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
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:
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:
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
SaaS defined:“A model of software deployment where an application is hosted as a service provided to customers across the Internet.”
Advice for Businesses:
Productivity Problems
Problem:
Are you experiencing any of these situations?
Solution:
Web filtering and shaping can also help boost productivity
Recommendation: Have a plan to manage your IT Introduction