Archive for the ‘ IT consulting Los Angeles ’ Category

Government runs on IT, regardless of who is in office

August 21, 2012 7:26 am | No Comments

The nation is holding its collective breath over the upcoming elections, waiting to see what the impact will be on Medicare, the deficit and national economic policy. One thing that is not likely to change is that government will continue to run on IT regardless of who is in office, and administrators do not appear to be worried about who is going to win in November.

It isn’t politics but the need to deliver services on increasingly tight budgets that drives technology purchasing at the federal, state and local levels, according to one recent survey.

This finding is the result of an effort to prove a theory that initially appears so self-evident that it needs no proof. “My theory was that administrations have an effect on government technology purchases,” said Kimberly Samuelson, director of government strategy for Laserfiche, an enterprise content management (ECM) vendor.

So she sent out a brief survey to the company’s customers and prospective customers. The first question was: Will the upcoming presidential election affect tech purchases within your organization?

“I would say my theory was wrong,” Samuelson said. “Eighty percent of responders said no, the election does not affect technology purchases.”

The survey probably falls short of being a statistically valid randomized sampling. The 530 responders represent about a 10 percent response rate from a collection of contacts within an enterprise content management database. About 10 percent of responders were federal officials, about 25 percent were state, and the rest were from local government. But the lopsided conclusion is interesting, and at first glance counterintuitive. Many of the respondents explained that their IT funding was not dependent on political appointees or elected officials.

How can that be? Ultimately all government spending depends on appropriations decided by elected officials, from Congress down to the county council and town board. The answer is that the assumption was phrased wrong, Samuelson said. It is not a matter of buying or not buying technology, it’s a matter of what kind of technology is being bought.

“People buy for different reasons under different administrations,” she said. But over time it all evens out.

Her experience from talking to Laserfiche customers is that social service implementations now are “on the uptick.” But under a more hawkish law-and-order administration the emphasis could easily swing to law enforcement technology. And with deficit hawks in office, revenue generation and collection technology, such as land management tools, is likely to be popular.

The bottom line from the survey is that budget pressure is the business driver for IT purchases. “It was absolutely reducing cost,” Samuelson said. “Cost is the number one issue in terms of what they buy.”

And budget pressure is something that is not likely to disappear no matter who wins in November. Priorities might change from one administration to the next, but in guessing what kinds of tools agencies will be investing in come 2013, it is safe to say that it will be those that can demonstrate a return on investment. Vive le ROI.

IT Consulting – Taking Your Business to the Next Level

March 18, 2011 6:16 am | No Comments

There comes a time in the life of any business when it has grown all that it can without making the leap into information technology, or IT.  Many people hear the term IT and think of the internet.  While that is a small part of it, the truth is that information technology is an incredibly broad area that includes a variety of different implantations.  Computer hardware, software, and networks are the most common components, but recent technological advances have seen information technology expand in the world of mobile phones, television, and even vehicles.  Regarding IT consulting Los Angeles small business owners can benefit tremendously from this specialized consultation. 

 

Because of its vast level of complexities, it’s usually in your best interest to consider hiring an IT Consulting small business Los Angeles professional to help you make the leap into the world of information technology.  Information technology gives you the tools to keep your employees and clients connected via a large assortment of different hardware and software.  Setting up a large IT system, particularly one that involves more than a single location, requires the skill of a professional.  Many companies opt to hire a permanent IT professional outright, while others decide to utilize IT firms and their employees as needed.


When you are dipping your toes into the waters of information technology, be sure that you understand that the initial setup is only one phase of the process.  Everyone knows firsthand that computers can be fickle beasts at times, and your system will need to be maintained and reset on occasion.  Keeping an IT support professional close at hand will help you avoid loss of productivity and profits that can come if your system stops working properly for any reason.  An experienced IT professional can often fix in minutes what you may never be able to decipher on your own.  


One of the most common information technology systems used today is an Internet Protocol Private Branch Exchange or IP PBX for short.  These telephone systems can deliver both video and voice data over a network and can also operate with the normal public telephone system.  IT firms can offer full network security Los Angeles consultants can help you streamline your data and phone systems can save you a large chunk of cash.  Whatever your information technology needs may be, the decision to hire a professional information technology team to help you set up and maintain your IT system is money well spent. For additional information about IT consulting, visit www.thetechinfogroup.com to learn more.