Get what you deserve

Organisations more often than not end up with the IT system they deserve, not necessarily what they purchased. Read our expert advice to getting the best from your investments.

It is 20 years since the PC revolution, and in that time the UK's SMEs have had to embrace IT.

Yet few fully understand the role that technology can play in delivering business objectives and beating the competition.

Instead, technology is often viewed as a grudge purchase, and real commitment to exploiting the investment to the full is, in many cases, lacking.

Look around. Is this you? Do you have expensive software boxed up and unused on your shelves? Are you still handling dispatch manually and failing to update the system?

Have you spent 18 months and tens of thousands of pounds implementing a new system that just replicates the old?

And how many staff, fed up with upheaval and lack of information, have you lost in the process?

Yet the steps required to maximise the investment are far from rocket science:

• Don't buy technology, buy a business solution. This means identifying the business objectives and budget clearly.
• Value partnership. Assess the technical skills in your company then partner with an organisation with complementary expertise.

An IT provider must understand your business dynamics to generate benefits from technology investment.

• Kit and caboodle. Return on investment can hinge on the decision to buy not just kit but caboodle, too. This means everything from training to project management.

For an extra 10 per cent you can get a smooth implementation, manage the cultural change and keep the project on track.

• No 'big bangs'. Any organisation with limited IT resources will be tempted to have periodic technology overhauls, using a variety of suppliers.

However, such a big bang approach makes it difficult to keep the focus on the core business, let alone achieve a successful, integrated IT implementation.

Addressing small key areas monthly will achieve far more, with less disruption, than an annual approach.

• High expectations. There is no getting away from it - in the 21st century new business strategies are underpinned by technology.

It is time to throw away 20 years of cynicism, mis-buying and lacklustre approaches to implementation, and positively embrace the quantifiable benefits appropriate technology can bring.

Always remember, organisations usually end up with the IT system they deserve, not necessarily what they purchased.

Roger Fleury is director of CPiO.