Last week I got to spend time in Dallas, Texas for our quarterly HTG peer group meetings. This particular meeting was the annual HTG Summit where all of the partners (approximately 240 companies) get together. In our separate HTG groups (of approximately 10-12 companies) we share financials, what's working, what's not working and overall best practices regarding their businesses. This is a great way to fine tune your business and make better decisions by leveraging the experience, wisdom, successes, and most importantly the mistakes of other technology business owners.
I got to attend a number of breakout sessions and listen to speakers with varied expertise in the information technology field. One of the key take aways that I brought home is that the economy for IT solution providers is starting to show signs of recovery across the nation. Small businesses are once again making investments in technology for their businesses. The decisions aren't be made the way that they were a in the past though. Having survived the recession business owners are less concerned with getting "something cool" and now want to get something that's going to make their business stable and will have a specific lifespan and provide a return on investment. We've always felt that way so we're in good shape!
There is also a move for some businesses to adopt cloud models where they offload portions (or all) of their core infrastructure to application service providers over the Internet. While it's a virtual certainty that many businesses will eventually do business this way, it's not clear how fast the transition will take. At WingSwept we are advising our clients on the pros and cons of cloud based models for their specific technology needs. In some cases it may be the right time and in others it may never be advisable. Each situation is difference and business owners shouldn't just jump on the latest "fad" in technology without a full understanding of the underlying risk and rewards.
