When it comes to IT, the majority of small businesses have limited budgets to upgrade their own. Technological upgrades are vital for reducing the time required to finish manual tasks, leading to better workforce productivity and smoother operations. While technology isn’t always budget-friendly, the innovation for software to devices and benefits you can get from them far outweigh the price tag.
Apart from increasing productivity and efficiency, upgrading your business tech can also result in improved profit margins. Outdated systems and devices can only make your company less competitive in the market. Getting the latest tech can boost your market visibility and help your business stay in the industry for a long time. Curious what tech upgrades are worth your money? Check out our list below.
1. Migrate to cloud
One of the most beneficial upgrades you can invest in is cloud migration. Cloud services are a perfect option for migrating data and applications and streamlining your processes. You can rapidly deploy your services and apps in a matter of minutes, which is way better than the traditional way that could take weeks. Cloud providers also offer enhanced security features and automatic updates for your systems.
If you’re always struggling with infrastructure complexity and service status monitoring, a cloud system is a great solution. Other amazing things to expect with cloud migration include automatic greater staff collaboration and flexibility, reduced footprint, logging and backup of key metrics, and improved cost management.
2. Focus on contactless touchpoints
Contactless technology existed even before the emergence of the coronavirus. Yet, it can’t be denied that the pandemic reinforced its importance. Today, more and more businesses invest in contactless experiences to provide quicker and safer service to customers. There are contactless payment options where customers can tap or wave their card or device in a Point-of-Sale terminal to pay.
Also, contactless payments allow businesses to improve operation and processing efficiency and get a completely streamlined payment system. It is also considered to provide a more secure payment transaction since contactless devices and cards readily have multiple security layers embedded in them, resulting in fewer fraud losses.
And of course, contactless experience is effective for limiting physical interaction and preventing bacteria from spreading. This provides consumers or shoppers with a safer experience, especially in this current pandemic.
3. Integrate management tools
Software integration is another recommended upgrade by many digital experts and system developers. For users who want to get the best out of their business or work management tools, integration is perfect. It can help you get better data flow through real-time data and syncing.
Moreover, analyzing valuable data across different systems isn’t just time-consuming, but it also makes it hard for you to obtain proper insights. With integration, you can gather your data in one central platform, leading to increased data simplification and better accessibility. You can invest in solutions like SAP e-commerce integration to automatic sales items syncing or order processing. Or, integrate your cloud-based call center system with a great CRM to better manage your customers’ information and avoid overlapped databases.
4. Use multi-factor authentication
Multi-factor authentication (MFA) is a process that demands multiple security authentications from independent sources to confirm user identity. You can consider it as putting multiple layers of security into your systems and devices. Obviously, compared to single-factor authentication, MFA offers a higher security level to a company’s infrastructure and prevents cyber-attacks or unauthorized access. It can help protect almost all sensitive data, from personal and sign-in information, email addresses, and business credit card numbers.
There are a variety of MFA products and methods available today for specific purposes. For one, there’s biometric authentication, which is an advanced verification method that utilizes unique features such as facial recognition and fingerprint ID. Other methods you can try include SMS and email token, phone authentication, and software and hardware token.
In case you’re planning to use MFA, be sure to consider the type that best work for your tech needs and create a deployment strategy. It’s best to talk to your people about the authentication issues currently affecting their workflow or any overlooked concerns.
As technology is always changing, the market is also becoming more competitive. The last thing you want to happen is for your business to be left behind because you didn’t care to invest in the best systems or devices you can get. Do not stick to your old tech. Keep up with the tech trend as much as you need to and make your business even more competitive. The upgrades may be costly, but if done right, they can be beneficial in the long run.
