It’s hard to believe any business nowadays not being computerized. After all, without a website or at least email, it would be invisible to the vast majority of the public. Even businesses that get their customers solely from referrals have to be able to communicate in a way that customers and prospects prefer.
Those of us old enough remember the switch to computers. It usually started with an accounting system, maybe BPI, Great Plains, Timberline or Accpac. The time spent on finance and accounting went down significantly as adding machine and ledger paper were replaced. Then came word processing and the days of carbon paper were gone. CAD/CAM drastically reduced time to design and reduced errors. Local area networks started becoming commonplace in even small offices and everyone had access to the data without having to wait for someone to get done with ‘the file.’
Back in the very late ‘70s to the early ‘90s, it was easy to justify the expense of computer technology. The benefits went almost immediately to the bottom line, expanding abilities and reducing labor costs. ‘Selling’ management or the owners on buying equipment and software was an easy task. Technology planning meant calling a rep, getting a quote and saying yea or nay, then starting the whole process again from scratch five to seven years later.
Some years ago, I had the opportunity to meet Dan Bricklin at an industry conference. You’ve probably never heard of him, but you certainly know the results of his invention, Visicalc. Yes, imagine a world before spreadsheets. The digital marriage of a sheet of ledger paper and a calculator was the brainchild of Mr. Bricklin. During his presentation, he was asked one of the best business questions I’ve ever heard at a tech event (tech events tend to be very techie rather than bottom-line oriented) “How did you arrive at a price of $499 for Visicalc?” He replied that those were the days of timeshare computing and that an hour of computer time was expensive. So, he calculated the average three-month cost for timeshare services then worked backwards, subtracting the cost of an Apple II computer, monitor, disk drive and printer. The result was a difference of about five hundred bucks, so $499 became Visicalc’s price.
Bricklin wanted the selling of Visicalc (and everything necessary to use it) to be a no-brainer. Why, after all, would any company want to pay to rent computer time when in just three months they could have their own system free and clear?
Nowadays it seems the benefits of newer technology are much harder to calculate. How much productivity does your business really gain if an older machine takes two more minutes to start up in the morning than a new one would, or printing takes an extra minute? Realistically, is your staff ready at the first minute of the workday or are they getting coffee, arranging their desk or hanging up their coat anyway?
The gains of new technology for businesses seem to have hit an inflection point. Now, it isn’t how much more you’ll gain as much as how much your business could lose by not keeping current. All those columns I’ve written about security, backup, and data loss might be coming to mind for you right now (at least I hope so). Downtime is an expense and a costly one. What price do you pay if a machine goes down and leaves an employee unproductive for a day? What if that machine is your server? Hard drives have finite life spans, so do cooling fans. They will eventually fail and that means your staff can’t get work done. Parts availability might become a problem with older systems. Even if the parts are available, how long to get them, have the repair completed, and the data restored? Time is money, after all. What’s your plan to deal with a failure?
Security also is a concern on older systems, as is compatibility with newer systems within your organization or those of your vendors, clients, and prospects. It’s hard to calculate the damage if your proposal looks like gibberish or is formatted wrong, because you were running a five-year-old version of Word or Acrobat, but it’s easy to calculate the loss if you miss a deadline because of system failure.
Businesses should have a written plan for a technology refresh. Some businesses can get by with a once-a-five-year refresh if their systems and internal procedures are very solid and scripted. Others, especially ones with more creative aspects such as design and architecture, need to replace machines along with each new version of their primary design software as each version adds new features and therefore requires more power from the hardware.
Even Internet access requires technology refreshes. How many of you have the same firewall from an old DSL connection running a newer cable or fiber line? If so, you are getting half of the speed you’re paying for because the firewall can’t scan the data at the speed of your line. Security improvements aside, a five year old firewall is a dinosaur and if not costing you money, is keeping you from getting what you’re paying for each month.
So, work with your tech provider, develop a plan and stick to it. If your technology people aren’t proactively working with you already in this regard, it’s probably time to find a new provider who can be a true partner for your business. A tech refresh plan will allow you to budget for necessary improvements and go a long way to keeping your company secure and up-to-date.
I welcome your questions or comments at businesstech@software-to-go.com
Joe Balsarotti, president of Software To Go, is a 36-year veteran of the computer industry, reaching back to the days of the Apple II. He served three terms as chairman of the National Federation of Independent Business’ (NFIB) Missouri Leadership Council, was chairman of the Clayton, Missouri, Merchant Association for a dozen years, chaired Region VII of the Federal Small Business Regulatory Fairness Board, and currently serves on the Dealer Advisory Panel of the ASCII Group, an organization of over 1000 independent computer and technology solution providers in North America.