8 Ways to Avoid Costly IT Mistakes

We all make mistakes. Some are minor, such as misspelling a word. However IT mistakes number among the worst. They are costly and can be truly damaging to your business. Here are some suggestions to help avoid common mistakes, or stop them before they cost your business thousands of dollars.

Avoid making the same mistake twice.  Create a binder with your company/IT team procedures. Add solutions to past issues and new procedures, as they are created. Include an index for ease in locating solutions. Keeping this binder up-to-date is very important. Include all members of the company/IT team to ensure you cover all of your bases. Finally, make sure everybody has a current copy to ensure mistakes are never repeated!

Learn from other’s mistakes. Why make an IT mistake that someone else has already made? Communicate with other companies similar to yours. Join related LinkedIn groups or simply stay current in your IT news by reading articles.

Back-up your data. An estimated 60% of companies who have lost their data will close within 6 months of the disaster. Whether this is a natural disaster, hardware failure or virus, a company’s data shouldn’t be stored just locally. Having a back-up of your system could save you thousands of dollars.

Choose a reliable IT provider. Often, the most cost-effective way to get the quality service you need is to reach out to an IT provider like DPOE. Such providers can give you packaged or customized services to fit your needs. For example, DPOE provides three packages that will fit a range of needs from basic to all-inclusive.

Keep your data secure. Not only should your data be backed-up, it needs to be secure. Ensuring that your network is set up to protect against viruses, spam, malware and more should be a top priority for you and your IT provider.

Don’t fall behind; keep up with technology. Technology is constantly improving. How many times does a new computer or phone seem out of date in six months’ time? Don’t fall behind the times. Read recent articles and stay informed of updates. New technology makes work easier and data safer.

Train your personnel. Invest in training for employees, and avoid costly mistakes down the road. Following initial training, plan periodic refresher courses and continuing education options. Keep open lines of communication between employees and their supervisors. Answer questions before they become thousand dollar mistakes.

Communicate well, listen better. The phrase, “communication is the key,” is absolutely true.  Plan weekly or monthly meetings where open communication is encouraged. Projects and current work can be shared with others, along with struggles and obstacles that may impede completion of a project. It’s important to allow employees the chance to communicate their concerns and also ensure everyone is involved and working together to find a solution.

If you can follow these key steps, you can and will avoid costly mistakes that could put your business under. As Syrus once said, “From the errors of others, a wise man corrects his own.” We should always strive to learn from our mistakes, but we should continually try to avoid the mistake whenever possible.

What’s new in the industry? (Part 2 of 2)

Getting out from under the dark cloud

Many of us have heard the term, “the cloud.” But do you really know what it means? And if you do, do you really know how to utilize it? “The cloud,” is simply a location where you can store your data, whether it is spreadsheets, PDFs, photos, documents and more, in a secure place off-site. But is it right for your company?

Many of us place a little too much trust in our computers, thinking that because it is new or state-of-the-art it is unable to fail us or lose our data. However when a power surge hits, a virus gets into a system or a storm destroys a building, your computer may be defenseless. This is when you realize that storing your company’s files and confidential data locally was a bad idea. 93% of companies that lost their data center for 10 days or more due to a disaster, filed for bankruptcy within one year. With that said, many companies rely on backing up their data into a secure off-site location, which DPOE can provide you.

Not only will your data be safe and secure when you use DPOE as your cloud provider, you also have the ability to become more mobile. Storing data traditionally on a local computer means you have to be at that desk to access what you need. In today’s day and age you probably need that information when you are out meeting with clients or working remotely at a different location. The cloud provides you with that ability. But you don’t have to worry about security. Only the right security and administration clearance allows access to that data.

If you would like more information on cloud computing or any other product/service that DPOE offers, please visit us at http://www.dpoe.com or call us at 847-879-6400.