From the surface, if we didn’t know any better we would say – Yeah… that’s amazing! Don’t change anything then!  However, what we normally find is that while the technology in question is technically powered on/performing some function, the devil is in the details.  Yeah, we have had that server now for 10 years and it runs just fine… you just have to remember hit the ignore messages when it boots up and gives all of those messages about drive errors.  Yeah, we still have Office 97 installed on all of our computers – been working great for 10 years now,  we just have to tell all of our clients to save the files in the older format and every now and then we have to have them re-send the files again and maybe once in a while the documents we send get messed up when they open it up in their new software.  Yep we have been using the same 3Com hubs to connect all of our computers since 1996 – after all – its just a splitter for the network isn’t it.  What are you crazy – why would we need to replace that Linksys wireless router – we were one of the first businesses in our building to have wireless access with that and it is still working like a charm – but it does seem to be a lot slower now that you mention it.

Do any of these sound familiar to your business?  I know some of you are shaking your head and saying – Seriously those are ridiculous, no business would say that or be doing those things.  The scary thing is… those are all actual conversations we have had with prospective customers.

Here’s the root issue, most small and even medium sized businesses do not treat technology as a critical part of their business.  Don’t believe me??  Ask them what percentage of their operating budget is allocated to technology.  That’s always a great way to slow down a conversation.  Most of the time, that comes back to …. well we really don’t have a set budget for technology, we just replace things as they break(translated to … we have the same server that we purchased 10 years ago).  Conversely ask any larger business or enterprise level company what percentage of their operating budget is allocated to technology and you will get a pretty detailed explanation of what those percentages are made up of and what the lifecycle is of the technology being put in place.  The difference is that technology is treated like a critical operational expense in every fiscal budget instead of an un-forecasted  unexpected capital expense that occurs without warning and is normally a huge expense.  Now I know the next argument – well larger businesses have more money to spend on technology and can allocate that money easier.  Really??  From our experience while larger businesses may have a larger overall operational budget, the technology requirements are proportionately larger as well.

Here’s why the argument of waiting until something breaks to fix it doesn’t work;

Lets say for example you own a tire shop and you specialize in having the best tires at the best price with the best service in town.  You have a loyal following of customers that come back to you year after year to get their tires and service from you because they know you are the best at what you do.  As part of your operations you use a  tire changing machine that separates the tire from the rim so you can replace them.  Now these things are not cheap, thousands of dollars can be put into a new machine, but without it, you really can’t change tires.  Now lets say that you know the lifespan of these machines is an average of 5 years of heavy use.  You have built your business up in a period of 3 1/2 years to be the top tire shop in town.  In terms of you operations do you continue operating with the tire changing machine up until the day that it dies and then just wait to order a new one, knowing that it will most likely take weeks to get a new one in place and running?  How much money would your business lose because a business critical tool is not operational?  How many of your loyal customers who need a tire changed that day will go down the street to the newest tire shop, that has the newest tire changer, and comfortable waiting area, and free cookies to entice them in?  Hopefully this puts some reality to the fact that ignoring business critical tools in your business will eventually impact your revenue in a negative way.

So the question then becomes, Is technology a business critical piece of your day to day operations?  I know many of the prospective customers we talk to get it.  They understand that in today’s competitive business climate and economy, technology is no longer a “nice to have” aspect – it is a requirement to conduct business.  However, we also talk to many businesses that have that “If it aint broke, don’t fix it” mentality when it comes to technology.  We even get a few of those business owners/managers that argue, “We used to not have a single computer in our business and could survive just fine without them again”.  Really…. I mean seriously… do they REALLY believe that?  For those businesses that are that adamant, I normally like to give them a simple challenge – If that’s really the case, then tomorrow morning when you come in, turn off the servers, desktops, network and all things technical.  Then at the end of the day compare your revenue from that day to the day before(I know … it will take a bit longer to get those numbers since there is no technology to help pull the numbers, but let’s play along). After all, the only way to prove a theory is to test it!   If the revenues are higher on the day that you turned everything off – then you are absolutely correct … technology is not critical to your business and you are a rare gem in today’s business climate.  However, most businesses if they actually were able to survive the day without everything being turned on, will hands down say it was a nightmare to try to operate.

