Essential Recommendations for Business IT Security

One of the key factors that effects almost every business with a digital profile is IT security. It’s a constant challenge to get right whether you are a small start-up or a large corporation.

Unfortunately, there are organised criminal gangs in this world who are fixed on trying to do us harm. It’s something that has been with us since the birth of the internet.

The biggest question we get asked at Cyan Solutions, is what best practice can be employed to ensure better business IT security.

Here’s a list of things you can do right now to help protect your business:

1. Don’t Assume It Won’t Happen to You

This is something we find with many SMEs. They think they’re too small for hackers to worry about. It’s simply not true.

Most attacks come through automated delivery such as Phishing email. The hackers and malware developers are looking for someone, anyone whose system they can get into. Whether you are just a one-person outfit or have many staff, treat cybersecurity with the same level of seriousness as you do other aspects of your business.

According to a recent report by Verizon, 71% of cyberattacks happen to smaller companies with less than 100 staff on the payroll. That is in part because there are more of them but the clear message is to be aware and have robust cybersecurity policies in place.

2. Use a Firewall

The first line of defence against cyberattacks is an effective business-grade firewall. Think of this as a barrier that repels common attacks and prevents malicious threats getting to your network. Companies often neglect to invest in this area as they don’t understand the importance of good perimeter security. They assume a generic router does the same job, it doesn’t. You need to improve network security measures if you want to remain safe online.

And, it’s not just external firewalls that are important – if you have sections of your network that contain sensitive data, for example, you may want to protect these with additional cybersecurity measures.

3. The Challenge of BYOD

Bring Your Own Device (BYOD) has largely been accepted in the business world over the last decade after some initial reticence by employers. It can often be easier for an employee to use their own smartphone or tablet or even laptop to do their work.

The trouble is that these are not generally as secure as the hardware and software that you have for your business. Staff can download the wrong apps or visit the wrong sites that open them (and your business) to potential cyberattack.

This is something that is unlikely to change in the future. BYOD offers too many benefits. The challenge is to make sure that mobile devices are updated with the right security and that staff understand their obligations.

4. Having Comprehensive Cybersecurity Policies

This brings us to the strategy for your cybersecurity protection. All businesses, whatever their size, need to have a robust set of policies that staff can adhere to. Many smaller companies do this in an ad-hoc manner which can mean their business IT security is missing vital core components. Ensure that you document your policies and make them readily available to all members of staff – including senior managers and executive teams.

5. Password Protection

It might seem like a simple thing to include in a best practice list but passwords are a real issue for businesses. Enforcing a robust policy in this area is important and could well protect your business from cyberattack. Passwords should ideally include upper- and lower-case letters, symbols and numbers. For more sensitive areas of your business, you also want to consider multi-factor identification.

It might seem like a simple thing to include in a best practice list but passwords are a real issue for businesses. Enforcing a robust policy in this area is important and could well protect your business from cyberattack.

Passwords – when implemented correctly – are an easy and effective way to prevent unauthorised access to systems. Always change the default password that comes with a new device.
If two-factor authentication is available, make sure it is enabled and use it. A common and effective example of this involves a code sent to your smartphone which you must enter in addition to your password.

6. Educating Staff

One failing, particularly for smaller businesses, is not educating their staff on the right IT security protocols. There’s plenty of evidence to suggest that, even if a company has a password policy in place, in the majority of cases it is not enforced.

You have to bring your staff into the loop and make sure they are well educated with regards to cybersecurity risks. For example, User Awareness Training is a great way to educate staff to the dangers of email threats, such as Phishing attacks, which are not always easy to identify.

7. Regularly Update Your Devices and Software

It’s quite worrying the number of small and midsize businesses that do not make the effort to patch their systems, devices and software. Manufacturers release regular updates which not only add new features, but also fix security vulnerabilities that have been discovered. Applying these updates (a process known as patching) is one of the most important things you can do to improve security.

8. The Right Level of Protection

Finally, the fight against cyberattacks is a never-ending battle and you should have the appropriate virus and anti-malware software in place which is regularly updated. One big mistake businesses make is to assume that standard anti-virus software alone is adequate protection for their needs. How security should be tailored to better protect your organisation is something you need to discuss with your IT provider. Understanding what threats are targeting and putting additional layers of security in place to protect against them is an essential part to any cybersecurity strategy.

At Cyan Solutions, we deliver cutting edge IT services and support. If you want access to the best cybersecurity expertise for your business, tailored to your needs, contact our team today.

