PRACTICAL IT

MANAGEMENTWhat everyone should know about managing

technology for small businesses.

Bio

• Aaron Boigon, SVP Director of IT for Plumas Bank

• 25 years experience as IT professional, business owner,

consultant, and manager

• Advise numerous businesses and non-profits as part of

my personal mission to evangelize a common-sense

approach to IT management

• Stand-up comedy, philosophy, history, linguistics,

anthropology, and creative writing

What we’ll cover…

• 5 Lessons of Essential IT Management

• Cybersecurity

• Outsourcing

• Efficiency

• Build it vs. buy it

• IT planning and budgeting

• How and why to share this information with others.

Lesson 1: Cybersecurity

Confidentiality

IntegrityAvailability

CIA Triad

Lesson 1: Cybersecurity

What’s the #1 cause of CIA triad failure?

-Human error

Solution?

-Annihilate human race

Lesson 1: Cybersecurity

Moral of the story:

• Sick with a virus? Get a second opinion.

• Sew on a patch to fix your breeches, install a patch to fix

your breaches.

• News flash! This a crappy password: f@ll2017!

• The 7th Sense: I see dead people…login to my computer.

• Browsing the web is like walking in New York City.

• Being backed up every night is awful, unless we’re talking

about data.

Lesson 2: Outsourcing & Cloud

Can we do this ourselves?

Should we do this ourselves?

Lesson 2: Outsourcing & Cloud

Begins with asking the right questions:

• What’s the billing model?

• What services are provided?

• Which services are proactive vs. reactive?

• What’s the expertise of the staff?

• Do they outsource key services?

• What are their response times?

• Are they licensed/insured?

• What industries do they serve?

Lesson 2: Outsourcing & Cloud

Moral of the story:

If you can’t support it, have someone else do it…as long as

it isn’t your brother’s best-friend’s mother’s grandpa’s

cousin’s dog’s owner’s nephew.

Lesson 3: Efficiency

Achieving efficiency with technology sounds fun, but the

reality is quite tricky…

Lesson 3: Efficiency

Old school modes and tools still make up 75% of all business communication.

• Look for low-hanging fruit• Manual processes

• Human analog to digital converters

• Dual screens and chat

• Get formal training• On-the-job training – you learn what everyone else in your job

already knows

• Formal training – fills in the gaps and teaches you what you don’t know

Lesson 3: Efficiency

Moral of the story:

Why can’t we all just get along? Technology enables

collaboration, and human interaction is the heart of human

enterprise…but I didn’t say it’s Paradise.

Lesson 4: Build it or buy it?

We have a problem to solve.

Should we build a solution, or buy one?

Answer: It’s all about total cost of ownership (TCO)

• You make it, you maintain it, you upgrade it, you

troubleshoot it.

• You own it forever.

Measure: Does it contribute to the bottom line?

Lesson 4: Build it or buy it?

Moral of the story:

Unless your name rhymes with “Neon Husk” or “Baloney

Spark” you probably shouldn’t build it. But if you build it,

you should be selling it.

Lesson 5: Plan and budget

Link your business plan to your technology.

The plan and budget is where rubber meets the road.

Budget elements (think upgrades, growth, capacity)

• Staffing – in-house, outsource, recruiting

• Software – licensing, subscriptions, support

• Hardware – servers, laptops, networking, support

• Projects – have their own budgets

Lesson 5: Plan and budget

Moral of the story:

Cars need oil, humans need sriracha, technology requires

maintenance. Plan ahead so you’re not paying more when

it breaks. Sure, get competitive bids to keep your sources

honest…but don’t be a maverick and ignore what your

support folks are offering.

Technology: is there hope?

Thank you. Now go forth and evangelize!

The 5 lessons we covered:

• Cybersecurity

• Outsourcing

• Efficiency

• Build it vs. buy it

• IT planning and budgeting

Share the morals of each story with coworkers, groups,

customers, and family members.

Thank you!!