Choosing the Right Business Technology Solutions

Published on: January 30th, 2014

Are your business technology solutions aligned with the larger goals of your business? Unfortunately, for many businesses, the answer is no.

In large corporations, it’s not uncommon for technology departments to have their own budgets, goals, and agendas. When technology decisions are made independently from business decisions an unbridgeable gap can be created. This might sound like a problem specific to large corporations, but small businesses also experience the pitfalls between business plans and misaligned decisions about technology.  Don’t let this happen to you.

How to Choose Business Technology Solutions

When it comes to choosing business technology solutions, here are a few suggestions:

• The Horse Still Goes in Front of the Cart

  Don’t let a new technology drive your work process. Remember, it works the other way around. Sometimes it makes more sense to re-vamp your work processes before selecting and investing in the appropriate business technology solutions. Applying new technology to an outmoded work process doesn’t make sense.  The objective of your business technology solutions is to support your business strategy.

• Avoid Making Rush Decisions

  As always, time is of the essence and once a problem has been identified everyone wants to see it fixed. Immediately! When making a major decision, such as selecting a new business technology solution, don’t rush into a decision. Don’t underestimate this decision, because it’s going to affect your business’ ability to succeed. Do your homework and seek guidance from a professional who isn’t invested in selling you a particular product.

• Choose a Scalable Solution

  You anticipate that your business will evolve over time, so select the technology that can grow with your business. Avoid scenarios where an entire system will be replaced or situations where new technology is bolted onto an older system. These strategies can be unnecessarily expensive or complicated. Select a scalable business technology solution that offers investment protection and flexibility at the same time.