Let Flexnet Help You Evaluate a New Technology and Determine the Business Benefit

Is your company one that tries the hot, new technology just after it is released (early adopter)? Or is your organization one that waits for months, sometimes years, before implementing the technology (late adopter)? Regardless of which end of the spectrum you fall (most small businesses are somewhere in the middle), hot or emerging technologies capture your attention because they are constantly discussed in publications, in web seminars, in conferences and many other venues.

Here are some emerging technologies that are piquing the interest of small businesses as they are starting to be adopted and are maturing in their feature set and lifecycle.

VoIP or IP Telephony brings a whole of opportunities to assist the human endeavour of communicating.
Using IP Telephony, businesses can converge its voice and data onto a single, common infrastructure, creating a more manageable and cost-effective communications solution. Not only will you be reducing costs and increasing productivity, you will also future proof your business by facilitating emerging technologies.
Money can be saved, with the right IP telephony solution, in almost all areas—from deployment and management time and costs to ongoing toll and lease charges.
IP telephony can also help your organisation gain a competitive advantage, boost employee productivity, and enhance customer service.
However, there are important considerations to analyse when deciding on a solution, including: equipment costs, which include the cost of the infrastructure equipment (voice switches) and handsets (analogue or IP telephones or a mix of both); operational start-up costs, including the time and resources it takes to plan, install and troubleshoot the solution once it is deployed; and finally, maintenance costs, which includes the cost of labour to maintain the equipment plus whatever costs must be paid to the solution vendor for maintenance and upgrades.

SaaS or Software as a Service is more of a model or methodology where software applications are used or accessed via the web versus installing the application on each user's machine and running the software "locally". These products are built specifically for one-to-many usage over the Internet. The advantages include no maintenance or updates by the IT department, no management of hardware, instant updates delivered by the software company, and pay-as- you go licensing model. Some of the most popular or well known SaaS products include Salesforce.com, Telstra T-Suite and WebEx.

The disadvantages to these services are that it may cost more in the long run, you have less control over the application or little customization capabilities and the vendor's longevity or viability is more of a concern.

Windows Vista is the next generation of Microsoft's operating system. Microsoft Windows Vista helps customers in four key areas: Find and Use information, Enable Mobile Workforce, Improve Security and Compliance and Optimize the Desktop Infrastructure. Features such as Instant Searching, Windows Meeting Place, Sync Center, improved power management, and integrated Windows Defender are great enhancements for business users. However, the hardware, processor and memory requirements are greater than ever.

Prior to implementing Windows Vista we recommend that each business consider three key factors:

• Age of your workstation hardware
• Application compatibility
• Need for Vista features

For assistance with implementation of any emerging technology, contact Flexnet to help you evaluate the advantages and disadvantages and to determine if your business will benefit from these new technologies.