Do Information Technology Investments Show a Return for Small Businesses
Our Microsoft Dynamics GP guru, Bruce Lane, shared his expertise with the Pennsylvania Institute of Certified Public Accountants on whether tech investments make your business better. He challenges that most businesses that required 15 days to close the month in 1985 still require 15 days to close the month now.
He cited three causes that contribute to the lack of improvement to the cost of the investment:
- Aversion to change is a natural response, and we tend to use new systems as we did the old system.
- To truly take advantage of a new system, we need to change beliefs. Many users and managers, for instance, believe that cross checks have value.
- The benefits of a new system are not reinvested into new processes. We invest in new systems because we see that we can save time in routine areas. Even if this is the case, what do we do with the saved time? In most cases, the time is spent on social networking,
Bruce contends that technology is not the value, but rather how we change processes and behaviors to bring value. Too often, the emphasis is placed on the technology, and we lose sight of the fact that the true value of the business is in its personnel and its processes.
Read the complete details of his compelling argument here.