You may have problems in your company that involve technology, but they may not be technology problems. Do not ignore the human factor! Here are a few areas in which we see human oversight or error causing what appear on the surface to be technical issues.
Management, Policies and Procedures are not Technology Problems
When applying technology in your business, you must establish policies and practices governing how your team members use the tools you give them. If you have no published policy regarding personal use of the Internet, you may find that YouTube, Spotify or even Netflix are fixtures in your office without you knowing it. Not setting ground rules designed to protect and equitably distribute your technology assets and resources can lead to problems that manifest themselves as tech problems (slow network, slow PCs, crashes, etc.) when they’re really not.
Training and Education Problems are not Technology Problems
We see training related problems that look like technology problems on a daily basis. You would not hire someone to weld aluminum without either verifying that they know how to do that, or teaching them how to do that. The same applies when it comes to technology. Not everyone that you add to your team will automatically understand how to use the tools you give them. Rather than listening to endless complaining about how “This computer stinks!” or “This program doesn’t work!”, take few minutes to look at your training programs and policies. Often just an inexpensive single-day training program on the basics of your particular software/application packages is enough to solve many problems without spending a dime on I.T “stuff”.
Compliance Problems are not Technology Problems
This is big when it comes to security and data protection. You may tell your employees that email file attachments can be dangerous, yet Jenny in accounting has an infected PC (again). You may have taken the time to teach your staff about the dangers of clicking on links in email messages, yet your accounting clerk has given away her online banking credentials to someone in Russia. You’ve said time and time again that team members should close Quickbooks each night, yet company files remain open 24×7 and your fancy cloud-backup system can’t work as a result. Training isn’t enough. Your business culture must also stress the importance of compliance (and maybe even the consequences of non-compliance). Once in a while people will forget or make mistakes, but this should be the exception rather than the rule.
Expectation Problems are not Technology Problems
When it comes to cloud computing and cloud-based services, expectations are particularly important. If you’re not taking advantage of all the redundancy and elasticity of a platform like Amazon Web Services, the fact that your site/application is down isn’t a technical problem. If you run your business entirely on cloud services like Office 365 and Quickbooks Online, being dead in the water because your single cable modem is down isn’t a technical problem. Adjust your expectations and act accordingly. Cloud does not equal “bulletproof”. Expect that problems can and will happen and plan accordingly based on your particular risk/reward situation.
Summary
You’re already spending time and money on technology in your business. Maximize that investment by not allowing people issues to decrease your
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