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Take-aways from “Weaving Great Technology into Operations on a Tight Budget”

August 25, 2010

Missed the #asae10 session on technology yesterday? Here are a few things lessons learned.

Association’s (like the rest of the world) want more out of the technology investments that they are making. They want to invest in technology solutions that will fill a space and gap within their industry or organization. Investments in licensing, hardware and break/fixes continue to make this a challenging proposition. There are alternatives, however, to high-priced tech solutions. Associations and businesses are finding ways to lower their costs and still provide staff access to the tools they need.

Consider Alternatives: Microsoft is not evil, just a choice that can be made. There are a number of Microsoft alternatives out there.

Executive Conversation: If you want to look at alternatives to Microsoft, plan to engage executive leadership to consider new options. You will need support from a number of key organizational consituents to get both buy in and implementation

Hardware: Both Network and the Society of American Florists have been successful in working with thin box dummy machines. The desktop machines that provide access are inexpensive and meant to be quickly replaced if there is some type of failure. Staff time is not spent supporting a desktop environment.

Open Source: move away from robust desktops into open source solutions. Consider options like www.openoffice.org for word processing or www.drupal.org for content management.

Google!: Consider Google enterprise as an option to an Exchange server for email, calendars, shared documents and other key functions. There is robust functionality and use, and for $50 per person per year it can be a good alternative.

Server Virtualization: Virtualization can give organizations flexibility and redundancy in their environment.

Tech budgets will always be scrutinized, but they do not need to be a necessary evil to your organization. Others are tapping into lower cost options without losing the functionality and demands of the organization.

Special thanks to Renato Sogueco, CIO of Society of American Florists, for teaming up with Jim Cooke, VP, Network for this session.

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