Becoming More Efficient Adds to the Bottom
Line
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 With
businesses trying to stretch dollars as far as they can, it
is critical to identify where you have lost
efficiency as your processes evolved over the years. From a
technology perspective, we generally encourage our clients to focus
on projects that can have a real return on investment. This
can be in creating more efficient processes, saving real dollars,
or saving time for their more than likely, overworked staff.
Seem daunting? It doesn't have to be.
You don't need a gaggle of Harvard MBAs to figure this out for you
because YOU are the only expert in your business. You can achieve
success in this by following three (3) easy steps:
- Identify things in your company that are done
repetitively. These are the items that by shaving just a
little bit of time off the regular process, you can generate great
time savings for the business. Examples of these might
be time entry, regular reporting, or product inventory.
- Find ways to automate some or all of the repetitive
process. Sometimes this can be as simple as having shared
documents and spreadsheets so duplicate entries are not
performed. On a larger scale, it might involve investing in
work flow software designed for your industry. On a smaller
scale, it would be having a custom web based application built for
a process that is specific to your business.
- EVALUATE THE RESULTS! Before you change the process,
measure how long it takes. After you automate the
process, measure it again. You will quickly see the results
you can achieve and realize where future efforts can be
worthwhile.
Changing a process you know and love is not always easy, so start
small. Find something that can be an easy win for everyone
involved. Most importantly, make sure you communicate with
those involved in the process to be sure you are not automating
them out of a job, but trying to help them focus their talent where
it is best used.
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Avoid Viruses and Spend Your IT Dollars Making Your
Business More Efficient
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Computer viruses and worms are everywhere in the Internet but
with proper anti-virus software and simple best practices you
should be able to avoid most of them. Here are three (3) key
things to keep in mind when it comes to viruses, worms and
anti-virus applications.
- Anti-virus applications are not a proverbial
silver bullet that will catch, delete and\or quarantine all
viruses and worms. Anti-virus applications are an important
line of defense when it comes to preventing virus and worm
infections on your workstation, but they will not catch 100% of
viruses. Often, users are lulled into a false sense of security
simply because they have an anti-virus application on their
computer. Users still need to be watchful and mindful of the
things they click on and the e-mail and e-mail attachments they
receive. Anti-virus applications cannot prevent a user from
clicking on an executable file in an e-mail or on a website that
extracts and installs a virus.
 Make sure your Anti-virus application has the most current virus
definitions. New viruses and new worms are being
developed and disseminated on a daily basis. This is why it
is important that your anti-virus application constantly be kept
current with the latest virus definitions. If the virus
definitions lapse and your AV doesn't have the necessary
definitions, it may miss a virus that attempts to infect your
workstation. Microsoft also puts out security patches on a
regular basis to combat viruses and worms so it is very important
that your version of Windows has the latest
service pack and is continually downloading and installing
updates.- Be mindful of the things you click
on. "With Great Power comes Great Responsibility".
Your organization has given you the power of a workstation and the
Internet to perform your job functions, but that power comes with
some responsibility. An end user must be conscious and
mindful of the things he or she is clicking on. Opening
E-mails from people you don't know or clicking and opening
attachments in E-mails from people you don't know is not
advisable. These are typical virus and worm delivery
methods. Viruses can also be transmitted by USB Flash
drive(s), CD and\or DVD media inserted into a workstation.
While doing these things may not prevent you from ever getting a
virus, it will certainly reduce the wasted business resources on
removing the ones that were avoidable. |
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Headquartered in East Hartford, CT, ForeSite has been designing
solutions and troubleshooting problems for clients' computers,
networks and web sites, since 1997. We are committed to providing
personalized customer service and practical, yet insightful,
solutions that fit a wide range of business needs. In conjunction
with our Worcester office, ForeSite continues to provide premium
technology solutions to the central Connecticut and western
Massachusetts regions.
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Stop Scraping the Toast. Fix the
Toaster!
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Are you looking for ways to make
your business more efficient? If so, join us for real
examples of how businesses just like yours were able to identity
what to fix and how to fix it in order to increase productivity and
add to their bottom line. You bring your challenges for
discussion, we'll provide the toast...with eggs and coffee
too!
Thursday June 18th 7:00 A.M.
Crowne Plaza Hartford (free parking)
No admission charge, but RSVP is required at (860) 528-1100 x
14
or register online.
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Need computer network support that is tailored to your business
needs? Check out ForeSite VISION!
BENEFITS OF VISION INCLUDE:
- Proactive Remote Maintenance
To learn more about ForeSite's VISION program
contact us online or call 1-866-GO-4SITE
x14
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