If you own a small business, you may feel that outsourced IT is expensive and unnecessary.  Some businesses even use internal members of staff such as Technical Directors to look after their internal systems.  This is all well and good but can you be sure your IT is up to scratch and you are getting the best for your money?

EMAIL

Some people are scared of the word “Cloud”.  More and more businesses are moving away from internally hosted email systems such as Exchange and Lotus Notes.

If you aren’t already on a hosted cloud based email system, why not, there are many benefits?

• Cheaper – removing the cost of hardware and software, not to mention archiving and backup costs.

• 24/7 Access – no matter where you are, you can always access your email via mobile devices.

• Less Spam – most cloud based systems have built in spam filters to keep your Inbox as clear as possible.

• Secure – you have control of your email.

BACKUPS

Most small businesses have a server or shared data of some sort so that all employees have a central resource to save work to.

But what happens if that data is deleted or worse, you have a fire which destroys that server?

• Do you backup your data?

• Can you restore deleted files quickly?

• Can you be 100% sure that in the event of a fire or a disaster that your data is recoverable?

If you cannot answer “yes” to all these questions, you really need to look at the way you backup your data. 9/10 small businesses react after a situation occurs rather than preventing it.

SECURITY

Small Businesses often under estimate their data and their security.  There are fundamental security procedures that ALL companies should adhere to for basic security of their own and their client data.

• How secure is your network?  Can someone get remote access to a computer?

• How often do you change your password?  Are you still using the same password that your used last year?

• Can you guarantee that the temp receptionist cannot access that payroll data?

These are simple security questions that you should know the answer to.  If you can’t answer these positively then you know less about the security of your data than you thought.  Maybe you need to think about who looks after your security.

MOBILITY

So you have a mobile phone?  You can access your emails on it?  Excellent, so you think you are mobile?

Actually being mobile as a business these days is not just about having access to your email.

More and more people work remotely these days and they want access to their data outside of their office.  It may sound expensive but it’s actually becoming increasingly less expensive.

• Do you need access to files on your server outside the office?

• Do you wish you could open that presentation on an iPad?

• Are your employees able to work on that snow-day?

Remote access to data is essential these days, even for small businesses.  If you can’t access your data from outside your office, surely you are losing productivity?

COMMUNICATIONS

All businesses these day, large or small, require the Internet.  The question is how happy are you with it and can you do more with it.

Are you happy with your current phone system, does it do everything you need it to?  Maybe you want it forward to your mobile phone when you are out of the office but you don’t know how?

PRINT MANAGEMENT

You can print, great.  Do you or colleagues often print something and then not pick it up off the printer?  Do you print in colour when actually black and white would suffice?

Did you know that almost 30% of all printing is unnecessary?

If you implement simple rules such as double sided printing, black and white default and even follow-me print management, you can reduce your printing costs by up to 30%.

We do the thinking for you so you don’t have to worry

These are just some of the factors that some small business ignore.  Not because they want to ignore them but because the person looking after their IT on a temporary is not necessarily aware.  It’s not to say they aren’t doing a great job, it’s just that we can do it better, after all, we are the experts.

You may think it would cost an arm and a leg to get this type of IT Management.  Give us a call or drop us an email and see if we can help you.