4 Tips to keep your business technology up to date

4 Tips to keep your business technology up to date

Keeping ahead of the IT curve is essential for any business. Even if you’re not working in a technology company, chances are you still rely on things like office productivity software, cybersecurity systems, and online communication platforms. By updating your IT investments, you’ll empower your workforce with mobility, flexibility, and simplicity, while keeping your infrastructure safe from data breaches or downtime.

If you’re struggling to keep your enterprise technology current and updated, here are some tips to get back on track:

Revamp your IT strategy

The effectiveness of your technology depends on how easy it is for non-IT employees to adapt to it, which is why every business needs a robust and dynamic strategy that is frequently reviewed and updated. Given the increasing complexities of small-business technology, it’s important that your strategy provides specific and thorough instructions to users and evolves with your industry's trends.

Creating an IT strategy starts with a plan that aligns with your technology and corporate goals. Where your team decides to invest the bulk of its IT resources should be based on expert IT consulting and real-world data from your team.

Manage your inventory

You can’t keep your systems up to date if you don’t know where your data lives and which systems are used for transmitting and storing it. Once your processes become too complicated, hardware and software will become unreliable and unsafe, hurting your team’s productivity and leaving you open to data breaches. You’ll need to create an itemized inventory to keep track of all your assets, whether they’re on-premises or cloud-hosted.

Asset management and data governance are important components of any IT strategy. They provide a clearly defined framework to track every data-bearing system, mobile device, and networking systems. Most importantly, an itemized inventory will also help you install patches swiftly and logically.

Formalize your patch management system

Although a complete and current inventory of every component in your technology arsenal streamlines patch management, it’s still a resource-intensive task, especially if your inventory includes a large fleet of mobile devices and cloud-hosted solutions. Nonetheless, your business continuity depends on business apps, operating systems, and antimalware software being kept current.

Patch management is one of the most frequently overlooked aspects of cybersecurity. Many people assume that hardware and software update automatically, as is the case with Windows 10. Unfortunately, most applications don’t do that.

Even worse, most hardware devices come with a very basic type of programming called “firmware”. Firmware on routers, hardware firewalls, IoT devices, and anything else connected to the internet need to be updated often, and it’s not an easy task.

Invest in scalability

Traditionally, businesses were entirely reliant on in-house hardware, which is costly and complicated to maintain. With on-premises IT solutions, it’s not efficient to task a highly paid full-time technician with keeping everything current. Many organizations continue with this outmoded approach, but the lack of agility means they’re unable to keep up with periods of increased demand and end up lagging behind their more innovative competitors.

Keeping your technology up to date isn’t just about cybersecurity or enjoying the latest Windows 10 tools. It’s about getting your money’s worth as well as maximizing scalability and flexibility so you’re better equipped to adapt to the times. That’s never been more important given the increasingly popular trend of workforce mobility and cloud computing.

Not having to worry about technology is a wonderful thing. After all, there’s a lot to think about when it comes to aligning IT with your corporate goals. Founders Technology Group was established to help businesses get more from technology without the headaches. Call us today to learn more about our full range of managed services.