It doesn’t take much to make the case that modern technology has improved the way we do business. Consider just a few decades ago we were without cell phones, e-mail, and the Internet. Tasks today that take minutes used to take hours. That said, there can be many headaches that come with modern software solutions, but a good partnership with a strong technology support company can ensure that your business IT solutions are running smoothly.
If you’re a business that is due for an upgrade, don’t let lack of technical knowledge or the fear of the unknown deter you from capitalizing on all the ways these new innovations can improve your business. Check out just a few ways technology can advance your business position in the marketplace, and help give you a leg up on your competition.
Marketing
Marketing has changed more in the past 15 years than the previous 100 years combined. New innovations have created many new media options that have expanded our reach and ability to interact with our consumers. Whether you’re installing an upgraded customer relationship management (CRM) system, blasting out an e-mail campaign, managing all of your social media through a program aggregate, or hosting a webinar, new technology is the driving force behind the campaign. Remember, a technology support company will offer services to help you understand how your system can handle this load, and will work with you if you need assistance installing the software to launch some of these exciting campaigns in your business.
Communication
It is hard to imagine there is an entire generation of workers in place who have never had to do business without emails and cell phones. Modern advances give us access to unparalleled communication not only with our consumers, but internally within our own organizations as well. Modern businesses are expected to have comprehensive communications platforms, and a technology support company on call to manage all of the servers should anything go wrong. While a 24-hour turn around used to be acceptable in terms of customer service, those rules have changed; modern advances give us the tools we need to meet the expectations of our consumers.
Productivity
The right hardware running updated software solutions is the key to productivity in your business. In this era, our employees wear many hats and it’s incredibly important to give them the right tools to get the job done quickly and efficiently. Tools like voice to text, online chat, and teleconferencing, are just a few ways to improve productivity in the workplace. Whether it’s in your customer service department, giving customers an online chat option to get instant access to a service representative, to your internal communications and company meetings, working with a technology support company to have the right software solutions for your business is your key to having a productive, efficient workplace.
Modern IT solutions offer an abundance of opportunities for better ways to do business. These are just a few of the improvements you can look forward to when you utilize new solutions. Coupled with a good relationship with a technology support company, you can be sure that your business with survive and thrive for years to come.
Technology is constantly evolving and so is the disk drive. That small device you rely on so heavily on a daily basis as part of your computer system or server has evolved from a tape to a small device you can store mountains of information on daily.
When computers were first introduced, they couldn’t hold that much storage. In fact before computers, everything was done manually and once computers were introduced, all disk drives were external, providing companies with the ability to store all their data on external devices, which were carefully locked away in a safe and taken out each day to be used.
One of the first disk drives, which many people don’t even know existed, is the magnetic tape. The magnetic tape enables computer operators to store high volumes of data. The reel held a long string of tape which could accommodate up to ten thousands punch cards worth of data. In those days it was a lot, today it probably wouldn’t even cover you for a complete days’ worth of work.
Then came the floppy disk. The floppy disk was introduced in the 1970’s and could hold a high volume of data. It could hold in the region of four hundred and eighty kilobytes, which was much higher than the magnetic tapes in a smaller and more compact design. This enables computer operators to share information by swapping disk drives from computer to computer.
In the 1980’s a smaller floppy disk drive was introduced. These were made of hard plastic and were only 3.5 inches in size. Computers only just started being manufactured without this disk drive in place a few years back, these floppies remained in computers for three decades and are still used by some users today.
The next introduction to computers is the CD rom, or compact disc drive, an exciting introduction which improved data storage and speed. Operators were able to save a document to the CD within seconds, rather than waiting minutes on a magnetic tape or floppy disk. CD’s were also able to hold more data and was thin and much easier to carry around. They were used extensively in gaming, enabling game developers to sell their games to computer users with easy installation instructions.
Next came the DVD drive, which many people still use today. The DVD drive sped up the saving process and could save large volumes of information. Another benefit is that many DVD’s are rewritable, saving companies money by not having to replace the DVD’s every time they want to do a backup or save a file.
