At a business event I participated in recently, a panel of professionals from a cross-section of industries and expertise spoke about setting up a “business toolbox” – those partnerships with other business experts that help keep your organization running behind the scenes. Among the crowd, agreement on the necessity for an insurance agency, lawyer, business accountability/coach, HR team, accountant, and marketing professionals was near universal. With my turn at the mic, I challenged the business owners in the room to “level up” their business toolbox by adding an IT partner to their KEY business relationships as well. Yes, I said it. Every business needs IT!
But why?
No matter the industry, individuals that are building or growing their organization need to communicate, connect, and exchange information daily. Your ability to efficiently find, organize, and secure all of the data and information your organization has at its disposal is paramount to your business’s operation and success.
Here are some areas that an IT partner can help set up your business for success:
- Review current business operations, technology workflow and challenges to understand your business’s needs and evaluate ways to streamline.
- Modify or redesign those technology workflows to address hurdles and streamline productivity.
- Analyze hardware and software selections and implement advised upgrades.
- Deploy software and hardware solutions that match the business needs and goals.
- Implement cyber security best practices.
- Provide on-going support, with consistent procedures following documented processes and best practices.
Ensuring continued business operations takes strategic planning.
It takes both the right infrastructure and service support. Even better when your IT advisor is part of your initial purchases and setup. First, invest in business class (not consumer grade) hardware and services from the start. This will provide a strong foundation for your business operation. Business class hardware support includes response times that are well defined – by hours not days – building infrastructure within your organization, while using best-in-class or industry standard protocols, and utilizing a multi-layered cyber security approach. Consider this step your proactive and positive mindset approach.
But you can’t stop there. Any business advisor with experience will tell you to set up for resiliency. Recognize that bad stuff will happen regardless of how many preventive measures you take. Anticipating what could go wrong and working through how your business would react before something bad happens is recommended. Just like you would prepare for flood, fire or a worldwide pandemic; it’s not just about having insurance in place, it’s about business preparation. What does this look like?
- Make an inventory of physical assets, data and software assets, key connections, contacts, and accounts as well.
- Make sure you have regular and secure backups, including offsite backups in place.
- Prepare your Standard Operating Procedures (SOPs), including ones for different business continuity scenarios.
Preparing for business continuity requires many layers of review, documentation, and planning. Be sure that the priority list for restoring critical business operations is ready to go, before it’s needed.
An IT partner can help.
The pace of technological change over the last five years alone is mind blowing. Sometimes it seems overwhelming — and it’s exciting! It’s also nearly impossible for any one mind to stay current tracking the constant tech changes, advances, and cyber security threats (and risk mitigations) that could affect your business. Just as you count on your tax professional to share important tax code updates and reporting requirements, your business needs an IT partner to inform you about the necessary IT and cyber updates affecting your industry. A trusted IT partner and their team can advise, collaborate with, and guide you on trends, both for efficiency and continued operations, as well as on the cyber security landscape and necessities for proactive defenses. Most importantly, an IT advisor will keep you ahead of all of these potential challenges before they become a squeaky wheel (or a massive wrench!) in your daily operating procedures.
Looking for a trusted IT partner that you can consult about your business? Reach out to Stewart Technologies. We’re here to help.