You want your small business to grow in 2013. You have hopes for reaching new revenue records and adding to your staff. You would even love to add new locations. But how will you achieve this growth? You might think about taking a look at IT. Tackling the right tech projects can make your small business more efficient and provide your staff with the tools they need to snag more clients and sell more products. The following are three IT projects recommended by the Small Business Computing.com website that could increase your business’ bottom line this year.
OnsiteWi-Fi
Maybe you permit your employees to use their own tablets or laptop computers in the workplace. This doesn’t mean as much, though, if your office doesn’t have a Wi-Fi network. Small Business Computing.com points out that Wi-Fi networks today serve a multitude of devices, everything from tablets and smartphones to laptops, printers and cameras. If you would like your employees to be as effective as possible, whether they are exploring new business alternatives or sending proposals to potential clients, you need to provide them with access to a reliable Wi-Fi network. This can be a task, obviously, that is ideal for your business’ IT department.
Invest in Ultrabooks
Ultrabooks are impressive tools. They’re not as cumbersome as traditional laptops and much more powerful than Netbooks. They can also help your salesforce bring in more business: They are able to take their Ultrabooks home with them or on the road when they are traveling to work on reports and presentations. They can run multimedia presentations for potential customers. And Ultrabooks tend to be more affordable than ever today. If you want your staff to reach their full potential, equip them with Ultrabooks.
Wipe out Windows XP
Do you still have computers running the Windows XP ? That’s a mistake. As Small Business Computing.com highlights, Microsoft will no longer provide technical support for this operating system as of early April 2014. The company will also no longer distribute regular security updates for the software as of this time. Running Windows XP, then, means that not only will your employees be working on a decade-old operating system, but their computers will also be highly vulnerable to virus attacks. Make the smart move and upgrade to a more current Windows operating system.