While small businesses have many great assets, such as great customer service skills and local charm, amazing IT services is usually not one of them. Many businesses have made it into the digital age with software to help them with sales, accounting, advertising and more. However, many small business owners lack the necessary expertise to use these tools to their advantage. The following are the four most commonly seen technology problems for small businesses today.
Lack of Data Backup
With so many options for data backup on hard drives and even in clouds, it is a wonder that more small businesses do not take advantage of it. A lack of backup can lead to money loss or wasted time should something happen to the business’s main computer system. Data backup is vital should a server crash or an important customer file be misplaced.
Security Breaches
It is easy for business owners to assume that their information is secure and that nothing will happen to their secrets until the unthinkable happens. Systems should be made safe from today’s sophisticated hackers using an up-to-date suite of anti-virus, anti-phishing and firewall software. This is even important for employees’ mobile devices and company laptops.
Pirated Software
Almost every small business would say that it has no desire to use illegally copied software. However, it can be difficult to spot pirated software, and the problem is becoming increasingly widespread. In fact, the Business Software Alliance states that over 20% of business software today is most likely unlicensed. Small businesses must be sure that they own the licenses on each of their software programs or else risk a hefty fine or other disciplinary measures.
Poor Integration
The final problem occurs when small businesses buy updated software while failing to understand the implications on their other software. Not all programs are designed to work together, and this can cause wasted time as users are forced to enter information more than once. However, using Ottawa managed services or those of an IT specialist or service in your particular area can eliminate these problems and software disruptions.
With some appropriate training, well-integrated software and some additional money in the budget for professional IT services, small businesses can truly succeed in the technology sphere. In fact, when used well, technology can help increase a business’s growth exponentially. Instead of learning to live with these problems, business owners can meet with IT consultants to determine what their company needs for success.
