[BreachExchange] Could You Survive a Digital Disaster? Why Every Small Business Needs an IT Road Map

[Audrey McNeil]

https://www.allbusiness.com/survive-digital-disaster-
every-small-business-needs-it-road-map-113286-1.html

Most companies will focus on their sales, marketing, and balance sheets,
but forget the infrastructure that keeps the operations running—and that
oversight can get expensive quickly.

When the worst happens and you’re faced with hardware failures, after-hours
IT support, system upgrades, vendor audits, or recoveries from hacking and
viruses, it’s no wonder that the average IT outage costs $5,600 per minute;
for larger companies, this can mean losing up to half a million dollars
every hour. Even after the outage is fixed, the hidden costs of distracted
employees—who can take more than 20 minutes to refocus—continue to add up.

Including an IT road map in your business plans can certainly help minimize
the impact of worst-case scenarios. More importantly, though, it’ll prepare
you for the necessary updates and maintenance that can prevent those
scenarios from happening.

Why companies don’t prioritize IT

IT is one department where “If it’s not broken, don’t fix it” just doesn’t
work. Unfortunately, that adage is pervasive in business. We frequently
have to tell clients that their critical hardware is out of warranty. They
insist that it still works and that because they have their data backed
up—which, given the lags between backups, is often incomplete
anyway—there’s no reason to spend money on upgrades.

This shortsighted approach assumes that an unplanned outage only and
temporarily results in data loss, and that’s simply not the case. Having to
replace the hardware can come with a number of problems that reach beyond
data. If the hardware isn’t stocked locally, a business could be down for
an extended period; if the hardware does happen to be in stock, the price
for it could be significantly higher than it needs to be. Add up the
emergency labor costs and lost time, and you’re suddenly negotiating a
business disaster.

Technology, unlike dreams, can’t operate on hope, so neither should your
strategic decisions about it. IT planning and upgrading takes
commitment—from the process itself to the initial application to efficient
implementation. Always being “too busy” to use a new and more productive
tool in business is akin to pulling a cart with square wheels when someone
is trying to show you round ones.

Building your IT road map

The more your company grows, the more comprehensive your IT budget becomes.
Whether you plan to launch a new e-commerce website or invest in new
computers, an IT road map can help you achieve your goals by anticipating
your needs. It will also allow you to understand the scope of your risk
exposure and increase your business’s efficiency.

Follow these tips to create a strong and dynamic IT road map:

1. Understand your history

Review the last year of your IT activity and your relationships with any
vendors. The more you can understand about your past, the better you can
prepare for your future.

This review should focus on two factors: processes (what you did and why)
and finances (how much it cost). For the processes, consider whether you
had any problems, what kinds of services you received, what you loved
versus what caused you stress, and which needs your current solution didn’t
meet.

For the finances, put all of your IT expenses into a spreadsheet to see
which are constant and which are not. This information will help you
project costs for the next year and delete any unnecessary services. Make
sure, too, that you set aside a budget for crisis response, which can be
based on previous experiences. Never assume your IT will function perfectly
all year.

2. Separate needs from wants

You may want to shower your staff members with iPads and smartphones, but
unless their current tools aren’t cutting it, that money could be better
spent.

Often, boring investments—like replacing a four-year-old server—pay big
dividends in peace of mind, even if they don’t get everyone excited.
Consider moving your data to the cloud to reduce server costs and free up
money for more proactive projects. And while you should always prioritize
maintenance in your budget, exploring new business processes and
opportunities for growth is essential.

3. Measure the ROI

After you’ve analyzed your past expenses and separated your tech needs and
wants, figure out which investments on your list are paying off and which
are sunk costs.

IT investments—such as faster hardware that improves employee productivity
or a streamlined online experience that attracts more customers—can be hard
to measure. If you can’t quantify a specific application, make a note of it
anyway. In this way, you’ll have a concrete measure of the diversity of
your expenses and be able to assess their importance to your business. Most
importantly, don’t automatically balk at high upfront expenses—some IT
investments appear pricey, but will save you money over time.

4. Anticipate future upgrades

As you prepare for the future, consider when you will need upgrades and
plan for them. Some question you should ask when doing so are: How old is
the equipment? How often do after-hours emergencies happen? Would changing
the provider agreement save the company money? A good provider should help
you evaluate your current position and work with you to create a plan that
manageably distributes costs without putting you at undue risk.

5. Manage changes

Once you determine the changes that need to be applied to your current IT
structure and outlook, you need to strategize methods for implementing them.

Some people are inherently skeptical of change, and few, if any, want to
take time away from their regular duties to upgrade systems. Framing your
changes as investments by demonstrating their value to the business and to
your team’s work will foster this transition and help keep your team
excited about the long-term possibilities of the upgrade. Additionally,
never underestimate the importance of buy-in from your team on software
choices, especially when those choices will affect how they perform.

Don’t let unexpected IT issues grind your operations to a halt. Building a
comprehensive road map will not only bolster your company’s infrastructure,
but it will also mitigate your worries. A little planning really does go a
long way.
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