So why does this not translate to a more dedicated approach to keeping technology up to date in small and medium sized businesses.  Experience has taught us a couple of things in regards to this.  The first barrier that keeps small and medium sized businesses from treating technology like a critical piece of their business is that they don’t really understand it.  They have the geeky kid next door that “knows computers” give them advice so they don’t have to pay a professional. But at the end of the day, they have no better knowledge of what it does or can do for their business.  The second barrier that we see is that most small businesses approach technology as a capital expenditure that is normally a huge expense all at one time and you try to avoid it as long as you can to maximize cash-flow.  Compare that with larger businesses and you will see that most of them approach technology from an operational expense standpoint.    There is a plan for the technology, a lifecycle for each piece of it, and a related budget to put a bow on it.  This approach takes the expense off of the balance sheet and onto the P&L statement.  The advantage here is that it becomes  a forecastable, predictable expense.  So why don’t more small businesses approach it from this standpoint?  Again, I think that is fed by a general misunderstanding of the technology.  Human nature is to avoid things we don’t’ understand.  So a server is not replaced for 10 years, software is not upgraded until it fails,  network infrastructure is not replaced even though it no longer offers secure and reliable connectivity… until it’s “broke”.

The final argument is that is actually costs them less with this approach.  In reality this could not be more false.  The lifecycle for a business computer should be planned for 3 years or 5 years at an absolute maximum.  The reality is that even though the computer does not take on new requirements, the environment in which they operate in does change.  It’s odd how many times when talking with a prospective customer that we hear, “Do we really need to replace that 5 year old computer?  All they use if for is to check email and get online”.  Then 5 minutes later we hear, “well they always have problems with XZY website …. something about the browser it not supported”…. funny how the rest of the technology world changes regardless of whether you upgrade or not.  The reality is that while email and web access may be the main functionality used, the environment of those two changes almost daily… new plugins, new features, higher bandwidth,  increased security requirements.  All of these things never get factored in when the discussion is “All they use if for is to check email and get online”.

So what’s the answer?  Each and EVERY business regardless of size should have a technology lifecycle plan and a budget established for technology.  What if you don’t have any idea of how to put this together?  There are many free resources online to help establish at least a baseline plan for this;

• http://www.inc.com/managing-technology – Great overall resource for small business and technology
• http://www.smallbusinesscomputing.com/ – another great small business resource
• http://www.informationweek.com/smb – my favorite small business resource – plus it breaks the content down by business size

Consult with a trusted technology company or adviser.  DaZZee Integrations pushes this strategy as a cornerstone to the growth of any business in today’s environment and has the tools, and experience to provide complete guidance.  In many cases, DaZZee can offer a FREE  full network and technology assessment to help give you a complete picture of your technology as it stands today. Finally consider vendor lease options.  Why?  Thats an easy one… it gives you a predictable expense, over a predictable lifecycle and moves the expense out of a huge capital expenditure to a manageable operational expense.  The big bonus is that leases offered directly from the vendor like Cisco Capital are typically very business friendly with very low lease rate factors and easy buyout options(such as $1 buyout terms).  If you would like to talk more one on one – DaZZee loves to offer assistance in this realm and provide the ROI you need to justify the budget.

Cisco ESW Switches

We recently started a Cisco UC560 IP telephony installation for a customer using a Cisco ESW switch.  The specific switch included in the Bill of Materials was an ESW-520-48-K9 switch which provided 48 PoE 10/100 switchports with two SFP Gigabit uplinks and two Copper Gigabit uplinks.  Here are some of my thoughts and experiences I had while using the ESW model of switch for this particular installation.

After opening the box the ESW switch is pretty much ready to go and even has a default configuration set for deploying Cisco IP phones but there were a few things that bothered me as the installing engineer.  First, having being used to the traditional Cisco IOS command line it took me longer to configure this switch for my relatively simple configuration.  We needed to add a third VLAN for GUEST internet access and add that as tagged traffic on the tagged ports.  Unfortunately, with the ESW, newly added VLANs are disabled by default on all the ports.  This meant adding them one by one to the appropriate ports.  Tagging the VLANs took longer since it had to been done port by port, whereas I could have used the “Interface Range” command on the CLI of an IOS switch.  I also had to perform the same port by port configuration for Port Security much meant more wasted time.

Once the base configuration was done another engineer, the customer and myself noticed that the network speed was pretty slow for having only three laptops and three IP phones on it.  This caused us to start looking into the utilization on the switch which showed a steady 25% to 40% CPU utilization.  So a call was placed to Cisco Small Business support to troubleshoot which ultimately ended up resulting in an RMA for the switch.  Thank goodness for 4 hour replacement because we had another switch in just a few hours.  Once we replaced the switch we still noticed the same CPU utilization but then started getting reports that a few other phones placed had spontaneously started to reboot.  So now we were worse than before.  We swapped back in the original ESW switch until we decided what to do next.  The other engineer and I thought that we should probably install an entry level 2960 “Cisco” switch given our troubles with the ESW.  Since then network speed improved, no random phone reboots, and we have easier CLI administration available to us.

