Spring IT on…

~ Parity banishes budget blues with launch of three-point plan to help businesses sweat their assets this Spring ~

12 March 2009

Budget cuts and job losses may be at the forefront of people’s minds, but the downturn could in fact be good for IT. With businesses wary of spending money on new technologies, Parity is urging companies to use this period as an opportunity to rationalise existing infrastructure and extract maximum value from current systems.

If implemented, this strategy will not only impact the company’s bottom line in the short term; it will prepare the business, and the staff, for the upturn.

Simon Wayne, managing director of Parity’s Solutions division, believes it’s a good time for business leaders to get to grips with the real needs of the organisation. “IT departments can support companies through this recession by aligning themselves with the business’ priorities,” said Simon. “They must establish a strong IT strategy which will ensure operations across the business run smoothly, staff work efficiently and teams are truly collaborative, so the organisation can increase profits, retain customers and gain a greater share of its market.” 

But this doesn’t necessarily require additional investment. Simon has put together a three-step plan to help organisations ‘spring clean’ their assets, making the most of the technology, systems and resources they already have in place.

1. Re-organise, re-structure and automate
IT budgets are almost always spent in full, but all too often this just means people are buying technology for the sake of it. This results in complexity and additional management headaches, when what the business really needs is speed, reliability and ease of use.

IT managers need to establish what technology they have, what they need, and what they can manage. Any excess should be stripped out to avoid unnecessary complications.

2. Have your cake and eat it
Very often, organisations find they have invested in technology but failed deploy it. They end up wasting hundreds of thousands of pounds and losing out on increased staff productivity.

For example, companies who snapped up Microsoft Office SharePoint Server and not utilising it are effectively sitting on money mountains. SharePoint provides the building blocks for gaining control over your unstructured data, moving towards effective enterprise content management. Once it’s up-and-running, it can improve workforce productivity exponentially. Organisations need to start realising the benefits of technology like this and stop wasting their investment by not using it.

3. Work smarter, not harder
Many organisations are already finding greater efficiencies through adopting different working practices. Shared services centralise back office functions, while remote and flexible working cut down on travel and office costs. Another initiative that can be achieved quickly and has immediate return on investment is collaborative information management. By consolidating information centrally, staff are saved from ‘re-inventing the wheel’ and can access, find and view the content they need immediately. Instant messaging and collaboration enable employees to work together more effectively, sharing and exchanging information wherever they are, which will improve overall workplace productivity.

By following these three steps, any money the organisation does need to spend on IT will be a long-term investment, not a short-term expenditure. In this way, the company can feel confident that it will outgrow the competition rather than just stay in business.

NOTES TO EDITORS

About Parity

Parity is a business and IT solutions company with over 40 years' industry experience. Parity delivers a range of recruitment and business and IT solutions to clients across the public and private sector.

Parity works with its customers to bring out the best in their businesses, drawing on vast personal experience to help organisations meet the challenges they face. Strong relationships with customers make Parity a trusted partner for hundreds of clients across the UK and Ireland, including; BT, Ofgem, The Cabinet Office, Ministry of Defence, BAT, Northamptonshire County Council and The Charity Commission.

Through specialised IT recruitment for contract, interim and permanent resources, especially in the public sector, Parity provides decision makers with the best candidates to drive strategies forward and focus on results.

Through innovative collaboration and information management solutions, drawing on consultancy, development, implementation and fully managed services, Parity helps organisations to excel and achieve outstanding success.

Listed on the London Stock Exchange, Parity recorded a turnover of over £150m in 2007. For more information, please visit: http://www.parity.co.uk/

For further information, please contact:
Suzy Ferguson at LEWIS

Tel: +44 (0) 20 7802 2626
Email: suzyf@lewispr.com
Web: http://www.lewispr.com/