I have seen
time and time again business both small and large struggling with old tech.
Though being
sensibly frugal in business is arguably beneficial, the reason this methodology
doesn’t work with technology is because technology moves too quickly. Where
this issue really comes into play is the fact that the world moves with these
advances in technology.
Just
recently a client contacted me saying they were having a lot of trouble with
their mail systems, receiving bounce backs among other issues. Upon calling
their exchange host, the rep immediately said “Are they using Outlook 2007 or
older?” I said yes, but I was a little surprised that this was the issue. Now
my client is going to have to upgrade everyone to the latest version of Office.
Another
client had backend systems that were so old that it would cost over $15,000,000
to get the office up to code and at least two weeks of down time until the
system was up and running again. Past technicians notified the higher ups over
the years, back when the amount to fix the problems was reasonable. But being
that the CEO and other powers never wanted to spend the money in the past, these
other technicians over the years were forced to kept the system running through
jerry rigging with batch scripts and third party programs with no support. This
only made things worse and eventually resulted in the system coming to a grinding
halt before the company was forced to file for bankruptcy.
A Global Engagement Study collected data from nearly 5,000
full-time employees across 20 countries, working at companies with 250 or more
personnel. Only 44% of employees said their company uses the latest technology
to enable them to effectively perform in their role. That means that more than
half of employees don't have the tech that they need to be successful at work.
And just 38% said their company supports causes that are important to them.
To me, this is the Achilles heel for all
corporations, especially in America. Cutting costs and not listening to
employees who are dealing directly with clients must seem economically beneficial
to the myopic suits, but the problem is that this only works in the short run.
Back when I was in high school, I worked
at Staples as a technician. I don’t remember specifics, but I do remember the
store being locked into ridiculous practices that benefited no one but were the
demands of the seemingly blind higher ups. We had weekly meetings where the
employees unanimously suggested must haves which were never granted. Today, it
seems as though nothing has changed. The Easy Tech position is filled similarly
to the way Home Depot moves employees around – when it is needed, regardless of
the qualifications. I have met Easy Techs who admitted to me that they started
at Staples as furniture associates and knew nothing about technology at all. They admitted that a program which resides on
a corporate flash drive does everything for them, and the rest is actually done
remotely by someone they don’t even know. The associates in question told me
that they didn’t even know what company was remoting into these computers –
they assumed it was Staples
Corporate. Further, prices on simple tech parts have skyrocketed. I recently
purchased a
DVI cable, an item which is usually around $9 for ~$40 in store. Though
they had cheaper ones online, this was the only cable available in the store. I
returned it as soon as the one from Amazon
came in the mail.
If you feel that your office isn’t running
as it should, give me a call at 617-693-7044 or shoot me an email at Help@MooreITHelp.com. I can give you a
free consultation and tell you what you need and what you don’t need.
