Dedicated IT support acts as the backbone of any organization, more so during its formative years. Businesses routinely face unexpected and unplanned issues related to systems running into trouble, network connection issues, and hardware failure.
Entrepreneurs are never certain when this will happen, which is why they need to invest in a dedicated IT support team. Apart from dealing with the issues mentioned above, having an in-house or outsourced IT department allows the business to protect its data as it expands.
TIPS FOR YOUR IT TEAM TO FOLLOW FOR A SUCCESSFUL SMALL BUSINESS
1) Embrace new technologies
Today, small businesses are increasingly relying on technological advancements for consistent growth, improved customer communication, and heightened productivity. Those that can keep current with emerging technology get to position themselves for future prosperity.
The IT department assists a business to embrace technology by determining what is needed, acquiring it, implementing it, and training the personnel on how to use it. Through its assistance, the business gets to enjoy all the benefits that come with using modern tech.
2) Know where your data is and manage it appropriately
Businesses need data to grow and manage their operations. They need to build on the existing data to expand their networks, increase customer enrollment numbers, and open new branches. They can’t do this without sufficient data.
In any company, the responsibility of managing company information falls to the IT department. Large companies can have several people, e.g., a database administrator, data analyst, and data manager handling incoming data.
However, small businesses can’t hire all these people, which means a single person performs all these functions. Whoever is in charge of this department will need to assist with data collection, ensure its security, and make it accessible to all business personnel.
Other responsibilities may include:
- Developing and implementing business-wide procedures for efficient data handling
- Creating rules and policies to guide data sharing
- Overseeing and managing personnel using business data systems
- Routinely monitoring and evaluating incoming company data and data sets that may affect decision-making processes
- Ensuring personnel adherence to legal and business regulations
- Assessing the performance of the data systems and providing recommendations for new software, hardware, and data storage enhancements
- Helping the business to uphold digital security systems that can impact its data management policies
3) Take security measures to keep the company and customer data safe
Every business, small or large, needs to implement multi-factor authentication (MFA). Standard passwords alone can’t guarantee the security of your information. Today’s hackers have developed different techniques for gaining access to unauthorized data.
Hackers can use anything from simple techniques such as social engineering to the more complicated ones such as pharming and spear-phishing to steal your company data. Once they have it, they can use it to cause irreparable damage to your company and its operations.
However, it’s possible to prevent this from happening by having an in-house IT department or professional managing your business systems. The professional will implement security measures that will ensure the company information remains safe from hackers.
Additionally, they can also train the personnel to protect themselves and the business from social engineering and phishing attacks. The role played by IT personnel in a startup or growing business is immeasurable!
4) Invest in a secure platform for your business’ online safety
The ability to keep customer information secure provides clients and stakeholders with additional confidence in its management and operations. Investing in a secure platform, such as OneLogin, allows it to meet legal requirements and safeguard its reputation.
OneLogin – what is it?
OneLogin is an identity platform designed to provide secure, scalable, and smart experiences that help to connect people to technology. Using this trusted experience platform, customers can connect all their applications, identify potential threats, and act when needed to.
The primary challenge for all small businesses lies in finding ways to protect their reputation without making it difficult for employees to work securely and efficiently. Businesses can’t afford a cybersecurity breach nor the resultant loss in customer confidence.
Growing businesses are particularly at an increased risk of suffering from cyberattacks. They routinely find it difficult to secure their operations without access to complex and expensive business solutions.
It’s a scenario that causes a lot of frustration for the employees, increasing the need for the business to invest in a fully functional IT department. As such, it has to find an affordable solution that will enable its personnel to achieve more in half the time.
OneLogin as a solution to the IT needs of small businesses
Whether running a startup, growing, or large business, this solution offers you an easy-to-implement solution for your personnel. Business clients, partners, and personnel will especially come to love its single sign-on (SSO) access to apps and information.
It works well with numerous applications, including Salesforce, Microsoft Office 365, and G Suite. The solution supports business innovation by providing all its users with access to the in-house IT team’s applications.
OneLogin contains built-in functions that allow you to control the number of personnel who have access to certain information and apps. It has role-based access that businesses can use to onboard new personnel and assign them access rights based on their roles in the company.
SUMMARY
From the four points mentioned above, it’s clear that IT departments have an important role to play in a company. IT professionals help secure company data and recommend software, hardware, and data systems for acquisition.
For more information on what modern IT business solutions can do for your company, make sure to check out OneLogin to start growing your small business IT solution.
This article is in partnership with OneLogin – a cloud-based identity and access management provider.
