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IT, a ongoing expense

Be sharp and prepared. Be the one that others have to catch up to.

Be sharp and prepared. Be the one that others have to catch up to.


It’s a fact that technology has evolved at an immeasurable speed in recent years. What was yesterday’s news is now obsolete and ready to be replaced. The entrepreneurial world is no exception to this development. Technologies are pushing companies to change their processes, equipment and even their employees. Do companies really need to move at this crazy speed? It seems so.

You have probably heard of the Industry 4.0, a technological renaissance and source of a new boom of “startups” that often end up bought for millions by the big players. Not a new development, just more common. Technology is evolving at such a rapid pace that it’s the smallest companies with extraordinary adaptability that are able to keep up.As of the release of this blog post, that giant that is Google has made more than 200 acquisitions. List of Google Acquisitions

An Example

Over time, computer technologies have evolved. Needs change and systems evolve with them. One of the technologies that has evolved greatly lately is unquestionably the Web technologies.

To put it in context, during the 90s the “World Wide Web” made its public appearance. Since then, its growth has reached an annual rate of more than 300,000%. We are going from an internet traffic of 0.18 Petabytes/month in 1990 to more than 27 000 Petabytes/month in 2011: that’s huge.

0,18 Petabytes is equivalent to about 6 thousand 32GB USB drives. 27,000 Petabytes is equivalent to over 840 million of these USB sticks.

And to help you imagine it all, here is the 2011 traffic representation using 32GB USB drives:You can also view the image in full resolution where you will be able to see the size of a single USB stick! It is located at the bottom left of the image.

This rapid evolution is not without impact. In fact, in addition to the companies impacted by these changes, the education system and students are equally affected. Those working in the IT field are even more so affected. That’s why, as a business, it’s imperative that they be able to flourish and learn new skills.

What does that mean for me?

The impact on companies is therefore not negligible. But how can a company manage to keep up with this fast-moving technology? A simple and effective solution to this problem is to simply count IT among your recurring investments. Indeed, budgeting for IT within your business will allow you to grow with technology. It is then possible to keep yourself up to date and follow the wave. This budget will allow you to avoid huge expenses later in order to catch up with your competitors.

Be bright and prepared—be the one that others have to catch up to

Finally, when you do business with an IT company, it is imperative that they allow you to stand on your own. Not to avoid working with this partner again, but so that you can have control of your evolution. What will you do if this partner can’t evolve or no longer exists? Rebuilding a system is tedious and expensive. By avoiding this you will be more successful in the long run.