The Business Exchange Swindon & Wiltshire Edition 47: Feb/March 2020 | Page 29

TECHNOLOGY REVVED UP What are your business New Year Resolutions? Mintivo has been providing IT services to ambitious organisations since November 2015 and we have experience in solving the variety of issues that our clients have faced. We have found that the New Year period is an ideal time to consider what changes could be made to enhance business performance, specifically improvements in the technologies used. What changes are you planning to make? In terms of technical capabilities, the IT world is ever-changing, and whether you have an IT guru ‘on site’, take on the management yourself or have an outsourced IT Service Provider, it is always a good idea to keep on top of technical advancements to ensure that you don’t fall behind. 2020 could well be the year to revitalise your IT systems, especially if your company has experienced any of the following issues during 2019: • Downtime • Cumbersome, outdated technology • Security problems and concerns • Loss of data • Lack of flexibility • Inefficient communication systems • Increasing costs • Lack of expertise • Inability to scale efficiently Security is often a key worry for business owners. Not only do you have to consider GDPR and the security of your own information, intellectual property and systems and whether external bodies can access it, but there are legal requirements concerning the data you hold for others too including clients, suppliers and staff. Providing excellent customer service is also an essential driver for many businesses and having the right systems in place, with the ability to provide flexible solutions and multiple ways for clients to contact you, is crucial for continued growth. In a fast-paced environment, downtime is a source of frustration for staff and can be the difference between keeping and losing a client. Having the ability to monitor margins, key performance indicators and other business critical measures enables businesses to grow steadily and ensure that they identify any possible causes for concern. Having robust, efficient and speedy IT systems to do this provides you with timely, automated and relevant information, allowing you to concentrate on the day to day running of the business. A resolution or business goal to be ‘better than the rest’ and to best use resources is a common one. Many businesses don’t realise that if they have outdated technology, or differing systems within the business (which often occurs as businesses grow or through acquisitions or mergers) this can seriously hamper their efforts. Having a ‘health-check’ of systems and hardware is a really good idea to kick-start the year. Maximising the capacity of your hardware, data storage and access levels can be the difference between simply running a business and running a growth business. Give Mintivo a call to discuss how we might assist you in ensuring you are running a growth business in 2020. Dave Swift, Technical Director “We implement technology solutions that enable our clients to better reach their growth aspirations” @mintivo Connected. Secure. IT Support Mintivo is a leading IT provider helping ambitious organisations by delivering corporate IT services to the SME Proud to be working with companies throughout the UK and Europe Managed IT Support Cyber Security Microsoft Cloud 03333 580 348 I www.mintivo.co.uk I [email protected] THE BUSINESS EXCHANGE 2020 29