Our everyday lives are becoming ever more saturated by technology. This saturation has formed a reliance on technology and it is now hard to think of any everyday function that doesn’t involve it. This reliance is rapidly spilling over into our work lives too. Business owners are beginning to see the benefits that the right, strategically aligned, technology can offer to their organizations – and the ones that aren’t already certainly should be!
In the following articles we will look at some of the challenges the average organization faces daily and what digital solutions you could introduce to remedy – or at the very least – lessen the impact of these challenges.
This realization from business owners was born out of extreme circumstances, when businesses all over the globe were forced to work differently to normal throughout the difficult times of the pandemic. These changes have highlighted gaping holes in our workflows and the way we choose to work in our businesses which were not previously detected. A lot of the challenges that weren’t ‘urgent’ have suddenly been forced to the surface and obviously need remedying.
Some have taken the plunge and spent money on digital solutions that they feel will do the job – but have made the wrong decision or are simply not using it to its full potential.
The Wrong IT and its Effect on Your Organization
The effects of using outdated hardware or software can be disastrous, for productivity, functionality, and, worst of all, security. This can also lead the tech savvy members of your team to find and start using their own solutions (referred to as Shadow IT). ‘What’s wrong with that, it saves me doing it’, I hear you say, but you will have no control over the security or management of these solutions – resulting in them becoming very vulnerable. Shadow IT is dangerous, as it gives you no control over documentation, access, reliability, or, most importantly, security.
To achieve the aim all business owners have of long-term and prolonged business success and prosperity you must first find a way of guaranteeing business functionality and growth at all times. This can be done by stripping back your organization to its bare bones and fine-tuning certain elements that are holding you back, all with the help of up-to-date, well managed digital solutions.
A Digital Future
The only way to remedy these recently discovered business challenges is with modern digital solutions – if you don’t then you run the risk of the business failing or simply falling behind your competition.
We will be broad with the challenges we focus on:
- Increase levels of security, thus, lowering the risk to your organization
- Increase profit and productivity.
So, why do we need to address these challenges?
- Increasing levels of security
If you don’t remedy the challenge of security, you will almost definitely be the victim of a cyber attack. Cyber criminality is on the rise, and no one is safe. If you leave your security at an inadequate level you could experience loss of data, caused by a cyber attack, which leads to loss of reputation and ultimately a loss of clients and revenue.
Cyberattacks
Cyberattacks have the ability to cause debilitating damage to your business through the theft of data and valuable information (to be sold on the dark web), or even – if sophisticated enough – causing electrical failures and real-life security issues. These are just a few of the potentially disastrous consequences.
A cyberattack isn’t what you may think – it isn’t the Hollywood portrayal of a person in a hoody and a mask, alone in a dark room, hacking his way through layer after layer of security. The reality isn’t nearly as mysterious, because cybercriminals are just like you and me – just with a little more technical prowess perhaps. The ways in which cybercriminals attack your systems vary, with Phishing attacks, Malware, and Ransomware being some of the preferred methods used by cyber criminals (as these have the most likelihood of success). Cybersecurity is very important for any and every organization in the world – if correctly implemented it can be the difference between success and failure as a business.
- Increase profit and productivity
This challenge is, of course, an ongoing one for businesses all over the globe. Everyone wants to get the most from their team in the most productive way possible, and if you do that correctly then an increase in profit naturally follows. But if you aren’t aiming to tackle the challenge you are likely wasting time – which can influence reputation, causing clients to go elsewhere, and in turn damage your revenue.
Resource Maximization
One of the main reasons for this is that a lot of organizations don’t use the resources at their disposal correctly. Understandably, businesses all over the globe have been in the mindset of ‘one step a time’, or ‘take each day as it comes’ – over recent times we wouldn’t recommend a better way of doing things as this was simply the only option amidst the uncertainty that was 2020 and the earlier stages of 2021. Fortunately, this is no longer the case, but for your organization to move forward it is essential that you have a strategy designed around productivity and growth.
If you don’t use your resources effectively tasks are bound to take longer than needed, and this will mean a damaging hit on the productivity of your team. This wasted time could potentially lead the service you provide to your clients to deteriorate – perhaps their product arrives late or the service they were booked in for gets pushed back. This could be a disaster, again resulting in your clients going elsewhere and subsequently causing a drop in your revenue.
Adopting Modern Practices – Keep up with the Times
In work and elsewhere it is important to stay familiar with modern innovation. Understandably, there are always going to be parts of the workflow that have to stay the way they are right now due to there being no modern alternative, but most of the functions that your team carry out daily can almost definitely be made easier and more efficient with the right technology and education around its effective use. With these tools your team will thrive and, in turn, lead your business to thrive too.
Keep an eye on your competitors! There is no shame in looking at your competitors and seeing what they are doing right – if they are using modern techniques and tools in order to boost their productivity and quality of service, and you aren’t, it is likely they will attract some of your customers and this would be a disaster.
Addressing these issues as effectively as possible in your organization will guide you into a future with the right digital tools as a powerful addition to increase your team’s ability in completing their daily tasks as productively as possible.
In the following article, we will explore how a combination of the right tech and a change of philosophy can not only solve the challenges we discussed above but also others that you may be struggling with. Technology is ever-evolving and has more than one use, so explore it and see what it can do for your organization.
IT Support the Right Way
By trusting us with your IT needs we can guarantee that your organization is ready to succeed in the modern digital workplace. Our experience in working with small businesses in Ontario and the Great Toronto Area allows us to ensure that you can increase revenue, secure your data, and always operate at peak performance in the most secure way possible. All these abilities can be achieved at the very highest standard. Contact us now to find out what else we can do to improve your IT landscape and bring you even more benefits from your IT going forward.
