You’re a small business owner and you’re looking to ramp up your IT infrastructure in some way so that you can stay competitive in a business landscape that is radically changing on a daily basis.
Don’t worry too much about it. It may seem like your competition has this super-smooth, super-optimized IT situation going on, but the reality is that most companies rely on one or two pieces of IT infrastructure for the majority of their business operations.
It’s the 80/20 rule in action: most businesses should really focus on a few pieces of IT that make the most impact on their business. The rest is devoted to more passive IT, like data center access or some very specific use case like that.
Think about it – your local sandwich shop is really only using point of sale (POS) software and something like QuickBooks to handle the accounting. But that doesn’t mean the (wise) owner skimped on cybersecurity, disaster recovery, or any other critical element of a good IT system.
Which leads us to the big question – what are the essential IT services that small businesses need the most? Which ones can make the biggest splash for your business?
Let’s take you through the kinds of IT services that can make the biggest impact on your business.
Managed IT Services
Managed IT services allow small businesses to outsource their IT operations to specialized providers, so you don’t even have to think about the rest of the things on this list.
Managed IT services can be the end-all, be-all IT investment for businesses that lack the resources to maintain an in-house IT team, allowing businesses to leverage external expertise for a fraction of the cost of a yearly salary. As human resources costs continue to balloon in a high-interest rate environment, managed IT continues to be a no-brainer for small businesses.
We’ve covered this topic in greater detail on our blog– oh, and we are Managed IT experts ourselves – so if you want to go deeper and learn more about how managed IT is the way to be in 2024, check those out.
Benefits of Managed IT To Small Businesses:
- Cost Savings: Outsourcing IT operations can significantly reduce costs associated with hiring and training IT staff.
- Leveraged Expertise: MSPs provide small businesses with access to IT experts and the latest technologies, without having to spend time and energy identifying these things.
- 24/7 Monitoring: Continuous oversight of IT systems is critical in 2024. MSPs can continuously identify and address issues before they escalate to real problems. This leads us to the best part of Managed IT…
- “Set IT and Forget IT”: Managed IT allows small business owners – the busiest people on the planet – to remove the mental load of your company’s IT infrastructure. You literally don’t have to think about it!
Managed Cybersecurity Solutions (MSSPs)
Managed cybersecurity providers, also known as managed security service providers or MSSPs can make a huge difference for businesses in 2024.
Small businesses are often considered easy targets by cybercriminals, especially given the often stretched nature of a small business owner’s resources. Like managed service providers, this is where MSSPs really show their value – by taking the mental weight off your shoulders.
You don’t have to spend time and energy looking up firewalls, antiviruses, VPNs, and so on. You just hire somebody who knows what they’re doing to take care of it. And best of all, their attention isn’t split on other areas of their business – the duty of an MSSP is your business.
If you can’t tell, we’re fans of this model, as cybersecurity takes years of training and experience to do well. When you’re a small business owner, you barely have time for lunch – let alone be an expert in cybersecurity! MSSPs protect your business with 24/7 attention and awareness.
Key Benefits of MSSPs For Small Business:
- Planning and Strategy: MSSPs design bespoke plans that fit each individual client. Partnering with an MSSP means you’ve got an expert telling you exactly what to do.
- Firewall and Antivirus Software: MSSPs can install these critical safeguards against malware and unauthorized access, and maintain their function. No more popups!
- Data Encryption: MSSPs can help you protect your company’s sensitive information – thereby ensuring your customer’s trust in you.
- Regular Security Assessments: Your security partners will regularly monitor for vulnerabilities and ensure compliance with data protection regulations.
Cloud Computing Services
It’s 2024, and you’re probably already using the cloud for various business use cases. If you’re using Microsoft Office or Google Drive, for example, you’re already using the cloud.
While many of us are familiar with the basics of cloud computing services, a more structured cloud computing investment can reap massive rewards for businesses, mostly in terms of efficiency. Cloud computing services offer small businesses flexibility, scalability, and cost-efficiency by allowing them to centralize resources over the Internet, without having to invest in costly infrastructure.
Key Benefits of Cloud Computing Services For Small Business:
- Efficiency: Cloud computing improves efficiency wherever it is deployed, by offering better IT performance at prices that are sustainable for the business.
- Scalability: As we mentioned, the main draw of the cloud is that it’s affordable at any level. You only pay for what you need and can afford to grow your business sustainably.
- Collaboration: Cloud computing services allow for more effective collaboration between individuals and teams by centralizing all information in one place.
Common Types of Cloud Services:
- Software as a Service (SaaS): The most common version of cloud computing, SaaS is used around the world in the form of applications and other native software. From email clients to CRM software, SaaS allows teams to be on the same page anywhere in the world.
- Infrastructure as a Service (IaaS): IaaS allows businesses to “loan” IT infrastructure from service providers, usually via virtualized computing resources online.
- Platform as a Service (PaaS): Allows businesses to develop, run, and manage applications without the complexity of building and maintaining infrastructure themselves.
Data Backup and Recovery
Data is a critical asset for small businesses for so many reasons. In addition to the straight loss of revenue or increase in costs due to the hours of lost production, there is the far-reaching effects on your customer base, who will lose faith in your abilities to responsibly handle their data.
As a result, many small businesses choose to focus their IT resources on backup and recovery services. Data backup and recovery services ensure business continuity by protecting against data loss due to unforeseen events like power failures or natural disasters.
Key Benefits of Data Backup And Recovery Services For Small Business:
- Data Loss Prevention: Regular backups protect against data loss from hardware failures, cyber-attacks, and natural disasters. These protective measures compound across your business, saving you money while also increasing efficiency.
- Business Continuity: Quick data recovery minimizes downtime in the inevitable event of data loss – limiting the losses inflicted when some part of your IT fails.
- Increases Customer Trust: These days, when a business’ IT goes down, someone notices. A solid backup and recovery plan can be so effective that your end customer base doesn’t even notice an issue.
VoIP Services
For companies who are frequently on the phone with their customers – a surprising amount of us, even in this post-phone world! – Voiceover Internet Protocol (VoIP) services offer cost-effective communication solutions for small businesses.
VoIP basically functions like an internet phone. You create a phone number for your business, that you can then use to communicate with customers anywhere in the world. Unlike regional or national phone services, VoIP is not constrained by geographical boundaries – this decentralized nature also makes it more affordable, with highly scalable costs, especially for international work.
Key Benefits of VoIP Services For Small Business:
- Cost Savings: Reduces call costs, especially for international calls.
- Scalability: Easily add or remove users as your business grows. For a customer service-oriented business, this is huge!
- Accessibility: VoIP allows you to connect with customers anywhere in the world, at any time, on any network device. You don’t need to be in one geographical location like traditional phones.
- Advanced Features: Supports call forwarding, voicemail to email, and video conferencing. There are even plenty of AI features beginning to be integrated into VoIP services, which allows for more efficient customer service.
Conclusion
When it comes to small businesses, remember, it’s important to focus on the most important things first. For many small businesses, you’re probably already using one or two of the IT services on this list.
Whether it’s worth it to take the plunge on something else is entirely up to you, your business, and your industry. Do your research, analyze your own situation relative to the opportunities out there, and finally, ensure that whatever type of service you choose to add to your IT mix is going to make a sizable impact.