Small Business: Hackers' Low-Hanging Fruit

Small and medium sized business owners often find themselves between a rock and a hard place:

They have confidential information such as customer information, financial and employee information on-site but lack the resources to understand and address the risk. As this article points out: "...more than 75 percent of companies with fewer than 1,000 computers have an IT staff of less than 10, and 61 percent say they have never sought information about how to protect employee or customer data." Scary.

To address the risks, there are affordable options. In fact, in the long run, these options are not only affordable but could provide long term advantages such as:

• IT cost predictability
• Less money spent on emergency recovery services after a breach occurs
• Competitive advantage vs. larger, more entrenched organizations

The answer lies in being able to augment your existing capabilities where it makes - and do so for a price that is affordable. There are numerous organizations in the Toronto market that can help. The key is to select an organization that is right for you. Some things to look for:

1. Do these providers have the tools, expertise and processes to help you with their specific challenges?
2. Do these organizations provide remote support capabilities? On-site service capabilities? Typically most I.T. challenges can be addressed remotely increasing response times and decreasing cost due to less time spent traveling.
3. Will these companies provide advice on strategic issues: How should I.T. dollars be spent to best support your business objectives? What are your business priorities?
4. Do these third parties have access to a variety of skill sets? If you choose to work with an independent, this person cannot possibly know everything there is to know about I.T. - do they have resources available to augment their skill sets when they need help?
   

Finding a partner to help your small/medium sized business support it's I.T. needs is not only a viable option but may be the best option. It alleviates the need to hire full time time staff, provide training and retraining, purchasing the tools needed to properly manage I.T. and invest in the management framework necessary to prevent problems from happening in the first place, responding to the problems that could not be prevented and planning for future business & I.T. priorities.

High Dollar May Hit Wages

This article, "High Dollar May Hit Wages" is geared mainly towards those in the manufacturing sector. It seem that the manufacturing sector continues to wrestle with the impact of an appreciating Canadian dollar by attempting to pass risk along to unionized employees. Seems that the push to increase productivity, reduce costs, address risk has never been higher.

IT managers may become 'directors of processes'

This article provides further evidence that business managers and owners are increasingly looking to IT Practitioners to deliver more than just technical services. The tides are changing, IT practitioners need to understand how technology supports and enhances business processes - and business objectives - in order to earn a spot within the IT organization, and the boardroom table.

http://www.itworldcanada.com/Pages/Docbase/ViewArticle.aspx?id=idgml-84388921-ea7d-4654&Portal=1fa35bf9-d296-4571-8fff-c665a851ec1d&sub=1517075

Work Force? What Work Force?

There has been significant press over the past few years about declining labour rates as a result of reduced fertility rates and an aging population in Canada. This article puts a pretty fine point on the extent of the issue and what we might expect in future.

The repercussions can be significant and affect many aspects of a companies ability to conduct business. From servicing customers, order entry to I.T. management - shortages can have major impacts. The business case to start thinking about this looms large:

1. What employee retention strategies are in place? Are there plans to change? This article provides an excellent overview what companies are and are not doing in regards to recruitment & retention strategies.
   
2. How do you plan on adapting recruitment practices to adjust to changing circumstances?
3. How does your organization plan on augmenting skills gaps where talent cannot be readily found?

Outsourcing is one major consideration that has received much attention over the years. Offloading "non-core" competencies sounds great in theory - but history has shown that outsourcing is fraught with peril if not approached pragmatically. Here are a couple of things to consider before deciding whether outsourcing is right for you:

1. Is the process under consideration for outsourcing easily extractable from the organization? An example of "easily extractable" is payroll processing.
2. Is your company experiencing a skills shortage now? Has this resulting in service deficiencies?
   
3. Is there a plan to better use internal resources to achieve business objectives?
4. Are current costs and service levels well understood?
5. Is there an opportunity to add value beyond just dollars and cents?? (improved employee and customer experiences, etc)
6. Does everyone involved understand how outsourcing can improve the organization's performance and their roles in the new arrangement?
   

While outsourcing will prove to be a viable strategy to address skills shortages now and into the future - it will not ever be a panacea for all that ails. This is especially true if organizations do not consider the fine tactical details of the approach. After all, as they say, the devil is in the details.