Latitude 34 Technologies, Inc.
Latitude 34 Technologies is a one-stop shop for all your IT needs
Whether working alone or with your in-house IT staff, Latitude 34 Technologies, Inc. (www.L34Tech.com) provides enterprise-level support for any size company with a special focus on customer service. We can plan, implement and maintain your company’s technology systems to help you avoid issues, outages and unforeseen upgrades. Latitude 34 Technologies has the knowledge and expertise to get the job done right.
Paul Avolio, president and co-founder of Latitude 34 Technologies, Inc. is responsible for strategic planning, development and quality control for the company. He is a hands-on manager who ensures the success of every job by maintaining close contact with clients and overseeing the implementation of IT maintenance systems and support for clients.
Technology Tips for Nonprofits
Non-profit organizations are in an interesting position when it comes to information technology (IT). Technology is now a necessity in almost all aspects of personal and professional life, but where do you draw the line between necessity and nicety? A for-profit business has the luxury of making decisions based on ROI (return on investment) and/or whether or not it increases the business owner’s own productivity. However, with non-profits, every dollar spent has to be looked at closely to determine if it is helping to meet the organization’s mission. Will that new server help us improve the services we offer? Will this technology allow us to better help the people we serve? For a non-technical person those questions can be hard or impossible to answer. They are even difficult to answer for a technical person when that person does not know the organization well.
Who Should Service Your Technology?
A common concern that arises, is how do you choose who services your technology in a non-profit organization? Do you opt for an existing employee who knows “enough” about technology to get by (we call this the “accidental techie”) and hope for the best? Or do you hire an outside consultant to really help with your IT infrastructure? There are pros and cons for both. The internal employee may know some, but not enough, and could cause greater problems when trying to fix something simple. When you hire an outside consultant, you have to consider how much is that person/company going to charge for their work and are they working the most efficiently to really stretch your dollar? Both scenarios are critical to consider and a real challenge for many non-profits. The good news—it’s entirely possible to make either situation work! You just have to do your due diligence when making your decision and be clear about your objectives and what makes most sense for the organization.
Should You Purchase Warranties for Laptops/Desktops?
Another common concern revolves around workstations—specifically desktops and laptops. Most organizations have several desktop and/or laptop computers (Mac or PC does not matter much here). Invariably the question will arise about warranties on these devices. Some questions that arise: Should we get warranties when we purchase workstations? Should we extend these warranties as workstations age? I argue that any new computer should be protected with a warranty, particularly with a laptop as any repair on a laptop is likely to cost more than the warranty. Just remember both you and the company providing the warranty are both gambling on either side of this flipped coin.
Here are two examples:
Organization A employs 5 people, three of which use laptops and the other two use desktops. If any computer fails you will most likely have an employee working at an extreme inefficiency while that computer is repaired or replaced. Even a standard “next business day” warranty will likely have this individual without a computer for 1-3 business days. What is the cost of that to the organization? Assuming the employee continues to work when his/her computer is being repaired, he/she will still be paid for this time. As well, deadlines will have to be met. What is the impact on productivity and efficiency? How does one person being without a computer impact other employees (i.e. “will you print this for me?”, etc.).
Organization B has 20 users and 18 of those are on desktop computers. Now, if the network is setup properly, when a computer fails the user with a failed computer can simply move to another desk or have a computer swapped to their location so they can keep working. In addition, the organization could invest in one or two “spare” computers that can easily stand in for a failure while one is being repaired. When it comes to reviewing older computers and looking at extending warranties, it is easy to see in an organization of over 10 computers that the cost shift from multiple extended warranties to one or two spare computers could have a greater overall impact on productivity.
Tech Soup--A Great Resource
As you can see, there are many potential issues that will invariably arise in any organization—non-profit or for-profit! The good news is that there are many resources for non-profits to make resources more affordable. One such resource is Tech Soup. Tech Soup (www.techsoup.org) allows 501(c)(3) non-profits to purchase software and some refurbished hardware at an extremely affordable rate. Also, there are support companies (such as ours!) that offer non-profit rates that are less than their standard business rate to decrease labor costs on IT support.
When it comes to technology, you can’t ignore the need for support and quality infrastructure to best run your organization. However, you can make informed decisions about who you hire, how you spend your money and take the time to plan so your organization will maximize its operational dollars spent and continue to focus on its overall mission.