What is a Typical IT Budget for a Small or Midsize Business?

Small and medium sized businesses (SMB’s) can struggle to put a figure on their IT budget. There are a lot of factors involved in developing a solution that works, not least the industry or sector, the amount of data and how it is currently controlled, as well as the various types of technology being used.

Most SMB’s have to weigh the benefits of including new technology, the potential risks to their growth if the right measures are not implemented and even their position in the marketplace.

If you are an e-commerce business, your IT requirements are going to be different from an insurance company. A business with 3 or 4 staff will have considerably less IT costs than one with a 50 or 60 or more.

How Much Should You Spend?

A lot is going to depend on the context of your IT supply and what you want from it. The first thing to say is that you should treat IT as an investment not simply the need to have set of tools to keep you safe or enable communication.

Effective IT can have numerous benefits, including:

  • Helping to streamline your business operation, including in some cases automating tasks. Boosting your agility means you are able to respond to challenges in your sector as well as give yourself the best chance of growing.
  • The latest cloud packages allow staff to operate remotely. That means you have more flexibility in your workforce. This in turn means you can encourage greater productivity as well as strengthen your networks.
  • Improved cybersecurity will ensure that you keep data and other important information safe. It will also benefit your reputation with consumers.

For a business that has no internal IT department but has about 40 employees who all rely on IT, you will be looking at an average monthly spend of £2,000-£3,000. This can actually purchase you a good deal of tech support in today’s competitive IT environment.

On the whole across all sectors, the average SMB will spend about 6-7% of its revenue on IT. There are some important areas where you should be concentrating your IT budget:

1. Replacing Old Software

Many businesses stick with the same old software way past the time it has outlived its usefulness. This is generally a false economy especially when it comes to collaborative packages that allow your staff to work more productively. Picking the right time to switch to an upgraded version of a software package or try something new entirely is a huge challenge for SMB’s.

2. Old Hardware and Old Operating Systems

Another decision that can have an impact on your business is the age of the hardware systems that you have in place. Old desktops that no longer update can present a risk not only to that particular machine but your entire network. Vulnerabilities in older operating systems such as Windows 7, which will have support terminated in 2020, can present immediate danger to your business if the hardware is not updated.

3. Cloud Computing

The cloud seems all the rage nowadays and for good reason. Cloud services have changed the way many SMB’s do business. They facilitate more efficient collaboration and access to data which can greatly improve productivity. If your business uses remote employees who work from home or you have sales staff that need access to information on the road, cloud computing is indispensable.

4. Outsourced IT Support

With the advent of cloud services, we’ve seen a substantial rise in remote IT support solutions that are specifically designed for SMB’s. Not only has this allowed the typical IT budget to come down, it’s given many businesses a more level playing field on which to compete.

The good news is that outsourced IT support is a lot cheaper than employing staff on site and can deliver a wide range of expertise. It can also be tailored to your needs at any particular moment, scalable whether you want to grow or if you need to shrink your business model and your IT.

Tips for Controlling Your IT Budget

Compared to larger corporations, SMB’s have to do a lot of work to keep their IT support costs under control while still delivering on their needs. It’s important to make sure that you have the right components in place.

  • Have a regular audit to highlight where your IT can be improved or even rolled back.
  • Be prepared to embrace new tech if it can help reduce your running costs in the long term.
  • Think of IT as an investment not a drain on resources.

At Cyan Solutions, we work with SMB’s across all sectors and industries. If you want to make better use of your IT budget in the future and really deliver transformational results, contact our team today.

Does Outsourcing Mean IT Cost Reduction

Any business worth its salt will have a close eye on reducing costs at all times. One area that presents a particular challenge here is IT. Keeping data and infrastructure safe is important but so is having the appropriate software and services in place to help your business work productively and safely.

But is outsourcing the answer to all your worries and does it deliver an IT cost reduction?

At Cyan Solutions, we take a closer look.

What is IT Outsourcing?

Back in the old days, any business setting up would need to get an IT infrastructure in place, usually on site. Large corporations spent millions developing IT support services that could handle everything from computer setup to internal server issues.

Gradually, over the last ten years, third party suppliers of IT services have become increasingly popular. These have developed mainly as a result of our improved connectivity. It means you can set up a remote IT service element which operates separately from your business but delivers all the expertise and technical support that you need on a day to day basis.

