Does IT infrastructure keep you up at night? It shouldn’t. And yet it should. Admittedly, that sounds a bit inconsistent. However, it’s probably a fair representation of the emotional rollercoaster that IT causes for a small business (SMB). IT often grows with your business. Indeed, it should. The bigger your business gets, the more complex your IT infrastructure should be. There are no two ways about it. An effective IT infrastructure is a necessity.
But as every business plans out that IT architecture, the headaches arise fairly quickly. Most of us have heard of Murphy’s Law. Said to have been coined by American aerospace engineer Edward Murphy, the adage states: “Everything that can possibly go wrong will go wrong”—a small business owner’s nightmare, to be sure. But when it comes to IT, it’s probably as true a statement as it gets.
With that in mind, these three IT difficulties are ones that every small business owner could live without.
1. Buying the Wrong Technology
Does it get any worse than that? IT can be expensive. And while there are some tried-and-true aspects of IT that are indeed coming down in price, it seems like the new “must-haves” keep popping up every few months. Yesterday, it was desktop computers. Now, it’s mobile technology and IP phones. Thankfully, an impressive 69 percent of SMBs dedicate a fair amount of their IT budgets to emerging technologies. But for SMBs, many of which do not have a dedicated IT person or department, trying to decide on what IT to actually invest in can be difficult. And buying the wrong tech? That can be a costly mistake.
2. Not Investing in Enough Technology
In what can seem like a lose-lose situation, many businesses are overly hesitant to buy technology at all. For small business owners who try to take personal ownership over their own IT infrastructure, staying on top of new trends is usually too difficult. So, what is the solution for many SMBs? Invest in as little as possible. This may seem like risk avoidance. But sticking with what you know as an SMB can have somewhat disastrous consequences. In business, customer perception is everything. If your customers see your business as behind on tech, they’re likely to choose a competitor instead.
Take mobile technology, for example. One survey by advertising company Hibu found that aren’t optimized for mobile access at all. Think about the last time you tried to access a website from your smartphone or tablet that wasn’t optimized for mobile devices. Frustrating, right? Now imagine every potential customer trying to access your own company’s website. Are they feeling that same frustration? A mobile-optimized site might seem like a frivolous expense, but consider this: According to Google, 61 percent of users who struggle to access a mobile site won’t come back to it. A further 40 percent took that as the perfect chance to check out a competing business’s website.
Needless to say, ignoring this seemingly small aspect your digital infrastructure is extremely dangerous. If your website is causing customers to leave for greener pastures, what effect might an inefficient IT structure have? Not good, to be sure.
3. Falling behind on IT Infrastructure and Technology Trends
“Archaic.” “Anachronistic.” “Luddite.” These are all words any small business should avoid having thrown their way. Is your business still using ancient servers you purchased in the 80s? Do your computers still have 3.5-inch floppy drives? If someone asks you about unified communications, do you have to grab a dictionary? Are you still actually using physical dictionaries to look up words? Your business might be in trouble if you have to say “yes” to many of these questions. Research shows that an older IT infrastructure is extremely costly to a business. This includes the vast number of man hours lost per employee in just repairing old systems.
Find Your Solution. Upgrade Your Architecture.
It’s surprisingly easy to upgrade your IT infrastructure these days. Thankfully, businesses like Fidelus help solve the most troublesome IT problems for businesses of any size—small, medium, or large. With Fidelus Solutions Architecture, businesses will find upgrading their unified communications architecture easier than it’s ever been. Understanding that every business is unique, Fidelus tailors your environment upgrades to best meet your needs. From devices to applications, Fidelus can help any business build a unified communications solution that’s expertly crafted to best suit your infrastructure needs.
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UC Infrastructure, IP Phones, Telepresence, Jabber
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