The COVID-19 pandemic rapidly changed the way people live and work. Seemingly in an instant, people were sent to work from home and connect with clients through digital means. Even as the pandemic begins to subside, the way small businesses (SMBs) complete their work has changed forever. The post-pandemic world of business will look a lot different than the pre-pandemic world. Luckily, SMBs are agile and creative. Many businesses are seeing success as they adapt and chart their own path forward.
Here are some ways managed IT services are assisting SMBs with their transition to the new way of doing business.
Enabling the Workforce of the Future
There was a time for a few months in 2020 when working from home was a nice, temporary novelty. Today, working from home is an ongoing reality for many businesses and their employees. Nearly 50% of employees say they like to work from home sometimes while over a quarter of employees want to work from home permanently. Many businesses have obliged with full work from home opportunities for staff or a hybrid schedule.
Of course, this rapid transition from working in an office to working from home poses many challenges. Managed IT services give SMBs the access to the tools and expertise they need to rapidly adapt to changing work environments. For example, cloud-based storage gives authorized users access to data and files from any connected device regardless of where they’re located. This enables employees to continue doing their best work while saving time on commuting, saving money on fuel, and getting to enjoy a homemade meal every lunch break.
Putting Safety First to Stay Open
In order to keep employees and customers safe, businesses rapidly had to adapt their spaces to reflect the reality of what was happening on the ground. It is now common to find plexiglass barriers separating staff and customers, decals on the floor indicating proper distancing, and many more safety precautions in place. While it was a difficult transition to make for many given the uncertainty of the pandemic occurring in the background, it’s almost unimaginable now to walk into a place of business without seeing any of the above features. That just goes to show how quickly entrepreneurs and managers of SMBs are able to adapt to a rapidly changing world.
Technology also played a role in helping to keep people healthy. With handheld temperature scanners as well as fixtures that can scan the temperature of people entering the premises, SMBs were able to identify potential illnesses before they entered the place of business. These efforts helped prevent countless potential outbreaks. Plus, now that businesses are equipped with these tools, they can continue using them to keep everyone safe and healthy. This could include, for example, being able to identify flu cases and stop the potential spread of cases that could cause several staff to be off work or infect a customer.
Automate Tasks, Enable Employees
As technology began to play an even larger role in businesses across the country, managed IT services were available to help businesses harness the power of the hardware and software available in order to further enable their employees to be more efficient and focused. Solutions like document management which allow for easy, seamless workflow processes took the time-consuming and menial tasks from employees and automated them. This allowed staff to focus more on the work that matters rather than the tasks that sap time out of their day.
With managed IT services, employees could also focus on their work and stop focusing on tech issues. Everything from managed updates to proactive security assessments were completed behind the scenes. This meant the best salesperson could spend more time on sales and less time on troubleshooting his own software and devices. It also gives in-house IT staff more time to help with pressing issues on-the-ground while other tasks are offloaded to a managed IT support team.
Stay Ahead of the Trends
While the restrictions put in place during COVID-19 are being removed; businesses are never going to stop looking for ways to adapt and stay competitive in a constantly changing environment. Many of the changes that came about as a result of the pandemic are here to stay.
To stay ahead of the trends and remain a leader in the business world, technology is going to play a major role in any business. Learn more about the wide range of managed IT solutions available. Contact the small business experts today at CDS Office Technologies.