The Benefits of IT Outsourcing

There are numerous advantages of using a third-party IT support service. The first is that you get the expertise you need on demand. If you were employing an in-house IT team it could cost you thousands of pounds a year just for one person. Not only that, you might not get the full expertise that your business really needs.

Outsourced IT companies provide services to many different clients which means they are able to take on a wide range of experts to help solve particular problems.

If you have a small to medium size business and are looking to grow, developing a plan for your IT to meet your needs can be a huge challenge. Outsourcing enables you to scale up and down as and when you need it. As long as you find a flexible and responsive partner, you can quickly alter your service and tailor it closely to your requirements.

The truth is that we live in a fast-paced world when it comes to technology. It was only about 15 years ago when most people connected to the internet via a clumsy dial-up connection and just over 10 years since the first smartphone hit the shops and broadband started to become such an indispensable thing in our lives.

When you think about how much has changed, and how much we take our connectivity for granted, you begin to see the developments that could come in the next few years. It’s important to keep up and ensure your business has the IT support it needs. This can often only be delivered through effective outsourcing nowadays.

IT Cost Reduction: What It Means for Your Business

Businesses require much more IT support than someone with a simple home broadband connection. Speed, for example, may well be a priority for your business. Your cybersecurity needs are going to be of a higher level and your access to software will essentially determine how productive you are able to be.

IT cost reductions and savings come from a number of areas when using outsourcing:

  • You can tailor your IT provision to suit your needs, depending on the budget you have.
  • You can use money saved in employing in-house IT experts to further develop your business.
  • You can scale your IT support to suit your needs, improving it as your customer base and business grows.
  • You get to rent the top talent you need only when you need it. If there’s a specific problem with your IT infrastructure or a challenge ahead, you hire the expertise you require for a specific time at a fraction of the cost.
  • Outsourcing your IT service will also lead to cost reductions because your business is better protected. Your IT support will ensure you remain on top of the latest threats, reducing the risk of your systems being compromised. That in turn should boost your reputation as a safe company to deal with.
  • An outsourced IT service can also help you improve productivity by making sure you have the appropriate software in place for your business needs.

Finding the Right IT Partner

Of course, the big challenge here is finding the IT support service that not only delivers on your current business needs but helps you plan for the future. At Cyan Solutions, we have the experts onboard who can make a real difference to your growth and future security.

Whether it’s cybersecurity, IT support, a virtual CIO or cloud services, we ensure your business stays connected, safe and productive at a cost you can afford. Contact our expert team today to find out how we can help transform your business.

Is Your IT Spending Under Control?

There’s no doubt that IT spending is one of the most important outgoings that any business has to control. Many companies, however, don’t have a full handle on their budget in this area. Neither do they understand if what they have is suitable for their business in the first place.

Some business spend too much, others have set their budget way to low. Finding the happy medium that delivers everything you need is a challenge but certainly worth the effort.

Deciding Your Budget

There are a number of different factors that will affect the percentage of your budget that you spend on IT. These include:

  • The sector you operate in. Banks tend to devote 7.16% on IT, according to Deloitte. The building sector can be as low as 1.5 % and the average is around 3.3%.
  • The cybersecurity environment can have an impact on spending. In recent years, following a number of high-profile breaches, many high-risk companies have upped their IT budget by as much as 50%.
  • The size of your business and the budget available is, of course, going to determine quite a bit.
  • The truth is, however, that many companies are underspending on their IT and potentially missing the opportunities that the latest developments have to offer.

IT covers a much wider range of assets than many businesses realise. It’s more than just cybersecurity and operating platforms. Your IT spending also includes the hosting package you have for your website, your phones, the cloud services you use, as well as the software packages that help you deliver your business goals, including your CRM and packages such as Office 365.

If you’re a small business, your IT spending can be spread over a bunch of different areas which makes it difficult to keep track of.

How to Control Your IT Spending

The first thing you need to do is carry out an audit and list everything that you use and how much it costs you. Many SMBs don’t have a clearly defined budget for everything under the IT umbrella and it can be quite eye-opening once they discover what they spend.

1. Look at IT as an Investment

Do you think IT is a necessary evil? Then think again.

The mistake that many companies make is not understanding that IT forms the central spine around which the rest of their business operates. Changing how you view IT is important because it can open up new areas of investigation and ensure you make more productive choices when it comes to the services you employ.

For instance, cybersecurity is an investment not only in your own business but your customers as well. The last thing you want is for their data to be stolen and your reputation damaged. Better collaboration tools that your staff are able to access are also an investment because they improve their productivity which in turn boosts your bottom line.

