"Fat" companies been gorging on technology fruitcake for too long

As I interact with small business owners on a technical level, I am learning something awful that most business owners do not like to hear: they are "technologically fat." They are fat because they have been gorging on technology fruitcake for years simply because they like the way it tasted and made

Technologically fat companies will not survive. Why? They will keep spending hordes of money on things that tempt them and have no place in the strategy of their company, thus leaving less money for product development, etc. If you want to survive, you need to be fit. Fit companies have more energy, think clearer, and are more agile and flexible when they need to be. Fat companies are not. Tough words? You bet.

Don't get me wrong. We have made great progress technically in the last several years. But, just because we have progressed technically, does not mean that you ought to go out and eat everything up simply because it tastes good. All technical decisions and purchases need to be made in light of a business need.

2002 should be the year that companies set out to transform their bodies and become "strategically fit". I'd like to suggest three things to help you get started on your transformational challenge: 1) Document where you are, 2) assess your needs and requirements and, 3) set goals.

Document where you are

Essentially, you are weighing yourself and getting your body fat checked. This will involve gathering some key people within your organization that will document your current technological status. It is critical that you do this before you begin looking at needs and goals. You have to know what you have in place already.

* What type of network do we have and why?

* What hardware do we have and why?

* What software do we have and why?

* How are we connected to the internet? Speed? Your ISP? Costs?

* What is our firewall protection status

* What is our virus protection status

* Do we have a process in place for backing, up and restoring data? What are the implica tions of that?

* Diagram of our network

* Are there outside dependencies on our data?

* Do we have any remote employees? How do they get to our data?

* How are we communicating with your vendors (electronically, paper, etc).

Assess Your Needs and Requirements

Based on your assessment from above, begin to develop some needs that you are already aware of, or that came out of the above process.

* Are there outside entities (customers, vendors, etc) pressuring you to do something technically? Why? What is it going to take to meet that requirement? Do we have what we need already? Will it help us lower our cost of doing business?

* Our network is wide-open to the internet. We need to protect our internal data. Do we have any spare computers on site that we can use as a firewall? What is the cost of it?

* What does it cost us to update and distribute hard copies of employee documentation (handbook, w-2 forms, health insurance booklets, directories, etc). Can we lower that cost by making the same data available on an internal website?

* We need to manage cash flow better. Does our software and bank support online-bill paying. This allows us to specify the date we want a check delivered and still get our cash discount. Does our current software support sending invoices electronically?

* Is there data on our system that our customers continually ask for? Do we have everything in place to offer that data to the customer via a private area on our website?

* Can we lower our cost of web and email hosting? We have a highspeed connection to the internet. Can we utilize that? Do we have the hardware and software already in place to support it?

* Are there reports that we can gather from our database that will help us make better decisions, prevent future errors, etc?

Setting Goals

Pick two to three needs from the above list that will give you the most impact and you already have most, or all, of the infrastructure to support. Flesh out the goal, with costs, resources, responsibilities, and dates. Here are some sample goals:

* Lower our internal cost of distribution by publishing everything electronically (internal website). We will work with existing providers to get softcopies of all material (either .pdf, .html, or Word documents). Scott will be responsible for overseeing this effort.

* Protect our network by installing a firewall. We will use John's old 750mhz PC and purchase the firewall software from XYZ Company. Susan will be responsible.

These are just a couple of things to help you get started in transforming your company from being "technologically fat" to "strategically fit".