How many times has company downtime been caused by IT failure?
Has it contributed to frustration amongst employees?
It is a common theme among small to medium sized businesses, who haven’t given enough thought to the significance of keeping IT systems up to date and the ability of those systems to adapt to a change in business requirements.
Dips in productivity negatively impact businesses.
When IT systems fail, the ability to carry out simple, everyday tasks can be a struggle. Confidence completing tasks and meeting deadlines can be affected which has consequences for the service that customers can experience.
Levels of frustration build and conflict arises when colleagues have been unable to meet deadlines and/or complete projects.
When productivity starts to dip, it will inevitably have an effect on customer service and the ability to seize opportunities. This is especially relevant for small to medium sized businesses where there is closer interaction between the customer and various departments.
Continual dips in productivity and stress are closely linked. Being unable to grow the business or move forward can cause severe stress amongst senior management, which in turn is passed down to other employee levels.
As well as causing increased amounts of company downtime, a failure to keep IT systems up to date can put your entire business at risk. This is through:
Businesses need to move with the times.
Businesses change over months and years, because if they didn’t, many more would cease trading.
So do your IT systems reflect the structure of your workforce?
Are they able to cope with the diversity and range of products that you offer as a business?
Don’t let IT affect productivity in your business.
Take advantage of a full IT review. This will highlight where your business is at risk and any areas which don’t support your company structure. For example, if you have a proportion of the workforce that works remotely, embrace technology solutions that make this easy to control.
Update your technology. The business can’t move forward if your technology is out of date.
Make sure you have a disaster recovery plan. Be prepared for the unexpected and never put your entire business at risk.
Let technology enhance your business. You may think the way you work suits the business now, but can technology revolutionise the way your employees operate and significantly improve productivity?
Get rid of the break-fix policy. If your response to an IT issue is to pay someone to fix the specific fault, then you are unlikely to be getting the right support to move forward with your IT systems. Take advantage of managed IT support agreements. They are easier to budget for and you’ll get the right advice at the right time and not just when something goes wrong.
Fifteen Digital work with businesses of all sizes and all industry sectors to make them Smarter through Technology. Our clients are not only smarter but they see that the real value goes beyond technology.
Take advantage of technology and make it work for you.
Productivity in the workplace has never been so important.
