MSPNetworks Blog

Productivity is the lifeblood of any business, and understanding what it entails is paramount for every decision-maker in the corporate world. The concept of productivity is highly contextual, as no two businesses operate in the same way or are managed identically. Today, we present a set of key performance indicators (KPIs) that you need to consider. These twelve metrics will assist you in gauging whether your business is meeting productivity expectations or falling short.

Revenue and Sales

Keeping a close eye on your revenue and sales figures is a fundamental productivity gauge. Monitor trends, compare them with previous periods, and establish attainable sales targets.

Gross Profit Margin

This metric calculates the percentage of revenue that remains once you deduct the cost of goods sold (COGS). A higher gross profit margin signals superior productivity in generating profits from your core operations.

Net Profit Margin

Net profit margin measures the percentage of revenue remaining as profit after all expenses, including operating costs, taxes, and interest, have been subtracted. A higher net profit margin indicates a higher overall business efficiency.

Customer Acquisition Cost

Calculating the cost of acquiring a new customer is crucial. Divide your marketing and sales expenses by the number of new customers acquired. A lower CAC suggests improved productivity in gaining new customers.

Customer Lifetime Value

CLV determines the total revenue a customer is expected to generate during their tenure as a customer. It helps in evaluating the long-term productivity of your customer base.

Employee Productivity

Assess the productivity of your workforce by tracking metrics such as sales per employee, revenue per employee, or units produced per hour worked.

Inventory Turnover

The speed at which you sell your inventory is vital. Calculate this by dividing the cost of goods sold by the average inventory value. A higher turnover indicates efficient resource utilization and enhanced productivity.

Time Tracking

Monitor how employees allocate their time, and consider employing tools like time-tracking software to identify areas of inefficiency and optimize resource allocation.

Project and Task Completion Rates

Evaluating how well your team executes projects and meets deadlines is particularly critical for service-based businesses or those engaged in project-based work.

Cash Flow

Regularly monitor your cash flow to ensure you have sufficient liquidity to meet financial obligations. A positive cash flow is indicative of efficient financial management.

Employee Engagement and Satisfaction

Assess employee morale and satisfaction through surveys or feedback mechanisms. High employee engagement is often linked to increased productivity.

Customer Retention Rate

Calculate the percentage of customers who continue to do business with you over a specified period. A higher retention rate underscores the effectiveness of your customer relationship management.

By tailoring these metrics to align with your unique business objectives, you can gain a perspective that guides you in making necessary adjustments to meet your specific needs. Regularly reviewing these KPIs is essential for continuous improvement. By embracing data-driven decision making, you can empower your small business to enhance its overall performance. To discover more about how our services can assist you, don't hesitate to reach out to us at (516) 403-9001 today.

When it comes to your business’ continuity, you should know that even small issues pose a great threat—especially when they involve your business’ data. Let’s examine two situations where even small mistakes could lead to a cascade of problems that could leave your organization strapped for cash and struggling to stay alive.

Situation 1: Security Breaches

As far as security goes, it’s easy for something as simple as a phishing email to escalate into a serious problem. Imagine that someone clicks on a link in a phishing email and provides the website with their access credentials. The hacker then uses that information to log into your network and install something nefarious on your infrastructure, like ransomware. All of a sudden, you’re in a bind that asks you to either spend a ridiculous amount of money on the decryption key, or else your data will be leaked online.

Let’s say you do pay the ransom, but the hacker doesn’t provide the decryption key. Worse yet, they decide to sell the data anyway, offering other criminals access to it on the black market. And since your data is now effectively leaked online, you’re subject to compliance-related fines that are costing your business thousands of dollars.

Of course, this is all without getting into your business’ operations. During this entire process, your team cannot do their jobs, either because the data is locked down or unavailable. Worse yet, your clients find out about this, and you’re facing lawsuits and lost clientele. Good luck getting back into the game following a disaster like this when nobody trusts you with their sensitive data.

Situation 2: Disasters of Any Kind

Another example of a minor inconvenience turning into a massive problem is just about any disaster that involves your physical infrastructure. Imagine that one of the pipes in your office bathroom starts to leak. You don’t think anything of it and just place a bucket of water under the sink until you can get someone to take a look at it. Days, then weeks, then months go by. Eventually that leak develops into a serious problem, maybe during the winter when the pipes freeze.

Now imagine that your server room is directly underneath your now-broken pipes. How much water do you think a server unit can withstand?

A small problem turns into many larger (and preventable) ones. You have to fix up your physical infrastructure and potentially close your office during repairs. You have to replace technology that would otherwise be perfectly fine. You have to pay people for the time they spend waiting around for you to address the problem. And that’s not even mentioning the data lost as a result of the incident. Data backup and disaster recovery that can handle disasters both natural and manmade is vital to the continued success of any business.

Don’t Take Any Chances with Your Business’ Data

It doesn’t take a massive problem like a data breach or a natural disaster to threaten your organization’s continuity; if anything, small issues could escalate into large-scale problems when left unchecked. Make sure you’re taking precautionary measures with a managed service provider like MSPNetworks. We can ensure your network is protected and backed up, safe and ready to go for whenever life throws a wrench into your plans. Learn more by calling us today at (516) 403-9001.

Operational problems can not only stymie growth, they can trigger a lot of other issues that can be detrimental to the long term success and sustainability of a business. Unfortunately, it’s often a little difficult to see while you are in the heat of battle. Let’s take a look at some of the solutions that can solve some of the common operational problems that small businesses run into.

Communication and Collaboration

With businesses using remote work more often, it requires efficient communication and collaboration tools. Technologies like video conferencing, project management software, and cloud-based document sharing enhance teamwork and communication.

Inventory Management

Inventory management software and systems can help organizations optimize a lot of different things such as managing stock levels, reducing carrying costs, and preventing overstock through real-time tracking and demand forecasting.

