5 Common Mistakes That Negatively Impact Technology

I was recently asked by a new prospect what I thought were some of the most important things to keep in mind when dealing with technology for a small business. Immediately, my mind went into a flurry of thoughts - from backup to security to over extending life-cycles to under-funding to over-simplifying requirements.

I was a whirling dervish before I sat down and documented all of my concerns. So far I've come up with a list of 5 "mistakes" negatively impact technology that we see over and over again when we take on a new client. 

Having a "Set it and Forget it" Mentality

This is probably the most common mistake small businesses make with their technology and probably one of the hardest habits to break. Make no mistake about it: hardware and software require routine and regular maintenance. Without it, it's only a matter of time before something bad will happen.

Unfortunately, too often small business owners bring their consumer mind-set when viewing their technology. Because most small businesses start out as a one or two person shop, they're still carrying around the mentality of a single, home user. Unfortunately, it's hard to shed this mentality as the business grows and the complexity of the technology grows with it.

As a consumer, they've been sold all along that their computing needs are the same as the cell phones they carry in their pockets. Nothing could be further from the truth. Every large business knows this. Unfortunately, it usually takes a serious blow to their systems before it trickles down to the small business owner.

Think of your IT infrastructure as you would your car. If you forget to put oil in it or keep up the regular service, your engine will die. Servers, workstations, and related software applications need continual care and maintenance so that they can perform at optimal levels. Similar to a car, the more time and energy you spend in caring for your systems, the better they will perform and the longer they will last. This has been proven time and time again. Unfortunately, until a painful lesson teaches them otherwise, too many small business owners are penny-wise and pound-foolish when it comes to their IT.

Using Consumer Grade Equipment to Run Business Class Tasks

We see this mistake in way too many new prospects (and some clients too!). Maybe that's why they're calling us in? While they're trying to save money by using inappropriate or outdated levels of a particular technology solution, they end up costing themselves more in the long run.

For example, as I discussed in my previous blog, everything requires ongoing maintenance and administration - so there are always related costs to anything you implement. This (ongoing maintenance and administration) is one of the most significant components of TCO (Total Cost of Ownership). Again, being penny-wise and pound-foolish means doing something like buying a firewall from Fry's that's meant for your home rather than something that could handle the amount of traffic and protect your business.

These things increase your exposure to viruses, malware, and hacks - let alone the increased cost to administer, let alone diminished performance. Then you invariably get the question as to "why is our internet so slow?" Could be that the firewall that you're running 25 users is actually only capable of handling 2 home users!

So, rather than replace the firewall, the business owner will spend more than they need to for their internet connection. The same thing can be said over and over again when it comes to servers, backup solutions, workstations, and the like.

Over the length of it's life, "cheaper" components break down sooner, cause more problems for your IT support staff, and perform significantly worse - which means more cost to you. Unfortunately, these are the sorts of "hidden costs" that don't get connected when the owner only sees the cost of the hardware when he's writing the check.

Now don't get me wrong - I'm not saying everyone needs a Cadillac when an Acura or a Toyota would do. But, I can tell you too many companies rely on technology that's closer to a Schwinn than anything near what it should be. This costs them more than they care to know and it's only a matter of time before it comes back to bite them.

Going Cheap (or You Get What You Pay For)

This mistake is one of the hardest for some clients to get past. Some don't get past it until they get burned by it themselves, while others may never get past it. I'm a big believer in "you get what you pay for" and this turns out to be no truer than when spending on technology. 

I've seen it happen way too many times - clients with the best of intentions trying to save money only to end up spending more (and sometimes way more) in the long run. Whether it's for hardware, software, or services cutting corners is NEVER the way to save money in the long run.

Almost every time a client tries to take a shortcut, it comes back to bite them. Rather than pay to extend a server warranty (which may turn out to be like $150 / year), a client ends up scrambling to replace the hardware when it fails paying more for the replacement parts, taking longer to get the parts in, and costing them thousands in downtime and lost productivity.

Trying to save money by not keeping systems patched and up-to-date results in workstations laced with viruses which end up costing exponentially more to fix.

Working with a lower end company because their rates are $10 less an hour but end up spending more time to fix problems results in higher support fees. Reducing service fees by utilizing a "do it yourself" mentality, only delays the pain - and usually turns out to be (significantly) more costly cleaning up what wasn't done right in the first place.

