Wise spending

When cashflow is short you want to be wise with your spending. But like everything you can't make informed choices without some knowledge.

When saving money there will always be tradeoffs. Basic IT knowledge is necessary to identify the impact of those tradeoffs on business process or reputation and avoid purchasing the wrong solution.

This is just as important as ever with the ubiquity of cloud services replacing expensive equipment and one off software purchases. While they like small monthly payments for 1 or 2 staff its common to be locked in annual commitments and costs rise as demand does!

Don't think "it's simple, a bit of WiFi, a laptop and then it's good to go!"

Running your own business involves a lot of personal choices. Taking a "set it and forget it" approach to IT may suit you now but can lead to to surprises that never come at a good time.. You could also be missing out on big efficiency or quality gains for your business that you don't know are out there!

We say - do manage your own systems with knowledge and control
We also say - Just because it works doesn't make it good! (or efficient, or secure)

Just make it work!

The 3rd approach, have someone else with IT knowledge guide you.

If you have staff who are an IT whizz this can save money by delegating reserach and decisions to them. Do factor their experience though when considering their input, it may be limited compared to IT professionals. The benefit being advised by those with experience and knowledge of product offerings. The downside is the cost, you have to accept paying for a service for expect advice won't be free.

If having your IT managed for you is apperaling we have an instant estimate calculator to help budget for this to speed things along. Click the here or the calculator at top of screen. No details taken or sign up needed.

Understanding the system

We believe that informing ourselves is key to create better environments and that knowledge should be shared.
Whether you outsource or do-it-yourself knowing the basic components of an IT system is needed in contemporary business.

With that in mind below we try to make the components of a contemporary business IT system digestable.

Building Blocks for an IT System

Click each card to jump to section

Hardware

PCs, laptops, tablets, smartphones, servers, networking, routers, webcams.
The list goes on!

Most businesses will use some form of hardware every day to communicate with customers, suppliers and each other.
Managing jobs, orders and cases are other uses.

It can't be understated how having the wrong hardware can hold your business back with lost time either due to it running slow or breaking down.

You don't want to overpend obviously but skimping on hardware can cost endlessly.
When weighing the cost benefit of that more expensive computer think about paying staff to watch progress bars.
It causes frustration it will cause you, your staff and customers.

Most products are divided into product stacks these days ranging from "cost effective" to "profressional".

When buying start by finding the business lineup.
These will be more expensive but have good warranty terms and support and generally be built to be reliable.
Having a good warranty feeds into later thoughts on disaster planning as they help get you up and running again faster.

Once you find the category you want a good rule of thumb is going "one spec" higher than you think you need or can afford.
The idea is to create headroom for future updates that slow things down and to make sure it doesn't bog down when you're trying to work!

Software

Hardware and Software rely on each other.
One needs the other to be useful so take this in any order.

Software is what you'll be using to do your work whether its designing bespoke furninture or fighting legal cases in high court.

All computers need software called the operating system, for PCs that's windows and for Apple its MacOS.
Its the main system that allows your apps and programs to run.
Everything you do may be in the cloud and achieved by opening web browser like google chrome.
But some industries still need old fashioned software that is paid for and installed on each computer.

Depending on your industry these programs will vary from CAD/CAM software, to book keeping, customer relation databases or case management.
There are plenty of options for every industry so if at all possible do not rush into making a choice.

The core software that most business use for "office productivity" is still Microsoft Office.
That's the famous programs like Excel, Powerpoint, Word and Outlook which are paid for by monthly subscription.
There are free alternatives such as Open Office and Libre Office which are fine.
These can can have quirks and compatibliity issues though so most business choose to avoid them.

(Side note, pirating software and (excellent) free email services often lead people to be shocked at having to pay for services like Microsoft Office and business email)

Office productivity aside some software can be easy to compare on features and price that are publicly available.
Many specialist software, especially that which needs database management, are price on application however.
The latter makes it difficult to easily compare products due to engaging with sales teams before getting an indication of price.

It can be difficult and costly to move from one system to another once invested so it is critical to look around before committing.
Think, if its difficult to chose now, will it be easier once you are invested in one system?
Previous experience with a software is a valid reason to use it again but when the opportunity arises please take the time to research other options.

