In this almost entirely digital age we live in, there are very few businesses who can get away without having some sort of IT system setup. A networked system allows you to share information and resources faster than ever. It makes communication across different sections easier. It allows you to measure individual performance as well as managing the objectives of an entire group. These are just some of the features it can offer on top of all the industry specific tasks it can help you with. But there are a lot of businesses who rush into setting up an IT system without addressing some of their most basic needs from it. That’s what we’ll cover in this article.
Usability
Occasionally, you might need to rein your software developers and IT guys in. A big problem with a lot of software nowadays is the barriers to access suffered by the employees who have to use it. Think of the process you need to be done and the methods used to achieve it. Then simplify the tech approach as much as you can. Employees shouldn’t have to leaf through a manual the size of a tomb to understand the system. Tech is supposed to make it easier to do their work, not add more work on top of it. Measure how much information on the system your employees are able to retain. If you’re finding a significant portion of them are unable to use it, simplify it.
Reliability
When they have a much more tech literate approach than anyone else, it’s easy for software devs and in-house IT teams to take a few shortcuts. This means they can be more productive, but it can damage the system in the end. Or perhaps your team just doesn’t have the tools they need to clear all of the bugs out of the systems you’re using. In those cases, you need to look at resources like the 100+ best software testing tools. Make sure they’re not just testing when rolling out new versions of your software. Make sure that not a single bugfix or minor change goes without a round of testing.
We’d also recommend regression testing – this is one the best ways to test software as you release new features.
Security
The kind of IT systems that modern businesses use nowadays contain all sorts of data. From metrics measuring the productivity of employees to some of the most important plans and documents in the business. You might even have sheets of customer data that your business relies on. So you need to make sure they’re protected. Test your system with help from people like ethical hackers. Find your weak spots before anyone else does and fix them. Then make sure your employees aren’t leaving you vulnerable. Teach them proper password security and the dangers of leaving themselves logged in. You can mitigate the risk by assigning different levels of access to different employees, too.
Above all else, your system needs to be usable by the common employee, not just the few. It needs to be reliable and thoroughly tested through each and every change it undergoes. Finally, you need to make sure that all the data contained on it isn’t at risk. Once you have these three qualities nailed down, you’re on your way to a tech-savvy business.
