A well-equipped IT department is a necessity for small and medium-sized businesses (SMBs) to thrive in today’s digital age. This blog post will explore the essential IT solutions that SMBs must have to remain competitive. We’ll delve into the latest trends, offer practical advice, and highlight the transformative power of IT in driving business growth and innovation.
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Reading Time: 7 minutes
What This Blog Covers:
- Common IT Challenges Faced by SMBs
- Cyber Security: A Foundation for Success
- IT and Managed Services: Streamlining Operations
- Unified Communication and Digital Services: Enhancing Collaboration
- Devices and Peripherals: The Building Blocks of IT Infrastructure
- IT Spending Trends for SMBs
- Level Up Your IT: Your Tailored Blueprint
Picture this: a small business has been hacked and their data is now being held at ransom, resulting in significant financial loss and reputational damage. Or imagine a company whose small IT team struggles to keep up with the demands of a rapidly growing remote workforce. These scenarios, while unfortunate, are all too common for small and medium-sized businesses (SMBs) navigating the complex landscape of modern technology.
Common IT Challenges Faced by SMBs
In our LinkedIn article, we addressed some of the top challenges SMBs face in today’s modern workplace. Firstly, the rise of remote and hybrid work has created a distributed workforce dilemma, making it difficult for businesses to maintain productivity and collaboration amongst employees working from various locations. Secondly, the increasing number of devices used for work has created new cyber security risks for SMBs to mitigate. Lastly, phishing and ransomware attacks pose a constant threat to businesses of all sizes – with SMBs being the primary targets.
To overcome these challenges, SMBs need small business IT solutions that can unify their workforce, secure their data, and protect them from cyber threats. However, additional challenges that are unique to SMBs – such as limited budgets and expertise; outdated infrastructure and difficulty in adapting to new technological advancements – make this easier said than done.
With this in mind, we are going to take you through the must-have technology areas that all SMBs need to consider when making IT buying decisions. Importantly, these solutions will be cost-effective, secure, and won’t require IT expertise to implement and maintain. Needless to say, cyber security is the prevalent theme across the key concerns all businesses have – so let’s tackle that one first.
Cyber Security: A Foundation for Success
It’s no secret that cyber threats are on the rise and remain top of mind for companies of all sizes. SMBs have particularly become more at risk of a cyber attack due to the advancements made in cloud-based solutions and the many mobile devices their organisations use for work.
As a result, SMBs are increasing their spending on cyber security by investing in diverse security solutions such as remote management systems, mobile device security and data protection. Additionally, managed service providers (MSPs) and managed security service providers (MSSPs) are useful guides in navigating these evolving threats and effectively meeting regulatory standards.
Tip: click here to discover how Microsoft for Business helps secure your SMB.
IT and Managed Services: Streamlining Operations
Whether it is due to limited budgets or increasing talent shortages, many SMBs have looked to managed IT services as a solution to their various resource constraints. In essence, this is when a business partners with external IT providers to enhance their technological capabilities without the overhead of in-house teams.
Some organisations are contracting managed IT providers as a pre-emptive measure to stay on top of technology trends and ensure that they constantly meet the changing needs of their business. From strategic planning to implementation and ongoing maintenance, these partners effectively deliver comprehensive, customised solutions that evolve alongside your growing business.
One would think this costs a pretty penny, but the reality is partnering with managed IT service providers is much more cost-efficient than trying to keep up with the rising labour and training costs. Furthermore, investing in external IT service providers allows SMBs to keep up with the latest technology trends – needed to give them a competitive edge – and allows them to expand their distributed workforce culture while having peace of mind.
Unified Communication and Digital Services: Enhancing Collaboration
In a previous blog, we spoke about the importance of having effective communication within an organisation as it is the bedrock of a company’s success. Thus, SMBs have increased their IT spending on unified communications (UC) and digital services to avoid siloed communications and ensure that their teams remain collaborative and efficient. This entails integrating communication channels such as data, voice and messaging into a unified platform to enable smoother and more effective communication.
Given the mainstreaming of remote and hybrid work setups, SMBs are increasingly relying on collaboration tools to streamline workflows. From this, many businesses are actively seeking solutions that include AI-enhanced features to keep the lines of communication open. As far as external communication is concerned, many SMBs have extended their UC budgets to digital marketing and advertising as well to manage their reputations and generate more leads.
Devices and Peripherals: The Building Blocks of IT Infrastructure
The rise in remote and hybrid work has caused an influx of employees using a wide range of devices to get work done. From this, SMBs have increasingly needed to invest in 2-in-1 PCs for enhanced connectivity and productivity. Many businesses have also upgraded their desktop PCs and tablets for optimal processing power and to support their operational efficiency.
In the same vein, more SMBs are adapting their hardware needs to the evolving work environments that require less maintenance and prove to be more reliable. This is primarily done by migrating to the cloud and working with a cloud solution partner to become more agile and competitive.
Tip: download our Cloud Migration Checklist here.
IT Spending Trends for SMBs
Hybrid and Remote Work Are Here to Stay
COVID-19 changed life as we know it – and this includes the world of modern work. One of the most notable changes is the widespread adoption of remote and hybrid work models. While this has come with its unique challenges, this new way of working has led SMBs to shift from recovery mode to strategic investment. Therefore, business growth, innovation and operational efficiency are the primary reasons behind an SMB’s IT spending today. Challenges aside, the key focus on technology investment is particularly seen in cyber security, managed services and infrastructure.
A Pragmatic Approach to AI Solutions
While the future has AI written all over it, this is not enough to justify the high costs it tends to come with. This is especially the case for SMBs with limited budgets: these businesses are approaching AI investments pragmatically and are making informed buying decisions. However, SMBs are increasingly realising AI’s potential to take their business to new heights and are looking to implement these small business technology solutions in their daily operations.
Although they see its value, translating the return on investment (ROI) for AI solutions can prove to be quite difficult in the absence of a third-party expert. From this, SMBs are more ready to use AI features within existing business applications – such as Copilot for Microsoft 365 – than to adopt standalone AI technologies. They are also looking to invest in AI-powered solutions that seamlessly integrate into their current cyber security and UC solutions.
It’s All About Strategic Partnership
Traditional resellers are projected to lose market share as more and more SMBs are partnering with various managed services providers. Apart from helping them fill the skill gaps in their organisations, SMBs are actively seeking strategic partners who will be with them every step of the way. In addition to maintaining their technology infrastructure, SMBs are on the hunt for IT service providers that will essentially be an extension of their organisation and understand their evolving business goals.
Level Up Your IT: Your Tailored Blueprint
In today’s rapidly evolving digital landscape, SMBs must make strategic IT investments to remain competitive and drive growth. By understanding the latest trends and incorporating essential IT solutions for businesses like cybersecurity, managed services, unified communications, and the right devices, you can transform your IT department into a strategic business partner.
Don’t let outdated technology or security vulnerabilities hold your business back. At Babble, we understand that businesses are like snowflakes: no two are alike.
Contact our team today to discuss your unique needs and develop a tailored IT shopping list that will help you achieve your unique business goals.