A Few Ways to Get the Most Out of Your Investment in Technology
I once visited with an elderly neighbor, who grew up during the Great Depression, about taking care of the things which we own and how doing so ensures the maximum life, quality and value of it. In listening to his experience having to work very hard to earn what he has, and how taking care of that makes all the difference, it becomes evident how as much as we apply this to our personal lives, this applies at the business level.
Businesses work hard to earn the means it has to make necessary purchases and investments, and this is necessary for growth and continued operation. With a common philosophy of do more with less, employers and their employees often get tasked with figuring out how they can get the most value out of products and services, and to look for more efficient ways to operate.
The investment of resources and money into technology products, services, and solutions fits the bill of a necessity for business operations today, and just as the building and facilities need maintaining so do these investments in technology. Here are a few ways to get the most out of your investment in technology.
- Purchase and negotiate service contracts for your equipment, particularly mission critical items in the data center (server room), such as Air Conditioner Units, UPS, and Generators. For servers, workstations and laptops, consider buying the premium warranties so that even after that first year of manufacturer warranty has passed they are covered.
- If you do not have local IT support staff in a remote location, consider using a qualified service provider as needed. It may be more cost effective in the long run to enter into a maintenance agreement with this service provider to have them help you be proactive rather than reactive in these remote locations.
- Keep an up-to-date inventory of your business technology assets. Although this can be easy to sluff off, or ignore, doing so may put you in a situation where you don’t have a good understanding of what kind of an investment you have already made, and to help do cost analysis in future purchases. Don’t forget the importance of this for business continuity and disaster recovery plans as well! Many service providers, when engaged, can assist with this.
Following these basic principles should assist in maximizing the investment you have made, and increase the availability of your technology infrastructure to continue to keep business alive and flourishing.
(Photo credit: zen)
