Recent research suggests that around 50% of small to medium sized businesses are on the lookout for ways to expand. It could be that your business is at the stage of its evolution where you are seeking bigger premises, increasing your headcount or it may be a case that you are simply looking at ways of streamlining your business and improving efficiency.

Whatever you are looking to do, your IT and it’s infrastructure can be a deciding factor in how you move forward. This month we will look at how at how IT can help, and explain how an IT support contract with ourselves will remove the stress and hassle of you having to do the legwork yourself.

Want to expand, but unsure in what area?

If you’re not sure in which direction you want to expand then looking online, as opposed to time consuming telephone research, can give you an indication of the areas in which your business is lacking.
Email research has been made far more simple these days with the introduction of Cloud based tools such as SurveyMonkey.
Consider the areas your business is lacking and also review your current services, then design a survey that could be used on both current and potential clients. This allows them to give honest feedback and will help you learn what they believe you do well and what you could improve on. It is quite often the case that you already have the systems in place to meet the demands of your clients, but it is a case that you are not putting them into effect that will bring benefits to both your business and theirs.

Manage your projects

Poor orginisation is a killer for many small businesses.However, finding the time to micro manage your team may be something that is just not practical or feasible. This is where project management tools such as Cloud based Office 365’s ‘Project’ can really help. Setting goals and timelines is key and having them in view for the project team is where this helps. It keeps teams accountable for keeping to the targets and can highlight areas of weakness so that you are able to find your strengths and weaknesses.
For more in depth projects experience of Microsoft 365 is useful, and this is where we have experts that can help, whether it is for one off or ongoing IT projects.

Don’t let your network hold you back

Over the past 20 years, Systems Integration have encountered a lot of businesses that don’t realise quite how significantly they’re being hindered by their network and systems. As a business, we realise that spending a fortune on a whole new IT infrastructure is not the solution – Sometimes simple tweaks and a better knowledge of your current infrastructure could make a big difference.
If you are holding back on that office expansion, office move or expanding your client base due to the worry of having a system that can’t cope, then an IT systems audit by an experienced IT support company should be your first step. Expansion rarely comes without cost – but you’ll be surprised at how cost effective it can be to adjust systems to fit with your company goals – and with an experienced IT partner such as ourselves will always consider the bigger picture and look at your business as you do i.e. progression and expansion with a realistic outlay required for the future.

Where do you find the contracts?

We have found it surprising to find that many businesses are not aware that for around the past 8 years, the Government has worked to make sure small businesses can bid for public sector contracts in ways that have traditionally have only been accessible for bigger and more established companies. This means there are millions of pounds worth of contracts available that may be suitable for your business.
The key to be eligible for these contracts is having your systems meet with the standard expected of Government contractors. Fortunately, there are clear guidelines out there of what is expected – and one of the biggest that relates to IT is ‘Cyber Essentials’ and ‘Cyber Essentials Plus’. These are government-backed cyber security certification schemes that ensure your systems and practices are in line with their own.
Again, an IT partner like Systems Integration can support you in achieving these accreditations – meaning there’s little standing in your way when it comes to landing lucrative and on-going Government business.
IT should help not hinder.

Whatever your business goal, IT should never be an anchor preventing you from going forward. If you feel that it is, then call us and let us remove those issues . At Systems Integration we don’t just support IT, we thrive on it…So please feel free to contact us and let us help, whether it is an office move, assistance with Microsoft and its many tools or a simple IT systems audit to show you what can be improved, then we can help.