Technology and Data Management for Entrepreneurs

An Instant Guide

Guy Rigby

• Publisher: Harriman House
• Year: 2011
• ISBN:
  9780857191915
• Topic: Business
• Subtopic: Entrepreneurship
• Index: Business

This eBook is about technology and data management for entrepreneurs.The author of this instant guide from Harriman House, Guy Rigby, has also written From Vision to Exit, which is a complete entrepreneurs' guide to setting up, running and passing on or selling a business.

Technology and Data Management For Entrepreneurs

“The real problem is not whether machines think but whether men do.”

— Burrhus F. Skinner

Working quicker and smarter

We live in a world that has seen computing power double every two years for the past 50. As the power increases, device size decreases. As access to data proliferates, so too does the speed at which it can be transmitted. Our world is now digital, virtual, global and mobile – all thanks to technology.

For most businesses, these advances in technology represent both an opportunity and a threat. While technology enables us to compete on a global and increasingly level playing field by giving us sophisticated tools and solutions that only larger corporations used to have, it also allows our competitors to do the same. Our competitive advantage may therefore be dependent on how well we choose, and use, technology.

On the downside, technological transformation means that there’s an increasing dependency on fully functioning systems, exposing us to downtime, data loss and potential business disruption. There is also a human impact, with more and more communication taking place electronically, rather than face-to-face or on the phone. Offices are now full of people who sit in front of their screens from morning until night, often sending emails rather than speaking even to their nearest neighbour.

On the plus side, technology enables our businesses to automate, access new markets, cut operating costs, save time and improve overall performance. We are therefore more agile, embracing more flexible working models for the benefit of our staff, customers and trading partners. IT no longer impacts on individual tasks or processes but on the integrated activities at every level of an organisation.

From land lines and mobiles to VoIP; from PCs and laptops to PDAs; from instant, voice and video messaging to blogs, RSS, video conferencing and social networks – the real-time technological tools at our disposal now help us access information and people at great speed.

And what about cost? The answer is that technology has componentised and standardised, enabling businesses to start small and get products and services to market at a fraction of the cost that they would have incurred only a few years ago.

Building the foundations

In order to develop an IT infrastructure that suits your business you’ll need to consider the data you wish to store, how that data will be organised and managed so that it becomes useful and accessible to your users, how your system will enable communication and collaboration, how you’ll protect yourself from data loss or downtime and how you’ll secure your data from third party infiltration.

In practice, the main building blocks are likely to include the following:

• a document management system to keep your documents organised and indexed
• a financial management system to deal with your accounting and cash management, whilst also keeping track of your assets and liabilities
• a human resources (HR) system to manage your staff records, document salaries and benefits and monitor performance, training and recruitment
• a project management, manufacturing or costing system to record and monitor your customer-facing costs and expenses
• a supply chain management system to deal with sup...