Opening a New Location? Let’s Establish the Right IT Plan

If your business is fortunate enough to make it through the first stage and is looking to open a brand new facility or add onto its current setup, you will need to figure out how you are going to use your technology. This can be a challenge. 

At Washington Works, we find that many growing organizations don’t take into account how their IT needs to grow and get more sophisticated, and it can cause some long term problems for you. This month we thought we’d go through some considerations you will have to make regarding your IT if you plan on moving your business into new locations. 

Business Growth and IT

Information technology tends to grow more rapidly than your business does. What we mean by this is that over time you may go through frequent refreshes and start using new software that helps your business facilitate the growth you are looking for. For this reason a lot of business owners will think they have everything they need in place when they decide to open a whole other branch of their business or move locations into new space. This is definitely a mistake. 

Before you decide that expanding your business to other locations is prudent you should know that you need to set up your organization to succeed. This means planning. Here are some of the basic technology decisions you have to make before moving your business into a new space. 

Cloud Computing is a Great Option

One of the first things you have to do is establish the technology that you need to store and share data over the Internet. Obviously, if you are going to have multiple locations you will need some continuity in the way that your employees at each location can access and share the data they need to do the things that drive your business. This is where cloud computing comes in. Basically every digital resource your business needs is now available through the cloud. This includes your business communications (telephone, email, video conferencing); productivity (word processor, spreadsheet/database management, presentation tool); operations (customer relationship management, human resources software, payroll); and marketing and sales. 

Since you can’t exactly run cables between your locations, having the ability to share data through online-based systems is the best option. It’s essential that whatever you choose to do, you need to standardize throughout your organization. It can be a challenge to not see an opportunity to correct some of the perceived missteps you’ve made, but ultimately you need to ensure that the IT that you use in your central location is the same one you are using in your satellite locations; especially if they do the same things. 

What Kind of Support Do You Need?

One of the most stark challenges that a business opening new locations will run into is the question of what happens if their technology doesn’t work as intended? There are all types of problems that can pop up with technology that can really be a hindrance to efficient business. Deploying cloud-based tools can do a bit to alleviate the hardware aspect, since most of the cloud platforms are managed by the provider and therefore not a concern for your IT administrator or managed service provider, it leaves end user support as the major consideration. 

For this, having a comprehensive support structure in place that includes a help desk platform to quickly help end users with their immediate technology problems, as well as the availability for onsite support should the problems with your onsite hardware be more complex than you need. Beyond that, outfitting each location with the same tools seems like the most prudent play. 

If your business is growing and you need help getting your organizational tools up and running at a new location, don’t hesitate to call the IT professionals at Washington Works. Our team of technicians can help you figure out the next steps your business needs to take to make opening a new location simple.