You want to buy an alarm but not monitor it?

Ok, so you own a business and you probably own it because you want to pay for your biggest asset, your home.  I assume you have a nice home and you would like to protect it.  So what do you do? You buy an alarm.  But why are you wiring your house and buying an alarm and you don't want to monitor it?  Does not make sense.

Many businesses nowadays make that mistake with their technology.  They want to buy the self-heling tools, the managed anti-virus but not have anyone overlook it.  On a previous blog, I wrote about getting an oil change for you car for maintenance and don't wait for something to break before doing something about it.  This goes hand in hand. http://it-hostage.blogspot.com/2013/03/a-little-bit-of-maintenance-goes-long.html

Part of making the maintenance procedure for your consultant is having things monitored.  Being a consultant and keeping the overhead low means a lower price for the customers.  If a consultant has a constant idea of what is going on with your technology, then things will be easier to fix, IF THEY BREAK.   What I have seen recently is a drop in support calls and downtime because the network is constantly monitored.  Less support calls = less downtime = less catastrophy.

If your company is not monitored and you have not had a consultant in there for a while, a big problem can turn into a bigger problem, more than you think.  http://it-hostage.blogspot.com/2013/03/dig-yourself-out-of-that-hole.html

Having your company on a monthly plan and monitored will cost you less than a full time employee or having someone come and "just fix" the issues.  Remember, downtime costs you money!

Up next:  Why use the cloud?

How much do you spend on your consultant?

This is a great question and I will try to be as unbiased as possible.

The real question is, how much is your company and data worth?

To start, you have to have someone you trust or someone highly recommended.  Don't be afraid to check references before using someone.  Pricing may vary per project or if it is hourly.

If you are an under 15 people company, you can probably get away with the "one man show" consultant.  He/She will still have plenty of time to focus on your work.  If you are over 15, you may want to look into a company that offers support and maintenance.  If you are over 25, you definitely will need someone part time or have a full-time support/monitoring company.

A good starting point is $125 per hour.  Some may be lower some may be higher, it really depends what you need.

Home:  Probably more around $100 per hour is fair.  Remember, the consultant will have to travel to your location.  Some will charge a trip charge and a 1 hour minimum.  At the end of the day, this turns out to be $50 per hour.  More than fair for someone that can help you figure out what you cannot figure out.

Office: $125 per hour plus a trip charge.  Just as mentioned, this guy or girl may have to travel to your location.  They also have to pay additional liability insurance per month.  There are a lot of great consultants out there for a reasonable price.

Always remember, how much is your data worth? Remember, with maintenance comes less support and that equals less down time.

Coming up next:  You want to pay for an alarm but not the monitoring?

Are you the representation of your storefront?

Here I am posting from my favorite cafe.  A cafe that has helped me get to where I am now.  I've closed a lot of deals in this cafe.  I have written a lot of proposals from this cafe.  This cafe is important to me because it represents me on how I do some of my business.  This cafe is a reflection of me and my personality.  People buy because of the product I represent not necessarily because I am a good sales person.

What does your storefront look like?  Does it look like a highschool student did it for a project on version 1 of Frontpage?  If you answered yes for all these questions then your site probably needs a complete overhaul.   An average person will take almost 8 seconds to decide wether they will continue to browse your site or leave.  Location Location Location!  You are on the Internet, your location is visible to the whole world so give the world your best!

Remember, your storefront represents you.  If you are a 1 million dollar a year company, why don't you have better representation?  With a better site, you can probably be double that because then others look at your site more closely.  Remember, an average person will take almost 8 seconds to decide wether they will continue to browse your site or leave.

The first question is always how much will it be?  Is it going to be expensive?  The answer is no.  It does not have to be.  The least amount it would cost is about $250 and you will have to do the majority of the work.  You can always hire someone and pay anywhere from $1000 to $1000000 depending on what work you want done.

How do you get a professional site for $250?  Hire a webguy and pick out a template with him, preferably Wordpress.  The consultant will load the template to your current space/domain and it will be up to you to add the pictures and copy.

