Make the Best Technology Decisions for Your Business

business technology

When it comes to business, productivity and profitability are directly correlated. If your company has a high productivity rate, then chances are your company is also highly profitable. On the other hand, if your organization is not as productive, then revenue is most likely down as well. Fortunately, there are simple modifications you can do to enhance your company’s productivity. With the use of technology, you can refine your organization’s process which would in turn increase productivity and profitability.

Automate Technology as Much as Possible

Automation is when a machine completes simple, repetitive tasks by following instructions or workflows. An automated machine runs as efficiently as the human who programmed it. As with most businesses out there, members of your organization will more than likely have several work tasks to complete. Automated processes, such as artificial intelligence, end-to-end management software, and various other smart tools and devices can help alleviate employees’ tasks, all while saving money for your business in the long run.

Improve Your Collaborative Approach

With the proper systems up and running, it is much easier for companies to manage workloads more effectively and efficiently. There are strategies that you can utilize to assist members of your team in collaboration and the development of ideas. Some of the tools you can use are:

  • Customer relationship management (CRMs): CRMs can assist in enhancing client satisfaction which in turn will improve the workflow of your organization. CRM software allows you to manage various job tasks and assign those tasks, keeping members of your team responsible for their specific duties.
  • Video conferencing: Video conferencing can help all employees of the organization, whether they work in the office or remotely from home. This tool allows all members of your team a place to meet and collaborate on any projects the company may have.
  • Collaboration tools: Depending on your organization’s specific needs, there are a variety of tools that can assist in team collaboration. Intranet software allows employees to communicate, collaborate, and perform their job duties efficiently. Software integration is the process of incorporating software parts to allow for increased communication and sharing of data between all members of the organization.
  • Productivity applications: Cloud-based productivity applications provide your team with the tools needed to boost productivity and work engagement. Applications can vary from written documentation to organizing a presentation. As long as users have access to the internet, they can utilize these tools on any device that has a web browser. 

Most Importantly, Customer Satisfaction

Many companies rely on customers to keep their businesses thriving. Previous studies found that the retention of clients is about five times less costly than the acquisition of clients. Therefore, it’s important to involve your customers. The best tool to keep customers involved in the CRM. The main purpose of a CRM is to update your clients and keep them engaged from a business standpoint. Customers will be able to give feedback which provides valuable data for you and your company to make informed decisions.

Your business will continue to grow if it’s operated efficiently and effectively. WheelHouse IT can offer various business technology solutions based on your company’s needs. To learn more, please contact us at 954.474.2204.

Contact Us Today and Check Out Our Blog!

The Digital Employee Experience

digital experience

In today’s day and age, technology has heavily shaped our lives and businesses, particularly in the workplace. It is imperative to understand how your business allocates its time, money, and resources, particularly with technology-related issues that may arise. The digital employee experience, DEX, is an extremely valuable tool that can be used in the workplace.

Defining DEX

All industries incorporate technology, whether it be the scheduling software used in healthcare settings or the Point of Sales systems used in retail stores and restaurants. People must interact and use various digital workplace tools in order to complete their daily work tasks. The digital employee experience, or DEX, is a representation of how people utilize tools provided in the working environment and how they interact with these resources which allow them to be efficient and productive. DEX tracks and assesses the user experience while utilizing the digital workplace tools from an employee’s perspective and how they can be improved. It is important to understand the workers’ experiences with all the resources within the workplace in order to foster a great working environment that benefits the people and the organization.

Why Does It Matter?

When people have some influence on how they complete their work, they tend to work more effectively and be more engaged in their work. Understanding how to navigate and utilize the workplace tools and interfaces may result in better outcomes for the entire company. When employees begin to feel that their work is meaningless, they tend to burn themselves out or leave the company in search of another organization that values their input and feelings.

The Covid-19 pandemic has changed lives worldwide. The one thing that did not change during the pandemic was technology. In fact, technology expanded broadly as people shifted from working in an office to working remotely. Even now, many employees continue to work from home or have transitioned to hybrid work. During these times, it’s important for employees to feel like they have some control over the completion of their work. People want to feel like their ideas and feelings are valued by the entire organization. 

As technology continues to advance, resources that may have worked in previous years may no longer be effective or as efficient compared to the new and improved digital workplace resources. Investing in DEX empowers employees by providing a better experience, resulting in better productivity and enhanced customer experience; thus, benefitting the entire organization as a whole.

Managed IT Services and Training Can Improve DEX

To ensure that your company is adequately using the best digital workplace tools provided, training is required. Managed IT services can assist through the entire process from identifying services and digital tools that can be beneficial for the company to provide IT support whenever needed. WheelHouse IT can provide services and solutions that enhance the employee workplace experience by providing the best training and support.

To learn more about how DEX can help your business, please contact us at 954.474.2204.

Check Out Our Blog!

3 Cybersecurity Strategies Businesses Must Think About

cyber security

If your business struggles with network security, you’re not alone. It’s one of the most challenging parts of running a business, and even if you do invest a ton of time, effort, and money into your security systems, chances are you could still be doing at least something better. Today, we want to talk about three ways you can improve your company’s security without completely draining your bank account.

Encrypt Whenever Possible

Encryption in and of itself will make your data and communications more secure. Encryption scrambles your data so that it is unrecognizable to your average viewer. Encryption helps to keep your data secure from those who might harm it or steal it. Some common ways businesses implement encryption include virtual private networks, which encrypt traffic moving to and from your network to any connected devices. Other businesses might encrypt data storage, as well as communications. If you want to get started with encryption, a good place to begin is by calling us!

