As we head into the colder months, most businesses will be thinking about year-end deadlines, Christmas opening hours and plans for the new year. IT infrastructure probably isn’t at the top of that list.
However, October is a good time to make sure your technology is ready for the months ahead.
Winter can bring additional challenges for businesses. Staff may need to work from home unexpectedly, bad weather can affect travel and access to the office, and power or connectivity problems can quickly disrupt a working day.
A little preparation can make a big difference. Here are some of the main areas businesses should consider when reviewing their IT before winter.
Make Sure Your Business Can Operate Remotely
Even if your business doesn’t normally operate remotely, it’s useful to know that employees can access the systems they need if they can’t get into the office.
This doesn’t necessarily mean giving everyone unrestricted access to everything from home. Instead, think about which employees and systems are essential to keeping the business running.
Can staff securely access their files? Can they use their work email and Microsoft 365 applications? Can calls be answered away from the office? Are employees using company devices or accessing business information from personal equipment?
These are much easier questions to answer before remote working becomes a necessity.
Businesses using cloud-based services are often already in a good position, but it’s still worth checking that accounts, permissions and security measures are configured correctly.
Check Your Backups
Most businesses know they should back up their data. The more important question is whether that data could actually be recovered if something went wrong.
A backup shouldn’t simply exist. It should be monitored and, where appropriate, tested.
Consider the information your business relies on every day, such as customer records, financial documents, shared files, emails and important business systems.
What would happen if you suddenly couldn’t access them?
It’s worth checking what is being backed up, how frequently backups take place, where those backups are stored and how quickly information could be restored.
Remember that using cloud storage doesn’t automatically mean every piece of business data is protected against every possible scenario.
Review Your Hardware
Slow computers and unreliable equipment are frustrating at any time of year, but problems can become particularly disruptive during busy periods.
If you’ve got a computer that regularly freezes, a laptop with a failing battery or networking equipment that needs restarting every few days, don’t wait for it to fail completely before dealing with it.
Regular maintenance can help identify potential problems before they cause downtime.
It’s also worth looking at the age of your equipment. Businesses don’t need to replace devices simply because they’ve reached a particular birthday, but older hardware may become slower, less reliable or unable to support newer software and security requirements.
Keeping an accurate record of your business devices can make planning replacements much easier.
Keep Software and Devices Up to Date
Those update notifications are easy to dismiss when you’re trying to get work done, but updates are an important part of keeping business systems secure and reliable.
Operating systems, applications, browsers, networking equipment and other software should all be kept appropriately updated.
Updates frequently include security fixes as well as improvements and bug fixes. Leaving systems unpatched can mean known vulnerabilities remain available for attackers to exploit.
For businesses with multiple employees and devices, relying on each person to remember to install updates isn’t always practical. Centralised management and proactive IT maintenance can help make sure important updates aren’t continually postponed.
Keep Software and Devices Up to Date
Those update notifications are easy to dismiss when you’re trying to get work done, but updates are an important part of keeping business systems secure and reliable.
Operating systems, applications, browsers, networking equipment and other software should all be kept appropriately updated.
Updates frequently include security fixes as well as improvements and bug fixes. Leaving systems unpatched can mean known vulnerabilities remain available for attackers to exploit.
For businesses with multiple employees and devices, relying on each person to remember to install updates isn’t always practical. Centralised management and proactive IT maintenance can help make sure important updates aren’t continually postponed.
Review Your Cybersecurity
For many businesses, losing internet access now means losing access to much more than the web.
Email, cloud storage, Microsoft 365, VoIP telephone systems and specialist applications can all depend on a reliable connection.
Consider what would happen if your main connection stopped working for several hours.
Could employees continue working? Is there a backup connection available? Who would contact your internet provider? Are important contact details documented somewhere that can still be accessed during an outage?
The right solution will depend on how reliant your business is on connectivity, but every business should at least understand the impact an outage would have.
Think About Your Internet Connection
Technology is constantly changing. Businesses introduce new software, move more services into the cloud and adopt different ways of working. These changes can create valuable opportunities, but they can also leave employees feeling uncertain.
A new system may appear straightforward to the person who selected it, while employees may still need help understanding where to save documents, how to share information or how to use new security features.
Human IT support helps employees adapt to these changes. Technicians can explain new systems in clear, practical language and answer questions based on the employee’s role.
They can also recognise when a technical problem is actually a training issue. Instead of repeatedly fixing the same mistake, the support team can show the employee a better way to complete the task.
This helps the business gain more value from its technology while improving employee confidence.
Speak to a Real Person About Your IT Support
Technology should make running a business easier, not create constant frustration.
When employees need help, they should be able to speak to someone who listens, understands the situation and provides a clear response.
Aspect IT combines modern technology with personal, human IT support for businesses across Manchester, Oldham and the North West.
Contact Aspect IT to discuss how a responsive and approachable IT support service could help your organisation.