How is it better to proceed in the financial crisis: cutting costs or saving costs?

The current economic crisis is causing companies to change their strategy: management policy is being redirected, expenses are being minimized, staff restructuring is being carried out. On the other hand, any company manager, regardless of the period, wants to sell his products, to have customers, to make a profit, basically to develop the business he has invested in.

Management’s first reaction during this period is to cut costs or eliminate them, and IT is usually the first to be targeted. Even if the level of investment is decreasing, IT systems need to be permanently aligned with business needs. It is an element that can support an automation of internal processes and that can support better efficiency and productivity, it is vitally important for the existence and active development of any entity. All the more so in this day and age, a company needs to leverage IT solutions more to ensure business sustenance and growth.

It is important that management assesses the situation correctly, that investments in such systems are recovered quickly, and that the value that such solutions provide is maximised.

Let’s look at the next idea. What would you say if you invested EUR 10,000 now and in a year’s time you found that you had saved at least EUR 30,000? In addition, you have quality in your daily work, control of documents, faster communication, increased speed of reaction.

^FivePlus® is one of the companies focused on solutions to increase productivity, especially in the area of internal communication, teamwork, collaboration and business overview. In the solutions we provide are keywords such as document management, automation of activities, reduction of non-productive time, increasing efficiency or attracting customers, words with value for any beneficiary.

    For the SME sector, ^FivePlus® offers product portfolio Express of the IBM. These solutions allow a quick return on investment because by combining with the applications ^DocPlus®, a 50% improvement in activity can be achieved through electronic document handling and the introduction of standardised communication.“For SMEs we have prepared a starter package in document management, ^DocPlus® Basic, which together with IBM Lotus and IBM SameTime platforms, provides the primary communication functionalities: real-time communication, collaboration on different activities, thematic document management, document circuit, centralized contact database, etc.”, states Alin Nita, General Manager ^FivePlus® Solutions.

IBM certified the value of solutions ^DocPlus® solutions developed by ^FivePlus® Solutions through inclusion in various programs such as the Build on Express program. These solutions help to organize company activities and cover a diverse range of concrete activities faced by any organization, are easy to implement, assimilate and manage and have proven their efficiency.

In addition, IBM supports the ^FivePlus® initiative to address different industries with specialized document and information management solutions designed to meet specific needs.

To handle specific activities, ^DocPlus® Enteprise is available to cover requirements such as contract management, personnel files, entry/exit documents, project documents or opportunities. Thus an important element in the choice of solution is the use of specialists. An implementation of this kind can be done in 2 weeks or several months, depending on the experience of the supplier, the complexity of the solution, the involvement of the management of the beneficiary company.

“Document control must be done continuously to ensure compliance with standards and to continuously improve internal processes. So, it is not recommended to “cut costs” anyway, but rather to keep a minimum level of investment that manifests itself later in resource savings rather than waste. Without this minimum investment, a company would still find it difficult to survive in the market during a crisis. The basic idea is for the beneficiary to focus on activities that bring money into the company” says Alin Nita, ^FivePlus® Solutions General Manager.