Should IT’s Role Be Expanding in Your Business?

Every business’ goal is to turn enough of a profit, and some businesses are better at it than others. One way that modern businesses can improve their revenue generation is by utilizing technology to cut down on inefficiencies and fuel productivity through collaboration. Today, we’ll take a look at some of the ways that businesses can expand their business through technology. 

Communications

Finding the right tools to help you expand your business’ technology profile is important. We’re pretty confident that any business can utilize new communications technologies and it would improve their overall technology profile. Today’s tools include cloud-hosted solutions like a Voice over Internet Protocol telephone system, email, video conferencing, and cutting-edge collaboration apps that integrate all of the above into one productivity-fueling solution. 

Some communications platforms are unified, which means that they all work together to give your business the reliable and dynamic communications tools to ensure that the investment is providing fast and strong returns rather than just costing your business money without any boost to efficiency or productivity. 

Automation

When looking to expand the role IT plays in your business, the first place you should look is how you can use it to automate some of the more problematic parts of your business. When we say problematic, we mean the parts of your business that don’t necessarily produce any revenue, but need to be completed regardless. Automation lets business owners accomplish more by allowing them to utilize IT to complete tasks that are repetitive, while also gathering data. Some systems will gather data for analysis later, but other solutions that utilize artificial intelligence will merge the benefits by gathering data and using it to streamline the processes that have been scheduled for automation.  

Some of the parts of your business that can be improved by utilizing automation include: 

• Inventory
• Security
• Supply chain management
• Sales and marketing 
• Customer relationships

...And more.

The use of automation can streamline processes, help create procedures, and help build your business by allowing your people to work in your business instead of on your business.

Security

If there is one part of your business that should be expanding it is its cybersecurity. Not for nothing, but all it takes is one major data issue to completely destroy your customers’ confidence in your business. Not to mention the corruption of your IT if malware or other issues get onto your network. Since nearly half of all cyberattacks are carried out against SMBs, and nearly two-thirds of all SMBs have experienced some type of cyberattack in the past 12 months, it stands to reason that making additional investments in your business’ ability to stave off hackers (and other cretins who are trying to steal your data and infiltrate your network), is a good idea. Some of the best ways to make a coordinated investment in cybersecurity include:

• Regular risk assessments
• Comprehensive staff training
• Penetration testing
• Network, server, and website audits
• Additional software investments

These actions can help you avoid the following costs:

• Theft (money, service, data)
• System corruption
• Regulatory and compliance fines
• Legal fees
• Loss of customer confidence
• Loss of intellectual property
• Damage to reputation

Security has to be a priority for every business. If you are considering expanding your cybersecurity program, procuring the tools you need to automate some of your business’ most repetitive tasks, or gain some of today’s most helpful collaborative tools, contact the IT professionals at Osgood Unlimited today at (978) 912-7006.