Now don't get me wrong - I’m not saying that everyone should spend without any concern for cost. This would be ludicrous. We all have budgets to work with and to make any business profitable we always need to control costs. However, I am saying that going cheap clearly costs you more in the long run. There's no doubt. We've seen it way too many times for it just to be anecdotal evidence.

Again, you get what you pay for. If you go cheap, there's no question that it's only a matter of time till you feel the pain.

Overextending the Technology Lifecycle

This one actually ties in quite nicely to Mistake #3 (Going Cheap), although it may be the chicken and the egg syndrome - not sure which comes first. Are you going cheap because you're overextending the lifecycle of your technology or are you overextending the lifecycle of your technology because you're going cheap?

Because many businesses tend to "go cheap", their first inclination is the old adage, "if it ain't broke, don't fix it". With technology this actually turns out be a more costly approach.

I'm big on analogies and I think all too often too many people think that technology is like operating a car. If you're driving along and it stops working, you simply pull over to the side of the road like you ran out of gas. No big deal. But really, technology is actually more like flying an airplane. You simply can't afford to run out of gas - it's life threatening.

While I get that server crashes, data breeches, and downtime certainly aren't exactly life threatening situations (for the most part), they could actually be very threatening to the life of one's business. It's been said that 50% of businesses who suffer a significant data loss are out of business within a year. Way too often we've seen clients pushing the envelope on how long they keep technology in production (see my blog post on the Really, Really story). These are usually NOT the Best in Class performers in their industries.

There's a reason why Dell warranties servers for only 3 years out of the chute. They know their own failure rates. Beyond the cost of dealing with picking up the pieces after a crisis, most of these companies don't realize (or want to even consider) the performance gains by replacing 3 and 4 year old equipment. Because technology continues to improve exponentially, 3 to 4 years is an eternity in performance gains.

Just because something's "still working" doesn't necessarily mean it's as effective or productive as it could be - which actually decreases staff productivity. Increasing the performance of a staff member by 5% by upgrading their workstation can bring about a 200% return on investment in a year. Unfortunately, most business owners don't factor in the hidden costs into the equation as much as they should.

The most effective businesses leveraging technology these days ALWAYS have a proactive approach to their technology. And overextending the technology lifecycle is NOT a proactive approach.

Like I said, you can view technology as though it's like a car or like a plane. It's your choice. Just make sure you pack a big enough parachute if you choose to fly without being prepared.

Using Un(der) Qualified People for IT Service

While on the surface having a friend, neighbor, relative, or someone at work in charge of your IT may not seem like that bad of a move, I would think only when it comes to dog walking would you think this is ok in any other aspect of your life.

Imagine having your nephew who's "really good" at math do your tax returns for you. Or imagine having your butcher giving you a second opinion (or a first for that matter!) on the best way to remove your gall bladder (remember, he's really good with knives). Or imagine bringing your mini-van in to your local bike shop to fix your brakes (they're just brakes, how hard should it be?).

All of these scenarios may seem far fetched, but in reality the comparison's not that far off from your nephew building your website, your receptionist installing your ERP system, or your office administrator being "responsible" for patching and upgrading your workstations and servers. Assuming someone is capable of such responsibility just because they can download and install software is a bad move.

An under-qualified person is never a good move both in the short term or the long term. Certainly they're not qualified to give IT advice.

A good IT person is always trained, certified, and experienced enough to work within the complexities of a business IT environment. The fact is while technology is sold over and over again by the big boys (Microsoft, Dell, Cisco, HP, etc.) as being easy and no different from a home appliance, in a business setting it's really so much more.

Businesses who use under-qualified people for their IT a) sometimes don't really know they are and/or b) are thinking they're saving money by doing this. In actuality, this couldn't be further from the truth. Because they've fallen into this trap, most small businesses who do this actually end up spending more money just to correct the mistakes of this approach.

Every "best in class" business I've ever seen or heard of takes their technology seriously, allocates appropriate resources to it (ie: quality and quantity), and invests in the long term. Rich people get rich by investing - not cutting corners. The same is true when running your IT. Cutting corners will always cost you more in the long run and take you to places you really don't want to be. And having under-qualified people providing your IT service is one of the fastest ways of getting there. And as they say, "Don't go there".