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With IT risks worrying businesses most, here's how to cope
February 11, 2013
A survey into SME attitudes to risk has identified which of 24 'risk scenarios' (that's things that could go wrong, to you and me) are most likely to keep business owners awake at night.
The research, commissioned by McAfee, revealed UK SMEs view their technology systems and the integrity of their data as the biggest areas of risk.
In contrast, things that might traditionally have been perceived as significant risks - like big marketing campaigns or competitor initiatives - are seen as being much less likely to have a detrimental impact on business performance.
This graph shows the ten highest risks selected by businesses in the UK:
Although it's perhaps depressing that new technology is responsible for so many worries in business, this survey also suggests a greater awareness of the risks, which bodes well for long-term improvements.
What's more, most companies can reduce most of these risks by taking some fairly simple steps.
To start with, it's a good idea to create some sort of security plan. It doesn't have to be an enormous document, but writing even a short plan will force you to think about what the key risks are.
Once you've done that, make sure you've covered these basics:
- Get good IT security software from a reputable firm such as McAfee, Kaspersky, Bitdefender or Trend Micro. It can go a long way towards protecting your computers from viruses and hackers.
- Make sure you're on top of your IT maintenance and install software updates in good time. This will help you eliminate software bugs that hackers can use to break into your systems.
- Sort out your backups. Make sure you have a solid backup system in place and test it regularly. Cloud backup systems like Livedrive, Mozy and BackupGenie are good options for smaller companies.
- Think about how you'd cope in an emergency. You need to know how you'll carry on working in the event of problems and what steps you'd need to take to get things back to normal.
Finally, always remember that maintaining good IT security is an ongoing process. It's a good idea to find an IT supplier you trust and keep track of new security trends that could affect you.
Communication and administration: a business nightmare?
January 14, 2013
Tick-tock: time is precious in business. (Image: Flickr user blue2likeyou.)
Are communication and administration tasks diverting resources in your business that could be better used for other things?
A study conducted by Dynamic Markets on behalf of Google has found that even in this age of webcams, collaboration software and instant messaging, many workers struggle to work together effectively.
Many of the 3,500 small companies surveyed cited specific problems with communications and admin. They'll probably be familiar to your company too:
- Over half of respondents said they run into email problems on a weekly basis. The biggest single issue was mailbox size. It's common for some email systems to block incoming and outgoing messages when your mailbox fills up. No word on whether any respondents are secretly pleased for the breathing space they get when this happens.
- Arranging meetings eats chunks of employee time. The survey found that on average, a meeting takes one-and-a-half hours to arrange. Regardless of whether you accept that faintly ludicrous figure, it's clear meetings drain productivity. You can use a shared calendar system to book meetings efficiently (both Microsoft Office and Google Apps offer this function), but I'm not convinced that gets to the root of the problem. It would be far better simply to pledge to hold fewer meetings.
- Another big headache is collating feedback. On average, the people surveyed do this seven times a month, taking two hours each time to combine all the comments into a single master document.
Even when faced with these issues, many workers are still clinging to traditional methods of communication, relying on the phone, email and meetings.
However, some businesses are seeking alternative ways to communicate, with 39% increasing their use of online collaboration tools. The study found that these are more commonly used by organisations which saw an increase in profits or turnover in 2012.
This could suggest that more forward-thinking, tech-savvy small businesses are using collaborative technology to gain a competitive advantage.
Do you use any great collaboration tools in your business? Or is it better to pick up the phone and have a chat? Leave a comment to let us know.
Why smaller businesses are best placed for technology change
April 03, 2012
Against the backdrop of a challenging economic climate and unpredicted social and political upheavals, the need for agility and flexibility in business is paramount. Accompanying this turbulent environment is a tidal wave of technology change. It’s having an impact on every aspect of businesses operations, from the boardroom to the shop floor.
These trends are fuelling an unprecedented change to the way businesses and employees operate. And many organisations aren’t ready to adapt to the future workplace.
A power shift away from management
Recent Ricoh research – conducted via the Economist Intelligence Unit – demonstrates how power is shifting away from the traditional management hierarchy. This research found that 63% of business leaders are predicting that business decision-making will shift towards individual employees, as businesses move towards a decentralised structure by 2020.
