Business technology fundamentals are a lot like what nutrition is to an everyday person. If you eat well, you won’t necessarily become a superstar, but eating poorly will slow you down and eventually cause a crisis. Nutrition is a framework and building block. The way you attend to your personal and business technology isn't so different. Accountability, synchronization, documentation and backup are the foundation of a proper technology architecture. Every individual and organization needs to be aware of and place the appropriate time and attention toward these tech fundamentals. There are six IT best practices that you and your organization need to address so that you have the right framework to operate with a high degree of efficiency and lessen downtime and data loss. If you execute these basic best practices poorly, you run the risk of a major blow up at worst and most certainly institutional inefficiencies at the very least. Think about what would happen if you lost all your contacts or archived e-mail.. If you manage these six IT best practices methodically, it will offer a framework to build other tech functionality and processes that can make your organization great.
- 1. Simplified Small Business Tech Support and Solutions
2. The Six Things Every Business Must Get Right With Their
Technology. @RimotSupport @Facebook/Rimotsupport
@/company/RimotSupport @+Rimotsupport/ 866-496-3004
[email protected] 1-Be accountable and delegate as needed. 4
1. Be accountable and delegate as needed. 2. Document and create
simple processes. 3. Email, Contacts & Calendar Management 4.
Document Management 5. Internet Speed: Mine is 50/5... Whats yours?
6. Backup: The biggest no-brainer any business can do.t and create
simple proct 9 5-Internet Speed: Mine is 50/5... Whats yours? 11
6-Backup: The biggest no-brainer any business can do. We call it
the Tech Fundamentals. 3. First we start with why? Why should I
care Why cant someone else deal with this @RimotSupport
@Facebook/Rimotsupport @/company/RimotSupport @+Rimotsupport/
866-496-3004 [email protected] You dont need to be technical
to understand this. This is the easy stuff that mitigates the
really bad stuff. Think about it, how important is your data or
ability to use your technology? 4. Tech Fundamental One: Be
Accountable @RimotSupport @Facebook/Rimotsupport
@/company/RimotSupport @+Rimotsupport/ 866-496-3004
[email protected] 1. Organizationally acknowledge that
someone needs to own the institutional tech know-how. Provide this
person the time and resources to define what this tasking means for
your organization. 2. If this is a delegated responsibility,
augment the job description to cover Managing IT Services. 3.
Define the scope of what needs to be covered. (Phones (LAN lines /
cell), hardware, software, internet. Be specific. Key
Considerations 5. Tech Fundamental Two: Document and Create Simple
Processes. @RimotSupport @Facebook/Rimotsupport
@/company/RimotSupport @+Rimotsupport/ 866-496-3004
[email protected] 1. Define what to document and agree on an
organizational plan. Ensure you have a paper copy of key vendors
and network information. This will come in handy if the internet
goes down and you need to make a service call. 2. Create a low
security user name / password for your organization or yourself.
Use this for accounts and online activity that you would feel
comfortable giving access to a trusted person (IT Professional /
employee). 3. Create a more secure user name and password for those
accounts that are truly private. Be cautious in sharing these
credentials. Use a strong password that follows best practices. 4.
Define how an individual within your organization asks for
technical assistance and how you manage the process and tracking of
an incident. Key Considerations 6. Tech Fundamental Three: E-mail,
Contacts and Calendar Management. @RimotSupport
@Facebook/Rimotsupport @/company/RimotSupport @+Rimotsupport/
866-496-3004 [email protected] 1. Your e-mail, contacts and
calendar should be 100% synced across all touch points
(desktop/laptop, smartphones, tablets and web). CCing yourself is
antiquated and clumsy. 2. Your e-mail, contacts and calendar should
be backed up 100% of the time, in an automated way. 3.
Collaboration with delegates, co-workers and family should be
integrated (contact and calendar sharing and e-mail delegation) 4.
If you have employees, you should have 100% control and oversight
over their e-mail and other productivity related data. They are
representing you and your organization, passing proprietary
information and they could leave. This is not snooping, this is
business. Key Considerations 7. Tech Fundamental Four: Document
Management. @RimotSupport @Facebook/Rimotsupport
@/company/RimotSupport @+Rimotsupport/ 866-496-3004
[email protected] 1. Documents should be centralized. You
cant have them scattered all over the place and you cant have them
on various users machines. 2. There should be an organized folder
scheme for managing files. 3. There should be some form of
archiving, whether that is time based, project based, client based.
4. Documents should be synced across all touch points, (home, work,
mobile, tablet, web). You shouldnt be e-mailing documents to
yourself. 5. Those who need access should have it, those that dont
shouldnt. This is a critical aspect of managing your intellectual
property. 6. There should be a log of modifications. You want to
know who did what and when to a document. 7. Documents should be
backed up and offsite facilitated in an automated way. Key
Considerations 8. Tech Fundamental Five: Internet Speed.
@RimotSupport @Facebook/Rimotsupport @/company/RimotSupport
@+Rimotsupport/ 866-496-3004 [email protected] 1. Buy as
much speed as your budget allows. It is critical. Slow internet is
a drag. It makes great computers feel slow and employees will
complain. 2. Unless the service or the vendor is great, dont sign a
three year contract. I know the price discounts are attractive, but
the technology is changing quickly and the higher end solutions are
becoming more of a commodity. 3. There are products available that
serve as internet backup or fail over products. They get internet
the same way your smartphones does and distributes through a
router. Key Considerations 9. Tech Fundamental Six: Backup!
@RimotSupport @Facebook/Rimotsupport @/company/RimotSupport
@+Rimotsupport/ 866-496-3004 [email protected] 1. Types of
Backup: Fault tolerance / Data Redundancy and data / system backup.
2. Run a backup fire drill quarterly. Pick different files and
retrieve them. Did the system work? 3. Audit what is being backed
up. Make sure the files you are expecting to be backed up are part
of the backup script. 4. If you dont have an automated, offsite
solution like Mozy, get one. Key Considerations 10. Whats Next?
@RimotSupport @Facebook/Rimotsupport @/company/RimotSupport
@+Rimotsupport/ 866-496-3004 [email protected] 1. Read or
assign someone to read the white paper: "The 6 Things Every
Business Needs to Get Right With Their Technology." 2. Act. Start
slowly. Pick one fundamental. Focus on getting better at that one
function. 3. Ask for help or become part of our online community.
We are always here to help. 11. Simplified Small Business Tech
Support and Solutions @Facebook/Rimotsupport
@RimotSupport@/company/RimotSupport @+Rimotsupport/ 866-496-3004
[email protected] Questions or comments?