While this review is NOT meant to be a standard hardware benchmark type test it does show our lack of faith in this line of switching.  My main gripes were the extra time needed to configure port to port settings and the obvious performance issues we experienced.  I don’t believe that I would recommend a customer installing this line of switching for their network needs.  I’d suggest spending a little bit extra and step up into the Cisco 2960 entry level switching.  Below is a list of some Pro’s and Con’s I experienced with the ESW switch.

• DHCP self assigned IP for administration couldn’t get the console working
• Web GUI for administration – NO CLI
• Switchport changes had to be made one by one (storm control and VLAN tagging)
• Switching performance seemed poor – High CPU with almost no devices
• Phones rebooting
• CPU utilization was 20 to 40% with three IP phones and no desktops.
• Port security enabled by default

PRO:

• Price
• Worked with Cisco Configuration Assistant
• Ready for IP Telephony
• Cisco Small Business Support was great.

I hope that this helps someone decide if they are on the fence on which switching line to go down.

View more information on the Cisco ESW switch here:

View more information on the Cisco 2960 switch here:

My last post was labeled – “Don’t Buy Any New Technology”. The overall gist is that unless you have your business operations dialed in, you are wasting time and money applying technology to a broken operations. This is a follow up post to that in that if you have your staffing and operations laid out properly and want to utilize technology to drive business results, it is not as simple as just going straight to the fun stuff like wireless networks, video chat, and iPads.

I can’t tell you how many times we have walked into a small or medium sized business to do a network assessment only to find entry level home user network equipment sitting on a shelf (or worse hanging from the ceiling) with multiple $50 devices connected to each other just to make sure all things are plugged in.  The problem with this is that the network was an afterthought.  Someone new was hired and a new computer had to be connected, or a printer was added and there needed to be a port for it, or a new DSL Internet connection was added and the phone company just put in a device for everything to get plugged into.

Why is this a problem? Glad you asked… the network is THE CORE of your business communications, operations, and functionality!!  Think about it… have you ever had your network go down?  When it does, what happens?  If you are like most companies, employees all start coming to your door with a panic stricken look on their face and a frantic babbling of “Everything is down”.  The reality of this is that it costs your business in more ways than you know.  Productivity is the obvious hit… employees are being paid and are unable to do their jobs.  Would you be OK with paying for gas at the gas station and driving off only to find that you only got a half a tank of gas for a full tank of gas costs?  Yet so many business managers and owners tolerate paying employees to work only to have them not be able to do their job because their network was an afterthought.  Secondarily the impact on your customers is immeasurable.   If you could quantify the number of sales, contacts, and communications that are lost when you have a network outage – this would probably be much higher on the list of concerns.

So what is the solution?  Instead of treating your network as an afterthought, it needs to be given the proper consideration and planning for your current needs as well as your future needs.  While most business owners readily admit technology is not their strong suit – most of them still just allow the guy in cubicle 3 that “knows computer stuff” or the guy down the street that installed their satellite at home that “knows computer stuff” to run down to Best Buy and buy another $50 switch because they need to plug in another computer.  Instead you should consult with a trusted, certified, and experienced company that knows how to build a network to support your business needs.  Think about this – If you were going to build a house, would you just start with a bare patch of land and ask Bob your neighbor to build it because he has a really nice table saw?  Probably not – you would consult with a skilled contractor that knows how to make the most of your investment.  Similarly in the process of building your home, would the first thing you picked out be the color of the granite counter tops?  NO – you would start with A PLAN.  Then the biggest piece of the construction that would have to be correct is the foundation.  Would you just run to Lowes and buy a pallet of Quickcrete and start mixing it up to build a foundation?  No – you would never consider doing that.  However so many businesses allow their network to be built ad-hoc from the local business supply store.   If the foundation is not correct, those beautiful granite counter tops would look pretty shabby on top of your counters that are off by two inches because the foundation moved.  The network switching, and routing are the core to your network and to your business operations!  Give them the proper planning and budget to insure that years down the road you are not having to shim your network up to keep it from falling down.

