Leveraging Technology for Business Survival

In business, and in nature, it is the strong that survive. Rather than trying to coast through the down economy, consider ways to strengthen, improve, and grow your business. This will better your chances of “survival” and enhance the future of your company.

Information systems streamline business operations and help you do more with less. By investing in new technologies and automating business processes, you can run your business more efficiently. It may even be a good time to consider moving your systems “into the cloud.” Cloud computing can reduce your hardware and maintenance costs while giving you increased capacity and greater scalability.

Technology isn’t simply a business need, it’s a business driver. Better and quicker information exchange, more useful metrics and increased productivity all are made possible by technology. As Jessica Obermayer writes, “Cloud technologies now offer the best ways for firms to leverage technology for competitive advantage and containing costs – and they’re available for SMBs and even small start-ups.”

Cloud computing doesn’t change what’s being delivered to end users. It changes how services are delivered. End users should receive the same services from you whether your data’s stored on a server you manage yourself in-house or on a server that’s managed by a provider in Timbuktu.

That being said, IT needs to understand the services they deliver to end users – whether the end user is the employee or the customer. Some primary benefits of the cloud include:

* Pay-as-you-go server costs; planned capacity
* Annual savings in hardware and man power
* Instant “green” IT options without long-term transformation costs
* Higher rate of connectivity that extends anywhere

Those perks are the driving forces behind the cloud’s popularity – and have already borne fruit in organizations who’ve incorporated the cloud as a platform for daily operations.

If you are like many companies, you have already let some staff go as a cost-saving measure. Unfortunately, the work these employees did does not leave with them. While remaining employees can be counted on to pick up some slack, and in some cases efficiencies can be gained by reevaluating job responsibilities, you may still have more work to go around than staff available. Planning will only take you so far. You need to evaluate and determine how to automate tasks that staff are currently performing manually.

Cloud computing can help your company survive the challenges of the current economic environment while positioning you to scale quickly once conditions and demand improve.

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Brian

Managing Partner at meshIP, LLC

Brian Byrne is the founder and Managing Partner of Dallas based meshIP, a technology services firm offering cloud computing strategies and services. He is an accomplished executive with senior management experience in all facets of the technology, telecom, cloud computing, and SaaS industries. He has proven success in developing, financing and executing strategic plans as well as launching new ventures. His background includes a record of significant achievement in international business development and his credentials include a MBA in Marketing and Management Strategy from the J.L. Kellogg Graduate School of Management at Northwestern University, a MS from the School of Computer Science at DePaul University, and a BBA in Finance from the University of Notre Dame.

He is also the inventor of the patented meshDETECT, Secure Prison Cell Phone Solutions.

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