Data Management

Data overload and disorganized information can be overwhelming for users to deal with. Technology, including databases, data analytics, and data visualization tools, can help manage and make sense of large volumes of data for better decision-making.

Supply Chain Management

Technology can improve supply chain visibility, traceability, and coordination. IoT sensors, blockchain, and supply chain management software can help reduce delays and improve overall efficiency.

Customer Service

Chatbots, AI-driven virtual assistants, and customer relationship management (CRM) systems enable businesses to provide better and more efficient customer service, including self-service options for customers.

Risk Management

Risk assessment and management tools, including predictive analytics and cybersecurity solutions, help organizations identify and mitigate risks more effectively.

Asset Management

Tracking and maintaining physical assets and equipment can be challenging. IoT-based asset tracking and maintenance systems provide real-time monitoring and predictive maintenance.

Project Management

Project management software and collaboration tools help plan, execute, and monitor projects more efficiently, keeping teams organized and on track.

Running a business can be difficult, but with technology, you can accomplish more and do it more efficiently. If you are searching for help in your efforts to improve efficiency, give the IT professionals at MSPNetworks a call today at (516) 403-9001.

Businesses today deal in contracts. Every agreement has a proverbial paper trail. Traditional paper-based contracts are not only time-consuming, but they also involve manual efforts and can be prone to errors. This is where eSignature tools come into play, offering numerous benefits that revolutionize the way we handle and sign documents. This week, we explore the key advantages of eSignature tools and how they can positively impact businesses of all sizes.

Enhanced Efficiency

eSignature tools eliminate the need for printing, scanning, and physically mailing documents, saving valuable time and resources. With just a few clicks, documents can be prepared, sent, and signed electronically, significantly reducing the turnaround time of legal agreements. Whether it's contracts, agreements, or invoices, eSignature tools streamline the entire signing process, enabling businesses to operate smoothly.

Cost Savings

By adopting eSignature tools, businesses can experience substantial cost savings. Traditional paper-based processes involve expenses more than paper and ink. With eSignature tools, any costs incurred by the organization are significantly reduced, as everything is handled digitally. 

Improved Accuracy and Security

Paper documents can easily be misplaced, damaged, or tampered with, leading to potential legal and financial risks. eSignature tools provide a secure and reliable way to handle sensitive information. They offer various security features such as encryption and authentication, ensuring the integrity and authenticity of signed documents. With eSignature tools, businesses can have peace of mind knowing that their documents are protected and legitimate.

Convenient Collaboration

eSignature tools facilitate seamless collaboration among multiple parties, regardless of their location. In a traditional signing process, coordinating meetings and obtaining physical signatures from all involved parties can be a logistical nightmare. By using eSignature tools, businesses can effortlessly collaborate with customers and employees, alike, enabling efficient document sharing, tracking, and signing. This seamless collaboration enhances communication and expedites decision-making processes.

Enhanced Customer Experience

Your customers expect prompt and hassle-free interactions. eSignature tools provide a convenient and efficient way for businesses to interact with their customers. By enabling customers to electronically sign documents from anywhere, at any time, businesses can deliver a seamless and personalized experience. This not only improves customer satisfaction but also strengthens the overall brand image.

eSignature tools offer a wide range of benefits that can transform the way businesses handle document workflows. If you would like to learn more about how to get eSignature tools that would allow you to conduct business digitally and gain all the benefits of doing so, give our IT experts a call today at (516) 403-9001.

We tend to focus a lot of our time on this blog talking about the technologies that businesses can (and usually should) use as a part of their operations. However, without clients or customers coming in, there’s only so much good that these technologies can do. That’s why we wanted to briefly touch on a few technologies that can help you attract more people to your business so that all the other IT solutions we recommend can live up to their potential.

What Tools Can Benefit My Business’ Marketing Efforts?

The real key to your marketing success, regardless of your industry, is data. Data is critical if you want to accurately and efficiently answer some of the most important questions that will help guide your business’ marketing efforts. These questions include things like:

• What challenges or problems does my business solve for my clientele?
• Who should my marketing efforts be targeting, or in other words, who am I talking to?
• How can I most effectively communicate the reasons my business is the best choice for my prospective clients to choose—what is it that they find important?
• Where can I most effectively reach the people I should be talking to?

Fortunately, there are IT tools available today to help you organize your data and better answer these questions.

Customer Relationship Management (CRM) Platforms Help You Understand and Meet Your Customers’ Expectations

With a CRM platform at your disposal, you’re able to much more efficiently track various data points about your clientele that can be used to generate valuable conclusions about all sorts of things, helping you attract, onboard, and retain loyal customers over time. From helping associate common purchases to identifying spikes in certain customer behaviors to providing insight into far too many correlating factors to list here, your CRM effectively takes your data and identifies ways that you can optimize your marketing to suit your customers’ needs and priorities.

Various Platforms Help You Automate Your Marketing Efforts

Have you ever been browsing a website for some product, and suddenly you find yourself receiving emails offering you deals on similar or related goods? This is made possible through the combined use of a CRM and an email marketing tool. By taking the insights compiled by your CRM, you can use the data generated and apply it to your marketing efforts through email. Let’s say you wanted to sell more doodads… by taking a list of interested prospects from your CRM, you could use email marketing software to create an automated campaign to help push these doodads to a list of interested contacts, with other lists created to help you sell widgets, thingamajigs, and whatever else you wish.

In addition to helping you with your more targeted efforts, other platforms simply make your marketing less time-consuming. Options exist that allow you to schedule social media posts in advance, saving you from having to commit time each and every day to coming up with and posting new content on your various social channels. Many of these platforms also offer features that give you (what else?) additional data points to help you make these efforts more effective over time, as well.

