Switchfast Blog - The Future of IT
Upgrading Obsolete Systems can Save Huge Amounts of Money, but Do Your Research First
Friday, November 13, 2009 by Michael Holley
2009 has been a very exciting year in the world of new software,
with most of the giant companies experiencing major releases and
innovations to the public (Windows 7, Snow Leopard, Google Wave, to
name a few). With Microsoft Office 2010 slated for late first
quarter 2010, the trend looks to be continuing into next year. But
with all these new productivity tools available, how do you know
which are worthwhile for your business?
As you may have guessed, the answer must be reached on a
case-by-case basis. There's no easy way to calculate your ROI once
and for all, but the potential benefits are well worth the
research. Take investment banking firm Morgan Keegan & Company
as an example: moving from Microsoft Exchange Server 2007 to
Exchange Server 2010 will save the Memphis-based firm about
$400,000 while quadrupling user inbox size from 500MB to 2 GB.
The bulk of the cost savings came from cheaper storage in Morgan
Keegan's instance, but cost savings can come from many other places
as well, such as productivity gains that come from reduced
downtime, streamlined processes, and increased morale.
Instead of calculating the potential ROI of each tool that comes
out, however, a more inductive approach is more efficient. The best
approach is to examine your business processes in detail, then look
for tools to solve the efficiency issues that you identify. It may
be best to hire a technology-oriented consulting firm to do this
evaluation for you, as their experience in technology will help
find the perfect solution, and sometimes it can be difficult to
spot inefficiencies if you're too close to the process
yourself.
With all of the numbers in front of you, the decision as to
which solutions are worthwhile will be easy to make. Some
implementations will make sense to do immediately, while others may
make more sense down the road. Use these as the bases of a long
term budget, or technology roadmap, so you can adequately plan for
expenses down the road, lessening the blow of large purchases as
you improve your profitability by providing the tools your business
needs to run at its optimal level.
Best,
Switchfast Technologies
Chicago IT Consulting
& Support
Rochester
IT Consulting & Support
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