Administration – Knowledge of Information Technology (IT)

An everyday task as an administrator is to ask questions and interact with the vendor. A purchase as I’m sure you are aware should be a two-way negotiation. If your not familiar with the product or service rendered you lose the ability to identify the real weakness or strength of the product or service that you are looking to purchase.

Furthermore, after reviewing the “IT Guy vs. Outsourced Approach” it is then an even more complicated process to help outline and prioritize your goals to take your organizations IT endeavors to the next level. You may feel belittled because of your non-technical knowledge of the situation or simply because they you understand the IT persons answers. This can inhibit the ability to judge performance which is a necessity in employee management and your companies development. You may find that your only reaction is when something you feel isn’t working to your standards or a frustration builds.

Numerous times proprietors and administrators of organizations have given me excuses as to why they don’t want to know or are not concerned with the details but simply to make it work. This is fine if you trust your vendor and your vendor has a proven track record for your organization. If not then my recommendation is even if you:

• Don’t have the time
• Feel your too old to learn technology
• Are not technology savvy so you don’t understand it anyway

I still recommend that you ask some of these questions while your choosing the right IT vendor:

• Who is providing this product or service?
• Who will support this product or service?
• What all is needed to make it work?
• How long will this technology or investment last?
• Does this product or service yield a return on investment?
• Is this an industry standard?
• Could it yield profits for my company?
• Will it interfere with other systems or is it supplemental?

The more confidence and knowledge you have in what your purchasing the better ability you have to control the estimate. If you get into a red flag situation where your salesperson has a lack of knowledge of their own product I would recommend a different vendor. A true salesperson will know every aspect of their product and be able to answer your questions either on the spot or though a resource within their company.

Are you an administrator or proprietor with a lack of IT knowledge? What are some of your concerns?

Tagged as: administration, information technology, it knowledge, questions, technology