Modernizing IT for Small and Medium Businesses in 2021
September 15, 2021
By Rhia Prajes
In the past two years, many organizations have struggled to stay in the business due to the COVID-19 pandemic. As the world faced these challenges, however, many organizations have realized how vital technology is to their business. Problems involving manpower, limited capitalization, high operational costs, and limited access to technology, have been redefined as the world has identified a new set of business essentials, Remote Work Readiness.
Small and Medium Businesses, and Startups, in particular, must rethink the use of technology as a tool not only to remove roadblocks in this challenging time but also to stay ahead of the curve. This requires building business resiliency; thus, businesses must invest in technologies that enable remote working, support digital processes like online payment, and improve the overall decision making process. However, the top challenges that hinder such transformation involve the following:
- Lack of technology expertise
- Resistance to change among management and staff
- Lack of budget to pursue updates
- Lack of necessary technologies to facilitate modernization
Sharpening the digital skills of the workforce and enhancing the technology for small and medium businesses can solve these present challenges and sustain business resiliency.
Modernizing your IT Infrastructure
With the technologies that support businesses ever evolving, it is a must for decision makers to understand the ins and outs of modernizing their IT environments. And while there are numerous challenges to overcome, each can be addressed with a corresponding solution that will help fill in the gaps between managing resources and attaining critical long-term success.
Modernizing your business is difficult but here are a few ways to do it smoothly:
- Develop a Digital Technology Roadmap: You cannot jump into a new system without identifying what your goals are! Outlining a roadmap helps businesses know where they are heading and what critical business outcomes your organization wants to achieve by adopting new technology. Organizations must consider the Business Outcomes they wanted out from this IT modernization journey.
- Identify which critical business process to automate: There are a lot of business areas and operational processes an organization may wish to automate. Think of ways to scale up profitability and productivity that will bring ROI to your IT modernization plan. Whether you want to enable remote working or improve communication, this step must be able to achieve simplification and/or streamlining of processes.
- Prioritize Operating Environments, Applications, and IT Processes to modernize: This may be a difficult task, but being able to know what to prioritize in your IT environment reduces cost and risk in the long run. Organizations must take initiative to identify areas that support modernizing IT infrastructure, such as file hosting/collaboration or videoconferencing. Deciding on what Operating environments your business needs, which critical issues must be addressed by Managed Services, and what Security practices work best for your business, are all important to structure.
- Choose your IT Partner: When finding the right IT partner for your digital journey, business owners must be able to identify what are their critical factors for the digital transformation. While IT may seem like a general area for any business, not all business needs may be a specialization of all IT providers, such as achieving industry specific compliance. It is a must to know if your prospect IT partner meets the business requirements you have.
- Establish a Support system and Training from your IT Vendor: With increasing demands for flexible access to technology and data, it is sometimes a problem to find dedicated staff adept in modern technology and cybersecurity. If there is no means to have additional manpower while rethinking your IT infrastructure, why not source out these skills instead to a trusted IT vendor? Many Managed Service Providers complement their services with 24/7 support system and training that they can provide to your business.
- Keep up with the industry’s best practices: As technology is an ever-evolving area, it can be beneficials to establish a relationship with a reliable IT vendor that helps keep up with your industry’s best practices. A great IT Partner will help you give insights into what makes your business resilient to a fast-changing environment.
Knowing what business process to automate, evaluating the right technology to invest in, and capitalizing digital knowledge of your organization, are just a few of the expertise an IT provider can provide. Having the right partner does not only help you build your infrastructure but also pave your path to digital opportunities. Metro CSG is a Small and Midsized business focused Microsoft Partner with expertise in mass transitions to the cloud which can help you achieve smooth IT modernization.