Large, medium-size, and especially small businesses are facing some difficult times at this point—and for them to make it through this and flourish in the future, some long-term changes are going to be necessary. Let’s break down a few ways that technology should play a role in these changes.
“Doing things the old-fashioned way” isn’t often how a managed service provider will operate, but in some respects, this really is the best course to take with your IT, at least in terms of strategy. Let’s consider some principles and best practices that have largely remained the same even as time has changed.
We talk a lot—a lot—about “best practices” regarding IT and technology. However, it has come to our attention that not a lot of people necessarily know what this means, especially when it comes from an MSP. We wanted to take a few moments and go over what best practices are, and why it is important that they have a presence in your business’ IT.
Technology is getting smarter, from the consumer level on up. As such, artificial intelligence is appearing in more and more applications that all businesses can embrace. Let’s take a few minutes and go over the various ways that artificial intelligence can be used to support your business’ operations.
The COVID-19 pandemic is one of the most remarkable situations that will happen in our lives. Unfortunately for businesses, mandated stay-at-home orders for non-essential workers have pushed a lot of the work that typically was done in the office to employees’ homes. This has necessitated many businesses to make a quick digital transformation.
Most companies lean pretty heavily on their technology. They typically invest in tried-and-true technology solutions to cover their operational problems, while trying to find innovative tools that return higher yields on their investments. For 2020, there are a few trends most SMBs are going to want to take head on. They include:
Business processes and procedures are a key component of any successful company. There are plenty of examples of businesses that have literally been built on the practices that they have implemented. We’ll go over a familiar example here, and how you can start to tighten up your own processes.
One of the earliest memories I can remember is being relentlessly reminded “organization is the key to success”. While it might have been a comedic expression to say while cleaning up the house, becoming a business owner has undoubtedly caused organization to become more of a strategy rather than an obsession.
There are many obstacles that any business owner needs to avoid in order to keep themselves from backsliding like Sisyphus did in Greek myth. Some of these obstacles may not be the first that come to mind, either. Here, we’ll review six mistakes that a business owner can make that can prevent them from reaching their goals.
In today’s highly competitive business environment, any advantage that you can claim will be useful to you. One big advantage you should seek to have is a trusted and reliable resource you can turn to so they can help you manage your IT solutions, consulting you on your business’ future in terms of its technology.
Businesses can’t view the right technology solutions as a privilege--not any longer, when the modern business should look at technology as a necessity in order to remain competitive. Your business can benefit considerably from making use of the right technology solutions, but it’s not always easy to identify what your business needs. We’re here to help you make that choice.
Businesses need a lot of services to stay ahead of the competition. The “as a service” model allows businesses to save a lot of money in the long run by making previously inaccessible services much more affordable for the average small organization. We’ll walk you through the value you can take advantage of thanks to the “as a service” model.
Considering Managed Services
In essence, managed services are outsourced services that your business can take advantage of to supplement technology management. Some examples of this could be outsourcing the management of your business’ servers to a third party who hosts them off-site on their own infrastructure. One of the major benefits of doing this is that you take the responsibility and costs of managing and maintaining servers off of your business’ shoulders. It might not seem like such a major change, but we ask you to consider just how much time and resources you might commit to this task.
Let’s say that your technicians spend half an hour on server maintenance every day, perhaps even more in the event that there is a serious issue. That is at least two and a half hours spent on maintaining servers every week (and we’re being optimists) that could be better spent on other tasks. Imagine what can be done in just that small amount of time. If your infrastructure is prone to problems, you ultimately waste even more time managing and maintaining servers.
Outsourcing eliminates these responsibilities and gives the time back to your staff for other mission-critical tasks that may have been previously overlooked. Perhaps your in-house IT department could then focus on providing adequate help desk support to your organization’s employees or dedicating more time toward discovering and implementing new innovative solutions to boost your organization’s bottom line. They simply don’t have the time to do this when they have so many other responsibilities related to operations.
If you don’t have an internal IT department, outsourcing is even more helpful. Being a small business has its advantages, but one major shortcoming is often the size of the budget. You might not be able to hire as many technicians as you would like, leading you to supplement IT support with untrained employees who have other responsibilities not relating to IT maintenance. This can be a dangerous practice, as solutions and maintenance implemented improperly can lead to multiple failed attempts and a considerable amount of downtime.
Managed services take out the unpredictability of solutions that your business can’t manage in-house by outsourcing them to professionals. BEI wants to show you the power of managed services. To learn more, reach out to us at (844) BIZ-EDGE.