We recommend organising your thoughts on any system in a method that works for you.
(This applies to IT providers as well!)

"Must haves", features that you believe you can't live without.
"Nice to have", features you can live without but would make business smoother but aren't essential to getting the job done.
"Pain Points", things you forsee will make day to day operation slow or frustrating.

Then start looking for the offerings, take to google and ask any industry peers for ideas.
Keep track of them by writing them down and notes on any publicly available information about functionality, cost, terms, contacts & support.

Start enquirying with sales teams of each product to fill in the gaps but don't commit to anything you don't have to.
If demoes are available take them but try no to overlap too many, they may expire before you get a chance to try them and miss something perfect!

Whenever you are starting to get good information on everything that is available take a pause and consider the options.
It's good now to reconside what is "Must have" or "Nice to Have", you may have found that these posts have moved.
Once you have that complete information you should be ready to make the choice.
If not don't worry, go back to the best competitors and don't be shy to ask awkward questions to ensure they have the right solution for you.

Cloud Services

Cloud services really cover anything system or service that you access on the internet.
An example from everyday life is accessing an email account on the web like gmail.

In recent times tradiontal software and workloads have been moving to the cloud so much its difficult to tell them apart.
Both new offerings and well established software companies are using the computing power of the cloud.

For example database software like Sage accounting, it relied on a central server in the office to share its data.
This can now be synchronised over the web between remote workers.
While Sage accounts needs that software on the PC to work others like Xero run entirely in a webbrowser, you don't need to install it.
Both rely on cloud servers to hold the central data and allow easy access from anywhere.

The history behind the rapid growth of cloud computing is fascinating but would take a while to cover.
Thanfully the relavent part for business owners is quicker with some key benefits and downfalls.

This applies to those with advanced workloads like accounting or legal software but also to those simply using cloud for file storage and emails,

Moving your workload to the cloud may

Save money on buying and maintaining expensive server
Save time managing remote access for work from home
Run faster than an in-house equivalent
Allow more integration with other processes

It may also

Be more expensive as monthly costs add up for storage and staff
Stop work entirley if your internet or the cloud service go down
Put your data in a different country
Be difficult or expensive to backup

Cloud has been very attactive to business owners as it can remove the need for expensive servers and associated maintainence costs.
We have seen mixed results, some companies workflow just suits the cloud and is easy to manage.
Others had bad experiences with slow cloud services holding every step of work up.

Our advice would be to rigoursly research the offerings as described when choosing software to avoid surprise costs.
Consider if the service will manage itself or need a custodian.

Many cloud services will come with support for its functionality but it won't cover IT basics.

Password hygiene and Multifactor authentication

In todays world almost all services are managed with online accounts.
That makes it more crucial than ever to maintain good passwords which are not reused.
This is called having good password hygiene.
This applies to desktop computers, laptops and smartphones as well.

Remember if a task isn't simple its easier to ignore.
Don't make it easy for your staff to ignore password hygiene.

Make it easy for staff to keep good passwords secure and varied.
Make it easy for staff to access multifactor authentication codes.

Smartphones are the typical method for generating time based codes.
(Consider if your company policy state whether its expected for staff to provide their personal phones for this use or altenatives)

Password managers can be a great way to avoid using a smartphone and save time.
They can store complicated password that can be copied and pasted, generate your mulifactor codes, back them up and integrate into web browsers.
The best are paid for but free versions are available.

Please note online business banking may require specialised smartphone apps that will be exclusions to this.

Staff awareness and training.

New starts to a job get inductions.
This allows them to know the policies of the company and how to work safely and effectively.
It's unfair to expect staff to know how to do a job without showing them how right?

Email and digital communication is part of everyones work days including security training in that induction is a no brainer.
As with other critical knowledge it also needs maintained with ongoing training.

When thinking about security its to easy to install an antivirus and call it day.
Consider how are you to know the difference between a legitimate business enquiry and a social engineering scam?
Do you always to call to check when someone sends an invoice to be paid its real or challenge someone trying to follow you in the main door?

This used to only apply to office based staff, whose tools of the trade were email and telephone.
With more and more staff connected onsite and remote working these days that's changed so everyone needs included.