My next post will take the next step and talk about the importance of securing your network physically and logically.

Here are a few helpful links that also talk about the importance of Small Business Technology Planning

Are You Ready To Upgrade Your Old, Slow and Unstable Network?

http://bit.ly/uJp88l

tech insight and news for small business

http://bit.ly/vhTib0

Though Social Media has made much of professional networking a remote act, the primary way that businesspeople connect on a personal level is through face to face networking. Knowing how to network effectively is important, no matter what level of business you operate at. Here are some key tips to help you find good results in any networking situation. Bear in mind, networking doesn’t always mean going to a networking event. These skills can be useful during a conversation at the water cooler, at the grocery store, or any social occasion.

You’re There to Give, Not Get

    It’s easy to confuse a detailed monologue with meaningful conversation. When successfully networking, try changing your mindset. You should do your best to contribute to the conversation in a constructive way. Give more speaking time to your discussion partner and allow them to be heard. This will help you develop a quick bond that will make the conversation partner feel appreciated, which will increase the effectiveness of your networking attempts.

Don’t Appear Desperate

    Whether you’re on a date or at a networking event, neediness is never a desired trait. Remember, your main goal is to contribute a sense of appreciation to the individual with whom you are having a conversation. If you are constantly asking for a referral from a business representative, much like constantly asking for the number of someone you’ve just met, you’re likely to not get it. Have confidence in who you are, and approach the situation knowing what you have to offer.

Ask Open-Ended Questions

    Try and stay away from “yes” or “no” questions. Leave room for elaboration and let whomever you are speaking with feel the freedom to say all they need or want to in order to adequately express themselves. Many questions can be phrased differently to avoid making the answer one worded. For example, asking, “do you have any kids?” could be rephrased as “tell me about your family.” The second wording asks for the same information, but allows the responder the liberty to tell you as little or as much as they want.

    Networking is all about staying comfortable and maintaining sincere conversations. For more tips, check out this article.

Companies need to alter their service plans from time to time and the change usually comes as a surprise to  their consumers. These transitions can go smoothly or not so smoothly, depending on how the transition is handled.

The way in which Netflix managed its recent service changes is a perfect example of this sort of news being received poorly. Netflix decided to separate their services, DVD-by-mail and streaming, and raise their prices considerably for both. Customers viewed the execution of the change as abrupt and confusing. In the brief time since the initial announcement, many of Netflix’s subscribers have canceled their accounts altogether. In fact, the number was significantly more than Reed Hastings, the CEO of Netflix, was expecting.  In effort to apologize for the way Netflix handled the reorganization announcement, Hastings emailed all subscribers and posted a letter on the Netflix blog. He acknowledged that he “… messed up. [And owes] everyone an explanation,” but then went on to announce yet another change!  Netflix is separating the services even further into Qwikster, for DVD-by-mail, while the streaming services will remain as Netflix. This surprise did not have the intended effect and in fact elicited even more backlash. We will have to wait and see how Netflix deals with this new PR debacle and they may be realizing that sometimes an apology isn’t enough.

In late June, AT&T changed their service plan to a tiered pricing plan and eliminated their unlimited data plan. While this upset many people, AT&T chose to honor those who already had the unlimited data as part of their plan.  This allowance for a grandfathered plan may have saved the company from  losing a lot of customers to other carriers.

When companies change their services plans, regardless of the reasons for the decision, they inherently tread dangerous waters. Before alerting their customers and the world, they should develop a course of action that will minimize the backlash. If there is a drastic price increase or another product change equally undesirable from a customer’s viewpoint, here are a few strategies companies could consider to soften the effect:

• Notice, and Lots of It:  Give the public plenty of notice and utilize a forum where customers, particularly those directly affected, can express questions and concerns.
• Grandfathered Services:  Honor services and prices current clients have prior to the change.
• Details:  Explain the change in detail! The more transparent you are with your announcement, the more your clients will trust your decision.
• Discounts: Offer a free month of service or some other type of coupon if clients take advantage of multiple services

If you have any more ideas of ways companies could make the news of service plan changes easier, we’d love to hear from you!

I recently read a book by Richard Clarke – Cyber War. The United States has a great offensive capability, but what about prevention or defense? If private groups can breach these entities, what can foreign states do?

The point is that behind the scenes, there are may breaches that are undetected and unpublicized. In May of 2010, Google was the victim of a massive breach in China. Instead of tolerating what was allegedly a state sponsored breach, they took drastic action. In many of the countries that are allegedly sponsoring these intrusions such as China, Russia, and North Korea, they have documented cyber warfare training institutes. They have the financial resources and access to the technology to complete these attacks.

