Investing in your IT sister can be improve productivity, open up new markets and even enable entirely new lines of products and services for your business. You should identify your business requirements clearly, I ensure that your IT system you buy meets them. You will need to make sure that any separate IT purchases are compatible and they will support the software you need. Remember both hardware and software will eventually become acts of date and need replacement or upgrading. This guide will explore the types of hardware and software available, and different ways of acquiring it. It will also help you decide what would be the most appropriate to meet your business needs.
The Benefits Of An It Strategy
To obtain the greatest benefits from investments in IT, it is important that all of your purchases work together. For example, if you purchase application software that must share data with other applications, you must ensure that they use a common data format and that they can run on your choice of hardware and operating systems. If you buy incompatible systems, they will require a lot of duplicated management time and effort.
An IT strategy will help you to avoid acquiring incompatible systems. You can develop a simple IT strategy by following this guidelines:
- Start with your business look ahead about 5 years and make a list of the current and future lines of business that you will pursue.
- For each of these lines of business, decide what type of IT systems you think you will need to support them, and when you need them.
- Work out how many people and PCs will be needed to support the business, and which systems they will use.
- Consider how your business will be organized geographically over this period of time – will everyone be in the same office? Will you have mobile workers who need to keep in touch?
- Decide the type of ‘IT platform ‘ you will use. For example, decide whether desktop users will use PCs or Macintosh, and which operating system they should have, e.g. Windows are Linux.
- Decide on a preferred operating system for the server computers that form the hub of your network.
- Write out your IT strategy as an outline project plan including plan purchases an implementations covering a set period – typically five years. This period is usually chosen to match your business plan.
Types Of Acquisition
There are several ways of obtaining IT products and services for you to consider. It is unusual to purchase software outright.
- Software is usually licensed- you buy the right to use a package but you don’t own it. The software comes with a license that you purchase, which defines that you can and can’t do. Typical PC software comes with an end user license agreement (EULA) which is effectively accept when you install the software. You may need to buy separate licenses for each user within the business for some types of software. The other cases, one license might cover all the employees in the business. Check the license conditions carefully.
- Hardware can be purchased outright- This means that it belongs to your business and you can freely sell it on if you wish. But you can’t usually sell the software that might have come with it. This is because you don’t own the software, and the license normally has restrictions on passing it on to other persons.
- Hardware can also be leased- The leasing company owns the hardware and you pay to lease it. The lease will place restrictions on the disposal of the hardware and you will usually have to return the hardware at the end of the lease rather than selling it on. The leasing company will require that the equipment is kept in reasonable order.
- Hardware can be rented- This is usually if you need some equipment for a limited period of time. The rental company will charge for this period and deliver and pick up the hardware at the end of the rental period. You can easily specify that hardware that you need in some detail. The system software you require we often be pre-installed. Typically, you rent hardware for a shorter time. Than you would lease it and the contract is quite different. Accounting practices may also differ.
Hardware Acquisition
Your IT strategy should define the generic type of hardware that your business needs, and a timetable for its acquisition. Consider upgrade costs, warranties, what level of supports you want and the maintenance contract with your supplier. These will affect pricing and ongoing costs.
- You can acquire hardware in a number of different ways- for example by buying, leasing or renting it. Many small businesses buy their desktop and server hardware outright.
- You can buy hardware directly from the original manufacturer, usually via the website or over the telephone, or through a retail channel. The direct route can be cost-effective for a small number of PCs at a time.
- To get the best from this route you must have a clearly defined specification for your needs. Choose a standard offering that is close to, but better equipped, than minimum requirements. You can upgrade memory, for example, letter on if you need it.
- Another option is to hire a consultant to help you refine your requirements, place your ‘shopping list’with several different suppliers and see what sort of deals you are offered.
- You can also buy printers directly from the manufacturer, but consider The likely running costs before choosing a particular type.
- Ink-jet printers are often priced cheaply, but the ink cartridges are expensive and may have to be replaced often. It may be better to purchase a more expensive laser-based printer and share it between the staff using your network. The lower running costs will quickly cover the additional capital cost if you choose color a lot.
- As well as PCs, servers and printers, you will need network infrastructure- such as network switches and all the wiring needed to connect equipment. You can obtain this type of hardware from the most of the Major catalog based IT vendors who carry a large range of network equipment.
- It is important to balance how much you spend on infrastructure and how much on PCs. Make short include this to your IT strategy and plan any network upgrades so that they are implemented at the right time, not in a piecemeal fashion.
Software Acquisition – Types of Software
There are different types of software to consider when making acquisition. System software provides the framework for you to choose a computer, but does not directly deliver any business functionality. Examples of systems software are the operating system- e.g. Windows or Linux – and database management systems used to handle large amounts of data. System software is license and is rarely tailored for any particular business. Application software is designed to support a particular business function- an application. Most application software is designed to meet a generic set of business requirements that we suit a very large number of business customers. An application package such as this can be marketed at a fairly low price because the cost of development can be spread over the entire customer base. Applications that are built to suit a small number of customers you will be very much more expensive.
There are three types of applications software:
- Off-the-shelf package- designed to suit an extremely large customer base. This can be sold online or through retail outlets without any direct contact between the software developer and the customer. This business user has no inputs into the functionality of the package.
- Bespoke software applications- designed to meet the needs of a single customer. The software developer builds an application that meets the need of the customer as defined in a specification. In this way the customer can obtain exactly the system that they need. This approach has no economies of scale and may be risky. Small businesses rarely commission bespoke software applications.
- Tailored appointment software- has a standard base package, but you can commission changes to the functionality of the package to make it more suitable for your need. Search changes will be carried out by the original software developer or a third party.
Software Acquisition – Understand Requirements
When you decide to acquire a software application package, list of requirements, e.g. the ability to keep track of VAT, to help you select the best choice. The amount of time to spend on gathering this requirements depends on the type of software you intend to acquire:
- Off-the-shelf ‘office’ package- a detailed state of requirements is probably not useful in this case. Your choice may be limited to selecting a package that is compatible with your existing software, partners, suppliers etc.
- A more business oriented package such as payroll or accounts system- a state of requirements is very useful in this case to help you choose between different suppliers packages.
- A bespoke application- a full, structured set of requirements is essential this case and you will probably need professional help to produce them.
- When producing requirements document, it is useful to concentrate initially on what is required in the application not how this will be accomplished. This is particularly important if you are considering a bespoke or tailored application. This type of functional requirements describes the things that you need the application to do, express in business terms.
- Non-functional requirements describe things that are important but do not relate directly to the business functions that the package must perform. Examples include the performance required- happy play the package must carry out some functions- a full description of everything you plan to buy- and send it to several suppliers in order to get a like for like price comparison.