With the end of the first quarter in sight and with economic indicators continuing to look positive, businesses may finally be ready to pull the trigger and replace their worn business technology equipment. Regardless of whether you are looking to move your business computing to the Cloud or to upgrade your computers, servers, smart phones or any other equipment, before taking the plunge I recommend that you follow the tips below.

• Understand the technology requirements of your business. Talk with your employees and develop a list of needs they have for any equipment you are considering.
• Check with all the members of your team and other colleagues to see what kind of technology they are using.
• Think about hiring a consultant to advise you on a short term basis on what might be the best fit for your business.
• Carefully research the technology you are considering. Invest some time reading reviews by analysts and professional reviewers such as CNET, PC Magazine, Small Business Computing, eWeek and Consumer Reports.
• Remember the cheapest solution may not be the best fit. If you are planning on keeping your technology for three years or more, make sure you opt for the “best solution” for your needs. Determine what your new equipment will be worth in three to five years.
• Make sure you understand the projected life span of the equipment you are considering. This will not only help you plan for the future but might also help you decide on how to finance the equipment.
• Choose your equipment vendor wisely. With all the easy comparison shopping that is available online, make sure to compare costs and warranties across multiple vendors. You don’t want to pay too much, and neither does your financier.
• Consider grouping multiple items together for the best financing deal.
• Understand Section 179 benefits. Section 179 allows businesses to deduct the cost of qualifying businesses equipment placed in service in 2012 up to $125,000. Unless Congress acts, the deduction will drop significantly to just $25,000 in 2013.
• Carefully investigate your financing options. To learn more about equipment leasing and its benefits, you can read my post “10 Leasing Tips Every New Business and Start-up Should Know.”

In my opinion, technology is the driving force behind the burgeoning small business market. Technology levels the playing field and allows small businesses to do business anywhere in the world from anywhere they choose. As technology continues to advance, small companies are enjoying the benefits of increased productivity and profitability.

Every small business owner needs to embrace technology in every aspect of their business, from things such as accounting and data management to marketing and sales support. If you aren’t familiar with all the technology-based tools available for your business, then I recommend working with an IT consultant who can help you select appropriate hardware and software to fit your business needs.   Don’t get caught up in the sizzle.  Always find solutions that work for you.

Here are few recommendations to help you make smart technology choices.

*Create a Technology Vision.  You need a technology plan for your business, and a professional consultant can help you develop that. A technology plan prevents you from making the mistake of jumping from one system or application to another, which isn’t time-efficient and can be costly. A technology vision helps make choices that will be appropriate for your business now, and will also grow with your business.

*Buy the Best Fit.  Small business owners often get caught up in the glitzy aspects of technologies, and as a result, they buy more than they need. Purchasing the latest and greatest not only results in unused capacity but also the technology investment may wind up not getting used at all because it is too complicated. So make a list of what your business needs are and make an investment in technology that satisfies those needs.

*Establish a Budget.  Just as with any other area of your business, you need to establish a technology budget. An IT professional can help you determine the appropriate amount you should allocate in order to meet your objectives. Without an established budget, you may find yourself our of funds before you’ve been able to purchase everything you need.

*Get Training.  Technology isn’t worth a dime if you don’t use it. Invest in the proper training for you and your team. Often the vendor will offer to train you for no additional cost. Take advantage of this opportunity and carve the time out of your schedule so you can utilize your investment. Remember, the technology is there to help you become more productivity and profitable.

For those of us who deal with words and publishing, it’s always exciting to see a new technology come on the scene offering to make our jobs a little easier or more efficient. But caveat emptor. (Or is it caveat receptor when it’s free?)

As some of you know, our in-house business planning expert, Tim Berry, is a rather prolific video speaker, with recorded seminars, webinars, and commentary all available online. In an effort to make Tim’s advice more accessible, over the past year we’ve been adding closed captioning to many of his videos. We tried Captiontube, Overstream, and even (the easiest of all) simply transcribing them as .txt files and letting YouTube figure out the timing. It actually did quite a good job.

So you can imagine how pleased we were to hear that YouTube was releasing the ‘Auto caption’ feature to the public, which would use Google’s speech recognition software to automatically transcribe uploaded videos. It sounded too good to be true…

and it was.

A reminder that while new technological advances can be great, if they say it’s beta… well, it’s probably beta.
—————————————————————–
Just for fun, here’s what else YouTube thought Tim had to say:

“This particular sample fails forecast…”
(we usually call it a sales forecast, but this may be more accurate)

“I’ve got the NBA”
(That would certainly help your investors’ NPV)

“helped to keep your wrinkles strategy”
(ah, yes, it’s all about saving face)

and the first one that had us literally laughing out loud, as Tim tried to advise on metrics that are actually measurable:

“make it all miserable”

Sara Prentice Manela
Editor
Palo Alto Software, Inc.

