Nowadays, if you’re a business that wants to grow and succeed, you need to be implementing technology. There are lots of technologies that once were considered ‘nice to have’ solutions, but are now considered essential.
Small businesses need to be near the edge when it comes to technology, because it will help them remain agile and compete with larger competitors. TechQuarters, an IT support provider London SMBs have used extensively to overhaul their technology stacks, described to us some of the top small business technology trends in 2022:
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The Cloud
The Cloud has found its way into almost every aspect of our lives. It is transforming banking and finance, it powers social media and streaming, and steadily more businesses are seeing it as an essential technology to leverage – at least 9 in 10 organisations in the UK are utilizing the Cloud in one way or another. TechQuarters is one of the London IT support companies that has been helping businesses migrate to the Cloud in response to Covid-19; and they themselves have been a fully Cloud-based organisation for the better part of a decade. There are lots of different ways businesses can utilize the Cloud:
- Infrastructure as a Service – this is ideal for any organisation looking to fully migrate to the Cloud. IaaS provides the perfect environment and offers all the tools necessary to build a Cloud environment to replace an organisation’s on-premise hardware and network infrastructure.
- Platform as a Service – Cloud-based platforms are often used to enable businesses to build and host their own custom applications, which is another highly demanded capability among businesses in 2022.
- Software as a Service – this is the type of service that many businesses are likely to already be using. Lots of modern email clients are classes as SaaS. Microsoft 365 is an example of a SaaS suite.
As you can see, there are many ways in which the Cloud can be utilized. However a business chooses to utilize it, whether as a systemic solution, or alongside on-premise tools, it is undeniably one of the most valuable forms of technology in 2022.
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Work Management Tools
Collaboration and effective workload management is a constant challenge for businesses. However, nowadays, there are lots of great tools to assist departments, teams, and individuals with this. Work management tools make it easy to track progress on work, assign tasks, consolidate data and information, and facilitate collaboration. A great example of a work management tool is Basecamp, which has been around for quite a few years now. These types of platforms have features like project planning boards, activity reporting, advanced time tracking, and extensive integration with other professional software. Advantages of using work management tools include:
- Better transparency among teams and departments.
- Improved time management through time tracking and smart reporting.
- Centralised file and resource management, so ensure everyone in a project or team knows where the find necessary information and assets.
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Remote Working Tools
There was a time when remote working seemed completely unimaginable. However, over the last two years, the business world has experienced first-hand just how effective remote working can be, provided that businesses have the right tools at their disposal. Various studies have came up with some illuminating insights – for instance, working remotely corresponds to 13% increase in productivity, and employees get more work done in less time when they work from home.
Giving employees the option to work from home means that each member of staff can choose their preferred way to work (and therefore enjoy better productivity). To allow this, businesses need to have the necessary software and services available – some examples of these include:
- Microsoft Office – a suite of productivity, collaboration, and communications apps.
- Basecamp – a centralised, cloud-based work management platform that can be accessed remotely.
- Slack – a cloud-based platform for unified communications and collaboration.
