This article is published in Aug 2009 edition of Australian Physiotherapist Association Magazine as a special on IT. I was approached by the APA after they read one of my online blogs... see, they do work!

Whilst economists are reporting a modicum of recovery in our economy (in comparison to the rest of the world), I’m sure we would all agree that there are tough times ahead. In order to weather the storm, it is important that we scour our respective operations for opportunities to cut costs and develop smarter ways to do business. These solutions also need to be scalable enough to handle any subsequent market shifts. It is also vital that we don’t jeopardise our ability to provide our customers with a high level of service.

From an IT perspective, this balancing act can be more easily managed by outsourcing certain systems. Virtualised or ‘hosted technologies’ have been used by large enterprises for years to help decrease the cost of IT capital expenditure, telecommunications and software licensing… With some recent technological advancements, small business has the opportunity to catch up.