Business Technology Insights

It’s not uncommon for small and medium-sized businesses to have no in-house IT support. Instead, technical problems and IT decisions are handled by the most tech-savvy person in the company. 

This can work for a short amount of time, but it’s certainly not a sustainable practice. That’s why small and medium-sized enterprises typically partner with an outsourced IT support partner (also known as a managed IT services provider) for their technology needs.

Technology is the number one driving force for change in the business world. Constantly evolving and adaptive technology provides your business with the opportunity to access new internal efficiencies, reduce business costs and drive new growth.

Yet having the resources and knowledge to keep up with these trends and ensure technologies are working as they should be can be difficult, especially for small to medium-sized enterprises (SMEs).

There’s no doubt about it, Optimizing your company’s IT can be tricky. You need to optimize your budget so your systems can grow with your company and drive innovation, but at the same time you need to save money to improve your bottom line.

Did you know that 8 in 10 small businesses (80 percent) plan to outsource business functions in 2021 (Clutch), and that figure is only expected to grow even further as we move into the future.

There’s a good reason for that. Outsourcing helps organizations lower costs, increase efficiencies, save time, access core skills and resources that would be expensive to employ in-house and increase business flexibility.

For successful business growth, it’s crucial that you have a clear path laid out for the future. But that doesn’t just apply to product development, workforce needs and KPIs, it also applies to your office technology. 

Your company’s technology is a crucial component of successful business growth. Technology has an important impact on the operations of your business, from your internal efficiencies, monthly expenses and your ability to please your customers.

No matter the size of your Ontario-based business, having a technical leader is absolutely crucial. 

You need someone who will build and manage your IT infrastructure, outline your IT strategies based on your company’s business goals, oversee technology implementations and supervise software and hardware developments. 

The tech and business worlds have been talking about the transition to paperless for years. Even on this blog here at OT Group, we’ve discussed the importance of data backups and other IT solutions - all of which are crucial to the security and efficiency of your business in a world where the vast majority of data is stored online. 

It’s difficult to update a system that’s as hard-wired into your business processes as your phones. Especially when you want to make the transition from an analog phone system to a Voice over Internet Protocol (VoIP) solution.

Over the past few months on our blog we’ve talked a lot about the benefits of remote work. We have also discussed the large number of organizations that are moving towards long-term work-from-home strategies here in Ontario, and how they are set to last long after the pandemic ends. 

With small and medium-sized organizations now storing, managing and accessing more data than ever before, cybersecurity is now a crucial component for business success.

In fact, cyber crime has continued to grow over the past few years. According to the Washington Post, estimated global losses from cybercrime are projected to hit just under a record $1 trillion for 2020 - that’s almost double 2018, when a reported $500 billion was lost.