If you’ve been experiencing continuous issues with your technology infrastructure, it may be time to develop a digital transformation strategy. Not sure where to start? Keep reading for some affordable ways to improve your business technology this year.
Outsource Your IT
Outsourcing your company’s IT needs is a smart move for many businesses nowadays. With the rapid pace of technological advancements, it can be difficult for an internal IT team to keep up with all the latest trends, especially when it comes to cloud computing, apps, blockchain, and zero-trust security. In addition, employee rotation can be a big issue, which means you’re constantly having to train new employees on your company’s infrastructure. When they finally get up to advancement, someone decides to leave.
The solution to this ongoing problem is to outsource your IT department. You can look into a service that provides software, hardware, networks, or all of the items mentioned. The advantage of outsourcing is that you hire a built-in source of subject matter experts. The only training, they require is related to your company’s data infrastructure.
Move Your Data to The Cloud
Maintaining a server farm can be expensive, but it’s a necessary expense for most businesses. You’re not only paying for the storage devices, but also for the location to keep the equipment, the network setup, and the security mechanisms. By investing in a server farm, you’re staying competitive with 70% of other businesses that have plans to upgrade. All of these investments are necessary to maintain your data’s safety. Ultimately, it takes a large chunk out of your technology budget.
A cost-effective way to manage your data and applications is by moving it all to cloud computing, this way you can say goodbye to a portion of your IT maintenance budget. Not to mention, the cloud computing service will handle things like upgrades and security for you so you can have peace of mind knowing that your data is well taken care of.
Another great selling point for the cloud is its ability to grow with your company, before implementation, you and the organization will discuss potential expansion scenarios so that they’re able to increase your storage bandwidth when you reach a point where you need more space.
Enhance Your Audio and Video Setup
Good communication is essential to keeping customers and employees happy. But when audio and video tools are below average, it can cause problems like miscommunication and misinterpreting what people say.
This can lead to distress in all departments and a loss of productivity. The solution is to invest in quality, affordable audio, and visual equipment. Buy a great office headset for each person that includes Bluetooth capabilities.
Using top-line video conferencing tools can help minimize security breaches and communication gaps. By enhancing your audio and video setup, you can also enhance your customer experience.
Your customers should feel like they can easily communicate with you through audio and video. This will help them feel more confident about the service or goods that you are providing them.
Develop Applications on Your Own
In today’s business world, it’s becoming increasingly necessary to have a smart device app as part of your multi-channel communication plan. You don’t need to spend thousands of dollars on a development team, though.
There are online companies that allow anyone to create an app without learning coding languages. You can use their drag-and-drop technology to construct a suitable application for your business. Plus, you can reuse the templates you create in future programs.
A common issue that leads to corporate failure is the lack of accurate data whether it be due to misinformation being added to spreadsheets or some essential information being left out altogether. This often happens because different departments within the company aren’t on the same page, causing tension and conflict among employees as well as angry customers.
The good news is, there’s an affordable tech solution that can help with this problem: purchasing customized productivity tools. Although the initial cost may be high, the return on investment will be much greater after implementation. With the right tools in place, everyone will be able to access the same information.
Having access to accurate and up-to-date data is essential for any business large or small to run smoothly and without errors.
When employees are given the right tools for the job, they are able to accomplish tasks more efficiently and with less frustration. This in turn leads to a happier workplace and satisfied customers.
A customer relationship management (CRM) application is just one example of a tool that can help salespeople and customer service desks keep track of a client’s history.
CRM apps make it easy for users to see a customer’s complete history, as well as any issues that have been resolved.
Another helpful tool for production is an enterprise resource planning (ERP) app. This program allows users to track a product’s progress through each stage of production, from inventory to shipping and billing.
You can also customize the ERP to send alerts to all departments if there are any issues within the supply chain. Another solution to managing inventory issues is to consider using a warehouse management system (WMS).
With barcode scanners, you can track when products are received and when they leave the shelves. Some WMS applications can even be customized to automatically order new products when inventory reaches a certain level.
Conclusion
Needless to say, there are many affordable ways to improve your business tech. Consider each one carefully before implementation. To improve your business tech, it is essential to stay up-to-date with other businesses. You will be successful when you perform these in your office.