Make Decisions Around Business Impact, Not Technology Costs

I had a client call me the other morning around 7:30 AM in a panic.  One of his other businesses was in trouble with a major server issue and he wanted us to get involved and help their internal IT person.   They had been down for two days and he was pleading for our help to jump on it right away.  We have done managed IT for his main business in Philadelphia for quite a few years now, so without hesitation I agreed to help him out and give him our assessment of the situation.  Long story short, when I called him back to give him our assessment he kept asking how much it would cost.

One of the more common mistakes I see business owners make is asking how much this or that will cost and making their decision entirely based on that number.  Sure, technology costs money.  But the true cost of technology isn’t how much the server costs plus the labor costs to get it running.  The true cost of technology, good or bad, lies in the impact on your business.

A true CIO who is worth his weight will be able to give you a better understanding of what the true cost is to your business.  Whether the cost is associated with the risk or exposure the business has or it’s more along the lines of employee productivity and morale.  These are the true indicators of whether or not you need to make a change in how you look at technology in your business.

If your business lacks a good CIO who can evaluate your business and current technology and then break it down for you in the terms I described above, you would be well served to find one and buy them lunch.