The Contractor Movie Wiki
The Contractor Movie Wiki
Small Business IT – Doing More With Less in 2009 – Part I
Introduction
In Part I of this two part article I want to cover a number of areas where you can make adjustments in your companies IT operations in 2009. There is no doubt that 2009 is going to be a difficult year for business. You can go into the New Year with one of two mindsets; “We’re going to stay the course and hope for the best” or “We will look at this economy as an opportunity to reinvent ourselves into a lean, agile, flexible, competitor in our market.” My goal is to have you see 2009 as a time of opportunity to find ways of doing the same, or more, with less. Make 2009 the year you use IT to make your company become a lean, agile, market competitor.
How many users are you providing services for 2009? – It will be very important to closely work with executive management to estimate the services your IT department is going to provide in 2009. Avoid overreacting to the current economic downturn and arbitrarily reducing IT staff without serious consideration of the costs involved in hiring replacements later. Replacing experienced staff later costs more than having retained the original staff. Layoffs are a last resort. Use them sparingly.
What contingencies are there to fill in the gaps? – If you have already reduced your workforce and find you suddenly have skills gaps, one way is to fill in with contractors. Just be sure to manage them carefully and avoid situations where your contractor’s time gets misused. Make certain that everyone in your organization understands that contractors are there for specific purposes. Keep your contractors on task so they can get your work finished quickly otherwise the cost of a contractor can quickly surpass the salary and benefits of the original staff they are filling in for.
What initiatives and projects are you going forward with in 2009? – Consider your companies needs and think in terms of rapid deployment. Any initiative that takes more than a quarter may need to be re-evaluated and shelved until such time as your company’s economy allows for creating a long-term strategy again. Right now, the sooner you can get a project completed and into production, the sooner your company can take advantage of its benefits. 2009 is going to be about which company’s are ready to take advantage in their marketplace and whether your company will be ready to act when the time is right.
Dam Your Bandwidth – Make sure that your business comes first, ahead of providing access to streaming audio & video, online shopping, etc. In the past, I’ve had clients ask me to troubleshoot a “slow” network that was nothing more than excessive Internet traffic. In one case, there were 16 users with live NYSE steams, 12 more users trying to stream full length movies, and 3 online gamers, all pulling on a single T1. As difficult as it is to limit personal Internet access, reducing personal use to short periods of time after the production day is over is a reasonable solution.
How Flexible is your Network? – Now is also a good time to look at how flexible your network infrastructure is. It is always a good idea to have a migration plan ready that can handle issues like a change in ISP, the relocation of your headquarters, the addition of a satellite office, or the spin-off of a division. Stay ahead of the game by having basic contingency plans drafted well ahead of time. Keep the lines of communication with executive management wide open so you can anticipate changes and are prepared to quickly and professionally adapt in 2009.
Restock Your Website – Take advantage of the New Year by updating your companies website to show the world that your organization is going into 2009 with a fresh new look and a positive outlook. From then on, be sure to keep everything on your company website fresh and informative. Create new reasons for people to want to revisit your site often. Setup links to your industries latest developments or any other links that will bring your current and future customers back to your site to see what’s developing. Use the power of the press release to your advantage by announcing everything positive happening in your company. In 2009, you’re going to need to find new ways to keep your market focused on your business.
Wiki This and Wiki That – A Wiki, the Hawaiian word for “fast,” is a webpage that anyone with access can contribute content to. Wiki pages are written in simplified HTML or WikiText. Businesses of all sizes are using Wiki’s. Ward Cunningham, developer of the first wiki software, WikiWikiWeb, originally described Wiki as “the simplest online database that could possibly work.” Examples of its use include Intranets and knowledgebase’s. Setup Wikis on your company’s internal network and use them to encourage management, users, vendors, and even your customers. Make Wiki’s a means of collectively defining your company’s direction and progress to everyone within the organization. Use Wiki knowledge to put everyone on the same page.
Summary
In Part II I will explore areas in the data center where costs can be reduced and value added.
