Making the Most Out of Small Business Tech Trends
The trend in today’s businesses is advancing technology solutions to have better access and automation of your process. Growing your technology allows your business to constantly improve efficiency and be prepared to handle the competitive environment. There are a couple great trends that are improving small business all over the world.
Small business is unique in this day and age because it has access to more powerful resources than they have in the past. Technology has never been so affordable and more small businesses can take advantage of solutions that large businesses have used. With these new tech trends, small business can implement more software solutions, hardware solutions, and have a team of professionals working on your IT.
The most popular trend to embrace is the cloud. Everybody knows it exists, but many don’t know all the different ways your small business can implement the cloud. The cloud provides a variety of services that fall under 3 major categories: Software-as-a-service, Infrastructure-as-a-service, and Platform-as-a-service. The cloud is popular and many businesses are using it, but it is important to know what solution you need before you implement. I will focus on software-as-a-service and how small business can use it to go mobile.
Software-as-a-service is a great place for small businesses to start with the cloud. This involves accessing software via a cloud server through the Internet. This means the software you use does not to be on your local network or use up your in-house storage space. Using your software on the cloud gives your business a lot of advantages. The first is the ability to access your software from any location and device with an Internet connection.
Do you have software that only works on a PC but you like to work on a Mac from home? On the cloud there is no need to travel with an extra laptop just to do your work at home. The cloud lets you access your software on a Mac as if you are using a PC. Are you in an office that runs primarily apple hardware? Hosting your software solutions on the cloud will give you more software solutions than ever before. A small business doesn’t want to use its resources to buy entirely new hardware just to run software that isn’t available on a Mac.
This gets to mobility. The cloud doesn’t limit your small business to accessing data only through a computer. You can use your software on a tablet or smart phone with an Internet connection. If you are connected to wifi or broadband, you can see your data on your cloud server. Mobility allows you to do work on the go. Having mobility in your small business is incredibly important when you start because you can make the most out of your resources.
Mobility allows you to make the most out of your time and your staff’s time. Small business has to be able to respond quickly and effectively. Whether it’s an emergency or a big sale opportunity just came in, your team has to be able to take advantage of its resources. When you can access your information on the cloud, it is live and your team can see live updates so you can collaborate more effectively. Working on the cloud makes your data feel like you are accessing it directly in your office.
The trend with technology for small business is to have better access to technology solutions. The cloud allows better control over software solutions and gives mobility that didn’t exist before. Now small business can access data and get more work done at this crucial point in their growth.