We’ve covered a lot of ground over the past several months, discussing many IT and telecom solutions available for smaller companies like yours. Along the way, you’ve probably immediately understood the value of certain solutions—others, not so much. The reason? Not every business needs every solution we’ve introduced. Thus, we thought it would be fitting to wrap up this series by offering some guidelines as to which solutions might work best for you, based on the size and type of business you run.
For Ultra-Small Businesses (1-3 employees), or for Conducting Business Remotely
If you’re a one-person operation or have barely enough employees to justify renting office space, it’s unlikely that you’ll need an expensive network security configuration—because you probably don’t really have a network to protect. Similarly, you’re not likely to need a complicated network scanning/printing or dedicated servers.
What you probably do need is an ensemble of cloud-based solutions that enable you to streamline many office functions without buying a lot of equipment. Cloud solutions also work great for businesses who do most of their work in the field and need access via laptops, tablets or smartphones. Take a look at cloud-based file servers, hosted exchange, backup services and e-fax solutions to see which of these will serve your needs.
For Slightly Larger Small Businesses (4-20 Employees)
At some point in your growth, cloud-based solutions alone may be insufficient for the functions of your business. When you have enough employees to occupy a small to mid-size office, you’ll probably need more on-site hardware configurations, and perhaps one or two servers to handle the data. To maximize your resources and minimize your costs, consider implementing network and/or desktop virtualization solutions, or implementing an integrated system like Windows Server 2016. You may also want to look at a modest configuration for network printing and faxing.
For “Larger” Small Businesses (up to 500 employees)
Yes, you still classify as a “small business” with 500 employees or less—but obviously you need a more substantial network to accommodate those numbers, including possibly outfitting your office with high-quality CAT-5 or CAT-6 wiring. Even so, you can still keep your costs for equipment and maintenance manageable by implementing network storage and virtualization, along with network-based printing/scanning and fax. To guard against hacking and cyberattacks, you’ll also want to implement one of the network security solutions we’ve discussed. Additionally, look for Hardware-as-a-Service solutions to minimize your costs even further.
Regardless of the size of your business or the IT solutions you need to run it, hiring a reliable IT service like Netserv can also keep your costs down as opposed to hiring full-time IT staff. To discuss your options, give us a call today.