Do more with less is always a good message

Do more with less.

Those words seem so innocuous after having survived the tech bubble at the opening of this century. This is especially true since the same clients I have been working with before, during and since have been doing this very thing. It was also the premise under which people have been continuing to invest in technology. Now we need to dig deeper again. Yet accomplishing this couldn't come at a better time and some surprising solutions are available today in the most sensitive of markets, the SMB sector.

In brief, here are steps you can implement immediately to bring down your costs and make some room for revenue producing investments:

A SAM/HAM (Software/Hardware Asset Management review). This should be an absolute first step. Why? A SAM/HAM's purpose is to do exactly what is required to save you money immediately, and identifies areas where businesses are unaware they are throwing money away: licensing fees (volume licensing helps here), energy costs (due to antiquated and energy inefficient equipment), hardware that can be reduced (via depreciation or the retirement of IT assets), and reuse and recycle where appropriate.

Look at business processes. I dare you to find any business where there isn't some procedure/process that isn't costing people time and effort that couldn't be put to better use making more sales calls, processing shipping orders quicker or completing that analysis of a critical clinical trial. Technologies such as Windows Sharepoint Service and Microsoft Office Sharepoint Server are making workflow and information searches incredibly faster and increasing productivity to new heights. Businesses spend extraordinary amounts of money due to lost productivity yearly because employees can't find the information they need efficiently. Worse are the cases where people are waiting for others to complete work that they can't track effectively.

Automate communications. With the introduction of Microsoft's Response Point software, which works with several phone system manufacturers, not only can you knock long distance costs down, you can also garner many added features that were out of any SMB's budget before RP's arrival. The ability, via voice recognition, to make sure all calls go where they need to with a very simple setup and desktop user interface, can provide direct lines to key staff. Incoming calls can be routed to another device and voice messages can appear in your Outlook email. Now the most hardened road warriors are more able to keep on top of revenue opportunities and provide customer service. The experience will leave everyone wondering how you acquired such a high end solution and your accountant scratching their head over the monthly savings.

Choose the right financing. You're probably asking yourself how you can a) get the money to invest in these technologies and b) afford the technical expertise to get them installed properly. Now you can bypass the banks, which are making financing more and more difficult to obtain, and go straight to Microsoft Financing. This not only helps you get the software and hardware technology you need, it also helps by paying funds towards professional services, and offers this all at competitive rates. These same principles, and more, that we have just discussed are already at work in my own firm and those of my clients. The awards we have garnered over the last five years are a direct result of applying these concepts and technologies as they come to market. The key for you is to use a Microsoft professional who will help you quickly discover which ones will be right for you.