MDB would like to help your business reduce costs and save more money, by investing wisely in IT. Some effective ways of doing these are outlined in this article.
Reduce internal IT support and development costs
MDB can work alongside your business, with on-site assistance and a wide range of skills at your disposal.
MDB can reduce the need for a business to have a dedicated IT team. Benefits include:
- Contractors provide a wide range of skills from one central IT source
- Working on a time & materials basis means you only pay for what you need
- Reduced risk associated with taking on long-term IT staff
- Comprehensive support offered via the phone, email and on-site visits
- On site development work
- No skills training required
- No costs in areas such as bonus schemes, healthcare, NI contributions, holiday entitlement, redundancies and insurance
Contractors generally have more accountability, are often under stricter time and budget constraints. The option to let them go at any time or on project completion is quite attractive to most companies, offering an extra level of flexibility and responsiveness.
Manage legacy systems
Legacy systems, built with unsupported technology, still perform a vital role in many businesses but can often result in a constant headache and a large support overhead for companies. With over 12 years experience in software development, MDB’s developers have extensive skills and knowledge to work with most legacy systems.
Key focus areas for legacy systems include:
- Re-evaluating their efficiency, reviewing their usefulness and searching for improvements
- Integrating disparate systems with new to create one central location
- Routine support and maintenance
- Data cleansing
- Legacy transformation, where components of the legacy system can be web-enabled and reused
Often a system may be too deeply integrated into the running of the business, too costly or too complex to justify a re-write. MDB can look at how an existing system can be controlled to carry out new business requirements and provide up-to-date, relevant and business-critical data in order to enhance the decision-making process.
Automate manual processes to save time / money
Technology can save companies money in a multitude of ways, it is often a matter of tapping into existing but unused technology and using it smartly.
Tasks most suitable for automation are:
1. Time-consuming, manual or repetitive data entry
2. Scheduling programs or documents to run at a scheduled time
3. Administrative tasks
4. Sales order processing
5. Data warehousing
6. Excel spreadsheet validation
7. Centralising and consolidating multiple copies of spreadsheets
Most paper-based processes can be removed and automated, this allows data to be easily shared over the web, searched and creates one source of information. By using batch programs or scripts, you can simplify routine or repetitive tasks.
Microsoft’s Task Scheduler organises tasks, commands or scripts to run at specific times and at certain intervals.
MDB can investigate your current business processes and identify areas for consolidation or automation, making your company more streamlined and cost efficient with more reliable business critical information.