If you’ve ever had to wait for your systems to do their job then you’re waiting too long, but there are steps to get moving fast
Whether it’s trying to fix a broken server or addressing security issues, as a business owner you might find yourself doubling as the IT expert rather than focusing on the core of your business.
According to an EY Australian Productivity Pulse study, 35% of Australian workers have reported they’re being held up by legacy IT systems, and 70% say productivity would improve if they had faster access to better data and analytics systems.
“SMEs are scared of spending – there’s a growing gap between those that are investing in technology and those that aren’t,” says David Markus, founder of Combo, an IT services company that assists businesses with IT solutions.
“As an analogy, think about the early 1970s – when manufacturers put seatbelts into cars it wasn’t compulsory to wear them. Some conservative people started to wear them but not everyone. Today, we wouldn’t even think twice.
“It’s the same in IT. Now you can’t sell a car unless it’s got a five-star safety rating because people are paying attention. We should all demand a five-star IT rating, too.”
If you find yourself bogged down in time-wasting inefficiencies, chances are you’re caught in a bad tech set-up. Here are five signs to watch out for.
“Waiting for an IT system to do what it’s supposed to do is wasting money,” says Markus. “A few wasted minutes can add up to a large number of hours and thousands of dollars lost over a year.”
Don’t wait for lengthy delays to occur before planning an upgrade, instead, look at your ageing systems and make plans to replace them before they start costing you more than they save you.
A data breach doesn’t only waste time; it can cost a company thousands of dollars.
“A simple solution is to move everything to the cloud. If you’re not ready to do that, make sure you have a firewall, anti-spam installed, good backup and a fast recovery methodology.”
Even though installing protective measures requires effort, increasing the cost of security is better than the flipside of increasing the costs of recovery, says Markus.
“In business there are always things we do over and over,” says Markus. “The next step in documenting is automotive manual processes. Today we can automate workflow, administration processes and so on, but often these systems are not being adopted fast enough.”
BYOD (bring your own device) and BYOA (bring your own application) trends have transformed business operations impacting productivity, data security and collaboration, according to Telsyte senior analyst Alvin Lee.
“As a result, late adopters of mobility solutions have been left behind, and are running with bigger security concerns and slower processing speeds as the market evolves,” says Lee.
SMEs need to have an agile environment and maximise the productivity of employees, says Lee.
Typically people store documents and retrieve information haphazardly, says Markus.
“Invest in a structured document system and then make sure you use it. Until you get systems locked down there’s always going to be data bloat and time lost searching for information.
“Ensure you’ve got good access to the cloud so you and your team can search quickly – there’s no simple magic wand.”
To find out how to manage documents more effectively, visit WatchDox by BlackBerry. Or for more information about saving your business time, see BlackBerry’s BES12 Cloud.
Written by: Thea Christie
BlackBerry is for serious business people and the most demanding businesses – large and small – that want superior productivity, ultimate security and effective communications. BlackBerry cross-platform mobility solutions are completely redefining workplace productivity and pushing the boundaries to deliver truly connected and secured business environments today.