Analytics Platforms Add to the Data at Your Disposal

Finally, if you want to market your business as effectively as possible, it will be important to go back and reexamine how effective your assorted efforts were. Different analytics platforms exist to help you in this regard, condensing the data into a digestible form to better communicate your ultimate return on investment. From there, you can take advantage of this data to make improvements and try it all again.

Of Course, Your Operations Need to Live Up to Your Marketing Promises

That’s where we really come in. We’ll be there to ensure that your business’ essential technology is firing on all cylinders and you’re functionally capable of delivering on the promises your marketing makes. Give us a call at (516) 403-9001 to learn more about our managed IT services.

Every business is trying to do what they do with fewer interruptions and reduced costs. The more you can do with less, the more profitable your business can become. Building efficient processes is essential for the growing business, so this week will explore various strategies and practical tips to help you build more efficient processes.

Identify Bottlenecks

The first step towards building efficient processes is to identify bottlenecks. These are areas inside your business where there is a slowdown or obstruction that hinders productivity. By analyzing your processes and identifying bottlenecks, you can focus on improving those specific areas to enhance overall efficiency.

Streamline Workflow

Building a highly efficient workflow is crucial for building efficient processes. Start by mapping out your current workflow and identifying any unnecessary steps or redundancies. Look for ways to automate or eliminate these inefficiencies to streamline your processes. Utilizing technology and digital tools can significantly contribute to streamlining your workflow.

Communication is Key

Efficient processes rely on effective communication across all levels of an organization. Establish clear channels of communication and encourage transparency. Regular team meetings, status updates, and feedback sessions are essential to keep everyone informed and aligned. Effective communication reduces misunderstandings, minimizes delays, and enhances overall efficiency.

Invest in Employee Training and Development

Investing in the training and development of your employees can greatly contribute to building more efficient processes. Offer training programs that enhance their skills and knowledge, enabling them to perform tasks more effectively. Providing opportunities for personal and professional growth not only boosts employee morale but also empowers them to contribute to the organization's efficiency.

Keep Improving with Help from MSPNetworks

Our consultants work with all types of companies that are looking to use technology to create a more efficient business. If you have a good idea about how our experts can help you improve your workflow, or if you would like to have a conversation about how you can improve your business, give us a call today at (516) 403-9001.

Small manufacturers and distributors operate under a whole separate set of conditions than their larger competitors. This is because they don’t have the available capital to have any noticeable inefficiencies, and if they do have some, they are going to definitely affect their ability to compete. One solution that these organizations can lean on is a logistics platform. 

What Is Logistics Technology?

Logistics is the act of using information and technology to improve the efficiency of your business’ supply chain, procurement, and overall operational efficiency. With so much depending on a business’ ability to deliver products and services in real-time, having the data needed to make that a reality is important.

How do you go about doing this if you don’t have the massive capital to spend on a large logistics platform? It can be difficult to get started, but as the business world has shifted away from the station-to-station model and embraced a more mobile-centric model, logistics not only is extremely important, it is easier to come by than it once was. Let’s take a look at some of the options SMBs have when it comes to integrating logistics platforms into their business. 

Work with Logistic Vendors

One of the best ways to get a logistics platform for a small business is to partner with like-minded companies. Many businesses have the budget restrictions your small business has and since most logistics companies set rates based on volume, you may be priced out if you are only doing a small amount of business with them. Teaming up with another company could deliver the cost-effective price point that will allow you (and your partners) to meet both of your logistics needs. 

Try Logistics Services from Major Providers

Another great option for smaller businesses is to use a small business logistics service that is run by an enterprise logistics company. Nearly every single one of these companies offers solutions for small businesses. This includes UPS, FedEx, DSL, and more. You may end up paying less than you would if you choose to implement a standalone logistics service and you’ll have some of the best companies in the business backing you up.

Look for Industry-Specific Options

Depending on what your business does and what market you do business in, you may find hiring a logistic provider that dedicated themselves to your market to be the best option. Logistics providers that do business in a specific vertical will know the ins and outs of how to handle procurement, distribution, and all the other parts of logistics that can be difficult for a small business. 

Managing Your Supply Chain Doesn’t Need to Be Difficult

Regardless of what you choose to do about your supply chain management and logistics platform, there are many different solutions that cater to the small business. If you would like to have a conversation about getting a logistics platform for your business and what you need to do to operate more efficiently in the changing business world, give the IT professionals at MSPNetworks a call at (516) 403-9001.

While extremely useful, there are plenty of potential frustrations when using technology for your business. From extended downtime from broken technology to hackers trying to steal your data to tools that don’t really fit the specific needs of your business: managing a lot of technology can be difficult. In this blog, we are set to discuss three things you should focus on to get out in front of potential technology problems.

Choose the Right Tools

This can extend to hardware, but let’s focus on software for the time being. There are quite literally dozens of different applications to choose from for all different parts of your business. This can make it a little difficult to know exactly what to look for in the applications you ultimately will roll out for your employees. It is crucial that you choose the right software, and the right type of deployment, for your business’ specific needs. 

The thing that makes choosing software difficult is that there is no clear pathway to a rapid ROI based on the marketing materials put forth by the developers. Every piece of software developed for business use will claim to make your business more efficient, effective, and extensively better. Unfortunately, this isn’t always the case and a business can waste a lot of money on software that doesn’t do what it needs it to do. 

The key to finding the right software (and the right deployment method) for your business is to look at what needs to be done. What are your pain points? Can you find organizations that have similar pain points? This will help you identify whether or not the software you plan on rolling out will actually set you up for a solid return, or just months of headaches before you spend more money moving off of that platform. 

Patch and Update Systems

I don’t know how many times in our initial assessment with a prospective client that we’ve found blatant vulnerabilities in their computing systems because their software is not patched and updated. Remember, these systems run your business and with so much data being pushed through them, they need to have the proper security patches and updates in place so as to not become a major problem.