One of the nice things about the Internet as we know it in the United States is freedom. Unfortunately, some of these freedoms from inspection of traffic for suspicious payloads by our larger, national service providers also provides a vulnerability in that once an attack is detected, it is very difficult to stop.

So how does this relate to business? Businesses need to take security seriously, and come up with a plan to compartmentalize information, take basic security precautions, and have a plan to deal with a breach should one occur. Also, auditing and, in some businesses, penetration testing, should be performed to find holes in security that may not be obvious.

Don’t wait until your business is a victim before you take action.

    We’ve talked about how easy it is to get distracted while working with the World wide web at your fingertips. The Internet is one of the greatest technological advancements of the past 30 years, but workers have been getting distracted in the office long before the World Wide Web. Here are three of the most common ways that workers can get distracted in the office without the aid of the Internet (as well as a few steps on how to combat these bad habits).

The Water Cooler

    A strong work community is important for any business. Research has shown that workers who have developed a strong community will be more productive. However, making this community constructive for productivity is also a necessity. It’s easy to spend too much time discussing your personal life with coworkers during working hours. To help combat this, try planning a weekly after-work-hours gathering with your coworkers. This will help you stay up to date on each other’s lives without minimizing productivity during office hours.

Minesweeper

    No matter what computer you use, there is likely some kind of preloaded game saved to the hard drive. Whether it’s Minesweeper, Chess or Solitaire, there is always a mind numbing game to indulge in during work hours. With these games, it’s easy to let a few minutes of distraction turn into hours of wasted work time. In this situation, the best thing to do is to simply delete the game off your computer. Let’s be honest, you probably don’t even enjoy playing these games that much anymore.

Daydream

    We all know what it’s like to get lost in thought, daydreaming about our favorite TV show, book or movie. It’s something we do when we have low focus and it can be a big time waster. Try changing your lifestyle to help increase your focus to avoid daydreaming. Simple changes can help, like getting more sleep or eating foods that are lacking in processed sugar.

    Working without distractions can be a challenge. Even without the multiple distractions offered by the Internet, staying focused on your work can be difficult. Remember these tips during the workweek and do your best to stay on top of things. Don’t forget, 90% of productivity is focus!

In the past few years our options for accessing entertainment have grown drastically. This has changed the way entertainment industries function. Conventional stores like Blockbuster, Borders, and the iconic Virgin Megastore in Times Square are disappearing as people head to their computers to access their entertainment. Online stores give buyers more options at a cheaper rate because there are fewer overhead costs and many companies are taking this route. We are seeing that, in general, this increase in options has driven prices down in most entertainment industries.

Independent and chain music stores have been affected by the increased access to music the Internet provides and many have had to close. Instead of buying full albums, sites like Amazon MP3 and iTunes allow people to buy single songs for mere pocket change. Musicians have followed suit by selling or giving away their songs on their websites. Music has gotten so affordable that we have started to see the price of concert tickets increase so the record industry can turn a profit.

Online music streaming has also become very popular. Sites such as Pandora and Grooveshark  are free and let people customized their stations with less commercials than traditional radio stations. If you chose to upgrade, you can get your music with no commercial interruptions. Many people use these services to test out music prior to buying it and sometimes choose them in place of purchasing music. Most Internet connected gadgets can access these services anywhere at any time.

The face of books has changed in the past couple years as well. Thanks to eBooks, people can buy digital books directly from sites like Amazon and Barnes and Noble and have them instantly downloaded onto their handheld device. The prices of these digital books are usually significantly cheaper and the online stores never sell out.

Instead of paying for satellite or cable TV, many people choose the more cost effective route of streaming television on sites such as Netflix or Hulu. There is such competition in the TV industry lately that many network channels now upload their most recently aired episodes to their websites and make them available to Internet enabled devices like the iPad.

The way we access our entertainment has changed drastically thanks to the Internet. Television, books, and music found on the Internet are much more cost effective, but this may change. Recently Netflix altered its model of offering both online streaming and physical DVD rentals and also raised its prices. Many articles have been written speculating whether this will hurt or help their business plan. As we see physical stores disappear and online stores become our only option, we may see more sites follow in the model pioneered by Netflix. We will just have to wait and see.