Stop thinking ‘what do I need’ and start exploring the possibilities that IT solutions can deliver.

2. Create an IT Budget

You may be surprised at the number of businesses that don’t have a separate IT budget. Unless you do, you won’t be able to control your IT spending even in a very basic sense. A clearly defined budget helps you keep track of spending and gives you the chance to decide if you want to put more in particular areas of your operation.

3. Focus More on Productivity

The key to successful IT budgeting is to look at it from a productivity viewpoint. There are many software solutions and cloud-based services that may improve the performance of your business and these are developing all the time. For example, the growth of AI help and support services in recent times could take pressure off your staff and increase customer loyalty because the most popular queries are being answered with little or no time delay.

4. Be Strategic

Finally, it’s no use increasing or lowering your budget unless you are doing it for a reason. It may be pertinent to your business to cut costs but IT is generally not the best area to do this. You always need a good plan and it pays to discuss your options with an IT service provider that understands your needs.

At Cyan Solutions, we can help you better develop your IT spending and keep it under control while really delivering for your business. We provide IT support, cybersecurity solutions, virtual CIO and cloud based services that can really help transform productivity at a price you can afford. Contact our expert team today to find out more.

IT Budget Planning Mistakes You Should Avoid

There’s no telling when rising costs can start to get the better of your business. That’s why it’s vital to make sure you budget properly. That goes whether you are a small business with just a few employees or a large corporation with thousands.

If you’re a company that wants to stay ahead of its competitors, one thing you will certainly need to focus on is your IT budget planning. It’s pivotal to ensure you are able to deliver great services to your customers and provide the tools that your staff need to promote your business and drive it forward.

It’s not all plain sailing, however. There are plenty of pitfalls that can siphon off elements of your budget, leaving less for more important areas of your business. To help out, the team at Cyan Solutions have put together a list of the top budgeting mistakes you will want to avoid.

1. Not Fully Understanding Your Needs

Whether you are planning a digital transformation, want to up your cybersecurity posture or simply want to migrate your business operation to the cloud, understanding what each move entails and why you are doing it is important.

Many of the businesses we come across, treat their IT as a piecemeal thing rather than a series of interconnected dots that create a whole. Before you go about IT budget planning, your first step is to list the components of your current provision and decide what purpose each serves. Then you can begin to look at what you want to add to make your business more secure, more productive or more efficient.

Aligning your IT needs with your business needs is imperative. Making sure that your tech spend is heading in the right direction to support growth and revenue is not always an easy thing to do, however.

2. Budgeting and Timeline

This is a common issue with many businesses operating on a fairly restricted budget. It can mean you end up budgeting from month to month rather than looking at 1 year, 2 year or even a 5-year projection. That also means you are unlikely to have an IT budget in place that can help service you if you intend to grow. Try to see as far ahead as possible and understand what your costs are and how you are going to meet them.

3. Not Being Ready for Changes

It’s all well and good spending money on new technology but a huge mistake businesses make is not ensuring they are good to go when it is finally in place. An example of this would be if you were planning to migrate your operational procedures and other IT to the cloud so that it can be accessed securely from anywhere. If you haven’t trained your staff for using this new approach and you haven’t considered other issues such as your online security, you could be wasting money and not delivering a decent ROI from the outset.

Moving to the cloud has more benefits than simply cost savings and businesses need to be aware of this while deciding what their priorities are. If you are a company that has busier periods during the year (for example, Christmas), being able to up your capacity at this time can be of huge benefit and that’s something moving to the cloud can facilitate.

4. Choosing the Wrong Software License Plan

Software-as-a-Service, or SaaS, subscription licensing (eg SalesForce, Microsoft Office 365, Google Apps) has now become the norm for most companies. What businesses often fail to do, however, is understand their actual license needs, which often means they over commit and, inevitably, overspend. A team of sales people, for example, will have very different needs to teams working in operations or finance. Some users may just need access to online tools, others will need the full suite of features. Identifying which license plan suits each role in your business could save you significant costs in the long term.

5. Tech and Value

It can be tempting to get the latest bit of tech, just because everyone else is doing it or because you’ve seen an ad somewhere. Business owners looking to improve their efficiency or add value to their customers, bring in new technological solutions without truly understanding whether they are adding value or not.

On the other side of this is making sure that the software and IT services you are currently using are actually still providing value for money. For businesses, especially smaller ones, this can be a difficult balancing act to get right, especially if they have new technology that impacts on the performance of older software.