Nowadays, zero-day threats are pretty commonplace. That’s scary enough. By utilizing software that hasn’t been updated regularly you are just opening up your business to attack. A data breach is a complete nightmare for any organization, but if you are an SMB, it could be a situation that you can’t rebound from. Besides, a lot of times you may get some useful new features by updating away from old versions of software. Keeping software updated is a win-win.

Get Knowledge from Professionals

IT can be confusing. It is not only difficult to completely manage, but it can also be a giant headache if it isn’t deployed correctly. That’s why it is essential to get the proper perspective when looking to set up new technology, or just get the right technology for your business’ needs. Unfortunately, many SMBs simply don’t have the resources to have the in-house expertise needed to properly deploy the technology, maintain it, and manage all the things that go into keeping it running effectively. 

At MSPNetworks, our knowledgeable technicians have years of expertise, training, and experience integrating new technology into a business, effectively managing it, and keeping it maintained. If you would like to pick our experts’ brains about your business’ technology, give us a call at (516) 403-9001.

The reliance on remote workers has grown exponentially over the past couple of years, and presents businesses some stark challenges as well as some amazing opportunities. As a result, a lot of businesses have tried to find middle ground and started implementing a hybrid approach to their workforce. Let’s take a look at what hybrid work entails and how it can benefit your organization.

Let’s Start from the Beginning

Remote work was growing slowly for years, but as the COVID-19 pandemic hit, and government mandates were levied, a lot of businesses moved to remote work to try and sustain their operations. A lot of businesses did so reluctantly, with many more just choosing to shutter their business rather than take the risk. The organizations that did embrace the strategy still considered it a short-term solution to a major medical disaster. 

As the pandemic carried on, however, many businesses realized that it wasn’t going to be so simple for them to simply recall their workforce as many workers started looking for remote only work. For workers, it was everything that they thought they wanted, but they too were confronted with challenges. Sure, they eliminated the commute and the long hours at the office, but they then had to navigate the same expectations while working from the same place that they used to spend time unwinding from that same activity. 

As the threats of the pandemic wound down, a lot of companies wasted no time recalling their staff. This ended up backfiring for a lot of organizations as there were enough remote jobs available that paid competitive wages that lots of people quit their in-person jobs to continue to work remotely. This is now known as the Great Resignation. While some of this was just older workers taking early retirement, most of the people who quit did so to avoid going back to the grind.

A New Strategy

While many people quit due to employer demands, many people didn’t. They returned to the office, but were soon longing for the flexibility they had while working from home. This saw unprecedented losses of productivity and employers had to come up with another strategy to keep their workforce happy and effective. 

You see, business owners and employees both had ideas on how to make this work. For the business owners, they had invested in real estate, resources, and company culture to help their workers feel more at home in the office. A comfortable employee is a productive employee, after all; and employees immediately thought, “What’s more comfortable than being at home?”

This resulted in the hybrid compromise. Workers felt like they were much more productive working from home, but employers pointed out that their productivity isn’t as sustained as it is in the office. If somehow a business can leverage both strategies, they could get back on track. This is the hybrid approach. Effectively, employees are asked to come into the office a couple of days a week and work from home the others. Now it is quickly becoming standard operating procedure for businesses all over the world. 

The Hybrid Approach

If you are looking for a way to get the most out of your workers, going to a hybrid workplace is a great way to do it. It not only gives you (and your staff) the face time needed to promote a dedicated company culture, it also gives your staff the flexibility they need to not have to grind through every workday. 

Unfortunately, there are some considerations that have to be made to make this strategy work. Firstly, you have to understand that some of the biggest achievers you have in your business aren’t going to want to spend hours in your office in virtual meetings. This will just serve to push them away, so if you choose to implement this hybrid approach, consider these two factors:

Maintain Flexibility

You’ve spent a lot of time and effort on your company’s policy and procedure generation and a change to a hybrid workplace makes these obsolete. You need to pay attention to how your individual employees operate and manage them accordingly. After all, it is much easier to be more attentive to someone you trust’s needs than to find someone new. 

Make Sure People are Connected

One of the biggest problems with remote-only work is the tendency for people to get left behind. In order to make a hybrid system work you need to give your team the communications and collaboration tools they need to make your business a success. By making efforts to keep people connected, you can build relationships that will do nothing but benefit your business. 

The hybrid workplace also relies on technology and the experts at MSPNetworks can help. If you would like to learn more about how to get a hybrid workplace up and running, give us a call today at (516) 403-9001.

All successful businesses want to grow and better themselves, as growth is a direct indicator that you are doing something right, from providing better services to your customers or servicing more customers. If you’re not ready to adapt to this growth, you’re in for a difficult time. Here are three ways you can keep your business operating even when you’re experiencing unprecedented growth.

Prioritize Flexibility

If things progress too quickly with your business’ growth, then you’ll want to be prepared to adjust your strategy accordingly. Therefore, if you are expecting to experience growth, you’ll need to have the flexibility to adapt your practices in real time. You’ll also need to acquire additional resources, should the need arise, to scale services and allocate funds. For technology, the cloud can help you be particularly flexible, especially for controlling costs and resource access.

Keep Spending Under Control

It’s always stressful not knowing if your current level of growth is sustainable with your current staff, especially if you’re unsure if your budget can handle onboarding new employees. Payroll can be challenging, and if you aren’t careful, you could over-anticipate your staffing needs and break your budget. You can use technology to help control costs. For example, a CRM can be used to track customer interactions and collect valuable metrics from which you can make educated decisions.

Make Security Your Priority

With all of the exciting things going on with your business, it’s easy to put your blinders on and forget that the more your business grows, the more opportunities there are for security discrepancies to cause trouble for your company. Cybercriminals will generally pick easy targets, i.e. those that don’t properly protect themselves, so the more difficult it is for a hacker to infiltrate your systems, the less likely they will be to follow through on the plethora of tactics they could employ. Don’t put your business at risk by allowing it to grow so big you cannot protect it. Plan for growth and adjust your security measures in accordance to that growth.

