Just having modern technology in place isn’t enough. You need to make sure you’re using your technology productively.
For example, over the last five years companies have been pushing transitions to cloud solutions to have the flexibility and business continuity needed to stay competitive. But many have not been using it very effectively and are suffering significant waste as a result.
According to Blissfully’s 2020 SaaS Trends report, in 2019, cloud spend was up by 50%, and cloud waste nearly doubled. Companies are churning through approximately 30% of their apps per year and suffering from problems with duplicate apps.
Another challenge beyond productivity that companies face is losses due to security incidents, which have drastically risen during the pandemic. The FBI reported in Q1 of 2020 that cyber attack reports were up by 400%.
The average cost of ransomware remediation for a small or mid-sized company is $505,827.
Reducing excess technology costs and improving your team’s overall use of technology can improve profitability and help your business grow. Two of the best places to focus on to benefit from more effective technology use are productivity and security.
Boosting Tech Productivity & Security
Following, are several things you can do that improve both security and productivity, which can completely optimize your business technology use.
Reduce the Number of Apps You Use
The more apps employees use, the lower your productivity can fall. This is due to employees needing to constantly switch between apps and then adjust to a completely different interface.
68% of surveyed employees say they spend at least 30 minutes per day switching between apps, and 56% say this app switching makes their work harder.
Streamlining app use by getting rid of redundant apps and using all-in-one platforms (Microsoft 365, ZenDesk, etc.) can reduce cloud costs and improve worker productivity at the same time.
Reducing the number of apps that you use for your business data and workflows also increases security. You have fewer applications to worry about when it comes to data leakage and breaches. It’s also easier to apply standard security protocols across all applications in an all-in-one platform than if the apps are all made by different companies.
Improve Security With Managed Services
Leaving important things like computer and software updates up to your employees can leave you wide open for a costly breach. Users will often click “later” on an update prompt because they don’t want to interrupt what they’re doing.
Using a managed IT services package can save your company money by automating important IT security safeguards (like updates). It can also drastically improve productivity because employees aren’t wasting time struggling with IT issues.
Your IT runs more smoothly, and users have a dedicated support team they can rely on if they need help.
Some of the benefits of our Cloud Care Pro™ plan include:
- Security updates handled for you
- Managed antivirus/anti-malware
- Dedicated, 1-click tech support
- Managed cloud backup
Automate Manual Processes
How much time do your employees spend per week re-entering data into different applications, filling in spreadsheets, or making notifications manually?
Technology is designed to make manual processes a thing of the past, but you have to put automations in place to make that happen.
Automating data transfers from one app to another or having task completion notifications sent out by a system as soon as a task moves to the next stage can save considerable time. It also frees up your staff for more forward-motion activities.
Automating can also reduce the risk of errors from data entry, and because it reduces the human “touches” for data, it can improve security.
Add Team Communication
Today’s teams are no longer all working at the same office. Many employees are now permanently working from home, and some are working in a hybrid of home/office.
Lack of communication can significantly hurt productivity and decrease your company’s efficiency overall. Studies show companies that enable good communication to have a productivity increase of 20-25%.
Having a team messaging platform like Microsoft Teams in place can ensure everyone is connected and on the same page. This reduces problems due to employees not knowing what’s expected and can keep everyone on the same page even if they’re working from different locations.
Keeping most of your internal communications in a team messaging app also improves security because you mitigate the potential for sensitive communications being sent by text message. Additionally, you can easily implement security controls at a project or department level that applies to messages and shared files.
Work With Pro Tech Guy to Put Together a Smart Tech Strategy
Pro Tech Guy can help your Framingham business put smart productivity and security measures in place to improve your bottom line.
Contact us today to learn more. Call 508-364-8189 or reach us online.