As modern enterprises look to integrate product innovation in their business and endeavor to offer smarter workplaces to their employees, the notion of productivity has gone from a passive endeavor to a top priority for every business planning for success.
While there is no denying the importance of technology, and how I.T. solutions have shaped modern businesses, there still remains a large gap between the rapidly evolving innovation in technology solutions and the speed at which mainstream enterprises integrate those solutions into their work.
Make no mistake, while “one-size-fits-all” I.T. solutions have enhanced the collaboration, communication, and effectiveness of the workplace, the current state of I.T. has evolved light years ahead of such generic solutions, with the new service-as-a-solution (SaaS) boom based around providing solutions designed specifically for certain industries or businesses of a certain size.
Modern I.T. has the ability to alter and modify conventional business practices and increase the output of everything you do, which effectively means it won’t just help your efficiency and effectiveness in mere percentage terms, but it will also help your entire team GET STUFF DONE.
Why You Need the Latest Technology to Get Stuff Done
If you can remember what it felt like when everything was analog, you can probably still feel the painstakingly slow processes and computer functions. If a team member wasn’t in the office, good luck on finding the file they were working on that suddenly had an immediate deadline!
For the old school among us, even generic I.T. solutions offer dramatic improvements. But we’re talking about the new generation of employees and entrepreneurs, the Millennials and Generation Z. The rise of remote workers and outsourced solutions means enterprises can either adapt to the evolving landscape or face the looming threat of being outdated.
From the BYOD (bring your own device) phenomenon that has gripped the economy over the past decade to the drastic increase in applications and analytics, workers have more informational access than ever before, and they are eager to make use of it.
As a result, there is a visible decrease in tolerance for any delays and bottlenecks that may slow down their efficiency.
As workers become more mobile, and the world contracts itself into a proverbial village, advanced I.T. solutions offer businesses a chance to leverage technological advancements on their side and scale upwards.
How I.T. Solutions Can Help Get Stuff Done
There have been major advancements in recent years that impact how enterprises operate. Here we will list some of the innovations that stakeholders should look into if they are to keep pace with a rapidly advancing economy.
Cloud Computing
The digitization of the business world has resulted in a data explosion. As businesses look to leverage new methodologies and implement new programs, applications, and systems, this has inevitably led to a huge amount of data that needs to be stored and managed.
The old solution was in-house storage, which meant that there was a need to dedicate resources exclusively for storing options. You had to keep track of the entire data and ensure secure storage, and sometimes even that wasn’t enough to save the hard drive from corrupting due to physical damage or human error.
The result was a loss of productivity and unprofitable downtime. The solution? Migration to the cloud. We’re not the only ones vouching for mass cloud adoption: a Forbes survey noted that 64% people indicate that cloud-based solutions have assisted their organizations to execute faster, “representing a true breakthrough in collaboration.”
A Perfect Blend of Feasibility, Connectivity, and Collaboration
The biggest advantage of cloud adoption is that it opens opportunities that didn’t exist beforehand. The enhanced collaboration and mobility offered by the cloud is unparalleled, as it allows employees to be flexible and agile in ways never before possible.
As the traditional workplace divides into more specialized and remote teams, traditional storage just can’t keep up. As organizations look to grow, the ability to adopt and deploy services as and when you need them becomes imperative. And the cloud makes that possible.
With every information they require deposited in a single location, employees are provided with a central platform to communicate, as well as share and retrieve data. This translates into a more productive and up-to-date workforce that is better equipped to handle their designated tasks.
Businesses that have already shifted to the cloud are reaping its benefits. A survey found that 79% of respondents affirmed that not only is cloud cost effective and more productive, but there is also a prevailing sense of increased data security. The impact reflects in increased revenue, and 51% of the respondents agree with the statement. Not only does cloud storage negate all the cons associated with conventional storage, but it offers much more than just a storage option. It provides a gateway to enhanced collaboration, sociability, efficiency, scalability, and profitability.Data Analytics
From Amazon revolutionizing shopping, to marketers using our age and location to target their products, this is the age of data.
To put into perspective just how much data the world is producing, NASA used a mere fraction of the data we have in our personal laptops today to conduct the first ever moon landing!
With data analytics, less is more. In a study conducted by the University of Texas, the impact of data on key performance indicators (KPIs) was measured. The participants were a host of Fortune 1000 companies, and the results show how even minor improvements can reap huge profits.