MSPNetworks can help your business implement technology solutions designed to scale and grow alongside your business, no matter what your work might be. If you’re ready to start the conversation about your business’ technology infrastructure, then we’d be happy to help you learn more. To get started, contact us at (516) 403-9001 today.

Have you ever felt like there was simply too much to do and unless you light a fire under your butt, you have no chance to get it all done? What if this state is standard operating procedure? For many small business owners and employees, this is the reality of going to work every day. In this week’s blog we thought we would discuss three strategies that work to lighten the load when it seems like the to-do list is just too big.

Work When You Are Most Productive

When there is a lot to do, it is easy to get distracted trying to get everything done. One of the best ways to gain the focus needed to get this work done is to work when you work best. Different people are more productive at different times of the day. Scientifically this is called biorhythm.

A person’s biorhythm is separated into three parts. There is the physical cycle that measures energy levels, endurance, strength, and dexterity. The emotional cycle covers your emotions, stress levels and moods. The intellectual cycle measures things like decision making, problem solving, and your ability to concentrate. These three biorhythm cycles work on different timelines, but if you can pinpoint the maximum highs and lows, you can plan to work on tasks that take a certain skill at the time you can maximize your ability to complete them. 

Prioritize Importance of Tasks

One of the best things to do before you get down to business is to ensure that you do the most important tasks first. The simple reason for this is that when you set out, you don’t have the hours and hours of work under your belt that could kill your concentration. If you come at the most important parts of your day with the vigor you have when you first start it will certainly benefit your overall productivity. 

One very simple and effective way to prioritize tasks is through what is called the Eisenhower decision matrix. Named for former U.S. President and Commanding General of the Allied forces in World War II, the basic gist is that you prioritize tasks based on this criteria:

• Important
• Urgent
• Important and Urgent
• None of the Above

By focusing on the important and urgent tasks first, you will be able to get a good start whittling down the task list and do so while your brain is fresh. 

Stop Reacting to Everything

Distractions can hinder progress like nothing else; and, today, there are more distractions than ever. If you are facing a mountain of work and need to get things done, you will want to limit the amount you change what you are doing as to give your best attention to the thing you are working on at the time. Business may not allow you to simply ignore things while you are working, but it doesn’t have to keep you from being productive. 

The best way to accomplish this is to set aside time in the day to respond to situations. You can’t possibly do your best work if you are stopping mid-task just to answer questions and handle other situations. Your best bet is to set time out of your day where you turn your notifications off and utilize the do not disturb functions that you have available to you. The more you set your sights on accomplishing the planned tasks, the better you will perform. 

At MSPNetworks, we help businesses by helping reduce downtime and proactively keep an organization’s technology working effectively. Give our professional technicians a call today to get the technology your business needs to be its most productive.

Not everyone is cut out to be an entrepreneur, largely because there’s a lot that can pop up and cause problems that need to be addressed. Let’s discuss how successful business owners rally through tough times to help attain this kind of success.

Starting a business is a huge risk, which pretty much always means that there’s a lot of hope involved. Entrepreneurs move forward under the assumption that they can take something in the world and make it better or reinvent it entirely. As a result, there is the impression that a business owner will need to push their boundaries, or fail.

Of course, there’s taking risks, and then there’s being foolhardy. It’s all about balancing between playing it safe, and putting a little bit out on the line. Let’s discuss a few ways that you can make it easier to step out of your comfort zone a little.

Acquire Information

If you’re going to accomplish any of the goals you set for yourself and your business, you're going to need data. How does your business work? How is payroll handled? How are your business’ taxes paid? What are your acquisition and inventorying processes? Are you in a good relationship with the vendors you rely on? Are you in compliance with any and all applicable regulations?

The list of things you need to know to successfully open and operate a business, as they say, goes on and on.

Plus, this all gets more complicated as your business grows. Knowledge is indeed power, so make sure you are as knowledgeable about your business as possible.

Accept the Responsibilities of Your Role

While it would certainly be nice to just wake up one morning to find yourself the CEO of the most successful, expansive, and profitable business in history, that’s simply not how it works. If you are going to grow your business to any degree, you need to have the right goals in place, as well as the processes to allow you to strive towards these goals. Figure out how to work more efficiently, either by cutting through red tape or by adopting modern equipment that enables automation. Seek out new hires who have proven their worth in their previous positions. Will it take time and effort (and a bit of financial investment)? Sure, but everything that’s worth it tends to do so.

Furthermore, you need to be able to hold yourself accountable when things don’t go as planned. It can be too tempting to cast blame on anyone or anything else—an approach many less-than-admirable managers follow—so you need to commit to honest self-evaluation, regardless of whether your business’ efforts are trending up or down.

Maintain Forward Momentum

So, you’ve managed to expand your business’ comfort zone and embraced more opportunities as a result…time for a break, right?

Wrong.

Complacency is a dangerous thing, especially when you take into account how quickly things can change for a business. Millions of businesses suddenly had to make some very drastic changes a few years ago, and those that didn’t shut their doors after a while. While this wasn’t their fault, per se, their lack of preparedness and adaptability led to their failure.

As a business owner, you’re likely pretty used to pushing your own boundaries. Starting a business, or even taking up the mantle, is a real challenge. It takes grit, and that same grit is required if you plan to advance the company you are in charge of—and, as you’re the one in charge, it is your responsibility to make things better for your customers, employees, and vendors.

Yeah, building a business is hard, but we can at least make any IT concerns a lot easier. Reach out at (516) 403-9001 to talk to us about what we can do for you.

For all the benefits that remote work offers, it does come with some challenges. Fortunately, there are different strategies that can be applied to help overcome them. Let’s break down something called structured problem solving, and how equipping your team members appropriately can help you with it.

