Simpler Business Technology is Often Better Business Technology

While there are some aspects of business technology that are quite simple, there are other parts that are complicated and difficult to understand, even for experienced users. In this month’s newsletter, we want to go over how you can keep the complexity of your IT to a minimum so that you have as few headaches as possible.

Over time, a business’ infrastructure will get more complicated by virtue of adding systems upon systems, all of which are interlinked and reliant on each other. If you try to change one system, it might negatively influence the others. This leads to a vicious cycle of responding to issues over and over again, only to create and address more of them. Keeping your IT simple will lessen the impact this has on your company.

What Does a Simple IT Infrastructure Look Like?

Some organizations might not have a problem with paying more for exactly what they need out of their technology infrastructure, and while this is completely legitimate, it will make hardware refreshes and implementing new technology more complicated as the business’s needs change over time.

Most of these systems will be managed to a certain extent, but they are all complex and difficult to keep track of on their own, especially after the web of integrations and workflows spreads far enough. It takes time to learn these integrations and connections, so there will naturally be a period where you’re operating at a loss following such a deployment.

If you keep your network design simple, then you are working with standalone solutions that can easily be added or subtracted as they are needed. Cloud computing is one example of simplicity in design; many are operated by third-party providers and are hosted in their own environments, needing very little on your end in order for them to run as intended. If any adjustments need to be made, the hosting company or provider is responsible for doing so.

Here are some of the most notable cloud computing solutions that small businesses can leverage:

Your Phone System

A hosted VoIP system is much more dynamic, flexible, and powerful than your typical phone system. Traditional phone systems take time and resources to install, as they have physical components like cables, ports, and other hardware that all need to be considered. They are difficult to make adjustments to when you need to expand, and it could mean knocking down walls or renovating your entire office just to run new cables. VoIP provides you more for less, offering even more functionality at a much lower cost per user.

You can host your entire phone infrastructure in the cloud, and each user can use their cloud-based phone app on whatever device they are most comfortable on, be it a smartphone or a desktop. Furthermore, the phone will work as long as the device has an Internet connection, so you can take the phone on the road using your mobile device without having to forward phone calls from your office. Pretty handy stuff.

Your Productivity Suite

You can also help keep your infrastructure simple by using a cloud-based productivity suite. The most notable are Google Workspace and Microsoft 365, both of which offer cloud-based applications like a word processor, a spreadsheet tool, a presentation builder, a notepad, cloud storage, a calendar, email integration, and so much more.

The great thing about these tools is that they are billed per user per month rather than by the license. Furthermore, you pay for the most up-to-date version of the software, meaning that you don’t have to constantly worry about security vulnerabilities and updates. SaaS makes more time for productivity on your end, and the cloud is the technology which fuels it all.

Washington Works can equip your business with the cloud tools you need to succeed. To learn more, call us at 301-571-5040.