Business Challenges : Technology solutions are still seen as critical to survival

The market for small and midsize IT pending in the US continued to grow through the recession; moving from $305 billion in 2007  to a projected $411 billion in 2012.

The Five Biggest IT Business Challenges Facing Small Business:

Data Loss

Problem

[list_icon list_text=”70% of small firms that experience a major data loss go out of business within a year.,34 % of small and mid-size businesses admitted that they have lost a company laptop.,30 % of respondents have important data contained on the laptop, which is not backed up in the office” icon_awesome=”info-circle”]

Solution:

“YOUR BACKUP MUST BE OFFSITE, SECURE, AND AVAILABLE FOR RECOVERY 24/7. ONE POPULAR OPTION THAT MEETS THE ABOVE CRITERIA, WITH THE ADDED BENEFIT OF EASE OF USE AND AUTOMATION, IS ONLINE BACKUP.”
It is therefore important that backups are not only automated to avoid human error but also periodically tested. It is useless having a backup system if restoration does not function as advertised

Security Vulnerabilities

Problem:
In many cases, Security is viewed strictly as a cost center “When economic circumstances look dire, it is easy to turn security to a checklist item that keeps pushed back. however the reality is that, in such situations, security should be a primary issue. the likelihood of threats affecting your organization will probably increase and the impact can be more detrimental…

Solution:

[list_icon list_text=”Keep your PC/network-security current,Choose secure passwords,Educate staff on safe web usage,If possible, limit web surfing through Content Filtering,Do regular scans for spyware infections” icon_awesome=”info-circle”]

Downtime

Problem:

“In a new study on network downtime, Infonetics Research found that medium businesses (101 to 1,000 employees) are losing an average of 1% of their annual revenue, or $867,000, to downtime.”Economic conditions have forced many businesses to put off purchases of IT equipment
“To survive what many view as the worst economic downturn since the Great Depression, 69 percent of manufacturers indicated they reduced their workforce, followed by delaying capital expenditures (66 percent), negotiating with suppliers for better deals (48 percent) and cutting promotional activities (37 percent).Nearly 40% of the PCs in small businesses are more than 3 years old, and a large percentage of them are running older operating systems such as Windows XP.

Solution:

[list_icon list_text=”Perform regular maintenance,Look into redundant internet services,Develop a failover plan for telecom,Plan for equipment refresh cycles” icon_awesome=”info-circle”]

Cloud Confusion

Problem:

69 % of America’s Internet users are using some form of Internet-based computing, such as web-based e-mail or photo storage. Cloud computing is computation, software, data access, and storage services that do not require end-user knowledge of the physical location and configuration of the system that delivers the services.
Types of Cloud Services software as a service platform as a service infrastructure as a service

[list_icon list_text=”“SaaS” consume it,“PaaS” build on it,“IaaS” migrate to it” icon_awesome=”info-circle”]

SaaS defined:“A model of software deployment where an application is hosted as a service provided to customers across the Internet.”

Advice for Businesses:

[list_icon list_text=”When time to replace, consider Cloud,Add online storage for additional backup redundancy,Leverage Cloud solutions to improve operational efficiencies,Avoid the hype – look for proven Products” icon_awesome=”info-circle”]

Productivity Problems

Problem:

Are you experiencing any of these situations?

[list_icon list_text=”Limited visibility of Internet traffic,Slow Internet despite adequate bandwidth,Lost hours due to internet abuse,Anonymous proxy sites bypassing URL filters” icon_awesome=”info-circle”]

Solution:

Web filtering and shaping can also help boost productivity

Recommendation: Have a plan to manage your IT Introduction

[list_icon list_text=”Develop a ‘Playbook’ (living document),Systemize,Delegate tasks and duties,Plan ahead as much as possible” icon_awesome=”check” icon_color=”#6c85c0″]