How can I estimate future needs (upgrade
by
timthetoolman
·
about 20 years, 10 months ago
In reply to How can I estimate future needs (upgrade
Hi,
Yes, it is very difficult indeed to estimate future needs in an industry that changes so quickly!
I guess you really need to start with the business. Their needs should be the driving force behind your decisions. Their needs will dictate what software you’ll be considering in the future…
Are you planning to implement any “basic” systems over the next year? – for instance financial, payroll or stock management systems would fall into this category.
Integrating these systems also falls into this category, but may involve major changes – throwing away old systems and moving to an integrated solution.
Are you planning to implement any business extensions? – for instance e-business solutions, data warehousing, data mining or automation systems?
Then there are the simpler ones like Fileserving and email. These ones are relatively simple to determine requirements – a bit of simple extrapolation along with projected company staff growth will suffice.
Once you know that and have researched possible packages from the marketplace – also ones that are being developed, then you’re going to have an idea of your short to medium term strategy for IT in your company.
Only then will you have a good idea of what is going to be required in the future.
One good rule of thumb is that you should hold off on hardware purchases for as long as possible. If you do this, then you will get more powerful equipment for the same money when it actually comes time to purchase.
I’ve seen businesses hold off on buying their production hardware until well into the acceptance testing cycle.
Hope this heps you,
Cheers,
Tim.
