How to Avoid IT Pitfalls
With the growth of technology and the increased capabilities of many business machines, it’s easy to start thinking that anything that can go wrong with your IT systems will go wrong. This kind of thinking only leads to worries and wasted time trying to fix something that isn’t broken or hasn’t even happened yet. In order to stay focused on the future, you need to make sure you aren’t making avoidable mistakes in your current IT set-up.
The Benefits of Outsourcing
If you don’t have in-house technical expertise, or if you have a large project that is going to take a lot of time and effort, it may be better for your business model to outsource. Businesses often feel apprehensive about hiring someone else—after all, they’re giving their company away. That’s why it is especially important that outsourcing is done right. There are several reasons why you might want to outsource some parts of your business: cost savings, lack of skills internally, specialization (not all employees are as versed in social media management as others) and more.
What Are The Risks
Depending on how big a project you’re looking at, there could be plenty of risks involved. One of those is hiring a company that doesn’t know what they’re doing or isn’t prepared for your project. For example, when you hire an IT company that has been in business for 20 years and has worked with 10 different businesses just like yours, you can feel secure knowing they probably have all of your bases covered. On the other hand, working with a smaller business that only specializes in working with one kind of industry means they may not have experience in solving problems specific to your industry—which could slow down their progress significantly.
Management Challenges
Managing a tech company can be extremely rewarding, but it also presents several unique challenges that other industries don’t. Software development is fast-paced and with many moving parts. Things can change in an instant—which is why software developers need tools that help make sense of all of their processes. There are a number of tools that software companies use to manage their development processes, and choosing which one works best will depend on your specific needs and goals. Here are some of our favorites
Workforce Planning
A company’s ability to have employees available when needed is essential for its success. Employees make up one of a company’s largest expenses, so it’s in everyone’s best interest to minimize employee turnover and reduce training costs by having an adequate number of trained and qualified staff members on hand. Businesses can best mitigate turnover and ensure there are plenty of bodies ready for shift work by forming a plan for workforce planning well before staffing levels become an issue. This proactive approach also helps ensure quality control as employers know that their growing staff has been carefully vetted through thoughtful hiring practices and training programs.
Value Delivery
A central part of any business is its information technology (IT) department. Whether it’s making sure employees have everything they need to work, keeping tabs on an organization’s technological footprint or assisting with data security, a company’s IT department plays a crucial role in ensuring it runs smoothly and efficiently. That said, not all IT departments are created equal—and some can leave companies in precarious positions by failing to do their jobs properly. To ensure your business doesn’t experience any unexpected disruptions down the road because of poor IT, here are some mistakes you should avoid
Service Level Agreements
If you’re not familiar with Service Level Agreements (SLAs), they can be a pretty dry subject. SLAs are non-negotiable guarantees that businesses make about how long it will take them to deliver on certain services. For example, an SLA for printing and binding booklets might state that clients will receive their print project within three days of submitting their design files. The agreement is set in stone so both parties know exactly what they're getting into from day one and nobody's surprised when they don't meet an agreed-upon deadline.
Forecasting Needs and Resources
Do you know how many workers will be needed in your new business, or do you need to hire more? Forecasting is difficult, but it’s a crucial step. If you underestimate your workforce needs, you’ll make do with underqualified staff; if you overestimate your resources, morale will suffer. No matter how well-crafted your offer letter is, problems can arise when there aren’t enough hands on deck for heavy workloads or slow periods. It can also be hard for morale when a small team has done all it can but has run out of time and still doesn’t have everything finished on schedule. The stress of feeling overwhelmed can throw off productivity at best and lead to absenteeism at worst.
Ongoing Communication
One of key things you have to remember about technology is that it changes. A lot. Things like cloud computing and virtualization might be buzzwords in your industry, but they aren’t going away soon; if anything, they are getting even more important. To make sure you don’t miss out on these shifts, make sure you communicate with your IT department and find out what’s coming down in terms of updates, changes and new technology. You can do some of this communication via email or phone, but scheduling regular meetings so everyone knows what's happening at a company level will help ensure your company stays on top of things like security issues or upgrades that may affect how business is done.
Metrics for Success
New technology companies rely on careful metrics for success and failure. The key is being able to assess where your company stands, what you need to do next, and when you should start worrying about something that doesn’t appear as if it will work out. Start by writing down a few ways in which your business could fail – not that it will fail, but that it could under certain circumstances. Understanding these potential issues can help guide you toward developing strategies for handling them before they become problems. Monitoring: Having a solid monitoring system in place is essential when running a technology company of any kind. This is particularly true for startups, as much of their progress takes place behind closed doors with only teams of employees aware of how well things are going or how far they still have left to go.
0 Comments