In a rapidly changing world where new tech is appearing almost daily, it is difficult for businesses to keep up. While sticking with tried and tested solutions can seem financially sensible, there always comes a point where that more advanced technology has to be given some breathing room.

At Cyan Solutions, we provide a range of IT support and services for businesses across the UK. If you’d like to find out how we can help support your next round of IT budget planning, contact the team at Cyan today.

What is Your IT Strategy?

Technology has revolutionised the way we do business. It’s so much easier to start up a company in the first place and innovations such as remote working and productivity software are making it viable for business owners to not only achieve their goals but scale up quicker than ever before.

Having new tech at your disposal, however, and knowing how to use it are two different things.

Here we take a look at how developing a strong IT strategy is vital in order to power any business into the future.

What is IT Strategy?

You’ll have a strategy for your business including goals you want to achieve and when you want to achieve them. Your IT strategy is all about the technical support and the tools you require to achieve these aims.

It may be something as simple as your internet connection or the virus security you have in place to protect both your business and your customers. It is likely nowadays to be more complex, including how you use the cloud and software packages together to deliver your services and enable employees to operate productively.

How to Create an IT Strategy

The problem with IT strategies is that businesses don’t often understand how they work and what the benefits are. Whether you are an established company or a new venture, it pays to do your research and find out what you really need.

That includes forming a relationship with an IT provider who not only understands those needs but has access to the latest technology and best practice.

1. Your Business Goals

The first thing that you need to get nailed down are your business goals and how these are going to be implemented in the future. These can include sales performance and targets, growth and action plans for the future and areas where you want to build relationships with other businesses.

You need to align everything in your future business development with an IT strategy that helps you achieve your goals as efficiently as possible.

2. Stakeholders and Your IT Roadmap

The next stage is to develop a roadmap and get individual stakeholders involved. Stakeholders are the managers and technical people in your business who are going to help deliver your IT strategy. They can include the IT company that you choose to bring on board but largely they are the people in your business who will monitor and liaise with that service to deliver the desired results.

3. What Your IT Currently Delivers

Unless you are a start-up, you will already have IT in place. It’s important to look at this closely. What works and what doesn’t?

There are lots of questions you need to ask here, not least what technology you are currently using and how it works for your employees and your business. Are there ways to do things better or does your current provision deliver what you need?

This involves thinking critically about all aspects of your IT delivery. It’s important to identify areas where things can be improved and where savings and productivity can be maximised.

4. Allocation and Software

Next, you need to put together the software that you will be using and organise how this is going to be allocated throughout your business. It’s important to consider how everything fits together with any IT strategy.

It’s no use having different software and IT components that work against each other and the more of an overview you can achieve the better. It’s a good idea to keep all activity and software information together in one spreadsheet where you can see how everything interacts and what it delivers.

5. Measure Performance

The last thing you need is an IT strategy that doesn’t work and fails to meet your requirements. It’s important, therefore, to measure performance. If you’ve done all the previous steps well, this will be a relatively easy process and putting key metrics and KPIs in place should be a formality.

All too often, businesses look at their IT as a fragmented set of tools that are more a marriage of convenience than a bona fide strategy. The true aim of a strong IT strategy is to bring all your technological resources under one umbrella where they work together and deliver real benefits for your business.

If you want inspiring IT solutions, Cyan Solutions can help. Discover how developing your IT strategy will make a huge difference to the growth and the future of your company. Contact us today to find out more.

Tips for Finding the Best IT Consulting Solutions

It can be difficult staying up-to-date with the latest advances in technology or understanding how these can benefit your business if they are implemented. Most business owners don’t completely understand what a managed IT solution can provide or how it fits in with the way their company currently runs.

There are also plenty of companies offering IT consulting solutions ‘tailored’ to your needs out there, each promising the earth. But which one should you chose? How do you separate the worthwhile IT consultants from the ones that are likely to hold your business back?

Your IT partner can make a huge difference to the success or failure of your business and how competitive it is. Here are our tips for finding the right company:

1. Understand What You Need

You need to be able to match the services on offer to complement your business activities. Take a look at your short and long term goals and then find out what IT consulting solutions are going to benefit these.

You might want high levels of security because of the kind of data you handle, or services that constantly monitor your threat status and automatically provide solutions. You may want to introduce new cloud services so that your staff are able to perform more productively.

