Technology is expensive. Running even a small business today requires servers, workstations, a range of software suites, internet access, printers, phone systems, website design and maintenance, and several layers of data protection. But if the first thing that comes to mind when you think of technology is “major expense item” then there’s a pretty good chance that you aren’t being served well by your IT team or provider because great technology is an asset.
Technology, when well executed, saves far more money than it costs. The reason that so much technology has been adopted by small and mid-sized businesses is that it reduces costs when compared to operating without it. Among the biggest benefits are data access and data security. If properly designed, technology should make your data easy to store, easy to access, and easy to act upon.
It’s 10 O Clock – Where Is Your Data?
How confident are you that the only people with access to your data are those who have been granted access? Can everyone with permission actually access that data – from anywhere? If the answer to these items is ‘yes’ then your network has been appropriately designed to minimize risk and maximize productivity – yielding far more incremental revenue than its cost.
If your employees face challenges accessing data, that gets expensive quickly. Sales can suffer, customer service can suffer, and employee morale can suffer. Customers, who are used to instantly accessible customer service representatives with instant access to their data, start feeling like your company is falling behind and may consider switching to another provider. Employees stop using systems to store information, which makes it difficult to use that information to make business decisions.
If this is happening inside your office, it can probably be fixed by renewed attention from an IT team. It might be time for new software, a new network design, or simply expanded server hardware to reflect the needs of a growing team. While this won’t be free, it certainly won’t cost as much as an unproductive workforce.
If it’s happening when employees work outside the office, this is a more complex problem which we address in a recent educational webinar- if you’re interested, contact us and ask us for a recording! It could be due to software configuration, blocked access to remote servers at a hotel, or a poor data connection. While there’s no single, perfect fix for these problems, each of them can be worked around to achieve solid results.
Don’t let technology hold you back! If you’re in either of these situations, call us at 919-779-0954 or email us contact us online to learn about our Managed Services.