IT Support and the Small Business – Backup and Security By Stuart Crawford
Many small business owners find themselves wearing a number of different hats within their organization. One seen often is the “Computer Guy” hat. Today’s world of computers is getting easier, however many business owners lack the required skills to make their computer systems achieve their maximum business value.
Other technology devices such as cell phones and copiers can be simple to operate and maintain with minimal training. Computer systems though can become very complex because of sharing data, securing data and also protecting data and systems from unauthorized access, virus/worms and other malicious activities that can shut down a thriving business.
You want to focus on your business and keep it moving forward without having to spend a lot of time and money fixing computer systems. Here are a couple of tips to assist your small business to stay up and running:
Backup
Most small businesses that have suffered a serious loss of data never fully recover. Simply backing up your critical data such as client lists, accounting, and documents/spreadsheets can save your business as well as save you a lot of time and money in consulting fees.
Backups can be as simple as burning a CD or DVD, putting information onto a tape drive or using an online backup service that uses the internet to backup your data.
Once you have a plan for backup in place, the next most important point is to take the data offsite. There are many organizations that can securely store your data on a CD or DVD or tape in a vault along with other corporate data. I recommend the online service for my clients because this can remove your data from your site without having to rely on someone physically removing the disc or tape from the premises at the end of each business day.
Network Security
If you are using the Internet to research information or to correspond with clients or other business partners, I strongly recommend using a firewall to protect your network from the bad guys that are out there. You must have a firewall that offers full intrusion prevention, antivirus protection, anti-spyware protection and content filtering. These top-of-line firewalls normally cost a bit more that the simple devices you can pick up at office supply store, but they will save you those nasty consultant bills down the road when one of your employees opens an email containing a virus or surfs to an inappropriate website.
The larger companies have closed the majority of the doors into their networks, whereas most small businesses have not, making small business the prime targets of malicious activity now.
Where to turn
When you are ready to look for some quality IT support so that you can focus on what you, as a business owner, do best, then turn to the Microsoft Partner Resource Directory. This service is available to anyone and features the consultants that have a wide range of professional experience and knowledge in supporting the Small Business marketplace.
For those in the US and UK, you can find the Microsoft Small Business websites at
http://www.microsoft.com/smallbusiness
Having the right technology investment will bring your business increased profitability. Protect that investment with all the tools at your disposal, without the headaches of trying to be the company computer expert, and watch your business grow.
Stuart R. Crawford
One of the founding partners of IT Matters, Stuart is a respected mentor within the organization and his pioneering spirit and courageous forward thinking has contributed to IT Matters developing long-term business partnerships with those who share the company’s core values of respect, trust and integrity. He is a motivational leader willing to venture into uncharted territory.
Stuart has been an affiliate of the International Association of Microsoft Partners (IAMCP) for the past few years and has set a goal to become an executive member. He is a Director with the Canada – Mexico Chamber of Business. He is also an Associate Partner with the Corporate Group of Allied Associates, thereby staying active with business networking to grow his business. Stuart also regularly schedules time during a busy workweek to appreciate the value of a round of golf with his fellow business colleagues.
People often think it's easy to start up a new eCommerce venture. While it may seem a simple idea, there are many issues and areas that need to be considered. If I was starting a new venture this is what I'd be thinking about.
Before starting any new eCommerce venture I would be very clear on it's proposition. That is, what is the core offer or promise the venture is offering? The tools and the skills are available now to really develop any new venture you can dream up. What's important though is making sure you have a very clear and compelling offer. Is your offer really unique or is it just another Trademe or Social Networking site? If your venture isn't sufficiently different from the other offerings it will be very difficult to build a business.
Once you are clear about your proposition, think about how you can communicate that online. That is, how can you get the essence of your proposition through in three seconds? Online everyone seems to have an attention deficit disorder, so make sure you get your message through, loud and clear, before your prospect clicks off to another site. Also remember content is king. The worth of your site will be judged by your content; how it is presented and how easy it is to interact with.
You'll also need to think about how you are going to build your community. Where are your customers going to come from; who are they, what do they do, where do they hang out now? People have a perception that online everything happens instantly, but like all marketing, it takes a little time and hard work to build loyal customer base. There are lots of online marketing opportunities so it's important to be very clear about who your target customer is, so you can judge which opportunities are right for you.
It's important to think about how you can collaborate with your community. You should consider how you can incorporate customer reviews, blogs, podcasts, wikis or a forum. Web 2.0 features are hot right now. This is partly because the technology is maturing but also because people have an inherent desire to connect and share. By making it easy for your customers to interact with you and share information with each other, your level of transparency and trustworthiness will increase.
Lastly this is a list of specific advice I would give anyone who is about to go out and build a new eCommerce site.
Think about what you want to do, be specific and write it down.
List all the functionality you think you're going to need over the next two to three years and put that in your requirements. You might not launch with all the features, but it's good to know you can simply add these later.
Draw rough line drawings of how you want your site to work. Don't worry about the design, make sure the flow makes sense. Include these as part of your brief so that the developers know exactly what they are building.
Ensure your site will be google (seo) friendly and don't assume that the website development company will know how to do this.
Get proposals from a number of people (three to five). You will learn about how they work and you might be surprised by the variety in prices.
Before you launch test, test, test. Get people that have not been part of the project to complete two or three common tasks, watch them try to complete these tasks without helping! Note where they have trouble and then look to improve these areas.
So if you're going to launch a new eCommerce venture, make sure you have a solid proposition, do your homework and stick at it.
Duncan Shand is the founder of InsideOut: Marketing Consultants, who are focused on growing businesses.
