NZ Business interview with Patrick Kershaw

Feature from: NZ Business September 2008 

In times of ecomomic uncertainty businesses need to be prepared for any challenges that may lie ahead - that includes the area of IT.

So what are the IT challenges that lie ahead for the SME market?

IT support provider Patrick Kershaw says in the current ecomomic climate business owners/IT mangers need to ensure any spending on IT is limited to either increasing business productivity, reducing cycle/decision time by staff and/or increasing responsiveness to a client base. Preferably all three.

“Spending outside this will most likely only cost money and give no real benefit,” says Kershaw, a business partner in Horzion Pacific which specialises in IT support for SMEs nationwide.

“So it could be wise to shelf the ‘like to have’ projects and direct that spend into something that would be of more cash productive manner.”

He says New Zealand’s wider network infrastructure is still an area of concern for businesses, with issues such as speed, reliability, pricing and quality of Internet services received into the business, all having a financial impact.

“Telecom has continued to make a mockery of Commerce Commission rulings – ensuring a stay of execution in completely opening its network and for businesses to have real competitive options.

“The sooner New Zealand moves to a higher speed network, be it fibre or DSL, the sooner technologies such as Voice over IP will become realistically widespread in the SME arena meaning savings for most SME’s in communication expenditure.”

Another key challenge for SMEs is how to effectively get and retain presence on the Internet. The ways and means are incredibly varied and need to be tailored carefully to the individual business. As a key part of business growth Internet presence should be managed accordingly as for many businesses it is a main source of PR and cash generation.

SME’s traditionally have limited resources for IT expenditure and the careful budgeting needed for this can also pose challenges especially in times of cash shortage, he says.

“Too many businesses spend ‘as-is-needed’. This leads to mixed platforms, unnecessary capital expenditure and a lot of pain when the time comes to plan and budget properly - usually when serious problems are beginning.

“Understandably the chance to plan from scratch is rare, however the longer a business struggles on without professional help, the more expensive it is likely to be to correct things. I know how to hammer a nail but realise I cannot build a house - the same analogy applies to the creation of your IT infrastructure.”

Security is another area which is becoming increasingly important considering the huge amounts of money to be made in illegal data mining,  SPAM and viruses. He advises businesses to ensure they have an intimate knowledge of security protocols surrounding their email, primary data sources, global virus protection and disaster recovery. Any weaknesses in this area lead to long-term costs in productivity or direct dollar loss.

“In IT you tend to get what you pay for. So you should be being informed by your IT partner about what products are available in the market and what value they will add to your business.

“Be very wary if they cannot provide substantial evidence to show the benefits to your organisation and the key requirements for spending, which I reiterate, are to either to increase business productivity, reduce cycle/decision time by staff and/or increase responsiveness to your client base.”

Kershaw says the final challenge which covers all of the key challenges is managing obsolescence and having the correct road maps in place.

He advises businesses to implement a minimum three-year road map in IT expenditure. While these may change dramatically, businesses should see that their IT supplier is checking off the ‘milestones’ monthly. This means when business begins moving away from its planned growth, it’s easier to reassess, budget and realign.  IT providers should also be working through this on a monthly basis. Failure to do this leads to long-term costs.

Irrespective of outside financial influences, the market will continue to accelerate and grow. says Kershaw.

“Technology does not sleep and it certainly doesn’t retract or slowdown. More importantly for SME owners, technology is now as essential in business as electricity but many business owners still prefer to put their heads in the sand when it comes to usage and expenditure citing it ‘is all too hard’.

“The power a well planned and managed IT system can add to your business system is staggering and your technology infrastructure should be viewed as an integral, evolving part of your business, not just a ‘necessary expense’ especially in more turbulent financial times.”

Patrick Kershaw is a Business Partner for Horizon Pacific, a nationwide technology support provider specialising in assisting SME’s with all their technology requirements. For further information, go to www.horizonpacific.com