The key objectives of any business are to deliver great products and services and to meet and exceed customer expectations to generate a profit. The role that an effective IT strategy plays in business cannot be overstated. Smooth and well-structured IT systems enable many business functions. These include accounting and finance, record-keeping, customer and supplier relationship management, internal and external communications, and inventory management. When technology and business are not aligned, that can reduce productivity and profitability. It may be time for you to take stock of your IT systems and strategies with the help of IT support experts in LA to make sure they are not hindering your progress.
The Cost of Misalignment
When your technology strategy and business objectives are not aligned, there are a number of risks and potential losses that can affect your business. Every modern business needs a strong cybersecurity policy, but if this is not in place, your business is highly susceptible to a cyber attack or other forms of a data breach. Your business also needs to be prepared for other eventualities and business disasters, including fires, natural disasters, and theft. In all these risks, the ability of your business to bounce back depends on what you have in place in terms of disaster preparedness.
The costs of the above-mentioned incidents can include loss of data depending on your data storage plan, compromising confidential client information, excessive downtime leading to lost sales, a breakdown in communications, lost revenue, and damage to your brand. With IT support in LA, you can mitigate all these risks with proper IT planning.
Disaster Recovery and Business Continuity Planning
For many businesses, disaster recovery and business continuity planning often take a backseat to ‘more profitable’ business activities. This should not be so, and as established above, ignoring these important steps can be costly to your business. With proper planning, you can make use of the different ways technology can help your business survive a disaster and maintain operations when things happen. Some of the steps revolve around routine and automated data backups to secure locations, training team members, and pre-testing plans to reduce downtime.
So, the question is: do you have the systems in place to protect your business data and limit downtime? If you need assistance with aligning your IT systems with your business, contact us at Advanced Networks. We work closely with local businesses to provide IT support in LA and a range of consulting and IT management services.