2. Take Your Time

Finding the best IT consultant to work with can take time. There are lots of options online and you shouldn’t rush, or allow yourself to be rushed, into picking this company or that company. It’s better to take some extra time, including having a cooling off period before you finally decide, to ensure you get the best partner for the future development of your business.

3. Look for Expertise

The best IT consulting solutions are the ones that have a range of expertise available. You rarely get this from one person businesses – they can be stretched for time and certainly won’t have the level of knowledge you are looking for. You should check not only the number of staff they have on board but what their specialisations are.

It’s important to interview your prospective IT consultancy and find out all you can about them. Check for online reviews and ask for referrals.

4. Does It Fit Your Needs

If you’ve made a list of what you are looking for as a business, done your due diligence and matched up the various services you require, the final thing you need to decide is whether the IT service meets your needs and ticks all the right boxes. Some extra areas to consider are how long they have been operating and whether they are able to respond to your changing needs.

IT Consulting Solutions: Why Choose Cyan?

At Cyan we pride ourselves in being a flexible, high tech solution for today’s modern businesses. We offer a range of different services that can be tailored to your needs. If you want to start small and cover just a few areas of IT support, we can certainly help with that. The good news is that our provision is scalable – which means, as your requirements change, so can our service.

We work closely with our customers to identify the areas where they need support. Here are just some of the things we can help your business with:

Managed IT Support: For many businesses, IT can take up much more time than they have to offer internally. A managed IT solution basically takes the weight off your shoulders and provides the full service and maintenance you need at a cost you can afford.

Cyber Security: Safety of data is probably the biggest worry that businesses have nowadays. Your success depends on having a secure eco-system, protecting your from both financial and reputational damage. At Cyan, our expert team helps put in all the processes that protect your business, including managed firewalls and anti-virus software that is fit for purpose.

Cloud Services: More and more businesses are using the cloud to deliver flexibility and agility for their employees. Our subscription-based services mean that you can keep control of the costs and give your staff the tools they need to achieve your goals.

Virtual CIO Consultancy Services: Most businesses don’t have the finances to employ a Chief Information Officer on site. Our virtual service means that you can access the latest advice and technology to drive your business forward at a fraction of the cost.

IT consulting solutions can be complicated and are challenging to get right. If your business is looking for a partner that can deliver tailored services and grow and scale as you develop, contact the team at Cyan today.

Embrace New Technology with an IT Transformation Strategy

Often, businesses can stick with the same tried and trusted methods or operational approaches because their staff are either comfortable with them or it just seems too much work to change.

It can sometimes take a catastrophic event such as the loss of a client or a data breach before CEOs and business owners decide to take a deeper look at their current IT services. The truth is your business should not be waiting for such an event. It pays to be proactive and to look at the options long before anything goes wrong.

Engaging in an IT transformation strategy will not only improve your security online but make your business more productive and competitive in today’s fast-paced world. Here’s what you need to know.

What is an IT Transformation Strategy?

IT transformation may seem like an option which you can take or leave, depending on your business. It’s actually a necessity and most leading companies except it now.

If you want your business to perform on a level playing field with your competitors or you are planning to grow in the future, your IT transformation strategy should be an ongoing process, not a one-off change in your business operation that you implement when all else fails.

An IT transformation strategy could include:

  • Introducing new elements such as cloud-based services that allow employees to operate more productively
  • Bringing in software and operating systems that help you deliver better services to customers than you do now
  • Boosting online security so that you better protect data and information processing for your business

IT transformation may already be part of the your business process, especially if you are a start-up where the latest technology can provide you with a competitive edge. One of the barriers that often sits in the way of transformational change for older, existing companies, however, is the cost.

On-demand services and outsourcing are a lot more cost effective than many business owners think. The biggest challenge is generally getting other people on board rather than switching to new technology that offers a good ROI in the long-term.

The Benefits for Your Business

If it’s not broke, don’t fix it. That’s the popular mantra many business owners tend to dance to. Unfortunately, that can mean being stuck with outdated IT systems and even avoiding products that could improve performance.

For example, switching to cloud-based services means that your staff can access your software wherever they are in the world. You might have sales teams out in the field, who will be able to use their smartphones or tablets to give prospective clients up-to-date information. Cloud computing gives you the opportunity to install software that enables different teams to work closely together even if they are not in the same office or location, sharing documents and setting goals more efficiently.