Although lacking the financial resources of bigger companies, smaller businesses could find themselves at an advantage in this scenario. Their size and nature means they’re more likely to have a cohesive, collaborative management structure where the best ideas can rise to the top and be implemented into everyday operations.
Likewise, SMEs often have a more flexible approach to technology adoption. Having a smaller workforce makes IT innovation more commonplace. For instance, it’s easier to take an individual approach to IT provision, giving each member of staff access to the technology they’re most comfortable with.
Democratic data access
It is, however, difficult to shift decision-making to employees if they do not have access to the data and documents they need to take action. So if your business really wants to get ready for employee empowerment, you may need to rethink how your document processes work. The aim is to ensure important information is shared flexibly across your whole company.
The research also points towards a new, more collaborative approach to product and service development. Nearly 86% of business leaders agreed that project teams will typically include people from outside the organisation like customers, partners and communities.
This adds weight to the argument for shifting towards a connected business model where all these parties are linked and able to communicate effectively so they can develop the brightest ideas.
Despite the challenges that lie ahead, there’s a great opportunity here for companies willing to implementing more collaborative technologies. The tidal wave of technology change will give birth to a new generation of business success stories, empowered by customers and partners alike.
- Embrace employees who bring their own IT to work
- Choosing collaboration tools for your business
- Document management explained
Chas Moloney is a director at Ricoh UK.
Data loss kills businesses
March 08, 2012
Your data and IT infrastructure play a key role in the continued success of your business, regardless of the size of your company.
That’s underlined by a statistic I came across recently from the Department of Trade and Industry revealing that 70% of UK businesses that suffered a catastrophic data loss were closed within 18 months.
Bad IT is disrupting business
At Dell, we’ve just published a report in conjunction with Intel which looks at the server and storage needs of small businesses in Europe. We commissioned the research because we wanted to learn more about the attitudes of smaller companies towards servers and storage.
The report reveals that two-thirds (66%) of European small businesses are heavily dependent on their IT and almost a third (32%) of these say it is critical to their business. And most businesses are miles off achieving a failure-free IT system with 93% of respondents indicating that they have experienced IT problems which inhibited their ability to continue doing business.
We asked about how often disruption occurs, too: 17% claim it happens at least once a week (that must cause some serious problems), but the better news is that 40% say it only happens rarely.
Can new tech improve things?
We also looked at small business’ attitudes towards new technologies such as cloud computing. Our findings suggest adoption rates are low, but it would be interesting to investigate how many companies use cloud services without even realising it.
According to our research, only 17% of small businesses said they had started using cloud computing and 28% said they had no intention of moving their infrastructure to the cloud. Security and privacy were the most commonly cited concerns, although performance and availability were also significant.
You can read the full report, Manage Your Changing IT Needs, at Dell’s new online portal for European small businesses, Dell’s Small Business Centre.
Embracing technology but still lagging behind?
March 01, 2012
You might have seen our recent survey, in which 60% of respondents said they plan to invest in technology in 2012. Now a separate survey of 1,250 companies, run by the Epson Business Council, has found that 51% of British small businesses reckon IT is an integral part of their drive for business growth.
No surprises there, really. After all, technology plays a key role in almost every aspect of business.
However, when compared to their continental counterparts it actually looks like British businesses are lagging somewhat behind. In France and Germany, the same survey found 76% of businesses consider IT integral to growth. In Spain it was 73% and in Italy it was 68%.
Those differing attitudes were reflected in the adoption of technology too. The research showed that only 27% of British small businesses use smartphones and 38% use tablets.
Given the relative youth of tablet computers, it seems surprising that more businesses use those than use smartphones. But assuming that’s accurate, in France and Germany an even greater proportion of businesses said they use tablets. More than half, in fact.
Does that mean British businesses are getting left behind, or are they simple taking a more measured approach in adopting these new technologies?
There is one other possibility, of course. We’ve seen a growing trend of employees bringing IT to work, circumventing the IT department and hooking their own smartphones and tablets up to company systems. Could that account for some of the discrepancy?
Do these survey results match your own experiences? Leave a comment to let us know how you use tablets and smartphones.
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