If you did not want to do the work yourself, you can still pick a template and have the consultant do the work for you.  You can typically get a good quality 4 - 5 page website for $1000.  Note that this will be very basic but professional.

If you are a $250,000 company, are you only going to invest $1000 for a website?  No, you want to attract new business, use this as a marketing platform too!  Look at me, look how awesome I am!  Remember, an average person will take almost 8 seconds to decide wether they will continue to browse your site or leave.

Next up:  How much do you depend on your consultant?

Standardizing your hardware and software

     What is standardization? Well it is what is says, you set a standard; a standard of what your hardware should be.  Why should you do this and what will it do for your company?

    For starters, it will make it easier to manage your computers.  All the hardware will be the same and the configurations will be the same as well.  With all your computers the same, there is no guessing game if a part goes bad.  Companies also avoid compatibility issues between hardware and software.  This makes it easier

     For example, if you had all HP desktops and a part goes bad, you have one point of contact and tell them what is going on with your computer.  Most major brands will offer onsite install while the part is drop shipped or you can have your IT guy install it when the part gets in.  Get an account manager with  one of those companies or a company like CDW.  When a client needed something, I call Stefanie at CDW and tell her to drop ship a part or computer for a certain company, CDW calls the company with the total and the company pays for it.  Once the company receives the part or hardware, my point of contact will call me and I just go and install.  It saves time and money.

     It is also easier to inventory when you have a group of computers.  I'm not saying be married to one brand.  If you want, do it by tens.  Ten of the same computers at a time.  You can vary them.  For example, I like HP desktops and Lenovo laptops.  Each brand has their own advantages.

     One thing I try to express to new clients is that if they will use me as a consultant, I ask them to make it easier for them and for myself when they buy the next rotation of computers.  Once they do this, it is smooth sailing.

Next up:  How does your storefront look?

A little bit of maintenance goes a long way

So here I sit at the DMV waiting to renew my license and I get to blog on my iPhone.  Isn't technology amazing?

A lot of small companies lose productivity because they wait for things to break rather than maintain.  I really do not understand this. You do not wait for your car to break before you get an oil change, you maintain your car.  You check the oil, change it, check the tires and fluids.  Your car is an asset just as your computers for your companies are assets.  You need your car to get to work, you cannot work without a computer.  Why would you wait for your computer to break and have downtime?  How much an hour are you costing your company when something is down vs. what you would pay to keep it up?  It is miniscule.  If you are a 3.5 million dollar company and you don't have a technical person, you probably have issues you don't even know about and it may present bigger issues in the future that will cost your company more money.  Little nagging issues turn into big ones.  You can get all the tools I mention on this blog plus 10 hours of service a month for about $15,000 a year.  Isn't that worth it to keep the flow of your company?  How much do you lose for downtime?  Note it cost even less than that for smaller companies and you will get seasoned techs.

The best companies and consultants are the ones you pay and you never see.  Your computers are always working and you never see the guy but once a month.  Well, thats because he looked after your system!  There are so many utilities that companies can use these days.  Did you know there are managed anti-virus?  The anti-virus will send messages to a tech and they login to your computer and fix the issue before you even see it.  There are also self healing tools that consultants can load into your computer that monitors the temperature of your computer and also does diagnostics.  Did you know that if you hard-drive is spinning faster than normal, it's probably about to die.  How do you know if it is faster than normal?  Well there are agents that will alert techs of companies so that you don't have to be faced with the critical issues.  You are the expert of your company, hire an expert for your technology.

Some would say that my blog is a propaganda for tech companies... DUH, it is.  But choose one that is dependable.  There are so many tools out there that  a consultant will provide you and will not break the bank.  Don't wait for your stuff to break down, the money your are saving is probably costing you more from the productivity standpoint.

Next UP :  Standardizing and why you should do it...

Dig yourself out of that hole

So you find yourself in a hole. A big one...

1.  You have a growing business but your technology is outdated and is slowing you down.

While you are still a growing business, it is very wise to upgrade your technology without being "Mr. Moneybags."  You don;t have to spend a huge amount to upgrade to another system.  This also depends if you are a one man show or a shop with 5 to 10 people.

