As is evident, we can never be fully prepared for what gets thrown at us, and as a business, this is one thing that can be very daunting for us all, planning for the unpredictable. The only thing companies and individuals can do to be ready for any problems we are dealt is by future-proofing with the latest technologies. We have listed out what we think are 5 of the best ways to do this:
Becoming Virtual
In the events of social distancing taking place, it is vital that your company is ready to become virtual. This can be done over mobile, video or emails; just the whole point is that your business runs as usual but with no or as minimum human contact.
Some programs that can assist you with being virtual are Zoom, Teams and even Skype. These are all video calling software with some even having the ability to screen share and connect with multiple people at once. This allows a working from home-style business more manageable.
Transferring Date
As you find yourself working more remotely. You still need to have as much access to data as you would in an office. A study from Infomentum’s Beyond Digital report noted that nearly 84% of office workers saw cross-department coordination as one of the most significant barriers for company development ahead of 2020.
If you want your employees to be able to easily access all the company’s documents, data and files from wherever there are, VPN’s can be a great fix. Another alternative is cloud computing, a data storage system, is another very similar technology with similar benefit. To figure what’s best for your companies’ structure, run tests to find what works and what doesn’t. It’s always about being prepared
Protecting Data
While relying on digital technologies to serve as an answer to many of our future problems, we also need to be alert on the risks it brings, like cyber-attacks. As you lead a business to become more online and virtual, you are uploading more company data to the internet to potentially be targeted for an attack. Therefore, the prevention of these attacks is as important as the technology.
Having an in-house Cyber Security Technologist will allow your company to keep up to date with the latest forms and techniques that Cyber Attackers are using to compromise businesses. They will also be able to test your company’s defences and continuously be able to fix, and strengthen any weak spots your company’s security may have.
If you are interested in becoming a Cyber Security Technologist, check out our course here!
Keeping Updated
If you have the technology to be virtual, great, but make sure you are staying updated! Having the most up to date tech means you are less likely to have technical issues while working remotely. Fixing computer issues is hard enough, but when you don't have the IT super stars to help, it's even harder. Look out to see if any of your technology allows for automatic updates, this means you won't have to check for updates constantly, and you will also have access to the latest versions.
If you don't have the latest technology, invest in it. The world of technology is continuously changing, and all businesses need to be able to update with it. Having the latest software, hardware, and all the tech in between will make sure your company doesn't fall behind.
Scale Up and Scale Back
As a business can grow, and unfortunately even shrink, you need to invest in technology that can allow your company to scale up and scale back. Sometimes it doesn't matter how great your forecasting model is for your business, we can't predict the future so investing in scalable technology, for instance, bandwidth is an excellent way of not creating any greater losses in the future. If you make sure, your system scales along with you, your one step closer to being prepared for anything.
Are you interested in the IT industry, why not click the link below to find out more about our IT & Development courses!