As an independent IT consultant, I help organizations improve their businesses through the use of technology. Most of my client engagements have been very successful. But when things don’t go as well as expected, I like to try to figure out why so that I can avoid those pitfalls the next time.
The easiest things to fix are those that I can control. For example, forgetting to submit regular status updates to the right people or not getting enough information prior to the project to make an informed proposal.
But I’ve also found several things that businesses can do to ensure that everything works smoothly. Regardless of what type of consultant you’re hiring, the following tips should help make your next consulting engagement more productive.
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Published February 26, 2008
in Business.
IT employees require constant training and skill development opportunities. It goes with the industry. As a small business owner, if you have any hope of keeping IT employees around for any length of time, you need to understand this and come up with a strategy that fits the needs of both your business and your employees.
First and foremost, you may be struggling with the expense and value of training classes. One of the big questions is always "Is certification worth it?" This is a question at hiring ("This person has a ton of certifications, they must be good."), it’s a question when your employees want training ("Are they going to get this training and then leave?"), and it’s a question after the training when some employees may ask for a salary increase to recognize their new skills.
I’ve never put much stock in certifications myself. But a couple weeks ago, I had an experience that may be altering my opinions on the subject.
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I recently had a conversation with a small business owner here in Billings. Her business has experienced tremendous growth over the past few years, and it’s obvious (from both a consulting and a customer’s perspective) that they need some help managing it. Luckily, the owner has realized this and is looking for some help.
But she’s moving forward in a manner that I see all too often. She’s going to spend money, time and effort doing things that are not going to help her run her business very much better.
How do I know this? Let’s look and what she told me her problems are and what’s she’s doing to fix them…
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On Friday night, I turned on my laptop and was unable to boot into Windows. Error messages got progressively worse with everything I tried and everything I found on Google led to a “you’re screwed…reload Windows” diagnosis. Considering that one of my early posts was about preparing for technology failure, I had a decent handle on getting everything restored. But now I have another thing to add to the plan:
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As today is Blog Action Day, I thought I’d write about a simple environmental action that every SMB can take. Here in Billings, the local government finds it perfectly acceptable to throw your old PCs, monitors and other electronic equipment in the dumpster. Trash collection here will take just about anything. But the fact is that old PCs, monitors, printers, cell phones, PDAs and other electronic equipment contain many materials that are harmful to the environment or to humans. The EPA estimates 1-4% of all municipal waste is due to old electronic equipment. So do us all a favor and recycle that old junk!
There are plenty of ways to dispose of your old equipment in a safe, inexpensive and responsible manner. Here are just a few:
- Donate old PCs to local non-profits. Computer4Kids is a great cause in the Billings, MT. They refurbish your old equipment and give them to at-risk youth in our area. Any equipment that can’t be used is broken down for parts and recycled.
- Pay someone to recycle electronic equipment for you. Just check the Yellow Pages for lots of options.
- Tap into a PC manufacturer’s recycling program. Dell has a great program where they will recycle your old equipment for free when you purchase a system from them.
One final note, if you store sensitive information on your PC, make sure you at least format your hard drive before passing it on. If you’ve got really sensitive information on there, you might actually want to remove the hard drive altogether. A hammer or mallet will make quick work of making sure nobody can ever get that data!
