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Blog posts tagged IT suppliers
Your IT check-up: five things to review every year
January 29, 2013
Does your IT have a strong heartbeat? (Image: Flickr user Lars P.)
The start of the year is a perfect time to review some crucial aspects of your company's IT systems and services. You can make sure everything's running smoothly and be confident you're all set for the year ahead.
You might even save your company some cash too.
1. Review your internet service provider
Broadband connections have changed a lot in the last 12 months. Faster fibre optic services are sweeping the country, and if you've not evaluated internet providers for a year or two then there's a good chance you could get a significantly faster connection at a competitive price.
If you're out of contract but are happy with your current service, give your provider a call anyway. You may be able to negotiate a discount if you sign up for a fixed term.
2. Review your web hosting
Think about how your web hosting has performed over the last year. Have you suffered any outages? Are you happy with the level of support you've received?
Check how close you're coming to your hosting provider's storage and download limits. It's usually easier to upgrade your package in advance, rather than waiting till you hit capacity.
3. Review your IT support
Hopefully you have a great working relationship with an IT support firm you trust implicitly. But even so, it's a good idea to review your contract with them.
Is the level of cover still suitable for your company's needs? Have you invested in any new equipment or services that aren't covered? (In particular, think about any cloud computing services you might have started using recently.)
4. Review your IT inventory
Now is a great time to make sure you have an accurate record of all the IT hardware and software in your business. Use a service like Spiceworks (available free) to generate an inventory automatically.
You may uncover underused hardware, or identify gaps in your provision that could be filled by a 'bring your own device' scheme.
5. Review your telephone system
Does your company still have a bunch of physical landlines running into its premises, and an old-fashioned switchboard on site? If so, switching to a system which routes your calls over the internet could save you a bundle. Learn more about internet telephony >>
In any case, you may want to consider whether unified communications can help you deliver better service and stay in touch more effectively.
Now you can get hardware as a service too
December 17, 2012
Hardware as a service - just pay for what you use? (Image: William Clifford on Flickr)
The term software as a service (SaaS) is often used to describe cloud computing, where you pay a monthly charge to use software instead of making a one-off purchase. Businesses commonly use software as a service for things like business accounting and customer relationship management.
Now news has reached us that IT support firm Inbay has decided to offer hardware as a service (HaaS). The company claims it will free businesses from the burden of capital investment in IT by wrapping hardware, software, labour and support into a monthly fee-based package.
Everything by the month
In short, you can pay by the month for virtually all your business IT. This model could be particularly attractive to companies which need new IT equipment but can't afford to invest a lump sum. It also shifts more of your IT costs into your operating expenses, which - for most businesses - are wholly tax deductable.
One monthly payment, all your IT sorted. Sounds good, right?
Well, there are some possible drawbacks, the most significant of which is the potential for loss of control. With a single IT supplier to deal with, you always know exactly who to call when you need help or something goes wrong. But you also have to place complete faith in them.
You don't own anything
What's more, hardware as a service raises the prospect that your business could own virtually none of its IT. Effectively, you rent your computers, servers and other equipment. Perfectly fine, as long as you keep up the payments. But what happens if your IT supplier runs into difficulties of its own?
Hardware as a service is certainly worthy of consideration if your business is considering an investment in new IT. But as with any other big purchasing decision, take your time evaluating different options and find a supplier you're comfortable working with.
John McGarvey is editor of the IT Donut
To learn more about hardware as a service, you can download a free white paper from Inbay.
Where to find IT freelancers
June 24, 2011
Maybe not the best place to find freelancers (Image: lhourahane on Flickr)
I recently wrote on the Start up Donut about the rise of the IT contractor and how it can turbo-charge your business.
The reaction to the post was interesting. I had a number of people contacting me via Twitter, both to agree and strongly disagree with my point of view.
The most interesting comments were from people who are considering moving into the contract world, which surprised me. It seems 2011 really is the year of the self-employed. However, based on those comments it's clear moving into the freelance world isn't quite as easy as it seems.
Someone who has just made the move tells me the key is organisation and learning the difficult skill of keeping existing customers happy while lining up new projects. It's a balancing act that many get wrong, leading to feast or famine scenarios which are both stressful.
So what tools are available to help businesses which are looking for help with an IT project connect with suitable freelancers? In my original post I mentioned Freelancer.com as a great place for businesses and freelancers to connect, but there are others I’ve tried:
- Elance
The site is tailored to both businesses and contractors in equal measure. The main plus point for me is that it includes a great project management area that really helps ensure good communication. - 99 Designs
I used this site recently for some graphical work. It allows business owners to run competitions for projects, such as designing a new logo. On my particular project I had 67 entries, all to a high standard. - oDesk
I really like oDesk and for short term contracts I think it makes a lot of sense. Its approach is simple: it takes a 10% cut of all payments going through the system and gives business owners and contractors a powerful marketplace and application to use as they see fit.
As someone who has hired multiple freelancers, the first piece of advice for anyone in the freelance world is to remember why you made the move. 99% of the time it’s to focus on something you're either highly skilled in, or passionate about. However, setting up and running your own business often requires you to do a fair amount of the mundane, creating business processes and doing admin.
The good news is IT can really solve this riddle. There are a number of tools and services available online that can take the pressure off. I’ll go into those in my next blog. Meanwhile, if you have some favourite sites to find work or hire good techies, then let us all know in the comments.
Ben Dyer is the Director of product development at SellerDeck
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