Kill Your Weak IT Projects Now
The predictable reports of CAPEX (Capital Operating EXpenditure) and OPEX (Operational EXpenditure) cuts (not just in Information Technology) have already surfaced. Sales projections for public companies are being slashed on a daily basis.
“Weaker than expected demand” seems to be the favorite language. Does anyone in the C-Suite really fail to expect weaker demand? That’s unlikely given the kind of daily data available to every business.
Analyze your customer base with the knowledge that they are or will be forced to cut both CAPEX and OPEX and identify the necessary products and services they can’t live without. If you’re not already supplying one of those products and services, then expect the weaker demand for your organization.
Almost every company of any size has IT (Information Technology) projects at various stages of completion. Many of these may have substantial resources dedicated towards them and yet they wander in the desert of incompleteness. Can you afford this?
Kill your weak IT projects now. It may be painful, but it’s long overdue and you know it. You are wasting resources that you’re going to need to combat the “weaker than expected demand”. The first place you should re-deploy those resources are into those IT projects that have a direct impact on keeping your company competitive.
- Finish that Exchange cut-over and kill the old servers.
- Actually retire those servers you replaced with VMware.
- Upgrade your storage to the higher capacity drives with the lower power consumption and get rid of the old storage.
- Consolidate or move your data centers into more efficient and cost-effective space.
Finally, Dan Rua reminds us not to neglect the interpersonal opportunities that adversity can bring. Reach out to a trusted adviser. You may be able to help each other with your respective challenges.