Some critical findings from the research are as follows:
Big Data Can Discover New Opportunities for Growth
The advantages of data analytics are just too broad to ignore. Organizations are constantly in the process of creating data, and data analytics can prove to be an ongoing resource that continues to reveal repetitive patterns and bottlenecks that can be improved upon.
Rather than a one-time investment on employee productivity, data analytics continue to find new pathways to workplace improvement. A 2016 workplace study demonstrates just how powerful data analytics can prove to be for an organization.
An insurance provider tracked and analyzed workflow data, only to find out that work-at-home employees outperformed in-office employees by at least 18-22%. As a result, the company introduced a new policy that allowed employees to work from home. Without data analysis, the company would have been oblivious to the potential productivity boost in store!
By providing factual evidence to support your decisions, data analysis can provide stability and wisdom when the organization requires tough decisions. This has an effect on every aspect of your organization, from how you function to how you hire. One of the biggest accountancy firms in the world, Deloitte provides a comprehensive summary of the issue:If you’re just barely contemplating using data analytics, you’re already playing catch up to organizations that use algorithms and data analysis to engage, hire, and train future employees.
Specialize in What You Do Best
As Adam Smith noted over 240 years ago in his Inquiry into the Nature and Causes of the Wealth of Nations, specialization empowers people to become more efficient and productive at what they are good at, but with a trade-off of increased dependence on others for additional needs.
Technology unshackles your business from the mundane, inefficient dependence for such “additional needs.” Every business is founded on its core function, but there is an inherent need of several auxiliary functions that supplement the existence and growth of the core function.
This is where I.T. solutions prove to be a game-changer. Regardless of what the core of the business dictates, every organization has resources dedicated to processes that don’t contribute significantly to the business, which is, of course, an inefficient allocation of resources.
For example, in such a saturated economy, an employee who could very well contribute towards smooth operations represents inefficiency when they are answering repetitive consumer queries on the phone.
As advancements in technology continue to allow businesses to dominate their niche, there is an overwhelming demand for service providers who can take care of those ancillary services.
Here are some of the services that I.T. solutions have enabled enterprises to outsource:
I.T. Management
While a stable I.T. infrastructure forms the core of a stable organization, the expense of hiring I.T. personnel, alongside expensive hardware maintenance costs act as potential roadblocks.
Without a high-quality I.T. solution, a business can risk lagging behind. Every aspect of business operations in today’s world relies on the I.T. infrastructure. That is where outsourced I.T. solutions can emerge as lifesavers.
The biggest advantage levied by outsourcing I.T. management is that you get to leverage expert insight into I.T. matters, alongside the assurance of around the clock functionality of your I.T. structure.
I.T. Help Desk
When prioritizing I.T. needs, a help desk rarely makes it to the top. It is natural to undervalue the importance of a help desk when things are going smoothly.
However, even when organizations realize the benefits that come with a help desk, they struggle to find relevant qualified personnel. The job market getting more competitive by the day, and with the huge gap in supply and demand, hiring a dedicated team for your I.T. support is difficult, time-consuming, and expensive.
Outsourcing your I.T. help desk support relieves you of the constant stress about what to do in case of an emergency, they ensure that your work remains on track and your business potential is not hampered. Any downtime can eat into your profits, and by eliminating downtime, help desk services contribute to the health of your company.
Server Management
The load-bearers of your organization, servers are crucial components of an effective and successful
workplace. Every time you open your computer to execute a command, it is the server that is doing the hard work.
Their vitality to the workplace makes their uninterrupted functioning an utmost priority for a business of any size. Therefore, any threats posed to your business server directly threatens your business viability.
However, server maintenance requires 24/7 attentiveness and proactive service, which can divert employee attention towards their core tasks. Allocating qualified and dedicated personnel for server maintenance can be a stretch for those on limited budgets.
The solution? Outsourced server maintenance. Not only do you benefit from years of relevant experience in optimal server maintenance, but you can rest assured that professionals are there to monitor your servers 24/7, keeping an eye on hardware performance and health, the stability of service, and software maintenance.
Conclusion
When Bill Gates talked about I.T and enterprises becoming inextricably interwoven, even he couldn’t have predicted that businesses would one day rely so heavily on technological solutions to enable them to scale upwards.
Modern technological progressions have unearthed newer, more efficient ways of conducting businesses and organizations that embrace such advancements continue to reap the rewards.
As one of the leading I.T. solutions providers in the world, JMARK provides businesses with modern I.T. solutions that assist them in scaling upwards. If you wish to learn more about how I.T. solutions can assist your businesses in achieving maximum growth, contact JMARK. Call us at 844-44-JMARK or send us an email!