Your IT transformation strategy will also include boosting cybersecurity. We’re under more threat than ever before from hackers and those with malicious intent. Updating your IT security is vital if your business wants to combat these threats and remain safe in the modern environment, especially if you are availing yourself of cloud services or bringing in new, high-tech software.

According to Hiscox, small businesses are subject to some 65,000 different cyber attacks each day and actual breaches cost on average £27,000 to put right.

Challenges in Implementing an IT Transformation Strategy

If you decide that an IT transformation strategy is the way forward for your business, there are certain challenges you are going to face. Employees can be resistant to change of any kind, believing that it presents a threat to their jobs. Particularly in an age where AI is delivering automation software that can do repetitive tasks and even answer customer queries better than a human being, this is likely to be an issue in most companies.

The key to successfully bringing on board an IT transformation strategy is not just convincing your staff that it’s important, making their lives better, but how it benefits your company in becoming more competitive and productive in the marketplace.

That’s not always easy if you don’t understand our rapidly improving technology, especially if IT is not your strong point. Staff may need to learn new ways of working, might even have to change jobs altogether, so it’s important to get buy-in from teams.

Working together with an IT service that not only understands your business but can communicate effectively makes a big difference. They may suggest introducing updates and new IT infrastructure gradually so that your employees and teams can gradually get used to things. If major changes are required, they will be able to show how disruption can be minimised and how staff can be effectively brought on board. Simplified processes can also make adoption much easier and transitions more seamless.

If you are searching for IT support that is tailored to your needs and meets the demands of modern businesses, contact the team at Cyan today to find out more.

Do Your Employees Understand Your IT Business Strategy?

The majority of businesses today have some form of IT strategy in place. That plan normally goes beyond the standard use of security software and a nod towards threat management.

It includes the tools and apps that are used to manage daily work, training of staff to use industry-specific software, and developing protocols to ensure the safety of data and the way that is used throughout the business.

When it comes to IT business strategy, keeping up with the advances and challenges has become a lot more complicated in recent years. Not only are we subject to highly sophisticated attacks but employees are also using a range of devices, including their own smartphones and tablets, to deliver on their company’s needs via cloud-based services.

One question all businesses need to ask is how much employees understand about their IT strategy in the first place. How confident is each individual in implementing the processes that are in place?

Creating a Robust IT Business Strategy

The first step is to develop the right strategy that fits your business. This is all about aligning your IT services and systems so they support your business priorities. While this is not always easy to achieve, it allows you to:

  • Plan for future changes in your IT service
  • Stay in control of the costs of IT for your business
  • Ensure you have robust process in place that protect you, your employees and your customers, reducing the risk of disruption to your business

Make Your IT Business Strategy Available

Assuming that you have the best strategy in place, you need to make employees aware of what it is, how it fits into your wider business plan and what everyone’s responsibility is.

One of the big challenges business have is how to protect their data and processes from cyber attack, particularly in light of the new GDPR. Building awareness among employees should be a vital element of your IT business strategy, an ongoing, not a one-off, process.

Your IT strategy needs to be readily available to employees (both online and in hardcopy) and should be written in plain English so everyone understands what is expected of them. If staff don’t know how they are to implement the strategy, you will quickly find gaps in delivery that can eventually seriously damage the efficiency and even the safety of your company.

Ensure Staff Understand the Risks and Their Responsibility

An employee who opens an email link that carries a malware programme is one of the most common ways in which businesses are attacked. These kinds of threats generally succeed because of lack of understanding or knowledge on the part of the victim rather than any malicious intent.

There are greater challenges nowadays, particularly with many businesses using cloud-based services. On the one hand, these give companies much greater flexibility in how they communicate and improve productivity. On the other, cloud IT services also present a challenge to security. If an employee is using their smartphone to access business data, how secure is it? What does that employee need to be aware of when performing their job on a daily basis?

Have Regular Update and Training Sessions for Employees

It’s vital that employees understand what their responsibilities are when it comes to your IT business strategy. There are various ways in which this can be achieved but the onus is on business managers, CEOs and owners to ensure that these processes are implemented.

  • Effective onboarding for new staff: Every time someone new starts at your business, a priority needs to be given to providing information and training on IT services and the responsibilities involved
  • Available training materials: Staff should have access to relevant IT training either through organised group sessions, online courses or a mixture of both. More problems in businesses are caused by staff who don’t know how to use software or systems safely
  • Regular assessments for staff: It’s not enough to provide training and informational updates, business owners need to be sure their staff are taking the training onboard. Assessing staff competency and understanding when it comes to IT services should be a priority
  • Options for reporting: You should have the process in place that allows employees to raise concerns or report any potential breach

Most businesses, particularly new start-ups, understand that IT is important. Unfortunately, they either take it too much for granted or fail to put in the appropriate measures to ensure safety and security at all levels. In today’s online world, that can mean putting your business at risk of a cybersecurity breach.

