Small businesses must focus & upgrade tech infrastructure. Here’s why

Powered by

Since the onset of the COVID-19 pandemic, businesses of all sizes have had to adopt remote working in some form or the other to maintain the continuity of their operations.

And while large corporations have rallied their vast resources to ramp up their tech infrastructure and ensure higher productivity of remote-working employees, many small businesses struggle to put together remote working solutions that suit them the best. Often, small business owners lack the knowledge and resources to identify and adopt what’s best for them from the ocean of solutions available in today’s times.

While they have to tap all revenue streams just to survive such challenging times, they must also focus on hardware and software security, adopt tools that promote real-time communication and boost productivity.

ALSO READ

Time’s right for MSMEs to lean in & lead workplace transformations with remote working: Lenovo

Secure systems are crucial to securing business

Organisations have a deep-seated need to protect their data, their resources, their assets, and their ongoing operations. The consequences of a data breach can lead to data thefts, regulatory fines, and loss of customer confidence.

Since the stringent General Data Protection Regulations (GDPR) were implemented in the European Union in May 2018, other nations have been following suit, ensuring severe repercussions of any data breach.

Remote working entails employees transmitting data onto public networks. Even before the onset of the pandemic, sophisticated security threats prompted the need for a comprehensive approach to keep business devices, networks, and data protected.

Ensuring user access control, port and physical protection and data protection are the three pillars of maintaining security. And, Lenovo has a rich legacy of over three decades of delivering powerful, cutting-edge IT products, solutions, and services to consumers, small and medium businesses, and enterprises with a 360° approach that covers all these three key aspects.

Lenovo offers a variety of desktops and laptops that cover these security areas with features such as cable lock, smart USB port protection, a trusted platform module for data encryption, BIOS-based USB smart protection, Chassis lock, Touch style fingerprint reader on the palm rest, power-on, hard disk and supervisor password, multifactor authentication and much more.

Boosting productivity with the right solutions and infrastructure

In a world where the customer is king, and digital transformation is the name of the game, any productivity and efficiency gains are vital for an organisation. The transition to remote working makes it essential to have a modern and most updated ecosystem of devices, peripherals, and software solutions that complement the varied job roles to ensure productivity.

Technology can enable this by ensuring that every endpoint device that an employee owns can “split” its resources across often processor-demanding applications at the same time, and facilitating smooth transitions between them.

Here, Lenovo’s modern devices stand to the test as they are light, durable, powerful, secure, and agile. A wide range of device multipliers expand system capabilities for mobile users with USB-A, USB-C, and Thunderbolt™ 3 ports that boost on-the-go productivity.

Lenovo’s innovative accessories and monitors with better connectivity and flexibility also play an important role in maximising productivity. The wireless keyboard and mouse combo, I/O expansion box, and Tiny-in-One monitor stand enable a superior computing experience.

For those who regularly engage with sophisticated productivity tools, Leonovo’s ThinkVision P Series provides professional-level performance, while Lenovo’s ThinkPad docking solutions and device multipliers augment the productivity experienced on cutting edge workstations.

Another productivity enabler is the use of peripherals such as mobile conference solutions. The ability to seamlessly hold a voice conversation with somebody without needing to use your hands (for example, to hold a phone) can improve productivity by up to 43 percent.

To that end, Lenovo’s personal conferencing solutions enable easy collaboration whether in the office or on-the-go. Its portfolio of smart meeting room solutions eliminates tech-related delays before meetings and ensures easy participation. This enables employees to collaborate better and effectively bring ideas to the table.

Towards a new age of workplace productivity

It is of utmost importance in the current business environment to have systems in place that are secure, collaborative and efficient. With close to three decades of experience in understanding and catering to the needs of enterprises of all sizes, Lenovo’s devices and solutions can help enable workforce and business innovation, and ultimately drive relevance and profitability with devices that have the maximum uptime.

On the software side, cloud computing is fast becoming one of the key methods to streamline processes and increase output among small businesses by making collaboration easier and more effective. Sync and share tools enable teams to work remotely and securely from the same version of documents – a much more efficient process than using email. Thus, staff can work anywhere, anytime from any device, and boost productivity.

To that end, Leonovo’s validated reference architectures allow businesses to access most core platforms such as Windows Azure, VMware and RedHat that can help scale computing without engaging in humongous capital expenditures.

Another one of Lenovo’s cloud services is the Deployment Services, which help small businesses simplify the deployment of cloud apps like ERP, CRM, accounting software and Office tools to accelerate productivity.

Through Deployment Services, Lenovo experts unpack and configure systems, update firmware, and conduct final operation verification testing of hardware, ensuring that small businesses manage their IT operations intelligently and cost-effectively

With Lenovo Managed Services, businesses can rely on experts for continuous system monitoring and problem resolution for both hardware and software. They can also bank on Lenovo to fully coordinate hardware and software resources, with end-to-end support so that the prime focus can be on business needs, and ushering in a new age of workplace productivity.