Choosing IT for your business

A browser acts like a door to the internet – it’s what you go through to get to websites. When they’re created, websites are tested against different browsers to ensure compatibility, but you can find that some sites work better on some browsers than on others, so it’s worth having several. Leading browsers include Internet Explorer (IE), Chrome, Firefox, Maxthon, Safari, and Opera.

If you use webmail you don’t need any email software, but most businesses use client-based email, for which you need to have an application such as Microsoft Outlook, Thunderbird, MacMail, or Entourage.

The job of a firewall is to keep out programs (‘viruses’) that are designed to damage your computer or smartphone and attack your data. Operating systems like Windows have built-in firewalls but you can also install an additional software firewall. This can come as a part of an anti-virus software package.

Take careful notes during the meeting about what people like and don’t like about your idea. Afterwards, look for similarities and differences between what various people said. Reflect on these and then decide whether the feedback gives your idea the green light, requires you to modify it to some degree, or kills it off completely.

Anti-virus software works like a detective who searches out and removes viruses from your computers. Some anti-virus packages can be downloaded free from the internet, e.g. McAfee and AVG. Alternatively, you can pay for business versions of these and others, like Norton, Bitdefender, and Kaspersky. Make sure you get anti-virus protection for your mobile devices as well as your laptop and desktop computers.

To backup your data systematically, as opposed to just manually copying individual files, you’ll need backup software. Sometimes this comes with the device you’re backing-up onto, for example a portable hard drive. Backup software can enable you to do automatic or semi-automatic backups.

These are the core packages you need for everyday use, such as word processing, creating spreadsheets and presentation slides, etc. Microsoft has had a stranglehold on these with its MS Office suite which contains Word, Excel, PowerPoint and other products. But there are alternatives, such as FreeOffice, Libre Office and OpenOffice.  For Apple users there’s Pages for Mac.

Google Docs provides a suite of free word pressing, spreadsheet and presentation tools, via it’s cloud-based Google Drive. A key benefit of this software is the ability it provides to work collaboratively. You can share and edit documents with other people, regardless of whether they have a Google account, and wherever they are in the world.

Microsoft  Project is the daddy of project scheduling and management software, but there are viable alternatives such as Smartsheet, Omniplan, and WorkZone.

If you often need to make diagrams, flow charts, organisational charts, network diagrams, flowcharts, etc, you need a package like Microsoft Visio, SmartDraw, or Lucidchart.

Having software that enables you to raise invoices, update your books, check outstanding debtors, run payroll, calculate VAT, etc, can help you manage your finances more effectively and save time. Sage is the market leader in accounts software in the UK, but there are others such as Clear Books, FreeAgent and Xero.

If you have lots of customers, a customer relationship software (CRM) package will enable you create a database of contacts, track every interaction you have with each of them, analyse who’s spending most, forecast sales, and much more. Providers include Salesforce, Zoho, and Really Simple Systems.

If you’re the sort of person who relishes, doing things like thumbing through IT catalogues, getting under the hood of a computer, making different devices talking to each other, experimenting with internet settings, and putting new software through its paces, then perhaps in the early days of your business you can be your own IT support department.

Even in the early days, when you might have few items of hardware and software, and only basic internet requirements, you should have some sort of contingency plan to fall back on if things go wrong. This might just amount to having done some research to identify and made connections with some local IT services you can turn to. If you have a bigger business, your contingency plans need to be much more developed.

Buying hardware and software direct from manufacturers or distributors may well be cheaper than going through an IT supplier. But unless you’re sure that what you’re ordering will do what you need, it could be a false economy. For example do you really know the differences between a top-end domestic router and a low-end business version?

Most businesses will need help in setting up a network. For example, there are hundreds of different routers on the market – choosing the one that’s right for your business isn’t likely to be straightforward. Similarly, deciding whether you need a server or a lower spec, less expensive form of storage device is a critical business decision.

Scalability is hugely important with IT. It usually requires specialist knowledge to keep an eye on the future when selecting technical equipment. For example, the desktop server you’re thinking of getting may be perfectly adequate for your immediate needs. But will you be kicking yourself in a year’s time that you didn’t get a rack version that can be more easily accommodated with additional servers you need because of business expansion?

Scalability is hugely important with IT. It usually requires specialist knowledge to keep an eye on the future when selecting technical equipment. For example, the desktop server you’re thinking of getting may be perfectly adequate for your immediate needs. But will you be kicking yourself in a year’s time that you didn’t get a rack version that can be more easily accommodated with additional servers you need because of business expansion?

If, like most of us, you see IT as a means to an end – helping you do business – you probably need to get others involved, at least to some degree. You could come to an arrangement whereby you pay for IT support at a pre-agreed hourly rate, e.g. £60. Or you could pay a monthly retainer for an agreed number of hours of support.

Some smaller businesses take a blended approach to IT support. They meet basic needs internally, for example by training someone to carry out on-going maintenance – such as, creating space by defragmenting drives and archiving old material, carrying out basic computer hygiene, and ensuring documentation is kept up to date. External support is used for more complex issues, planning and purchasing decisions.

The advent of cloud computing has been seen as hugely beneficial for smaller businesses who have neither the resources to develop adequate in-house IT support, nor to hire-in external specialists. Instead of adding to their overheads by acquiring routers, servers, etc, many businesses are simply paying a monthly fee to a cloud provider and letting them take the strain of hardware maintenance, data security and software management.

Realistically, most smaller businesses will need to outsource, a proportion of their IT support, be this with a local supplier, or an online (cloud) hosting provider. Whoever you make arrangements with, ensure that you have a service level agreement (SLA) that defines key aspects such as uptime, response times, resolution times, and compensation for failure to achieve these targets.