What is Structured Problem-Solving?

Many business problems can seem large and unassailable—but I know I don’t need to tell you this. However, when something becomes so nebulous that it doesn’t seem to be approachable, it can be paralyzing. Again, you quite probably already know this.

Structured problem-solving is a technique that can help you address these issues. Basically, by dividing the massive problem into its core parts, it makes a complex conundrum far simpler to handle in a sustainable way.

One widely-implemented method to help improve existing processes is known as DMAIC—short for Define, Measure, Analyze, Improve, and Control. This is a solid approach to take when problems are, as we’ve said, complex.

How Does DMAIC Work?

• Define which process it is that you are experiencing issues with, where your opportunities for improvement lie, and what goals you want to reach.
• Measure how well your process is performing.
• Analyze the process to identify where the shortcomings are.
• Improve upon the shortcomings by resolving what causes them.
• Control the newly devised process to ensure performance is maintained.

That’s pretty much it—and by applying this process to each variable, structured problem-solving can more or less be used to optimize any business process that you carry out.

One of Remote Work’s Biggest Problems: Communication

It’s not a secret that there’s a divide, both literal and figurative, between your in-house employees and those that are working remotely. When in the office, communications are almost laughably easy. Businesses will have multiple communication tools available, sure, but there’s also the fact that if two people in the office really needed to communicate, they could also just step aside and have a conversation.

Your remote employees don’t have that luxury. This creates an issue. So, following DMARC in this case, we can define the problem as the lack of communication that is shared between your employees. Likewise, we can define our goal as improving communication practices between employees in different locations. From there, we can measure how frequently your employees are communicating amongst the office as compared to in-house and remote.

Next, we should analyze where exactly this process—in this case, workplace communication—is failing. Are your employees up to speed on the tools available to them? Have you expressed the importance of maintaining communication between all coworkers, not just the ones in the office?

Once we’ve compiled this information, we come up with how to solve our challenges and put efforts in place to do so. Let’s say that we elect to hold training sessions to better introduce the team to the tools at their disposal, so there’s no longer ignorance to blame for a lack of communication. Our job is not done, however, as we then need to maintain some control over this revised process. Perhaps we then implement regular refresher training sessions to reinforce these behaviors over time…and that may or may not be enough to solve the communication issues. If so, great, and if not, the process repeats.

We Can Help Solve Problems on Your Behalf

There are bound to be enough issues in your business—in any business—for you to solve that removing any from your purview is sure to be beneficial. Working with us will remove your IT from the list of things you need to worry about, whether or not your team is working in-house, remotely, or a blend of the two. Give us a call at (516) 403-9001 to learn more about what we can do to simplify your daily processes through improved IT.

Business technology has grown so much over time that it’s practically unrecognizable compared to some of the original solutions. The Internet of Things has given businesses more opportunities to automate processes and build efficiency into their IT infrastructure, and in more ways than one. Let’s look at how businesses use the Internet of Things and what you might accomplish with it.

Mobile Productivity

When you implement an IoT policy, you need to have clear protocols in place for how smartphones and other smart devices will be governed by your network. Access control is important for any technology, especially remote access, and small businesses need to have solutions in place to manage it all. In other words, plan for mobility; worst case scenario, you plan for something that you use sparingly.

Inventory Processes

You’ll need a way to track inventory for your business, whether it’s for internal devices or external products that are hitting store shelves or consumer pockets. You’ll want to ensure that you have systems in place that can keep track of inventory processes so that you get an accurate count of your resources. This also goes for the products which go into making your products.

Staffing and Human Resources

The IoT has made it easier than ever before to stay in touch and connected with your consumer base, providing opportunities for automated chatbots to answer frequently asked questions for your neediest clients. Automation can also help you on the human resources front, whether it’s tracking time spent in the office or other important metrics.

Customer Expectation and Service Management

The Internet of Things makes great use of automated technology and service management, as it can be tied directly into customer relationship management, too. You can use the IoT to track consumer and business patterns so you can address their needs in a more timely and efficient manner. The IoT, therefore, provides more opportunities to generate value for your consumers, which inevitably leads to greater sales and satisfaction numbers.

Data Analysis and Management

The cream of the crop, so to speak, is data analysis and management. All of the numbers and statistics you use each and every day can be valuable, and the IoT gives you a mechanism to analyze and process it all. You can measure it all to make meaningful and lasting change for your business, whether it’s adding new products to your service offerings or making more intelligent decisions about how you run your company.

MSPNetworks can equip your business with the tools needed to make the most out of the IoT and other technology you might find in the modern office. To learn more, call us at (516) 403-9001 today.

Technology is only effective in the hands of the right—or, at least, well-trained—employees. To work toward this goal, you’ll have to ramp up your hiring processes to ensure you garner the interest of the right candidates for the jobs. Nowhere is this more true than for your IT department. Let’s go over how you can make your business an attractive employment option for skilled and innovative technicians.

Better Technology Means a More Attractive Workplace

No one wants to work for a business that refuses to upgrade its technology and makes do with substandard solutions—especially in today’s flexibility-minded era. If you want to attract and retain top talent, you’ll need to offer them options like the opportunity for remote work when necessary, or at least part of the time. Your IT department is going to want these capabilities anyway, after all, because they only serve to improve your business’ operations.

Technology Makes Recruitment Easier

Keep in mind that you’re not the only one out there looking for top talent. If you take too much time during the hiring and interviewing process, you might find yourself being ghosted by candidates who were contacted by other, faster organizations. Automation is one tool you can use to ensure that your candidate searches go as efficiently as possible. The right solution will make scheduling interviews and reviewing resumes much easier. This should not only help you attract the attention of top talent, but do so before the competition does, too.

