News

July 7, 2020

As New York Business Owners Return to Work Technological Needs Should be Top of Mind

With the ever-changing environment that the Coronavirus pandemic has created, there is one thing that has ramped up in the minds of business owners, and that is technology. With the workflow restrictions that are occurring as well as the increased need for flexible technology, IT Infrastructure for many companies are beginning to look outdated and in need of a dramatic upgrade. Why is this the case?

Usually within the IT field business have a “reactive” way of thinking about how to improve their environment and once a need is created, the mad dash to getting a solution built is created. This approach creates higher costs of products and/or services and time constraints to solve that said need for the individual business owner. Here are some tips from Chamber member StoredTech to help you be proactive and to make sure you’re prepared to reopen with the right type of IT Infrastructure in place.

Flexible Communication Tools

  • Re-evaluate your businesses phone system. Are you anchored to your office for individuals to contact you? Would having access to your phone via cell-phone or remotely at home be beneficial? Now is the time to kick the on-premise phone systems to the curb
  • Find a useful tool such as Microsoft Team or Slack to communicate consistently with your teams internally and externally. Your form of communication should no longer be a string of email replies and instead a streamlined and organized approach to make sure time-sensitive projects and information don’t slip through the cracks.
  • Reality check, REMOTE MEETINGS ARE NOT GOING ANYWHERE. If your team is not familiar with Zoom, Teams, or GoTo Meeting yet, now is the time for training and implementation of these tools. Make sure the tool you choose is integrated into other aspects of your day-to-day business for a smooth and easy transition for your employees.

Infrastructure Capabilities

  • Looking to switch to a hybrid WFM/Office model? There are many things that come with this transition such as:
    • Memory/Ram Usage
    • VPN Licenses
    • Network Connectivity
    • Hardware viability
    • Security of data and file sharing

Virtual Data and File Sharing

  • Re-evaluate where your data is being stored and if this is the best long-term solution. Most companies are switching to cloud-based data storage for flexibility and security. There are other options that are more efficient, such as co-locations to store data or virtualization methods to help with data redundancy within the workspace.

Re-Evaluation of your IT Resources

  • Here are some key elements of a self-reflection of your IT Resources
    • Time Efficiency on problem solution
    • Flexibility of availability
    • In-Depth knowledge of your current IT environment
    • Forward thinking suggestions on your environment
    • Scalability to a growing business
    • Cost Analysis and budget of projects

If you would like more information about the aforementioned topics, contact Steve Blanchard, Account Executive, Stored Technology Solutions at 518.502.2725 or SBlanchard@storedtech.com.