At CeeLab we are passionate about the IT tools that are necessary for modern business. In this article we discuss strategies that apply across the business landscape from FTSE 100s to SMEs to sole-traders, you should always remember 'if you are not using modern IT tools to run your business, your competitor probably is'.
In this article we refer to larger organizations, but the scalability of the technologies allows sole-traders and SMEs, with an ambition to grow, to get onto the technology now so that they can embed best practices from the very beginning.
If you’re running an IT organisation, you’re probably on the lookout for ways to lower operating costs, but keeping pace with today’s volatile and ultra-competitive business landscape demands an IT strategy that drives speed and agility, while not breaking the bank.
According to a survey by Tech Pro Research (TPR)1, IT budgets for over half of respondents will climb as high as half a million dollars, while 38 % expect to have over $1 million budgets. This trend will undoubtedly put further scrutiny on spending. The great news is that by taking advantage of the right technologies, you can be in a great position to reduce costs, better manage changing conditions, and increase efficiencies enterprise-wide. In this article we focus on: embracing cloud technology, consolidating on a few platforms and having an end-user training strategy.
EMBRACING CLOUD TECHNOLOGY
With the maturing of cloud-based solutions, there’s a big opportunity for IT organizations/managers/champions to holistically determine how to best leverage the latest cloud technology. According to Forbes, by 2018, the typical IT department will have the minority of their apps and platforms (40%) residing in on-premise systems. At this point, the cloud should be mandatory for not only transforming IT, but providing improved business agility and economic growth. Cloud-based alternatives exist to support greater stability, function, and agility while keeping up with the increasing flow of data and minimizing risk. A survey a recent survey at CeeCloud client showed that they were using a cloud solution in just about every function of their business:
- Communications - CeeCloud Virtual Meeting Rooms and CeeCloud Video Conferencing
- Financials - Quickbooks and online banking
- Operations, and RD - Dropbox for Business, Toggl for timesheets, Zoho Project Management
- Sales - Sales meetings hosted in the cloud via CeeCloud Virtual Meeting Rooms
- Manufacturing - CeeCloud Virtual Meeting Rooms, Zoho
FOCUS ON CONSOLIDATION
Historically, IT services, software, and equipment were purchased over a period of time, sometimes with little foresight into how they would eventually work together. For instance, video conferencing equipment such as cameras, microphones, and codecs for video conferencing were frequently purchased sporadically and worked differently from room to room, even within the same building. The result was an inconsistent and poor user experiences. This inconsistency bred confusion, costed time, and often resulted in expensive video/audio equipment collecting dust. For example at CeeLab we have focused on consolidation, by combining a business's historical audio, video, and screen sharing technology into a single platform. The CeeCloud technology consolidates legacy web conferencing systems. Beyond collaboration features, makes a CeeCloud system compatible with PCs, Macs, mobile devices and room systems, and also supports centralised IT management for measuring effectiveness and efficiency. By cultivating an easier, more consistent user experience the CeeLab consolidation strategy has reduced the IT troubleshooting and increased collaboration enterprise-wide.
TRAINING END-USERS
Regardless of what equipment or software you have, the full value of your investment won’t be realized if users aren't regularly engaged. Though organizations are willing to invest in new tools, they may not be taking the steps to promote user adoption. Moreover, if you’re attempting to replace or consolidate other solutions, employees may revert back to using the old solution simply because it is familiar, even it if it is less efficient. Coordinating a user training strategy makes new technology deployments most cost-effective. According to change management firm, Prosci, these training initiatives are 6 times more likely to succeed when a strong change management plan is part of the deployment process. As part of the adoption strategy applied by CeeLab, our customer success teams partner with IT departments to strategise and implement plans for end-user engagement. Such partnerships organise the planning and streamline the roll out process, ensuring users receive specialized training suited for their unique environment.
THE TAKEAWAY
With such widespread innovation and support at their fingertips, IT leaders have a significant opportunity to reduce costs and optimize budgets, whilst re-shaping their IT architecture and gaining a competitive advantage. For organizations that want to control costs and reposition themselves for growth are: embracing the cloud, consolidating their IT stack and ensuring proper change management plans are in place.
Visit us and learn how CeeLab can consolidate your audio, video and screen sharing tools into a unified, easy to use platform.