Technology Management for Business Owners: Part I

INTRODUCTION
Our world is business – Business Technology, that is. Business Technology is entirely (or, almost entirely) different than Consumer Technology. In our world, boring is good. Simple, normal, “Industry Standard” is the ideal. Stability is king. Speed and performance are good, and widgets, bells and whistles are fun – but here, consistency and dependability are the most important components of our clients networks.

As Technology consultants, we come in contact with a dizzying array of systems and products in the course of serving our client base. Even though we are a relatively young company, our clients span a wide range of technology – from Novell GroupWise on legacy 90’s era Compaq hardware, to industry specific ERP systems on IBM AIX and DB2, or HP Unix and internally developed (as well as other Unix variants), to various more modern Linux flavors (such as CentOS, Ubuntu, and more), as well as the whole range of Microsoft products and technologies (from the moderately old Windows 2000 to the latest Windows 2012 R2). We like to think we’ve seen a little bit of everything.

BACKGROUND
At home it’s all nice and good to have the latest, fastest, flashiest gadget or system. At home even I enjoy the new Operating System, the new tablet or smart watch or smart refrigerator (what does that even mean?) Consumers delight in (and in fact, drive innovation towards) new version of software, hardware, gadgets and systems of every type. Consumers are drawn to the latest greatest like bees to honey. But at the office?

At the office it’s different. I’m not talking around the corner at Starbucks or across town at Best Buy (where young minds soak up change like sunlight, or consumers consistently flock to the latest craze) – I’m talking about at the plant, in the shop, on the production floor, or on the sales floor. In these places the latest greatest tends to distract. New technology means new expenses. It (tends to) means new problems, new systems to learn, new trainings to host (or attend), and new glitches to interrupt production and distract from the real business of Business (whether that’s making towels, designing buildings, selling widgets, crunching numbers, or whatever it may be for your business).

THE PARADOX:
As Technology Managers supporting our customers’ networks, and (especially) as we relate to and interact with Business Owners, IT Managers and business decision makers, we find ourselves constantly confronted with an complicated paradox.

In our world where new versions and new systems are available every year (or even every few months), how does a Business (where stability is the goal and change is a monster) balance the needs of Operational Stability with issues like Regulatory Compliance and Data Security, within the constraints of ever tightening Operations Budgets?

THE ANSWER:
Like any complex problem, the answers aren’t universal. Each business (and business owner) will define it’s business priorities, acceptable levels of risk, and (of course) budgetary constraints differently – and all of these factors affect the answers.

But let me take them time in this multi-part series to share with you some practical advise from my perspective as both a Business Owner AND an IT Consultant. I’d like to share a few case studies and practical examples from our experience. I don’t expect to be able to make decisions for you, but I DO hope to be able to give you the tools you need to make informed decisions.

After all, whether you like it or not, Information Technology has assumed a central role in your business. Technology has sucked us in and changed our way of life (or way of business). It’s a brave new world, entirely different from business of 20 years ago. It’s a world where keyboards have replaced pens, email has replaced both Fax and Letters, and marvels such as iPads and Excel Spreadsheets have created new possibilities that didn’t even exist before.

In such a world, the game has changed. And it’s important that we (as Business Owner and decision makers) open our eyes and realize what all that change entails.

Stay tuned as we explore the right, wrong, and many in between ways to manage your crucial Business Systems!