Regardless of what industry you’re in, technology is central to your business success. Every single office uses computers and manufacturing operations run on the strength of their technology. You’d think that would mean that business owners are on top of all this stuff and they know how best to make use of that technology, but that isn’t always the case. In reality, a lot of people make very simple mistakes that slow down productivity and can waste a lot of money. Every business should check that they’re not making these simple technology mistakes.
Slow Internet
Most employers don’t think they’re making this mistake because they know how important it is to have a good internet connection. Employees need it for emailing one another and downloading any files they might need etc. and if they’re waiting for ages because you’ve got a terrible internet connection, their productivity will suffer. But the thing is, a connection that was fast when you first got it might be slow in comparison to others after a few years. Technology moves fast and average speeds are increasing quite a bit each year. There are plenty of sites where you can easily test internet speed so you should check it right away. You might be shocked at just how slow it is; a lot of companies will advertise a speed that you’re rarely getting. Instead, that speed is the top speed that you’ll sometimes get, but most of the time it’ll be way slower. If that’s the case, you need to get in touch with your provider and see whether they can offer you better speeds. If not, you should find a better internet provider.
A Bad Website
Your website is essentially the online equivalent of a shop window. When customers first land on your site, they’ll quickly make a decision about whether they want to deal with you or whether they’re going to leave the site and never return. Most people already know this and they understand that they need a good website, but they fall down because they don’t understand what that means. You need to think about what customers want from a website like yours and make sure you’re ticking those boxes. Trying to create a website that stands out is important but remember that functionality is always key. A website that looks great is useless if people can’t find what they’re looking for.
Poor Security
Cyber-security is one of the most important concerns for any business these days. The number of attacks is on the rise all the time and the consequences can be devastating. If your company is hacked, you could lose the personal information of your customers. If that happens, it’s likely to be a very public scandal and people will lose all trust in your company. You certainly won’t get any business from those people whose details have been lost anymore and it’ll be hard to bring any new customers on board as well. It’s so hard to come back from that and it could kill your company entirely. That’s why security is one of the most important functions of an IT department, but so many people get it wrong. The people that launch these attacks are constantly learning how to get around security software which is why updating software regularly is essential. If you aren’t doing updates, you’re only being protected against malicious software that isn’t in use anymore. The hackers have already moved onto something else that can get through your firewall with ease. Make sure you’ve got a dedicated member of staff in your IT team that deals with security. It might seem like overkill to pay a person to do that and nothing else but it’s not worth risking your security online.
Personal Devices
One of the big changes brought about by new technology is the rise in remote workers. It’s easier than ever for people to work from home and even those that spend their day in the office are still catching up after hours and at the weekends. That’s a bonus for you as an employer because it means that people can get more done and emails are answered quicker etc. However, there are some things to watch out for. Because people are working at home more, they’re more likely to be using personal devices to access work related files. That’s a big problem when it comes to security. Most personal devices won’t be anywhere near as secure as the computers at work. That’s why it’s important that you set strict guidelines and make sure that nobody is accessing sensitive information outside of the office on their own personal devices.
Avoid these simple mistakes and you’ll find that you get much better use out of the technology around the office.