Developing staff so that they are better informed about your IT business strategy should ensure they are equipped to handle today’s cybersecurity risks. That in turn, will keep your business safer.

Here at Cyan Solutions, we can assist with the development of an IT strategy for your business, as well as the implementation. If you would like to find out more and speak to one of our experts contact us today.

Digital Transformation Of Social Housing – Top Five Trends

It is necessary for every business in every industry to adapt and change their business model to accommodate their customer’s changing behaviours and expectations, and housing associations are no exception. Digital technology is not only about conversions, transactions and growing revenue; it is vital for streamlining processes, optimisation and improving the customer experience.

As digital technologies take the world by storm, embracing these is vital for a housing association to grow and thrive. Some have already begun to tackle this challenge by transforming their IT infrastructures to keep up the high demands of today’s digital world.

Social housing is a rapidly changing industry with many housing associations struggling because of funding cuts, rent freezes and reduced investments. When it comes digitalisation, the social housing sector is not as far advanced as other industries, with many housing associations sceptical of investing in a digital transformation or not having the budget to do so.

However, this is slowly beginning to change as more and more housing associations are starting to see the benefits of going digital. Here are the top five trends we expect to see a rise with the digital transformation of social housing:

Five Digital Trends For Social Housing

 

1. A Remote Workforce

With the rise of cloud technologies, it is now possible for housing association teams to work remotely, allowing them to focus their time and energy on being out among their tenants. Having a digitally enabled and mobile workforce reduces the need for physical office locations within neighbourhoods.

Remote working allows workers to be more connected with those that need help the most. Less time will be spent on the mundane transactions, and more focus can be made on what really matters; enabling the organisation to become more human with greater face to face interactions.

2. Online Processes

Embracing advances in technology can reduce the amount of paperwork and manual processes required. Customer applications can be moved online which will not only provide a seamless and easy experience for customers but also reduce costs and response times compared with manual, offline applications.

Removing paperwork will free up resources for employees to focus their time and effort on other areas of the business. Moving transaction processes online also offers excellent cost savings for housing associations, with online payments being 20 times cheaper than phone transactions and an incredible 50 times cheaper than face to face.

3. Better Connected

The Internet of Things (IoT), connected devices and smart metres offer a great opportunity for housing associations to diversify their offerings. Embracing these innovative technologies within social housing can detect how people are using their accommodation and allow providers to alter services, such as heating, in real-time.

When used effectively, this technology can help housing associations to anticipate and handle issues faster, as well as be more proactive and strategic in commissioning repairs or replacements quicker in order to minimise costs and disruption.

4. Enhanced Customer Service

One of the most significant benefits that digitalisation has in the social housing sector is that customers will receive a better all-round service. Advice and help can be made available 24 hours a day, seven days a week with the help of a knowledge base and online account information that is always accessible.

The digital transformation of the housing industry will allow most actions to be completed online, meaning customers have no restrictions on when they can resolve their issues or speak with the correct department. Housing association workers will also be able to provide a better service to customers by spending more time out in their neighbourhoods offering a face to face service as opposed to stuck behind their computer screens.

5. Data Analysis and Record Keeping

In a world of GDPR, there are some real benefits to those within the social housing sector making a move to keep all customer data and records online as opposed to offline. A well planned online infrastructure can provide greater security for keeping online records safe and secure.

Utilising digital technologies for customer data is also an excellent opportunity for better data analysis and upkeep. Maintaining customer records online allows them to access and edit them as required, providing housing associations with current information that is easy and simple to manage.

How to embrace these digital trends

Embracing the digital transformation of social housing will bring significant efficiencies, financial stability and customer engagement. Currently, the social housing sector is being squeezed by reduced investments, funding cuts and rent freezes. At the same time, there is a growing demand from increasingly vulnerable and diverse citizens. Those housing associations that want to thrive rather than simply survive should be utilising and embracing digital solutions to transform their organisation for the better.

To help your housing organisation transform, speak to our IT specialists at Cyan Solutions. We can help your team to implement a digital strategy that can cut costs and increase the service experience.