Proactive Steps to Keep Your Business Running Smoothly

 

 

Businesses today – especially in this current economy – need to think and rethink how they are doing business and what they are doing to keep that business running smoothly. When things are going good, it’s easy to get fat and forget about the little things that in the long run can mean the difference between business continuity and business closure.

 

 

 

 

I’m certain there are many more, but below I’ve outlined six items that an organization – especially smaller companies – can focus on to avoid costly IT problems down the road and also to save – in general – on their overall business practices costs right now.

 

 

 

 

Slash Overhead with Remote Setups

 

 

 

 

I’ve written about this one before, but it deserves further mention here. Allowing employees, when it’s appropriate, practical and workable, to setup and work remotely can save big dollars on overhead. It also forces more electronic communication and business processes, which further save money for your organization and, by default, require more ‘green’ business processes to happen in order to make communication and business, in general, work.

 

 

 

 

Disaster Preparation

 

 

 

 

Many businesses – especially small businesses – do very little to nothing at all to prepare for disaster. I read recently about a company that was tight on space and kept their water cooler AND their server in the same closet. An employee spilled water on the server and all data was lost. Another organization kept their server in a room right behind the employee break room. An employee overcooked food in the microwave, started a fire, and the server was toast before the fire was even much of a danger.

 

 

 

 

Backing up is another shortcoming. Many businesses – again…especially smaller organizations – keep their backups onsite (if they backup at all!). The key is to not think you’re invincible. I’ve been there and I’ve lost everything as a result. It can happen to anyone and it does happen to anyone. I’ve worked with an organization on a project to recover data from backup tapes of a company that was located in the World Trade Center buildings on 9/11. I know what those tapes look like and what it takes to recover that information – no one expected that day to happen.

 

 

 

 

Review Your IT Setup

 

 

 

 

Don’t wait until things go wrong to review and rethink the systems that you have in place. Bring in an outside resource to perform a vulnerability assessment to identify what’s working, what isn’t, and where your security risks are. Proactive maintenance and support is something that large companies often do and small companies often overlook. A good assessment can cost as little as $1,000, and can save a business many times that in the long run.

 

 

 

 

Pay Attention to Security

 

 

 

 

Some larger organizations – especially companies with government contracts in place – likely place a greater emphasis on security…especially if one or more of their contracts require it. But smaller companies often see security as an expense and something too techie to take on and therefore do little or nothing to safeguard themselves and their data (theirs and their customer’s data) against attack or theft.

 

 

 

 

Simple steps like encrypting data and requiring passwords on laptops and mobile devices can go a long way in getting a small business down the right path to data security. There are also cheap cloud computing options like Google messenger with Postini secured mail and archiving that make securing networks easy for even very small organizations.

 

 

 

 

Setup a VPN

 

 

 

 

In today’s business environment, every business, regardless of size, should be using a VPN to link their office with remote workers in a secure, cost-efficient fashion. If you’re considering allowing remote work, then it’s absolutely necessary. Bigger companies have found VPNs to be the cheapest, most effective way to link workers across the country or across town.

 

 

 

 

Bring in a Consultant

 

 

 

 

The thought of bringing in outside help is scary for many companies. Managers think they’re becoming obsolete if you bring in someone to help redefine processes….they think you’re trying to find ways to get rid of positions and individuals. However, bringing in fresh eyes to review how your business does business is often a critical step in getting your organization to the next level of viability and competitiveness. Old processes don’t always work at the next level…often everything about the way you do business needs to be rethought you’re you’ll never get there.