Your business works hard for you and you work hard at your business. Since it is the season of giving, we thought it just felt right to identify some cool and practical technology gifts your can give your organization. Remember, your take care of your company and it will take care of you and your team.
1) BOOK – “Making Technology Investments Profitable: ROI Roadmap to Better Business Cases”
Not too technical and a must-read for small and medium sized business owners trying to understand how to maximize return on technology investments. Although it is aimed and IT Managers, CIOs and vendors like us, it presents excellent information on how NOT to make bad technology decisions, mostly by example of those who have. There are checklists of do’s & don’ts, many of them not obvious. The great takeaway is that knowledge is power. Well-reasoned technology investments will give you a big advantage in your business operations and also in knowing what questions to ask your technology vendors.
2) Netbooks or Mini Notebooks– For $300 to $400 you can purchase additional mobile units for your workforce. The advantage to these is cost and portability. Field personal can use them. They can be configured as stand-by spares to be used in a pinch of as system goes down and they can be used as roving mobile units for traveling users or those needing to work at home from time to time but don’t have notebooks. They can have a regular monitor attached to give a “big notebook” feel.
3) Move to SAAS– Software-as-a-Service simply means software that lives somewhere else and you access remotely, usually at a monthly fee. Start by transitioning on-site applications like CRM (client relationship management) or Exchange ” to the software as a service (SaaS) business model. Explore so-called “Hardware as a Service (HaaS)” approaches, where your physical infrastructure (servers, printers, PCs, laptops, etc.) is owned and operated by your service provider. Push your antiquated PBXes out the door and embrace hosted voice-over-IP (VoIP) services. The advantage to all these items is lower upfront costs, less complicated managment and the ability to NOT have to worry about your systems breaking down.
4) Go Green: Purchase 1 Duplexing Workgroup Printer– We’ve published several green tip articles on the advantages of setting your printers to double-sided draft mode. Obviously, if you don’t have at least one shared duplexing printer, this might be a little difficult to implement. Take the plunge and make the investment in a low cost duplexing inkjet or laser printer. We’re HP fans and particularly like the HP OfficeJet Pro 8500 (about $399) and the HP Laser P2055dn ($399). A small investment that can make a very big difference in consumables cost and help the environment!
5) Kindle from Amazon – This is just a cool tool. It also has use in the business. You can download and distribute business books for in-house training. Most texts are now available for instant download through Amazon. Plus it makes a great bonus gift for your employees!
6) Upgrade your Workstations to Windows 7– While I’m never one to advocate cutting edge technology, we’ve done extensive testing of Windows 7 and so far it is stable and compatible with almost all applications (or, if not, you can run in XP Virtual mode). For home users I would encourage anyone getting a new PC to move right into windows 7. For your office, you don’t have to dump all of your workstations but you can certainly start planning upgrade paths as existing workstations are decommissioned. I would also encourage you to have your IT provider test applications that you use for your business on Windows 7 before migrating. Also, I think there are other considerations such as the future of the desktop, virtualization, software as a service which should be investigated and incorporated into any major OS upgrade plans. The futureof the desktop OS is not set in stone.
*As a side note, if you would like to learn more about Windows 7, I would invite you to register for our Windows 7 Webinar: “Lemons & Lemmings, Does Your Organization Need to Toe the Windows 7 Line“.
7) iPhones – Yes, I know. Everyone has them. No great revelation here. However, I would say consider the many business uses of iPhones for your employees. We were able to use the $99 upgrades and get everyone in our organization on iPhones. We can assign training audios to listen to on the road, use apps for certain standards such as recorder features, network management tools, Exchange syncing (no special add-ons required), social media updates and the list goes on. With a little creativity you can incorporate some standard business uses that can more than justify the initial upfront investment. Plus, your employees will love you!
8) Website/Social Media Makeover– The face of the web has changed dramatically over the last 2 -3 years, particularly with unavoidable presence of social media. If you have a website that hasn’t been updated lately, now may be a great time. Websites should really be focused drawing in visitors and should be integrated to your Linkedin, Twitter and blog tools. Does all this sound overwhelming? It doesn’t have to be. Start small and and inexpensive with a Twitter account. Its free. Also, create or update your Linked in profile. Link them both back to your website and post to both a couple of times a week about items that are relevant to our clients.
9) Participate in The Launch Pad’s GreenBack program – Give your company and your team the gift of giving. In addition to facilitating eCycling services for clients, gently used PCs and other equipment will be recycled back into the community and made available to nonprofit organizations throughout the Bay area. If you are a nonprofit organization, you can sign up on our website through the Easy-to-Green IT link with your wish list, and we will distribute equipment on a first come, first serve basis. If you are a business disposing of equipment, you can opt to designate your equipment to be recycled to the local nonprofit of choice or the next in need on our list.
10) A Complimentary Technology Assessment from The Launch Pad – This is a great no-cost way to treat your business to a full inspection of your technology systems and identify an existing vulnerabilities or inefficiencies. See how your technology scorecard stacks up against others in your industry. Its just our way of saying Happy Holidays!
Ilene Rosoff, CEO
The Launch Pad