SD memory cards were introduced in 2000. These were small and encrypted cards available in thirty two and sixty four megabyte sizes all the way up to two terabytes. They are still used extensively today in smart phones, cameras and tablets.
Most companies rely on external disk drives these days, reducing how much they have to store on their computers. External disk drives also enable people to save data and then take the disk drive when them and plug it into another computer to access the information.
Internal disk drives are used extensively, especially in servers. Companies that rely on servers will keep a number of top disk drives, which are used to save all their important data and information. From here it is accessible to all the computers in the office, reducing how much is saved on each individual computer. This also makes backup easier and quicker, saving all the information from one point.
As mobile devices continue to infiltrate organizations, the demand for secure solutions becomes critical. By 2017, the bring-your-own-device (BYOD) and enterprise mobility market is expected to reach upwards of $181 billion. The introduction of these new devices influence the way businesses collaborate, communicate and innovate. In order to maintain their status as a market leader, organizations must stay ahead of the quickly evolving technology trends and develop ways to securely integrate them into day-to-day operations. Here’s a breakdown of a few of the mobile trends that are quickly becoming hot topics for 2014:
Predicting the potential risks of wearable technology
According to research firm Juniper, 2014 is the year that wearable technology goes mainstream. Last year, Google launched its highly anticipated glasses and Samsung rolled out a smart watch, while other big tech players including Apple gear up to introduce a whole new breed of wearable tech. On the horizon: smart contact lenses, LED sweaters that can sense your mood and even fingernails rigged with individual radio frequency identification (RFID) tags, allowing the wearer to perform a variety of tasks normally completed with a card.
A recent Fortinet survey, which was conducted across 20 countries and surveyed 3,200 21-32 year old employees, found that 16 percent of respondents agreed that they would use wearable technologies in work or for work purposes as soon as they become available and 33 percent as soon as their price is affordable. Juniper cautions that privacy will be an ongoing issue with wearable tech, as cameras go everywhere – including the workplace. IT teams will face similar challenges and risks as with mobile devices, the most important of which is protecting corporate data.
Stepping up security with a multi-layered approach
As more business processes are extended to mobile, many organizations are finding uses for both mobile device management (MDM) and containerization, either for different deployments or on the same device. Organizations with highly sensitive proprietary content or in strictly regulated industries may prefer the added security that MDM and containerization on the same device provides. A corporate container deployed on a managed device provides an extra barrier to access corporate content. Users are required to enter both a device-level passcode and a container-level passcode, and administrators have both device-level controls and application-level controls that enable app-to-app collaboration with other managed and secure applications within the container.
This approach also creates a sense of segmentation between work and play for end users, bringing a dual-persona feel to managed devices by isolating corporate content inside a secure container. MDM and containerization are often thought of as mutually exclusive security solutions, but today’s most innovative organizations are taking a layered approach to security by using the two in conjunction.
Adopting app scanning to protect organizations and end-users
As employees increasingly demand more apps for business, IT administrators must block malicious applications and certify that internal and third-party applications meet their organization’s security standards. Administrators need to protect organizations from publicly available malicious applications, risks that come with internal and third-party apps, and address concerns around apps accessing personal data on employee-owned devices. In order to address these concerns, organizations must integrate app scanning into their business platform.
With app scanning, IT administrators can identify common app risks, such as access to privacy settings, insecure network connections, malicious code and more. By scanning the applications, administrators can identify potential privacy, behavior, and design and programming risks. This information gives IT administrators the ability to assess whether an application is safe for business use or blacklist the application if it does not meet the minimum security standard, empowering them to take action and eliminate current and future risks.
When it comes to adopting any new technology, the less time organizations spend worrying about security, the more they can focus on driving core business strategies. Therefore, understanding technology trends and predicting their impact is vital to any organization’s mobility strategy.
Sign up today for free & stay current with local IT news.
