Technology for the Tech UN-Impaired

Do you feel like your technology is working you, rather than for you? Most small businesses can't afford to make costly mistakes when it comes to technology.  During the Main Line Chamber seminar, Technology for the Tech-Impaired, August 3, 2005, a couple key points were raised during our group brainstorming that occurred.  The question that was posed to the audience was, "What is a process in your company (aka: Time and billing/archiving documents/order fulfillment/disaster recovery/logging client communication/HR, etc) that could be enhanced using technology?"  Lets face it...no process in any company is bullet-proof!  Let's extend this discussion beyond the classroom and further discuss how your company is addressing trouble areas within your company so we can learn from how businesses are meeting their business needs.

Comments

[John Smith]

Recently, we have had issues with our marketing department not being on the same page as our technical people. When we run promo's for service, our support issues drastically increase due to the promotions we are offering. We need a better way for our sales reps and technical people to be on the same page. Has anyone had a similar issue? If so, how did you're company address it?

[Kerry Valdesalice]

Hi John,

I'm not sure if I quite understand your questions, but it sounds like as your sales/business increases....so does your IT issues. Your troubles maybe larger than you think, but the good thing is that business is increasing.

My company recently instituted an IT support portal on our intranet that allows in-house and satellite employees the ability to submit questions about their technical issues. Each question is assigned a ticket # and is handled in a timely fashion. If the issue is too complex to be resolved by e-mail then a phone discussion will take place. All of our IT support is handled in this fashion and seems to work very well.

I hope that I've helped address some of your concerns. This process keeps ALL personel in touch with our IT team, not just our sales team. Good luck!!!!

[Anthony Licate]

Hello Kerry,

What type of business are you in?