Upkeep must be budgeted for every year, as it is an important part of the total life cycle of an ICT strategy, according to John Hindley general manager at eSecure.
To find out how businesses tackle their ICT initiatives, ITWeb and eSecure yesterday unveiled the ICT Strategy Survey.
Among other things, the survey seeks to find out which technologies companies plan to invest in during 2011 as well as how much budget is spent on new solutions, as opposed to maintenance.
According to Hindley, new technologies should only be purchased if there is a competitive advantage over existing technology or if there is a significant return on investment.
“This could come in the form of bandwidth savings, employee productivity, response times, or other measures,” he says.
He adds that ICT is a significant portion of many company budgets. “In some cases, these companies have no choice but to pass these cost on; however, in other companies, these costs give the company a competitive advantage or reduce operational expenditure.”
Hindley explains that, in regards to ICT investments, this is industry-specific. “So it could be bandwidth savings or Spyware and virus blocking. Cutting back on operational expenses could reduce cost to the consumer in some cases.”
He also urges businesses to budget for IT training on a yearly basis, saying courses should be attended if the workforce is to gain the most from the IT spend.
“Far too often, no training is budgeted for and the company that has purchased the goods then finds itself using only basic function or feature of the product; if more time is spent learning about the product and its features and benefits, companies would see a far grater return,” he says.
Concerning green IT, as an ICT strategy, Hindley says though it should be part of the strategy, it may not be necessary to prioritise it now.
“Many vendors use 'green' as a selling point similar to Y2K; end-users need to evaluate why they would need to deploy green IT strategy today versus the future,” he says.
Commenting on whether the South African government was doing enough to promote ICT, Hindley says no. “ICT in SITA seems to move in a cycle and takes a long time for technology to be refreshed.
“SITA has tenders and if your company or technology is not on the tender, it is very difficult to have government purchase the technology even if it has great benefits. You must wait for SITA to do a refresh of the tender under which your company or technology falls.”
To participate in the survey, click here.
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