Trusted care for your information technology,

so you can focus on what you do best


It is very important to have someone that knows both business and technology. The day-to-day helpdesk support staff is very good at solving technical problems yet I need to speak with someone about business strategy. I know Jim and others are there to talk about business/IT strategy. The Charlton Group helped us with determining the best solutions to fit our business.

 

 

  


 

The Charlton Group knows about running a business

As business owners and managers, we have many of the same issues and concerns of running a business; including rising healthcare costs, expanding our marketing and sales, managing the needs of our staff, and ensuring our service quality is high. We look to trusted employees,  peers, and other resources for valuable information and insight to make sound decisions for growing quality driven businesses.

 

Competitive advantage starts with your data

Now more than ever small and medium businesses need to leverage their agility, various resources, and internal data to increase their competitive advantage. Studies have shown that businesses do not need to spend a lot to be competitive. Competitive advantage starts with something that is unique to each business….its data.

 

Align information technology with the business goals

The competition may have the same equipment, Microsoft windows software, and industry specific applications. What the competition doesn’t have is the unique data stored in your office. How you access it, view it, and innovate with it can drive your competitive advantage. Therefore strategically aligning IT with the business goals is an important step in the process for any small or medium business owner.

 

Who takes care of your data?

The IT function should be more than helpdesk e.g. fixing problems and projects e.g. installing a new accounting system. It should be a trusted resource that can help drive your competitive advantage. Ask yourself who takes care of your data. 

Throughout the course of our day, we are inundated with information from various sources in various formats. The resources listed below are some of the better sources of information and tools which you may find helpful for your business. 

 

 

Management                             Podcasts

Harvard Business Review - OnLine                                Harvard IdeaCast  - 5 min. business audios

Cloud Security - SAAS security concerns                  Wall Street Journal - various podcasts 

 

Sales/Marketing                                           Informational

Constant Contact - email marketing                           Google Trends - search word trends

DimDim - free web conferencing                                Press Display - world wide news 

Conference Calling - free conference calls                    

 

Technical                                                       

SiteKreator - professional web sites                     Ring Central - virtual PBX                    

FireFox NoSquint - easier to read web                    OneBox - virtual PBX

Mozy - online backup                                         Dropbox - file sharing

You Send It - send large files to others

 

Security                                                          Flu

Cyber criminals target small business                        CDC - Situation Update

Security Guide to Social Networks                              Guidance for businesses - Flu

 

 

 

Rather than list the reasons for IT outsourcing that you may already know the following provides a first hand client’s prospective. One year after starting an IT outsourcing engagement with a client, I sat down with the president of the company to get a pulse of how things were going. This particular company provides services to fortune 1000 companies and travels throughout the globe on client initiatives.

 

What was your IT staffing situation prior to outsourcing?

It was very hard to find good IT staff because we were too small of a company to attract very good IT talent. Of the good IT we hired, it was hard to retain them because we could not keep them challenged. We also found that managing the IT staff took more time away from running the business, especially if the IT staff was not as qualified and needed more direction.

 

What were the objectives when you were considering IT outsourcing?

How to get qualified IT people was our main objective, everything else in IT was secondary. Having knowledgeable technical resources would allow all other aspects of IT to take care of itself. Could we do this in a cost effective way we could afford? If we did it ourselves it may cost more because we don't tend to factor in management time for the IT staff

 

Prior to IT outsourcing what was happening in your computer environment?

We had just sold part of the business and we were in the process of separating our part of the computer systems. The computer systems were not running well at the time and the systems were being shared with the part of the company we sold. There were some complex technical issues to solve, this is where Charlton Group was first introduced to help the current IT staff.

 

What concerns did you have about outsourcing?

We thought that IT Outsourcing would be expensive and that we’d lose control. What we discovered after the fact is that we didn’t have control of the IT staff to begin with.  Our other concern was the support coverage we needed for non-business hours. We didn’t want to pay extra for this service and asked employees not to call The Charlton group afterhours. What we didn’t realize was the reason we were concern with this was because of all the problems we where having in our computer environment. Once the Charlton Group stabilized our IT environment this was no longer a concern.

 

What are your current thoughts of outsourcing?

After we started with the Charlton group.....it was a no brainier.  We were able to test out The Charlton Group on some preliminary projects which gave us the trust for their services. The results for us were that our IT infrastructure was stabilized. 

 

Do you have any other comments about IT outsourcing?

I think Presidents/CEO of small business should ask themselves these questions:

 

  • Do I really need expertise in IT...is IT part of the business I'm conducting? (Meaning are you selling IT services, products, solutions involving IT?)

 

  • Do I really need in-house IT expertise for the business? 
     
  • Is IT inherently part of your business that you are conducting? Is IT the core part of my business?
     
  • What level of IT expertise can I purchase on the market (in-house full- time staff) vs. what level of IT expertise can I purchase through outsourcing?

 

What are your thoughts about the Charlton Group?

I realize that Charlton Group has worked with us on several projects but, I wanted to point out the business planning as an excellent service to mention that is available. It is very important to have someone that knows both business and technology. The day-to-day helpdesk support staff is very good at solving technical problems, yet I need to speak with someone about business strategy. I know Jim and others are there to talk about business/IT strategy. They have helped us with determining the best solutions to fit our business.