IT in the downturn

In the current climate, what’s the right approach to IT for a small business or charity? Cut costs and don’t invest? Or take advantage of discounts and spend now to be ready for the upturn? Train staff to be more effective with the IT already in place?

Depending on circumstances, any of these might be appropriate for an organisation. However, many of these approaches seem to assume that the answer is just to cut every possible cost or to defer all expenditure. It’s very understandable that a business owner or charity chief executive would want to retain their staff rather than make them redundant in favour of spending money on technology. But even when the stakes are as high as that, it can be worth looking at how the business could improve how it does things, for example, by doing some affordable training during a slack time.

The smart thing to do during a downturn is to check out how well or badly your IT is supporting what you’re trying to achieve. Could it be done more cheaply? Could you change the way you work to be able to exploit more of the IT you already have? Could training motivate your staff and make them more effective in how they use IT? Would introducing new technology cut your costs of operation or enable you to attract more donors or help you to sell more?

Obviously IT consultants like Clearsight Consulting love to offer their services to help with such a review. Even if they then recommend that you don’t spend money on IT or training, you will have paid them for their consultancy! And it’s true that it is often beneficial to have an external and independent view of your organisation and its IT. However, there are also ways to avoid spending money on consultants…

For charities, there are IT volunteers such as those registered with www.it4communities.org.uk. Indeed during a downturn there may be rather more volunteers available! For both businesses and charities, if they are fortunate enough to employ an IT manager, it may be possible to “swop” the services of their own IT person with their counterpart in another organisation with whom they are associated, in order to gain that external view. Or you may find that consultants would be willing to do a certain amount of pro bono work, in return for a case study, testimonial or reference.

The key is not to make assumptions about cost-cutting, but to examine your IT as you would any other asset or expenditure to make sure it is paying its way and being fully exploited.