issues around scalability, budget constraints and potential lack of in-house expertise and support. In addition, it is vital that users have the correct devices to get their job done, including laptops, mobile phones, PDA’s and BlackBerries. Different profiles of users may be served best by different devices – a desk based person may not need a laptop while a field sales person could not work effectively without such a tool. Modern businesses demand a greater dependence on communication technologies and need to have the confidence that it will support the growth of their business. As long as you have managed to identify all your needs as a business, working with the right technology partner you will be able to ensure that you have the right applications, devices, internet connection, telephone network and IT support in place. This will not only reduce your long term costs, but increase the productivity, efficiency and performance of your business as it grows. John Bannatyne is head of sales at Solution1, an Edinburgh-based communication service provider (CSP). Comments (0)
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