5 Rules of Updating Your Small Business Tech Stack
October 31, 2019
By Heather Redding
In today’s digital age, there are few things more important than finding the right technology solutions for your business.
Investing in new tech isn’t just about being on the cutting edge of the market.
With the right software and hardware, you can accelerate your company’s performance, improve productivity, and even deliver better experiences to your customers.
A growing number of companies are beginning to rely on technology to manage their expenses, increase efficiency, and boost profitability.
The tools that were essential for your growth five years ago may not be suitable anymore today.
Here’s what you need to know about successfully updating your tech stack.
1. Automation will Improve Productivity
Usually, when companies invest in new technology, they’re looking for a way to make their systems faster and more efficient.
For instance, 5G delivers faster speeds so that employees can connect in real-time, and artificial intelligence helps to offer instant answers to customer questions.
Automating some of your most repetitive, yet critical tasks is one of the easiest ways to boost the performance of your company.
While some employees might be concerned that the rise of automation would mean that they would lose their jobs, the truth is that automation simply allows them to focus on the crucial tasks instead of busywork.
Take the marketing world as an example: Businesses can automate their social media posts and emails to go out at the right times to connect with their target audience. Employees can spend more time creating immersive content, and less time worrying about posting.
2. Choose Tools That Grow with You
Nobody has a crystal ball that can let them see the future for their business.
However, that doesn’t mean that you shouldn’t try to keep the future in mind when you’re buying new tools for your technology stack.
A lot of companies today make software selections based on the current state and needs of their business, rather than thinking about what they might need in the years to come.
Invest in cloud-based software, rather than keeping all of your investments in the hardware stack is the way to go.
Cloud-based solutions offer excellent scalability and room for growth, as they allow companies to update and enhance their offerings as they go.
If you buy a cloud-based security system from a business, then whenever a new solution is rolled out, your vendor can update your strategy automatically from the back-end.
Cloud-based technology can also be opened up and improved to integrate with other tools over time, making it even more compelling.
What’s more, when you’ll save on hard-drive space when your tools are in the cloud.
3. Stop Wasting Time with Slow PCs
While it’s exciting to explore ideas like cloud data analytics and storage, it’s important to think about the current technology issues that might be holding you back too.
Even the best software investments in the world won’t help you if your office is plagued by slow computers.
Companies in the United States are losing out on approximately $1.8 billion per year because of obsolete technology
Start simple with your tech stack upgrade and focus on speeding up computer performance so that you or your employees can get work done.
If you’re sitting in front of a computer that can barely load a webpage, then you’re missing out on productivity, performance, and potential revenue too.
4. Concentrate on Great Security
As businesses continue to rely more heavily on technology, their need to protect and secure data and devices is becoming even greater.
Many modern businesses simply aren’t equipped to handle things like data breaches, often because they underestimate how vulnerable they might be to security threats.
The rise of new cybersecurity issues worldwide is pushing businesses of all sizes to re-think how they protect themselves.
When you’re investing in new technology for your stack, it’s important to put security first.
Companies are beginning to invest more time and effort into implementing security features into their systems from the ground up.
Microsoft and other leading brands implement comprehensive encryption and security standards into all cloud-based products, to help protect the endpoints of each customer.
Check what your provider is doing to keep you secure.
5. Keep Employee Experience in Mind
A scalable technology stack could help businesses to deliver a much better experience to their customers, through things like instant chatbots will solve a customer’s problems in seconds, or AI that delivers contextual conversations in the contact center.
If you want to scale your business successfully, then you’ll need to think about how you can make your employees’ lives easier too.
Think about the problems that your team members face each day, and how you can overcome them with new investments.
If your team members often struggle with communication, particularly with their remote-working colleagues, implementing a collaboration tool like Slack or Microsoft Teams could be an excellent step forward.
Listening to your employees is key when building a new technology stack or upgrading your existing one. They’ll tell you what they need to make your business thrive.
Evolving in the Digital Age
For any business to survive in this new digital age, it needs to invest in relevant and scalable technology.
While none of us can know for sure what the future might hold, we can ensure that we’re ready for the challenges to come by investing in the right technology enhancements.
Keep an eye on the market around you to see which pieces of technology are helping your competitors to grow, listen to your employees and do your research.
Don’t let your outdated technology push you behind your competitors.
About the Author
Heather Redding is a content manager for rent, hailing from Aurora. She loves to geek out writing about wearables, IoT and other hot tech trends. When she finds the time to detach from her keyboard, she enjoys her Kindle library and a hot coffee. Reach out to her on Twitter.
