I once met a lawyer that resigned from his law office because they were debating the type of pencils the firm used, which were 10 cents more expensive than the store-branded replacement.

While humorous, it does highlight that sometimes in an effort to control costs, we end up spending more on valuable employee time than we actually save on purchases.

Here are four ideas that can help out when it comes to purchasing technology:

1. Set a purchase threshold. You should trust employees to make sub $500 decisions. Of course, these should be audited and justified, but prior approval on lower cost items often turns into a simple “rubber stamp”. If the employee has made a bad purchasing decision and overpaid by double, it's a $250 mistake, which can turn into a teaching moment.
2. Standardize your technology purchases. When new employees start, or technology needs to be refreshed, that should never be left to the employee to decide. Digitex can help build standard bundles for new employees and technology refreshes that have been pre-approved by your IT team and senior management. See how this works!
3. Everything is now a service. Almost every piece of technology is available today as a monthly service. Gone are the days where software is sold with a heavy license fee upfront. From mobile phones, productivity software, virus protection to office telephony, your employees should not really be buying anything; if you manage this process well, they simply opt in to products they need.
4. Find a trusted partner. The best thing about the internet today is that, for most technology products, you can search online and find competitive prices. Are those trusted sources for products? Do they help advise you on which product is right for your employees? Do they stand behind it with a local service option? If you shop online for a notebook, prices can range from $500 to $5,000. The lower price product could be an unreliable toy; the higher priced product is likely way too much for a typical office employee. There are currently over 1500 notebooks on the market. Leverage a partner like Digitex to help make the right decision for you and your team.

With a few simple tactics, you can reduce the risk of your team buying the wrong products, or paying too much for the right ones. Let your Digitex rep do the legwork for you to help keep your technology running smoothly. Contact us for a free technology audit today.