Technology is Great for Professional Development and Education

The last piece of advice we want to leave you with is that you should always encourage your team to expand their current skill sets. Again, with IT requiring constant learning, and sometimes relearning, of various practices and principles, you’ll want to ensure that your team has time to pursue tasks and skills that enrich your business. Automation can free up more time for training by virtue of making tasks easier and less time-consuming. Plus, it also allows your team to be happier with the tasks they are charged with because they will be more impactful and meaningful than rote work. 

If you’re worried about attracting top IT talent, look no further than MSPNetworks. We can be your in-house IT department just as easily as an outsourced agency. To learn more, call us at (516) 403-9001.

We talk a lot about different types of technology, securing your technology and your accounts, and a lot of other technology-related issues on this blog, but because of the generalities of whatever technology (or strategy) we’ve chosen to write about that day, we never confront the thing that is most important to a business: How does any technology fit into what we do here? What value do we get from any type of technology? Today, we thought we’d talk a little bit about what you need to do to find the right technology for your business and how to come up with those decisions. 

Is Technology the Answer?

If we are asked by a new business to come up with a technology plan for their company, it may take a little bit of time but ultimately we could put together a comprehensive plan of technology and strategies to get that technology to work best for your organization. Similarly, if an established business came to us to get an assessment of what technology changes they would need to make to get the innovations built into new tools, we could tell them after some monitoring and an audit. 

The problem, however, is when a business comes to us with a plan of attack, investments made in technology, and operational problems abound. This is problematic because a business has already made the decisions they would need consulting on, and regardless of what we find and what tweaks to their operational and management procedures we suggest, they will need time to be able to implement them on the scale they would require, which typically would be some time away. 

The technology consultation process starts with questions; lots of questions.

You see, we can take a look at your infrastructure, your cache of software, your practices, policies, and procedures, and your budget; but we can’t know what your goals are unless you tell us. All that information goes into our opinion. You see, we may be the best IT consultants in New York, but we’re only as good as the information we have. 

Where we excel, and are a huge benefit for your business, is in the design, procurement, implementation, deployment, monitoring, and support of business technology. This brings us to the main benefit of hiring a managed IT services firm to assess and revamp your business’ technology: We have decades of in-house experience with the purchasing, setup, management, governance, and maintenance of the technology that businesses depend on to succeed. 

The truth is, our consultants and technicians can provide your decision makers with a comprehensive plan forward for your business technology; and, it may involve technologies you’ve never even considered. 

This is why you should give us a call at (516) 403-9001. We will work with you to find the technology that can help you generate the most revenue for management costs. If your plan is to turn a profit, technology can sure make a huge difference.

Manufacturers have long been at the forefront of technology. Today, this trend continues, but with new, innovative tools that are designed to make business more efficient and workers more productive. This technology has helped much of the manufacturing sector despite costs continually rising, supply chain interruptions, and other variables. Let’s take a look at some of the major technology changes that have fueled manufacturers during the past few years. 

Enhanced Digitalization

Manufacturers typically take materials and turn them into consumer goods or components for other manufacturers to use in their process. Many manufacturers have begun the process of digitization; meaning that they now are using digital systems to manage their business, interact with customers, and handle all the automation that has been tabbed to make their process more efficient. Most manufacturers have been using digital technology for quite some time, but some of the shifts that make these changes innovative include the leveraging of robots to do collaborative tasks.

Cobots

Artificial intelligence fuels this trend by using machines that are colloquially called “cobots”. Over 40% of manufacturers use robots and with smarter software the “cobots” can work alongside human workers rather than outright replacing them. This means these robots are much more affordable than traditional robots that typically replace human workers.

IoT

Another digital evolution for manufacturers comes from the Internet of Things. These sensors may not be built specifically for manufacturers, but they hold considerable value for them. The biggest benefit comes in the manner of predictive maintenance. Sensors can keep track of components and maintenance schedules, which can cut down on maintenance costs by a whopping 25 percent. If you consider that downtime can cost tens of thousands of dollars an hour, the more you can do to keep systems functioning as intended the better your business will be. 

Machine Vision

Another use of AI in manufacturing is called machine vision. It lets companies automate their quality control processes on each end of their business. Basically, it allows a manufacturer to run their operations faster than they would if they relied on humans to run point over their quality control. With machine vision detection, manufacturers can increase production and maintain a level of quality they expect from their process, a win-win for any manufacturer. 

Technology can help any type of business, but if you’re a manufacturer that could benefit from innovative new digital tools, reach out to the IT experts at MSPNetworks at (516) 403-9001 today.

It is not an exaggeration to refer to social media as a world-changing technology, impacting life in all manners—interpersonal, social, and professional. We wanted to focus on this last aspect and discuss how social media can assist a business in its operations.

First Off…Yes, Social Media is a Great Marketing Tool

We’d be remiss if we didn’t mention how social media can significantly help your business. Obviously, there are significant benefits to using these platforms to promote your business—building your brand, sharing your content, making use of the tools these platforms feature for advertising, and otherwise raising awareness of your business itself.

Of course, perhaps the most important of these benefits is that you can transition your social media followers into website visitors (provided your social media is used correctly, of course). This is really what you want, after all. Your business’ website should be the ultimate destination you’re pushing your prospects towards because that’s where most sales will be closed.

However, this is just the beginning of how social media can be of use to your organization.

Social Media is Also Useful for Other Business Needs, Too

There are a few business uses for social media that go beyond straightforward marketing.

Social Media Allows You to Network with Other Businesses and Business Owners

Word-of-mouth and personal recommendations are pretty powerful things… things that interacting with your fellow business owners on social media can help to encourage. Creating supportive relationships between businesses works the same way the tide does—it raises all ships. Not only can your new business relationships cultivate new opportunities themselves, they can draw the attention of other businesses while building your own organization’s credibility.

This is also closely related to another use that we will discuss in a moment.