Implement Multi-Factor Authentication

Multi-factor authentication is a practice which attempts to make the password obsolete through the implementation of additional authentication measures. Basically, instead of using one credential to access an account, you use multiple credentials of various types. We recommend that you use something you have (a smartphone), something you know (a password), and something you are (a biometric) to keep as many accounts secure as possible. With so many barriers to your data, hackers are sure to hesitate against your network.

Practice Zero-Trust Policies

Zero-trust policies have gained a lot of traction in the business world, and it’s easy to see why. They are a means to guarantee that whoever is accessing important data on your infrastructure is who they claim to be. If the user cannot verify their identity, they cannot access the data, period. This goes for anyone, not just the average office worker. Even executives are subject to the same zero-trust policies. This helps to make data much more secure and controlled, and while it can be a bit tricky to implement, we recommend trying it out if you can.

Don’t let security be a major pain point for your business. Get started with better solutions today by reaching out to us at 954.474.2204.

Contact Us Today and Check Out Our Blog!

How To Protect Your Technology While Traveling

Young male character working on their laptop during the flight, modern millennial lifestyle and remote work

Traveling is one way that many of us are attempting to feel less isolated and alone during the COVID-19 pandemic. Still, a certain level of caution must be exercised regarding the technology we use while we travel. Here are some ways to protect your technology and stay in check while traveling this holiday season.

Be Cautious of Your Internet Connections

A secure Internet connection is hard to come by while traveling, so you need to make sure that you are being especially cautious in places where large groups of people gather, like airports and hotels. You can never be too sure of what’s lurking on wireless networks, especially in places like the above that are not necessarily secure the way your on-premises network might be. It would be best always to use a Virtual Private Network or VPN when working remotely or outside the office.

However, it’s important to note that there is a big difference between consumer-based VPN solutions and commercial ones. Consumer-based VPNs like NordVPN, TunnelBear, and ExpressVPN might be effective for traveling, but they are not commercial solutions. They encrypt data sent over Wi-Fi but remember that you get what you pay for. If you want to secure your business’ connections, then you should be prepared to work with high-quality products like the ones WheelHouse IT recommends.

Enable Multi-Factor Authentication and Location Services on Mobile Devices

If you have ever lost a device, you know how stressful it can be. It’s even worse if you have lost it while traveling and not in the comfort of your own home. It would help if you took extra precautions in these situations to make sure that your data is protected, like enabling multi-factor authentication and location services whenever possible. This will help you protect your data and potentially even track down your device should you lose it.

Implement Mobile Device Policies

If you cannot find your device, you must have the capability to wipe all data from it as a precaution. Having device policies in place for each user on your network that might use a mobile device is a crucial step to protect your technology.

Along with this, you also want to keep in mind that doing so means that any data stored on the device will be gone for good. Therefore, this mustn’t be the only place this data is stored. All of this data should really be stored on your business’ central network storage and backed up regularly to prevent data loss.

WheelHouseIT wants to help your business stay safe while your employees are traveling. To learn more, reach out to us at (954) 474-2204.

Integrating New Hardware Solutions Doesn’t Have to Be Difficult

portrait of technician install a new hardware a part of personal computer in office roo

Your business might find itself in a position where it needs new hardware solutions. You must make educated decisions about which hardware to acquire and when, but unless you are a tech guru, you probably need a hand figuring out how to get the most value.

That’s where we come in.

Here are some of the challenges that your business might face when implementing new hardware solutions.

Before getting too far, however, it’s helpful to have an idea of what not to do when replacing your technology. Many businesses will fall into the category of break-fix, meaning that they only replace technology when it has already broken down, often beyond repair entirely. Imagine the downtime that this practice can cause for businesses and the amount of money wasted on it. It’s a serious problem.

To illustrate this severity, consider a server unit that might fail before you replace it. How is everyone accessing the data found on this server? If your workstation breaks down, that’s one thing, but if the device used for business-wide data transmission breaks down, your entire business could be stuck in the mud until the issue is resolved. Meanwhile, you are wasting both time and money figuring out how to resolve the issue when preventative maintenance could have prevented all of this.

First, you must ask yourself, “Should I consider new hardware solutions in the first place?” Sometimes you might upgrade even if you don’t need to, simply because there is a more up-to-date model for a particular device that you have your eye on. Chances are that there is no need to upgrade immediately, especially if your current systems work perfectly fine. You should only consider upgrading away from your current systems when your technology is either causing disruptions to operations or if failing to upgrade will cause problems for you in the near future.

The second question you must ask is “What will I use this hardware for?” For example, if you try giving your video editor a thin unit or a standard office workstation, they are not going to have a good time going about their day-to-day tasks–tasks that are graphic-intensive and require more powerful machines. The idea here is to know what the technology is going to be used for before you implement it. Having unrealistic expectations for how your employees will use the technology is not going to help anyone.

Finally, you must also ask, “What is the timeline for replacing this hardware?” Remember that it is incredibly important to have a technology roadmap that lays out the timeline for when and how you should implement new hardware and other technology solutions for your business. This might include regular hardware refreshes to avoid the risks of hardware failure. At first glance, it might seem like you are replacing technology prematurely, but the difference here is that these are planned occurrences rather than purchases that come out of necessity.

Ultimately, the best way to implement new hardware solutions is to work with a professional like one of our trusted technicians. We can help you stay on the right path when implementing new technology. To learn more, reach out to us at (954) 474-2204.