technology planning

Make Technology Work for You

Technology Leveraging Cooperative

1Technology Leveraging Cooperative; www.tlccoop.org

Technology (IT) supports your business and it includes:

• Computers• Copiers, printers, faxes, scanners• Phones• Network equipment and services• Web sites, social media• Applications• Technical support and maintenance• Operating supplies

Technology Leveraging Cooperative; www.tlccoop.org 2

4 Steps to IT Mastery


Establish Business Goals


OPERATING PLAN GOALS

MARKETING PLAN GOALS

TECHNOLOGY PLAN

Outreach

Communication

CollaborationProductivity

Efficiency

Growth

Back office Social media


What are YOUR Business Goals?

• Improve productivity• Reduce IT staff cost • Reduce training time/cost• Reduce cost of supplies• Increase access to data from anywhere• Improve communication and collaboration• Grow the business• Increase outreach


Review IT Current Picture


Current Picture. Do you know:

1 What you are using?2 What you have but don’t use?3 What you need but don’t have?4 What needs replacing/updating?5 What you are really spending?


Inventory what you have

• Hardware, software, devices• Age• Purchase cost or lease amount• Location and user• Limits (# users/stations)


Do you have any of these:

• Computers (laptop,desktop,appliance,server)• Telephones (cellular, PBX, desktop)• Dial up, DSL phone lines• Network (routers, switches, T1s)• Backup (system, software, tapes)• Virus protection• Database Applications (finance, ERP, custom)• End User Applications (office suite, graphic)


Find the hidden costs

• Check your phone bills: are you paying for old dial up lines? Multiple DSL lines?

• Check your supply bills: are you paying more than one vendor for the same goods/services?

• Check your vendor bills: are you paying for services you don’t need?


Do you know what you spend?

The latest prices on the Dell or HP Web site represent roughly 20 to 30 percent of the total,

long-term cost of that computer.


Purchase price may be a fraction of TOTAL COST


What are you paying for:

• System maintenance and support fees• License fees, upgrades• Supplies (ink, paper, tapes)• Phones (cellular bill, land phones, internet)• Technical expertise (staff, vendors)• Downtime, duplicated effort, lost data


Easy to spend too much or too little


Too little

Too much

Do you spend too much?

• Buy ink for your printers?• Pay retail on your computers?• Use more software than you need?• Pay a ransom to fix mission-critical apps?• Pay for duplication of effort, manual process?


Do you spend too little?

• Let equipment get too old (failure, downtime)• Let bandwidth become limited (inefficiency)• Implement without a plan (unexpected costs)• Omit training and support (user errors, delay)• Lack of replacement parts (downtime, costs)


Spending too little: A Story

A small retailer purchased a new system to tie sales

into inventory.



They “saved” by doing it all with existing staff



Six months after cut-over, they continue to struggle

with problems without achieving the anticipated

efficiencies20Technology Leveraging Cooperative;

www.tlccoop.org

Total Cost of Ownership

• Purchase Price• Maintenance, License and Use Fees• Installation and Configuration Costs• Break/Fix, Help Desk, Admin, Tech Support• Replacement parts • Supplies (paper, ink, tapes)• Employee training


How old is your equipment?

Technology ages more quickly than you think


In People Years?


Equipment too old? You spend more when you react to a problem

Downtime

Limited choices

Premiums


Re-acting: A Story

A small bank had a support contract coming due that they wanted to shop around, and an old system that needed

replacing.


Re-acting: A Story

They waited for a “good time” to do it.


Re-acting: A Story

It crashed


Re-acting: A Story

They Paid


Emergencies Cost More

• Downtime• No time to evaluate options• Premium to vendors for quick

response


Growth Planning

• Adding seats• Infrastructure limits• Bandwidth and capacity


Infrastructure Limits: A story

A small clinic has a five-year old phone system that can

handle up to 10 extensions. They are using all 10, and

hiring two new employees.


Infrastructure Limits: A story

Cost of new employees:2 additional PCs

2 additional sets of licenses$500/year office supplies

New phone system32Technology Leveraging Cooperative;

www.tlccoop.org

Research IT Options


Change is the only Constant

• Limited life span• Changing business needs• New options all the time• Ever-changing cost assessments


What’s Changing Out There?• Cheaper, faster connections• Cheaper storage• Social media• Free or inexpensive hosted apps• Complexity of user software• Operating systems (eg, Vista)• VOIP (internet phones); cellular networks• Collaboration tools and collaboration efforts• World-wide economy troubles


Identify Costs You can Reduce

• Unused equip/apps/services• Negotiate new phone bills• Investigate leasing, hosting• Consider switching to free apps• Negotiate office supplies deals


Analyze Options

• Leasing vs Buying• Hosted vs Served• Served vs Desktop Loaded• Freeware vs Microsoft• Digital vs Analog• Contract vs Staff


Create IT Plan and Budget


Monthly Budget


Upcoming Events:

• Telephones: March 27, Chamber• New Tools: April 23, Troy nonprofit seminar• Project costs: April 24, Chamber• Social media: May 29, Chamber


Technology Leveraging Cooperative

• Save on office supplies• Save on technology• Help assessing/planning your IT budget


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