In a world fully controlled by the global online marketplace, how do we avoid bad tech decisions capable of wiping our businesses off the map?
There should be no question that the digital world can make your business the best it can be. There should also be no question about how a bad tech decision could make or break your business.
Table of Contents
Identifying Bad Tech Decisions
How can you tell a good decision in a firm with no IT department, from a bad one? If you are an SME owner that doesn’t have a big enough firm to need a full time IT department of your own, then who can advise you so that you can avoid those bad decisions?
We would advise that you engage these three protocols when it comes to acquiring new tech for your small or medium company.
1 – Is it Productive?
Will the new tech purchase speed up production in your office? Is it going to slow it down? Some systems are so technical that they cause more problems than they are worth. You should seek help from an IT consultant if you are uncertain.
2 – Is it Necessary?
Will this new purchase speed up your work, or will your business fall apart without it? For example, if you don’t update your Word subscription, you will end up with slower computers across the board. On the other hand, refusing to install a new way of storing analytical data that means closing all servers for two weeks to install it? That’s not such a necessary move.
3 – Is it Affordable?
Look at how much it costs then compare this figure to your annual tech budget. Can you afford it? If the answer is no, then this protocol trumps the previous two. You shouldn’t buy something you can’t afford… it’s bad business sense.
Preventative Measures for Bad Tech Decisions
If it’s too late for you to apply the three protocols above, then you can still do some damage control. There are lots of ways you can minimise the hit if you move fast enough.
Staff Training
Remote staff team training could help you to mitigate the damage. If the problem with the new tech is that nobody knows how to work it, then some training courses could fix that issue easily. On the other hand, if your new tech has short circuited every office computer in the whole building and subsequently lost all your consumer data, then that’s a different matter.
Engage Security Measures
If your new software doesn’t work well, the least you can do is look after the safety of the data within. Look into backing it up or even off-site storage. You should also learn more about the importance of online security to your firm for future reference.
Don’t be Talked into things
Our last – but our best – piece of advice is that you don’t pay any attention to the salespeople who are paid to try to talk you into upgrading your tech. Take a barebones approach that focuses on only using what you need, and you ought to be able to prevent yourself from falling for bad IT decisions that may otherwise have ruined your firm.
