HOUSTON BUSINESS REVIEW

COST-EFFECTIVE IT: MONEY SAVING TECHNOLOGY
By Richard Sonnier

Houston Business Show Commentator Richard Sonnier, of the Information Technology Services firm Nimble Services, provides weekly information on our show about information technology issues. Mr. Sonnier can be reached at 281.445.4800 x 250 or via email.

This week I will discuss saving money with Information Technology.

8 Steps to Save Money with IT

1. Identity repetitive, manual parts of your business process.
2. Design a system or method to automate these repetitive parts.
3. Obtain the IT hardware and software to implement the design.
4. Implement the system.
5. Integrate the automated system into your business process.
6. Train your staff on the improved business process.
7. Test the automation in parallel with the existing process.
8. Shutdown the old process and save that cost.

Using these 8 steps, you can eliminate a large amount of overhead cost or waste from your business. It requires vision and a willingness to imagine an improved process.

IT Investment

The key to saving money with IT is approaching any automation project as an investment. You only automate processes with good returns on the implementation cost. Be sure to include the increase in productivity from the automation in you calculations.

Next week, I will discuss how to identify opportunities for IT automation.