Efficiency with IT Support Solutions.
Every business strives for it. Often, the backbone of creating efficiency is finding new, innovative ways of handling workplace tech issues that can slow an employee and organization down. IT Support Solutions are here to help.
In those glorious days of yesteryear – aka last year – when workers still embraced the novel practice of going into a workplace building five days a week, an in-house IT department usually handled all tech issues big and small to help streamline workflow.
Today, after the devastating strike of the COVID-19 virus, workplaces as we previously knew them have changed and transmogrified into a completely different kind of experience. At the same time, the old-fashioned notion of “working 9-to-5” has changed. Many workers in our new normal often create their own daily routines and time schedules that suit their work-at-home lifestyle with the constant interruption of family, pets and the lure of watching your new, favorite daytime soap opera.
So with the “always open” mentality in today’s workplace, there’s a need for secure and reliable access to your network day and night. Thus a managed service provider that is available 24/7 to handle sudden issues is essential to help streamline and support the workflow process.
Communication is key and companies are turning more and more to outsourced technical support, the clutter that can bog down a company’s productivity must be managed and improved. There are four simple, but vitally important areas that should be analyzed and streamlined to prevent frustrating workplace mistakes that slow the systems down:
1 – Cumbersome Email Management
2 – Duplicate Work
3 – Complex Data Management
4 – Switching Between Multiple Platforms
It goes without saying that the work from home environment is creating new problems and challenges for IT departments.
In today’s business environment, offices have to be flexible enough to support a variety of work styles. At the same time, your team needs to be looking for ways to streamline processes and drive efficiency. “Unfortunately, the solutions for accomplishing these goals don’t always overlap,” admits Chad Lauterbach, CEO of Los Angeles-based managed service provider, Be Structured . “That’s where more hands-on business IT support is often required, but your organization may not have the time, budget or skills for that at the moment.”
Fortunately, there are a variety of common technology problems that can be solved with simple IT solutions while:
- Supporting different work styles
- Streamlining processes
- Driving workplace efficiency
- The goal is to find solutions that are as cost-effective as possible.
IT Issues in Business
As with many major cities, Los Angeles IT support companies often over promise and under deliver. That’s why, you want to listen to those companies that keep it simple and speak in terms that you understand.
So, when it comes to streamlining systems and unclogging the bottleneck of everyday redundancies and anti-productive avenues, understand that these are some of the most common IT problems and technology issues that businesses encounter.
1 – Cumbersome Email Management
How much time does your team spend culling through their inboxes to figure out what’s worth keeping and what isn’t? From there, how much time do they spend trying to find a particular email after they’ve saved it? Without effective email management strategies, the emails only continue to pile up until your team falls further and further behind.
A recent study by the Association of Intelligent Information Management (AIIM) found that barely 10% of organizations have initiated and then finished an enterprise-wide email management initiative. That means they’re helping worker’s manage one of the most critical aspects of communication within the organization.
A good email management solution simplifies your team’s email platform. Whether you want to migrate to an online platform so emails are accessible from anywhere, or your team needs to tighten down spam filters, there is help.
Have you struggled with adding new users in the past? A good IT department will be able to add new accounts that same day, so new team members have the tools they need to succeed from day one.
Your tech team should even be able to quickly set up filters to immediately send specific emails to particular folders. That way, less of your team’s day can be spent digging through emails, and more time can be spent staying on task. Who doesn’t like showing up to work in the morning with a neat, tidy inbox to greet them?
2 – Duplicate Work
It’s estimated that the average employee spends about 2.5 hours—about 30% of each workday—re-creating or duplicating work that has already been performed. For a business with 100 employees, this inefficiency equates to roughly $2.5 million lost each year.
From our perspective, the simplest solution for mitigating the widespread problems of duplicating work is by migrating your operations to a cloud platform. By transitioning to the cloud, your team can work on the same concurrent database, edit documents in real time, and find exactly what they’re looking for. If the work has already been completed, they’ll be able to check its status, and you don’t have to worry about the documents getting lost on someone else’s desktop.
3 – Complex Data Management
Why do workers ultimately end up duplicating so much work? Most often, it’s because they can’t find what they’re looking for. They struggle with document requests and sharing, or they struggle with tracking document versions and revisions. Ultimately, these struggles make it easier for them to duplicate the work on their own than to get access to the work that’s already been done.
Your IT service company should specialize in simplifying even the most complex data management plans and platforms via IT Support Solutions. From creating more intuitive server file paths to streamlining document sharing, it’s important to make sure your team can always find what they’re looking for, so they never have to bother with duplicating work that’s already been completed.
With the ability to search for documents by using keywords while simultaneously parsing through a document’s internal content, your organization can take back control of data management. Plus, cloud-based operations make it easy to prioritize transparency and accountability because you can always see who’s working on what while they’re working.
4 – Switching Between Multiple Platforms
Does your team have to switch between multiple software platforms to complete tasks throughout the day? Chances are, there’s already a more efficient platform out there that can help them accomplish those same tasks without having to switch back and forth between windows.
Whether you’re looking for one software solution that can help you do it all, or you simply want a cloud-based project management platform, you should leverage all available options and deploy the solution that best aligns with your needs and goals. That way, when your team starts a task, all of the tools they need are already just a click away, and they’ll be able to get more done than ever before.
Office Relocation & Downsizing the Work Space
Another piece of collateral damage during the coronavirus is the actual office space. Many workers currently mandated to work from home will continue to do so and some offices are being shuttered completely.
As a result, many businesses no longer will have the need for that 25,000 square foot office and instead may want to keep a physical presence with smaller scale digs to save money on wasted space and an unnecessarily bloated lease.
Tackling the relocation services can be a tricky proposition and requires a skilled IT service that understands your employee bandwidth needs today and in the future.
Los Angeles IT Support Solutions
Is your office plagued by any of these common workplace problems? The IT experts at Be Structured are here to help. We work with businesses throughout the Los Angeles area to identify areas ripe for improvement, so they can take efficiency to the next level.