Let's take the 5 to 10 people scenario.  At 5 to 10 people, you cannot be careless in technology spending but you know it will make you more efficient.  How do you do it and base it on your cash flow, you don't really want to come out of pocket with a huge amount of money but you don't want to strap yourself by opening another credit card and be left with outdated equipment in 3 to 4 years.

Consider a lease with a company like Lenovo, Dell or HP.  I'm more partial to Lenovo if laptops or HP if desktops.  A lease will let you have low monthly payments and you can give back the computers when you are done with it and you will always have the most updated workstations every 3 to 4 years.

Who is going to set it up?  Your trusty consultant or consulting company.  These guys have the most efficient way to set up your systems.  For 10 users, you are probably looking at 2 days which will cost anywhere from $1600 to $2000.  Thats a small price to pay to move forward.  Please note that the more data the consultant has to move, the more time it will take.

Also look into your Internet Service Provider for service.  While you are paying X amount of dollars for an email host or hosted Exchange, some ISPs will give you email addresses bundled into your product.  It's just a little bit of work to save some money.


Up Next... A little bit of Maintenance = More Productivity

Find the right I.T. Guy

     A lot of successful businesses has either the right I.T. Guy or they hate who they have and are afraid of that person.  They are also afraid to trust someone else.  The best I.T. guy to hire is the one that is referred by a friend that owns a company.  Someone that is happy with their I.T. Guy.  This recommendation goes a long way.  If one small business is happy with their guy, why shouldn't you give this guy a try?

     Also do your research.  It's not that you can't hire a stranger but do some research on the qualifications of that person.  You can call references.  Does that person have a website?  Does he have a document with a list of skills?  Do your research!

     There have been many times where I have gotten a fresh client and they were constantly looking over my shoulder to see what I was doing.  I didn't mind it at all.  I was happy to show them what I was doing and explain to them what I was doing as I was going along.  I was earning their trust.  They learned that I had to dig for information before I can fix the issue.  I also explained to them that based on the information I found, I would have to do a project plan so I can be as efficient as possible and get them where they need to be.  A good I.T. guy will present the client the next steps so the client can be comfortable and that person will be the most efficient and not kill the client with a huge bill.

Up Next....  How to dig out of a hole.

Introduction

About 14 years ago my boss and I were talking about technology and where we thought it was and where it is headed.  He mentioned to me that he has always wanted to write a book called I.T.Hostage.  I don't really remember him telling me the topic but I would like to give him credit for the title of my blog.  His name is Todd and his website is www.creativewarehouse.com (shameless plug)  Check him out.

To me, I.T. Hostage is the title itself.  Many small companies become trapped by 2 things:

1.  The Consultant or the I.T. guy-  This guy is doing all the work for the company, charging them an arm and a leg but is not providing the company detailed information of exactly what he/she is doing.  This person disappears one day or gets a job and the company cannot reach the person to get information about their system/network.  The person may have done a great job but the company is later left in the dust.

2.  The Big Company- There are other small firms that cannot afford a full-time I.T. person or a consultant.  So they rely on the big guys.  For example, Dell.  Now I'm not saying Dell is a bad company because I don't, I think they have done some great things for the technology industry to advance it to where we are.  But the representatives that companies talk to oversell what the customer needs.  I can't tell you how many companies I have walked into with a Windows Small Business Server that is running Active Directory and Exchange.   Here are the pitfalls of that...

          A.  Who will support that?  This company did not have any money for full-time support in the first place but you sell them a product that normally needs a full-time administrator?  An admin that normally costs at least 50k a year if you are lucky.

          B.  Should this product break down and an I.T. person had to be called, Where is the documentation for the person to know where to even start?   Where are the passwords?  A good I.T. person always emails the usernames and passwords for anything that he installs.  possibly start a "Tech Bible" for that company.  More money spent on just figuring out where the company stands much less try to fix it.

I will keep writing this blog as long as I am getting followers.  Future blogs will include tips on how to go about managing the technology in your small business.  I will also reveal some of the pitfalls of technologies and how to avoid them.  Stay tuned, I have more to come.