5 New Year resolutions that every small and medium business should make

2015 is here. We hope this year brings prosperity and success for your business. At the same time, we want to educate you about few IT mistakes that you must avoid this year

In order to ensure that your business runs smoothly and enjoys minimum downtime. Here are some resolutions that you may want to make this year. 

Resolution no 1: Stick to your data backup policies and procedures 

If you are yet to prepare your data backup strategy, it is high time to do so! Get in touch with us or your internal IT staff to find out how you can secure your data from unwanted loss and unauthorized access.  Data safety is an important part of IT for every business. Each year, many businesses lose all or part of their data in hardware failure incidents, fire, theft, and so on.  Many of these businesses simply cannot recover from the catastrophic loss of critical business information.  

 Securing your data is much easier (and less costly) that attempting to recover it. This year, finding out a reliable backup solution should be a top priority. Make sure you choose a reliable third party to secure your vital company information. At least one copy of your data should be stored offsite so that it remains safe even if your office gets destroyed during a disaster. Make sure all your employees understand the importance of data safety and stick to your backup procedures.

Resolution no 2: Stay away from non-licensed software 

Software is an expensive investment. Many small and medium size companies either think they can’t afford buying software or don’t keep track of their software licensing.   Other companies may let employees bring software from home or purchase software from the “grey market”.  These activities can leave your company at serious risk of a software audit.  With fines starting at $150k per infraction, these audits can impair a business or cause bankruptcy.  As with many things in the IT realm, prevention is the best medicine.  Resolve to get a software policy in place and schedule audits of your usage to ensure you are not out of compliance.  This is especially important for companies using open / site license agreements where it is easy to install more copies than you are licensed for.  

Resolution no 3: Protect your IT infrastructure against spam 

Malware, adware, and other forms of phishing scams are quite scary. A spam attack can reduce the performance of your devices, risk the safety of your data, and can impact the productivity of your employees. Further, filtering through tons of emails every day to find the legitimate ones can become a challenge.

Adequate spam protection should be a top priority of each and every business no matter what their budget is. This year, invest in spam blocking technology and utilize it properly. Enterprise AntiSpam solutions like our Gravity AntiSpam are now more affordable than ever, even for small businesses, and easily pay for themselves in regained employee productivity.   

Resolution no 4: Upgrading your equipment: 

Cost cutting is a top agenda item for many businesses these days, but that doesn’t mean you should avoid upgrading your equipment and applications. Technology is changing at a very rapid rate.  Although it does not usually pay to be on the “bleeding edge”, businesses must keep up to remain competitive and productive.  

Obsolete or non- supported software and hardware can be difficult to use or may fail in non-opportune or disastrous ways.  One example of this is the Windows server 2003 End of Life.  If you are still running 2003 on any of your servers, you will need to replace them by July of this year.  Customers who have been keeping on a three to four year cycle are all caught up, but customers relying on older technology like server 2003 are now being forced to upgrade.  This year, take the plunge and replace ageing hardware and software that are a risk to your business.  

Resolution no 5: Stick to your resolutions 

Making resolutions is easy but sticking to them is difficult. This year, make sure you abide by your resolutions and take your business to the next level.

If you have any query about business IT support or need any help, please contact us.