There are freely available resouces publishing by the National Cyber Security Centre to help inform individuals and employers.
https://www.ncsc.gov.uk/cyberaware/home

The gold standard however is to get security awareness training.

Yes, this training can be something to "check boxes" and make cyber insurance cheaper. We think that's shortsighted.
It offers much more in staff development, with take real homes skills being learnt as well as keeping customers data safe.

Online training in this case has an advantage that simluations can be run to test staff and all progress is measured.
This is something we as standard with our support package but there are lots of options out there.

Equipment that is up to date

PCs, Servers, Laptops and phones need up to date
Operating systems - windows/mac
System software - office, adobe, POS, cad/cam
Firmware - PC bios, android system, IOS image
Endpoint Security - previously called anti-virus

Network equipment needs to be updated as they all pose a security risk if not maintained and kept updated.
WiFi access points (dishes),
WiFi routers/Firewalls
Network switches

Backup and disaster recovery

The wisdom is to believe your systems will be hacked someday and spend your energy preparing for that.

While this sounds scary its quite sensible.
It's essential to cover the basics, have an anti-virus, awareness training and so on but that only lessen's the chance of something bad happening.

On the flipside assuming something catastrophic will happen allows effective planning for what could happen.
Take a minute to think of the worst if it helps!

Having good backups of you data and email prepares against hardware failure or cyber attack, both are possible and have roughly the same effect.
Knowing where your backups are kept, how many copies you have, how often they are taken and importantly how long it will take to retireve them are all factors.
A "hybrid" system is best, backups that made to the cloud and "hard copy" onto an encrypted USB disk or similiar.
This isn't always possible but offers a double protection or redundancy, having 2 or more of something in case one fails.

An added advantage is that you can often recovery files that were lost to less sinsiter means, like accidental deletion!
Think of it like a big undo button that may save you someday.

Then you should consider what you wil do with that data in the case of the worst.
If its a cyberattack you may get away with wiping your systems and restoring.
If a server was to fail or you to lose the office to a fire or other disaster you could having to buy a server very fast is necessary!

In the case of hardware failure in a critical server maintaining your warranty is crucial.
A warranty that includes technician visits and parts, goes a long way to getting you up and running as soon as possible.
Tasks like checking disk status improves reliabillity, how much trust can be put in something it won't stop working.

If you have a second location and can afford to duplicate your servers its possible to replicate live between them for good levels of redundancy.
Again hybrid solutions are possible, a virtual replica in the cloud can be a good way to plan for the worst but cost can add up over time.

Having your systems or data solely in the cloud can protect against the such server hardware failures.
Most data centres where your data is held are built to be redundant, that is they can have servers or whole buildings go offline and you'd never even know.
Please note this rarely consitutes a backup, many cloud providers can expect you to take care of your own backup of data on their systems.
Microsoft Sharepoint is a major example!

If this is the case its wise to consider a backup internet connection and/or maintaining the ability for you and staff to work from home.
A backup internet connection can seem like a waste of money but when connection to the cloud is business critical it's a must.
This can also be called a continuity or failover connection.
They are quite common in recent years in the form of a separate conneciton for your VOIP phones.
If you have a 2nd connection like this upgrading it may be a cost effective way to have that failover line!

Testing both data recovery and connectivity failover regularly is part of a strong disaster recovery plan and pays dividends if you ever need to use them.

Consider how critical a hardware device is to core business operation.
If you realise some devices simply have to be working 24/7 then a warranty that includes on-site repairs or even a spare device is wise.

All that said, does it seem like a lot?

IT systems can grow organically, and be largely a DIY affair with some basic knowledge and applying cost benefit analysis.
However its possible to become overburdened with the choices and miss out on simple but essential items.

Just like looking after your teeth, the preventative measures, ones you take like brushing, are better than reactive measures like fillings!
If you don't know what you should be taking care of with your IT it can lead to disaster in the future.

Take the example of staff awareness training.
When you onboard new staff you will need to sign them up for security awareness training.
But it is easy to forget that with all the other paperwork and proper training for the role.
With a managed IT provider this gets done at the same time as their accounts are created, one less thing to think about.

It's never too late, or too early to talk to us!