Business Analysis / IT Direction Finding

Sometimes you just need someone to talk to, ask a few questions, get your head straight and get a plan together. When it comes to software and computers, everyone has a product they want to sell you. Try asking, Does your product fit my needs? and you will be surprised how many salespeople will tell you YES! even before they understand what your needs are.

Looking at Your Core IT Needs

Some people might use a computer as a fancy typewriter -- they want to type letters, maybe send some email and that's about all they need. Others might want nothing more than a web browser and a fast link to the internet.

On the other side of the coin, some professions demand specialised applications like Computer Aided Design (CAD).

Knowing your needs and being able to explain them in a clear statement is essential but it is surprising how many people still aren't clear quite what they want. People come up with statements like, we need computers and stuff to modernise the office, or these machines have worked well but they are getting old and we should upgrade everything, just to be on the safe side. This sort of seat-of-the-pants approach is commonplace and it does not come from stupidity but it comes from a lack of understanding and from an unsystematic approach. People develop the habit of avoiding looking at the problem. What they should be doing is getting some help to sort things out, thrashing out a precise picture of the situation, and documenting things in a clear, consise manner.

Copious pages of documentation building into huge requirements tomes are probably not helpful because they cost too much and no one will read them anyhow. A small, well written description with some thoughtful diagrams can be very helpful indeed.

Looking at Your Business Workflow From an IT Perspective

Computers have become the latest wizz-bang technology but deep down, most of what they do is what people have been doing on paper for a very long time (and on clay tablets long before that). The only reason we use computers is that they do the old jobs faster and more accurately, not because they do anything intrinsically new.

From a rational perspective, sometimes a low technology solution is more appropriate. Consider the idea of Business To Business (B2B) linkup for buying office stationery. Setting up such a link is a non-trivial amount of work, for a small office it makes more sense just to send an order by FAX or even to walk down the road to KMart or Office Works.

Every business has its internal workflow, whether that be shouted instructions on a building site, paper forms moving in and out of filing cabinets or a high tech email and database system. Getting an understanding of how this happens is part of the process of choosing an appropriate technology to make it run smoothly. There isn't a "one size fits all" answer to this question and individual considerations need to be taken into account.

Evaluation of Hidden IT Expenses

Sure, you know how much your computers cost you because you have an invoice but how much of that cost is software and how much is hardware? Often those two expenses are bundled together so you don't know what you are spending. What about service costs? What about security? How much does it cost you in lost time when something breaks down?

Have you been put in the situation where you have learned to live with your particular word processor on you particular system and then you are told that you have to upgrade because otherwise you will not be able to read documents that were created with newer versions? You find that upgrading your word processor requires upgrading your operating system which requires upgrading your hardware.

This is a hidden cost of proprietary document formats. If your key business data is stored in a Microsoft Word binary document then the only guaranteed way of accessing that document is with the same word processor that wrote the document. You don't really know the internal format of the data so you don't have full access to your own data.

Fortunately, Open Office can reasonably reliably read MS-Word documents, but the compatibility is not perfect because Microsoft does not make it easy for people to get inside their data storage format. In the long term, the only way to keep your data in your own hands and to avoid the hidden cost of proprietary data formats is open standards and open document formats.

Virus attack is another serious hidden expense because of loss of trust amongst your customers and lost work time. Linux and similar systems have proven exceptionally resistant to virus attack, with the well proven unix security model that makes sure most code cannot gain access to critical system files. Linux has excellent tools for package management allowing you to check the signatures of all critical files in your system.

Evaluation of Licensing Conformity

It's an ugly fact that the whole copyright compliance arena has become a battleground. On the one hand, corporate copyright holders have become determined to lock down every avenue; on the other hand there are still a lot of people who just don't care about licensing and who feel happy to make copies of whatever they feel like. Somewhere in the middle, the ordinary user is feeling the squeeze. You might have just misplaced the original packaging that you got with your computer and then one day you are asked for proof of compliance. You might get treated like a pirate even when you have really done nothing wrong.

Most proprietary software is covered by an End User Licence Agreement (or EULA). On the other hand, free software is covered by the GPL or similar open source license. Either way, you need a license of some sort and it is a good idea to keep track of what you are using and what rights and obligations you do (and don't) have.

This involves keeping track of which systems run which software, serial numbers, version control, etc. You also have to keep the CDROMs, DVDs, packaging and purchase documentation in a safe cupboard with accurate labels. It's a useful thing for maintenance too. Once again, a bit of consise documentation can be very helpful for keeping things stable into the future.