One day, we’ll wake up, press Ctrl-something on our keyboards, and a cup of delicious, smoking hot coffee will instantly arrive in our hand, and a fingerprint recognition device on the handle will duly acknowledge us with a polite and cheery “Good morning.” However you regard the digital age, it is as much a part of how we function as a society today as when people used to wish each other, even strangers, “Good morning” on the way to work. It is also such an important part of how your small business functions (and continues to function successfully) that any arising issues, technical problems or minor glitches need to be resolved a.s.a.p. If they can’t be counteracted or resolved efficiently, they’ll start losing you the hard-earned dollars you’ve already made.
As an IT technical guru, small business owner, and serious blogger on everything PC for over 8 years now, my computer repair company has a client base in the thousands and has seen consistent growth year-on-year during that time. If any issues arise in my PC repair business that prevents it from running as it should, they are dealt with quicker than you can press <Ctrl>-<Alt>-<Del>.
Before we look at these 5 troublesome IT problems that, in all probability, will hit your small business’s IT system at some point in time, and how you can counteract and resolve them, here’s the crux of the whole thing, as they say. Listen up, dear reader, this is important:
Prevention is better than cure.
I have no idea who first said that, but it rings true today as it’s ever done. Prevention – this is where you can focus your IT efforts right now – stopping issues, problems and glitches before they show up on your office monitors. As we look at these 5 troublesome IT problems, importantly, you’ll also learn how you, to the best of your ability, can stop them from happening in the first place.
#1. Managing the Speed of IT Innovation
There used to be a time not so long ago when the IT department of any organization was tucked away in a back office somewhere, just operating as a support service to the host business. How times have changed (and how quickly, too). IT is now the main driving force behind any new small startup or new corporate business – it’s how you attract clients and keep them happy, how you run your finances, and how customers buy from you. On top of all that, it’s changing and evolving at a rapid tempo. And it’s not going to stop any time soon.
Many small businesses not only find difficulty is keeping up – they struggle with the sheer volume of the IT revolution that’s occurring, especially in terms of infrastructure and platforms. Integrating your existing data into a new system is just one example of this problem. The solution? Planning. And more planning. You need someone (even a small team) in your small business framework, competent and skilled, to be fully aware of the changes that are coming, be able to plan for them and to constantly be responding in a practical way to what they learn. In this way, your small business won’t get caught out but will be ready and wait.
#2. Backup and Disaster Recovery
The data you hold on your IT system is more valuable than money. Find that hard to believe? Lose it all and then see how much that loss will cost you. Your small business’s data, from a simple email template to your full client database, should be treated with as much care and respect as if you held the Holy Grail in your hands.
Not only should you have scheduled backups in place, regularly saving this data securely and separately as it grows, you need a Disaster Recovery Plan (DRP) – “a documented process or set of procedures to recover and protect a business IT infrastructure.” DRPs are a kind of insurance, providing a complete, tried and tested operational procedure in order to minimize any loss of data.
#3. IT Security
More than ever before, criminally-minded hackers are widening their nets to catch as many businesses as possible. Although the pickings from your small business won’t be as juicy as those of Nike or Amazon, money is money, and sadly, money is all that counts. Whether they can steal it from you directly or sell any data that you may hold, hackers are constantly looking for weak security around IT systems. If they find it, well….
Important: IT security is not just a collection of web filters, anti-virus software, and firewalls, whatever you may think. Although securing your IT system will never make it 100% protected, with new viruses, spyware, malware, and troublesome ransomware appearing all the time, you can minimize its weaknesses by changing your mindset.
Equally Important: IT security is about the IT procedures and systems all staff follows each and every day. You need to ensure that these protocols are in place, and are being followed – rigorously. Simply ensuring your IT people update your systems as and when updates become available will go along way to increase your protection. Failure to do so may well open a secret door that a hacker may happily stumble across.
#4. Hiring & Keeping Staff with Rockstar IT Skills
Although it may not appear so, this can be a problem – a big problem, particularly in the world of small business. Add to that the rapid rate at which the field of IT is growing, and you could be looking at a skills gap which you find it hard to bridge. The requirement for evolving tech skills is still there, as it always will be, but the ability to adapt to (and be innovative in) an ever-changing landscape is your #1 requirement now in your IT staff.
Once you have them, it is up to you to continue to invest in these people, giving them opportunities they need to grow within the business and as IT professionals, and giving them a clear career progression as your preferred expert. In other words, it’s up to you to turn them from backstage roadies into stadium-playing rockstars for your small business.
#5. The “Wait Until It Breaks” Philosophy
We’re back to our good old friend “Prevention” again. On a personal note, I have a really old PC in the family den at home, and I keep it for only sentimental reasons, to be honest. Just because it worked yesterday, however, doesn’t mean I’m happily going to keep the company accounts on it. I learned to program on it, but I don’t trust it with anything important.
Just because your IT hardware and software systems seem to be working ok at the moment, it doesn’t mean that you shouldn’t constantly review them in their entirety, and constantly ask yourself if they are really fit for purpose? If you simply “wait until it breaks,” apart from the business operation issues you’ll undoubtedly face, you will find yourself making a huge investment now when you could have made a smaller, more intelligent one earlier.
Remember…. PREVENTION
As a small business owner, everything that keeps your IT systems running sweetly is essential. Essential to your business operation, to your client list, to your profits, to your place in the market, and to you and your staff. IT is the blood, the driving force of your business body. Being in a position to not only deal with troublesome problems (such as the managing the speed of IT innovation, having your backups and recovery plans in place, IT security, hiring and keeping great IT staff, and keeping everything running sweetly by replacing before it actually breaks), but also to prevent them from happening will put your small business where it needs to be – in control.
As a small business owner, what IT problems have you encountered? How did you resolve them? Please let us know with a comment below so other small businesses can benefit from your experiences. Many thanks. Oh, and the last word? You guessed it – prevention.