First of all – I love the opportunity to work with businesses that can see dramatic results from utilizing technology.  Sometimes that presents itself in the form of consolidating expenses, or increasing productivity, and becoming more competitive in the marketplace through the innovative use of technology.  However, the basics of business must be in place for any technology to provide substantial results.  This is a post that I have had in the back of my mind now since the Spring when my family and I went on vacation.  There were some glaring examples of how technology is not going to make your business successful and be the magic bullet to fix all issues.  It can product dramatic results in the proper environment however the foundation of the business has to be strong first.

First example - When traveling with three kids, it is rare that we know how far we can get driving on a given day so we normally book a hotel room while in the car and close to the breaking point for the kids to contain themselves strapped in the car seats.  My wife and I both use an iPhone and love it.  Consequently there are great apps that allow you to search for available hotel rooms right from the iPhone and ultimately book your reservation.  We have used this feature for a while and have never had an issue.  However on day one of our 21 hour road trip back, we made it almost 12 hours on the road used the iPhone app to book our reservations in Birmingham Al.  By the time we arrived at the hotel it was almost 11pm.  My wife goes in to check in and a young man in his early 20s is “working” the front desk(but much too occupied with his cell phone to get up out of the chair immediately to help.  My wife finally asks if he can help get us checked in and he says “sure – I guess so”.  Long story short – we have no room reserved for us.  He said that he saw the reservation come in from the website/iPhone app but forgot to enter it earlier and since there is a basketball tournament in town he had sold all of the rooms.  My wife at this point is almost in tears from the long day and his lack of concern.  She asks for the manager and he tells her there is not one on duty.  He continues to just stare at her when she asks if there is a sister property that they could get us into since they had not fulfilled the reservation.  After 30 minutes of getting absolutely no where, I drive a few blocks over and just walk into a brand new hotel with 3 staff members at the front desk who all greet me and tell me it is absolutely not a problem to get us a room and they even upgraded us to a suite since we have had such a rough evening.

Second example - While on day two of traveling, we push to make it to Olive Branch MS, just outside of Memphis for lunch.  We could have stopped around 11am for lunch a few towns over but the kids are doing great and we push on.  Getting in to Olive Branch we are hitting the 12:30 after church crowd.  We stop at a national sandwich chain restaurant that is famous for their potatoes and sweet tea.  When we get there they have HUGE signs across the front door and on all of the table toppers to encourage everyone to “like them” on Facebook and “follow them” on Twitter.  Everyone is pushing this now and for good reason!  It is a great way to keep in contact with your customer base and drive new business and increase brand loyalty.    Once I get inside, the line to order is really backed up.  My wife and the kids go to the rest rooms while I wait in line to order.  After about 10 minutes waiting in line I get up to the counter and start to order our food and the employee at the register stops me in mid-sentence and says – “You’re not wanting this right now are you??”.  Confused I answer – ummm yeah … uhhh why is that a problem?  She lets out a sign of disgust and curtly answers back – “Can’t you see all of these people that have ordered before you?  It is going to be at least 30 minutes before we will even be able to start on your order!”  I smile and tell her that I hope she has a wonderful day and we go across the street to another privately owned sandwich shop and get our food and are back on our way.

Both of these businesses had spent I am sure a good amount of money on technology with the projected outcome being that it would in turn produce more business, increase customer loyalty, and possibly streamline expenses.  All of these are very viable goals through technology.  However, the basics of business were overlooked – customer service, proper training, proper staffing, and proper management.  I am sure the folks that invested the money on technology would cringe reading this post.  The bottom line – if it is a choice between spending money on technology, or spending money on the basics of your business – SPEND THE MONEY ON THE BASICS FIRST AND FORGET THE TECHNOLOGY!  I know this is counter intuitive to DaZZee Integrations and the services that we offer.  However if you cover the basics first and make that your priority, I can promise you that you business will flourish and you will be in a much better position to take advantage of all that technology can do for your business.

DaZZee Integrations in my biased opinion does a stellar job in finding ways to improve your business operations through the use of technology.  We love the opportunity to even sit down and talk about these things with you and help build technology plans and budgets for the immediate and long term goals.  However, we are also very honest in whether or not we are a great fit for your business and if not – we will tell you.  That is one of the biggest delineations between DaZZee and our competitors – we want to see the results of the business technology instead of just making the sale.

If you have any questions about our services, whether it is right for your business, or just want to talk technology in general – give us a call or shoot us an email.  We LOVE that aspect of business, and by all means – BUY TECHNOLOGY – but do so wisely after a full evaluation of your business operations