Datasouth

Can information technology really save us from the recession?

Wednesday, 29 April 2009

We have all heard it many times before. The promise of new information technology investment providing productivity gains, delivering that competitive edge we have been seeking, and increasing our bottom line profits.

All too often the promises of such claims have missed their mark, with the return on investment being substantially lower than budgeted. When you consider some of the everyday tools that information technology has provided us with to drive employee productivity such as email and internet, the results have at times been unspectacular or at worst the complete opposite than what was promised.

For example email was promised to make it simpler and easier for us to stay in contact with our colleagues, suppliers, and clients. In many cases this was achieved, but it also provided the opportunity for our computers to become infected with email borne viruses, which over the years has resulted in massive amounts of lost productivity and increased IT support requirements.

And what about the internet? The digital platform designed to share information, support on-line business to business transactions, connect our remote workers to corporate resources, and now social networking and consumer trading. What volume of productivity do our businesses lose as employees check the status of their bids on eBay or TradeMe, or post their latest photos and status updates on Facebook?

In fact when you look at just these two examples, IT must have one of the worst reputations for over promising and under delivering. Therefore in the current economic climate, it would seem that anyone that would suggest that IT might be the business saviour of the recession must be severely deluded.

Well possibly not.

In the current period of economic uncertainty, the key question every business is asking is; how can they lower their operating costs, drive their business forward, and survive the current economic climate until the better times arrive again.

The standard response to this question has been to slash expenditure budgets and review head count with a view to downsizing employee numbers through natural attrition or redundancy. But what about the gaps left as companies downsize their human capital or don’t invest in the new projects. The results of these actions can potentially be more damaging long term as the business is not prepared for the future economic recovery and as such is left behind by its competition when the better times arrive.

The answer may lay in improving the utilisation of existing technology assets. In a vast number of situations, companies have invested large sums of capital in new technology projects only to use a subset of the available functionality delivered. In such cases, the initial requirements of the project are provided and therefore there is no impetus to continue to deploy the remaining functionality that may provide business improvement opportunities in other parts of the business. The real return on investment therefore is never truly realised.

And what about the situation where new technology functionality is required, however no capital expenditure budget is available for the project. The traditional methods of technology deployment no longer hold true in the current economic environment. There is a real requirement to be able to access technology services on demand and only pay for these services as utilised. With the development of broadband services in both Australia and New Zealand, there is a real opportunity for services that would traditionally be hosted on company premise to be deployed in the cloud. For example platforms that support email and CRM services may be more suited to deployment in the cloud with a resulting reduced or nil capital expenditure and lower operating cost structure.

Over the coming months, organisations must be looking to their information technology platforms to improve productivity and offer automation within their business, whether this is via automated workflow's, improved collaboration, or better analytical and reporting business systems.

Datasouth can assist by providing a review of your information technology platforms and the effective use of these technology assets.

Datasouth specialises in the provision of technology solutions that assists organisations in enhancing their business by improved information flow and productivity. As an organisation that has been providing advice to government and corporate clients for over fifteen years, we can advise, design and implement solutions that truly provide a competitive edge and reduced cost structures.

To better understand how we may help you to drive your business forward, please contact Datasouth to discuss your specific requirements.