Technology and its Effect on our Lives and Business

I remember reading a book when I was young which made an attempt to predict the future and how we would be living today. Most of the changes had to do with technology–specifically along the lines of a popular TV show from the 1960s, The Jetsons. I remember the large picture telephones in one of the illustrations that were predicted to be in everyone’s home. And of course there were the gadgets and vehicles that were going to make our lives more convenient and enjoyable. While some of the things were a little “off” (don’t know if we’ll ever live in sky apartments; is it really necessary?), for the most part the representations have become a reality. And I must tell you, most of the developments that I see are pretty wonderful.

I think for most of us, technology is still a bit of a shady character that few want to fully embrace. Books, movies, and TV shows have mostly depicted technology and the future as a cold, soulless world. Some movies even depict the future as a world where technology “takes over” and enslaves the population in some manner. These dystopias do nothing to communicate all the good that technology provides. Technological advances in communication today allow us to connect with virtually anyone in the world instantaneously. For many of us, there is a negative knee-jerk reaction which comes with that. After all, who really wants to hear from that third-grade classmate? My belief is that the good far outweighs the bad.

In spite of our ambivalence, technology and improved communication trudges on. The Pew Research Center says that 74% of American adults now surf the Internet (do I really need to remind you of the ever-increasing Internet usage statistics?). People of all age groups, income ranges and education levels are shedding the fear of “Big Brother” and plugging in. And the prediction for the future–more of the same.

I had the opportunity to speak to a local engineering association. In the audience was an engineer who openly scoffed at the idea of using online sites to communicate and market his services. He knew of the massive number of people who had accepted the Internet as a way to get information quickly and to communicate; yet because of his skepticism, or fear, he has effectively rejected technology (If you can’t see the irony of an engineer rejecting technology, then I haven’t explained it right). But I don’t think he’s alone in his rejection. I think we all continue to hold technology at arm’s length.

Perhaps the best thing to do is to position technology in our lives as a partner rather than a rival–something that makes us more productive, while at the same time allows us to maintain a level of privacy. My guess is that social media sites will continue trying to give you a tremendous level of communication when you want it while shielding you from unwanted contact… in a sense keeping the good and shedding the bad. We’ll see. But in spite of the positioning, technology and improved communication march on, making inroads into every area of our lives. While I’d prefer that you welcome it and make it a partner in your life rather than have it forced upon you (see engineer…what are his options?), technology and improved communication will continue to become a bigger part of our lives.

I’m still amazed by the number of businesses that are “unplugged” today. Granted, I can understand the need for privacy on a personal level, but gaining clients has to do with visibility and promotion. Over time, it’s my estimation that businesses will simply have to plug in to compete. Having a website will be a starting point, along with a business license. Letting others know what you do in mass (social media, etc), will be a routine marketing activity. And the companies that will be the most successful are the ones who harness technology the most effectively.

How is your business, technology-wise? Are you online? Do you have a website? Maintain a blog? Use online advertising? Are you plugged in to the social media world? Have you integrated your offline marketing with online marketing? With all the numbers of people jumping online looking for products and services, is it time to set your business up so that they can find you easily? With the enhanced privacy features of a lot of online tools, is it time to jump on in? I think so…the water’s great!

Scott Campbell is the President of Impact Marketing, a results-oriented marketing coaching/consulting firm. They focus on helping small business grow using repeatable marketing processes…using mainly online tactics such as website development, search engine optimization, and social media. Their website is located at www.impactyourcompany.com

It is easy to become enamored with new technology. But, new does not always mean better. Here is the link to a short piece from the Tonight Show with Jay Leno. In this 2005 show Leno arranges a speed contest between two different technologies which both use hand-operated key devices to send digitally-formatted text information via wireless broadcast signals.

The video has been posted on YouTube and other sites for several years, and the quality is rather poor, but then, maybe that ties in with my premise as well.
Click here to see the clip on YouTube.

In this technology test the team using the 170-year-old 19th-century Morse code system was faster than the 21st-century cellphone text messaging team, to the astonishment of the the cellphone team and the audience.

The point is, Beware! Implementing a new technology, a new system, or new gizmos may be cool, but it may not improve your operation nor your bottom line.

Steve Lange
Senior Editor
Palo Alto Software