Business Technology Insights

No matter how successful your small or medium-sized enterprise (SME) is, there’s always an opportunity to optimize how you’re currently working. Cutting expenses and improving internal efficiencies can drive up those profits even higher. 

When most companies think of reducing costs they think of cutting rent costs, reshaping the way they employ staff members or ending partnerships with vendors. What they don’t realize is that these drastic changes can all have a negative impact on the results achieved by the business.

There’s no doubt about it, every small, medium and large enterprise needs to print and copy documents on a regular basis. What you might not know as a business owner or office manager, however, is just how much print costs are eating into your company’s revenue. 

In fact, the average employee printing habits cost a company $725 per year, per employee. That means if you have 10 employees, you could be losing a staggering $7,250 from your bottom line each year simply from poor control over your organization's printing.

The primary purpose of technology in the business world is to make our lives easier by enhancing how our employees perform daily tasks. There’s no doubt about it, your IT strategy has a direct impact on the productivity and efficiency of your employees. 

Don’t get us wrong, building a team that is collaborative, efficient and productive is still challenging for any business, but technology advancements over the past few years have made it significantly easier.

Documents are an essential component of any organization, but managing these documents in a way that ensures operational efficiency and business security is more complex than it seems. 

When most organizations start out, they require very little hardware or IT strategy to get going. A computer, phone and perhaps some office technologies such as a printer is often all you need to start growing your business.  As your company expands, however, you will soon need to invest in new hardware, software and advanced IT solutions that support the automation, efficiency, productivity and security of your growing workforce.

Small to medium-sized businesses in Ontario operate in a highly competitive market. As a result, companies are continually looking for ways to cut down their expenses, improve their return on investment (ROI) and maintain a healthy bottom line. To make these operational savings, many organizations turn to their IT strategy and the hardware that supports it.

There are a range of benefits that come with remote work, including a better work-life balance, less commute stress, increased productivity and money savings. Perhaps one of the most popular benefits though, is the ability to work from home and, in turn, the opportunity to completely customize your own office space. 

When it comes to designing a professional home office space, however, many people have no idea where to start.

Working remotely has been a crucial aspect of flattening the curve during the COVID-19 pandemic. While this measure is temporary for some businesses, for others it is here to stay. 

In a recent article published on BBC Worklife, “How offices will change after the coronavirus”, Jessica Mudditt describes how offices in the future might evolve to new rules for workplace hygiene.

“Experts suggest this could involve a combination of short-term fixes aimed at boosting worker confidence, reducing the number of staff in the office at any one time and longer-term design upgrades and modifications that put hygiene at the heart of workplace planning. “

In a previous blog, we looked at an article published in BBC Worklife, “How offices will change after the coronavirus.”  One of the experts interviewed, Albert De Plazaola, global strategy director at Unispace, spoke about the new mobile workforce, and how firms may start subsidizing home offices.