It’s time to get ready for 2013!
The craziness of Cyber Monday is over, and now comes the holiday rush. With everything that’s going on in your organization, it can be easy to get overwhelmed and miss out on some important, year-end activities.
Here are a few reminders to help your IT team stay on top of things.
– Gather Your Team and Set Achievable Goals.
Now is the time to get your team together and set achievable goals for 2013. Discuss issues and successes that happened in the last year and how you are going to use this information to make things run smoother in the coming year.
Promote open communication so your team members can voice their ideas, concerns, suggestions, and feedback. This way, everyone will be part of the goal-setting process and know their responsibilities for the year ahead.
– Review Licenses.
If you are paying for various software-licenses, cloud and server packages and other technology, take a look at your renewal processes. If you don’t have an automatic renewal set for these products and services, you may be cut-off from important technologies your business needs to run effectively.
In contrast, if you have automatic renewals set for some services that you are unaware of, you may receive a surprise invoice in January and end up paying for products and services you do not need.
– Check your Website.
Is your site ready for the New Year? This means that you need to update the copyright dates to 2013 on the appropriate content, install current updates to your software applications, check terms and privacy conditions, and more.
These are little things that are easy to forget, but they can mean a huge difference in the message you send to customers and advertisers. Plus, they can help protect your legal rights too.
– Communicate.
As an IT leader, it’s important to keep your entire organization aware of upcoming plans and changes. Inform all staff members what is going on with technology, your plans for the upcoming year and what they can do to help.
By keeping everyone in the loop, you’ll help avoid unnecessary issues from escalating into major problems, be able to share information to improve processes and increase working relationships throughout the entire organization.
Are You Ready for 2013?
It’s a busy time of year for everyone, but don’t let that get in the way of your IT planning for 2013. Set achievable goals with your team, and review all of the licenses and renewal dates for the products and services you use to avoid invoice surprises. Make the appropriate updates to your Website so that you protect your information legally and present current messaging to your customers. And be sure to communicate your plans with everyone in your organization. This way, you’ll save time and money. Plus, you’ll improve processes so your business can start 2013 in a positive way.
Robert LeCount is The Rich Dad Company’s Director of Information Technology. Based on Robert Kiyosaki’s best-selling book, “Rich Dad Poor Dad,” The Rich Dad Company uses innovative technology to offer a new way to think about money and investing. For more information, please write to Robert below or at www.richdad.com.
