Your business IT and what you choose to invest in can make or break your company. Before you put your hard-earned money on the line, there are a few things every business should think about.
Because positive change is not guaranteed. If you want to create the growth and productivity-enhancing digital transformation that good IT can deliver, you need to be sure you’re going to get a good return on your investment.
This means your new technology needs to be relevant to your clients, empowering for your team, and much more besides:
Things to consider before you choose business technology to invest in
1) Planning
In their eagerness to jump on the latest technology trend, many businesses end up overlooking the basic impact of the adoption of new systems on their operations.
For example, looking for ways to incorporate AI into your processes might be all the rage right now. But what good will it actually do your business?
This means effective planning, answering key questions like:
- What do you actually want your technology to do?
- How is it going to improve your productivity?
- What business problem do you want it to solve? What goals will it help you achieve?
- How are you going to deploy it and measure its impact?
- Where will it fit in among your existing systems and processes?
2) People
It’s no good investing in the most effective technology if you don’t take the time to train your team in how it works.
Part of this is securing employee buy-in. Making sure your team knows how to exploit all the advantages your new technology offers is one thing. But ensuring they understand why it is going to benefit them directly and why they need to engage with it properly is just as important.
Many businesses flounder when new IT systems are introduced without securing staff buy-in. Hold-out team members try to use old systems, damaging the improved productivity new systems deliver.
There is also the question of implementation. Do you have an in-house IT department? If so, do they have the expertise necessary to implement the new systems fully, safely, and effectively?
3) Planet
ESG (Environmental, Social, and Governance) concerns have rightly taken their place at the forefront of the business decision-making process in recent years. At Dial A Geek, we’re confident they’re here to stay – and written about why we think that’s a good thing.
Not only are a firm’s ESG qualities an important consumer decision-making factor and recruitment talent draw, more and more businesses are also viewing them as key to an effective “triple bottom line” of people, planet, and profit.
This makes one of the key considerations before you invest in new business technology how those new systems will affect the planet and the people living on it:
- How to responsibly dispose of any e-waste created by instituting new systems
- Considering the full environmental impact of new systems
- Envisioning any problems or changes new systems might create for your team (the economic challenge of forcing them to invest in office equipment to work from home, for example)
4) Protection
Introducing new technology without considering how it will integrate with your existing systems is an easy way to create gaps in your cybersecurity protections.
Having your Managed Service Provider or in-house IT department conduct a full and proper assessment of this is vital.
Countless businesses leave themselves open to data breaches every year because their new and old technologies haven’t been fitted together properly.
5) Profit
Though there are many other important considerations, for most businesses the question of whether or not they should invest in new technology is how it will affect their profit margin.
There’s a reason why productivity-enhancing tools like Microsoft 365 and Google Workspace have such high adoption rates. But whatever business IT you’re considering investing in, it’s worth assessing how it will affect your (triple) bottom line before you plan its implementation.
Want to make sure you’ve considered every issue before you invest in your business tech?
Let’s chat! Nearly 1000 businesses in Bristol and around the UK have trusted Dial A Geek with their business IT.
Set up a cost and commitment-free consult with Chief Geek Gildas Jones and let’s see how we can help you grow your business.