3 Ways Technology Can Aid Your Business
Meeting the demands of your business can be difficult. Many new entrepreneurs don’t realise that an initial idea, even a great one, isn’t enough to keep a company afloat. Fortunately, over the last few years, advances in technology have given us some innovative ways to make running your own business possible.
Mobile Applications
98% of the Forbes 500 now have a mobile application. The widespread adoption of smartphones is a great way for you to reach an audience of millions of potential customers. Mobile applications aren’t just for the consumers, though, they’re also valuable productivity tools for businesses around the globe. These applications are used for everything from organising inventories, reviewing orders, and, critically, accessing data analytics. This kind of information is key for predicting future sales trends. It’s also a huge part of marketing and finding potential customers. The more data you have, the more specific you can be when you seek out members of your intended target market.
Cloud Storage
The advent of cloud storage has been a huge boon for small businesses in need of storing a lot of information. Even a SMB can start to amass a large amount of files quickly. With so much of our data now digitised, it’s crucial that we have a method to store this conveniently. Cloud storage, available in the form of business plans from companies like Microsoft and Google, often start at 1 TB, which is the equivalent to 320,000 high-resolution digital photos or 1,000 hours of digital video. Because this information is backed up on off-site servers, you can access this data from anywhere, often from a myriad of different devices. This means you can always get work done, even if you aren’t in the office.
File Servers
However, for times when security is a priority, you’ll want to keep you files on a protected file server. Your data may be one of your company’s most valuable assets, so it’s in your own interests to protect this information with the best in data security. As servers are often used to house large quantities of important information, they’re designed with specialist components that are more reliable than those that you’d find on an average personal computer. Many units, such as those from Pinnacle Data, also offer multi-hard-drive bays which makes it much easier to create reliable back-ups of your data. In order to make sure your workflow isn’t interrupted, these components can be switched out easily if a hardware failure occurs.
Running your own business is never easy. Technologies like these, though, that were previously exclusive to large entities are now becoming widespread even amongst SMBs. This can only create a more even platform for competition as time goes on.