Social Media Allows You to Reach Your Clients During a Crisis

While Murphy’s Law—”What can go wrong, will.”—may be a bit extreme, it is irresponsible to assume that nothing bad will ever happen to your business. A healthy social media network gives you an external means of keeping your clientele up to speed should you find yourself needing to lean on our business continuity or disaster recovery services.

Social Media Allows You to Learn More About Your Clients’ Needs

One of the greatest opportunities that a business’ social media provides is the opportunity to engage directly with the people that the business is trying to reach and serve. For example, if you want to know what the businesses you serve are looking for, social media allows you to just ask them directly.

Social Media Allows You to Serve and Support Your Clients in One More Way

Building off of that last point, a healthy social media strategy will also enable you to provide your clients with assistance from there. Not only do many people expect a business to be available on social media for support requests and general questions, they also expect these responses to be prompt. This gives you an additional outlet to provide value through, and helps you produce highly-visible social proof that can help convince other businesses to reach out and inquire about your services… after all, who wouldn’t want to work with a business that is so obviously available?

Social Media Allows You to Build the Reputation You Want to Have

Almost in summation, social media allows you to communicate with your clients and prospects in a way that speaks to them more directly, drawing them to your website to ensure that they receive your message. Social media also allows you to frame your business the way you want it to be perceived: helpful, approachable, and responsive.

We Can Give You the Technology to Live Up to the Promises You Make on Social Media

Trust MSPNetworks to provide and support the technology you need for your business to function and thrive. Reach out to us at (516) 403-9001 to find out more.

Social media is often seen as simply a consumer technology that has limited value to businesses, but you might be surprised by how much proper use of social media can impact it. Here are four benefits your business could potentially see from using social media websites and applications.

Increase Your Business’ Reach

Social media is an effective way to increase the scope of your business’ sales funnel, and considering that most social media accounts can be made for free, all you need to do is upkeep the account and post content to tap a market that might not be possible otherwise. It also helps you stay in touch with your consumer base. Interacting with them on a regular basis can prove beneficial to your continued growth.

Connect with Other Business Professionals

It’s sometimes about who you know in business, and the more people you know and are in contact with, the more opportunities you might have to grow. Social media accounts give your business the opportunity to connect with other business professionals and companies that could be valuable partners in the future.

Research Your Competitors

On a similar note, you can use social media to conduct market research and to see what your competitors are up to. Businesses are often quite vocal about exciting new initiatives they have planned, as they want to increase excitement for their goods and services. You can see which posts people are interacting with or interested in to gain insights into how you can conduct your own business.

Drive Traffic to Your Website

Again, the big benefit to social media is that you are increasing the accessibility of your goods and services by promoting them in another environment that is not your website. You can use social media to get consumers clicking on posts or links to your website where they can then see how great your mission, vision, products, and services are, further enticing them to buy into what you offer.

The Downside

One of the biggest downsides to social media is that you are effectively increasing the threat surface for your business by adding new accounts and avenues of attack to your infrastructure. Imagine if a hacker seized control of your social media accounts; they could ruin your reputation, use your account to spread malware or conduct phishing attacks, and so much more. You need to make sure that you are also keeping an eye on how your social media accounts are used, as improper use of them could create considerable trouble for your organization.

How does your business utilize social media? We’d love to hear from you and to hear some strategies you implement to be successful online. As always, if you want advice on how to secure your social media accounts to prevent hacking attempts and other disasters, be sure to contact us at (516) 403-9001.

Look, I’m not going to pretend that the executive level of any size of business doesn’t already have plenty on its plate. Having said that, it is important that a business’ top dogs are on the same page as its IT team members. Let’s run through the different points that this relationship should focus on for your operational benefit.

To begin, we’ll review the role that your IT should play in your workplace.

Technology Maintenance Goes Far Beyond Basic Tech Support

Despite all the effort we and other service providers like us put into spreading awareness about modern IT services, the first impression of an IT person—or even an IT department in its entirety—is largely similar to what it has been for decades:

• They’re someone you call when something breaks
• IT is ultimately a necessary business cost
• Communicating with your IT staff is more often than not a painful or drawn-out task

However, more modern methodologies have made these conceptions decidedly outdated. Today, your IT should be a legitimate business asset that brings increased value to your operations—something that is very possible with today’s solutions.

In addition, technology doesn’t need to break before IT gets involved. Nowadays, the industry is shifting its focus to something called proactive maintenance—basically, the idea that an ounce of prevention is worth a pound of cure, just applied to business technology.

Let me put it this way—let’s say you’re cooking. Does it make more sense to have all your ingredients out and prepared as you go, or to run back and forth between the pantry and your cooktop to hurriedly prep each ingredient as you need it? While the latter option might help you get some extra steps in, the first is clearly going to be more effective in your attempt to make Duck Pâté en Croûte.

Modern IT maintenance is the same. Instead of encountering an issue and scrambling to make the needed updates, repairs, or what-have-you before your operations are impacted too much, modern MSPs actively work to maintain your technology so that updates are applied in a timely manner, repairs are avoided through maintenance, and what-have-yous become you-don’t-have-tos.

Why It’s Crucial That IT and Management Collaborate

Nowadays, there are a lot of places where IT needs to be involved in the workplace and its processes. In addition to the aforementioned maintenance, IT plays various roles that management should be depending on, if they aren’t already. Management should be leaning on IT to help create a roadmap for their future business technology to follow, based on industry trends and how their particular business plans are taking shape.

This means you need to ensure that you are working with your IT resource—whether that’s an in-house department or an outsourced provider like MSPNetworks—to ensure that your goals are aligned with their priorities.

Working with us, you can be sure that they will be.

We work with our clients closely to ensure that their leadership is ready to not only use their technology, but thrive through its use. Interested in learning more about what we can offer you and your business’ IT? Give us a call at (516) 403-9001.