To many businesses, the increasing reliance that we have on digital technology through our IT scope is directly related to our growth. This much seems like a foregone conclusion in the modern working world, but it doesn’t mean that you can’t still have some growing pains when you’re expanding the influence of IT in your business. Here are a few roadblocks or unforeseen consequences you should plan for to ensure that your business is able to enjoy the benefits of better technology without any major headaches.
Make sure that your team is able to use it
Most employees nowadays come with a level of IT savvy that has been drilled into them through its compulsory place in education, not to mention the fact that we all use a lot more digital technology in our day-to-day lives than we did even a decade ago. However, that doesn’t mean that new tech, new programs, and new hardware don’t pose problems to your staff when you’re trying to onboard them.
If a new technology represents a change to their working day, then you should make an effort to ensure that they are effectively trained, whether it means setting up an online training program for them to follow or finding early adopters that can help members who are struggling to acclimate.
Make security a primary consideration
The risk of threats to your business from the digital world is ever on the rise. Businesses make for prime targets for hackers and other cybercriminals, and increasing your digital scope also means increasing the ways that they can break into it, whether it’s with new networking vulnerabilities, new hardware, new software, or even increased reliance on people using your IT resources.
Improve your IT security by investing in the right installations, such as professional-level anti-malware and firewalls. Ensure you have a team that is monitoring any networks you run for suspicious activity. Most importantly, ensure that you give your team the training they need to ensure they don’t leave the IT scope vulnerable by, for instance, responding to phishing scams.
Ensure your strategy is purpose-driven
You want to make sure that when you’re investing in improving your IT scope, you are getting some real improvements out of it. For that reason, you should have a good idea of what your goals are, and what technologies or investments you can look more closely at to achieve those goals.
For instance, if you’re trying to make a more efficient and flexible work environment or to allow for remote working, then investing in Cloud computing might make the most sense for your business. If you’re trying to provide your team with the tools they need to do their job more efficiently, then you might want to look at more specific software solutions, and so on.
With the tips above, you can make sure that your get your money’s worth from any expansions of your IT scope. Just be sure to keep these points in mind and be vigilant as you continue to grow the business