Staying ahead of the curve when it comes to your company’s IT solutions is a great way for any business to achieve an edge over their competitors. All firms in all sectors rely heavily on IT in their day to day operations but many don’t have the time or the expertise to properly optimise their IT solutions.
That means that if you give your hardware, software, network and other IT systems the proper care and attention, you can steal a march on your rivals. The following five projects for IT savvy businesses represent simple but effective ways of ensuring the efficiency of your IT infrastructure and of giving you that competitive edge.
1. Backing Up Your Data
This is an absolutely crucial element of the operation of any small business, and yet many still do not give it the attention which it deserves.
Hardware failures, human error and malicious cyber-attacks can all lead to the loss of critical data. If proper backup procedures are not in place, this can in turn lead to huge problems and significant costs for any business. Reviewing your backup routine and ensuring that data is regularly saved to a safe location from which it can be quickly restored if required, therefore, is an absolute must for all companies.
2. Assessing and Improving Cyber Security
Another project for IT savvy businesses which should be obvious and yet is often ignored, performing a review of your cyber security and fixing any vulnerabilities is another crucial task to undertake.
Depending upon your company’s particular activities and needs, there are a variety of different ways in which you may be able to improve your cyber security. Implementing a cloud-based email filtering service, for instance, could help defend against phishing scams, whilst simply better training your staff could significantly reduce the risk of a ransomware incursions.
3. Upgrading your Operating Systems
For many small businesses, it is simply not viable to upgrade the operating systems of all of their PCs and devices each and every time a new system is introduced. If you are still running a significantly outdated OS, however, it may just be time to consider updating.
As well as not offering you the most up to date and user friendly features, outmoded operating systems can also cause problems if they no longer benefit from support by Microsoft. Making the switch to a more modern OS, then, is a potentially very beneficial IT project to consider.
4. Exploring Cloud Computing Options
Whether you know it or not, you company probably already uses some cloud computing solutions. Email clients and file sharing software such as Dropbox, for instance, are amongst some of the most popular around. It could be time, however, for you to take a closer look at how your business could be better utilising the cloud.
Choosing to do away with a physical server and move all related activity to the cloud can be really beneficial for many small businesses. Even if this isn’t a step you are yet ready to take, however, there are still other avenues open to you such as utilising Microsoft Office 365 or other cloud based software solutions.
5. Auditing and Replacing Hardware
A project for IT savvy businesses that can involve more initial outlay than many of those above but which will often deliver far better cost-efficiency in the long run, testing the efficacy of your hardware could prove really beneficial.
Old printers, servers and even PCs could be having a significant adverse effect on the productivity of your workforce and as such, replacing them can have a noteworthy impact on output and on your overall bottom line.
If these simple and potentially beneficial projects have inspired you to really get your IT infrastructure and systems in order, contact Mustard IT today and we can offer individual and tailored advice to help you on your way.
