You Gain Major Benefits from Our Extensive Experience
In business, experience is always useful. Nowhere is that more apparent than when managing your organization’s IT infrastructure. The problem is that acquiring the expertise to do just that can be quite confusing for most business owners. Today, we’ll talk about how technology management experience can produce better business from one end to the other.
Value of Modern IT
For any-sized business, the use of technology can present huge steps forward in terms of productivity and efficiency. For the business that actively tries to find the right technology to aid its operations, it can be maddening and frustrating. This is because there is seemingly an endless amount of options available, all of which promise to help build a better business. The thing is, not all technology that works for one business, works for another.
The technology consultants at Point North Networks work daily with Minnesota businesses to help them get the technology to drive their business initiatives forward. This isn’t just about getting computers set up, it’s about getting the tools into a business that can work to make productivity easier, automate menial tasks, and build an efficient workforce that doesn’t have to struggle to collaborate.
The value of modern IT can be immeasurable if it is implemented and supported correctly. That’s why having experienced technicians that understand both the fundamentals of supporting business technology and how it works to improve a business’ operational effectiveness is important.
Experience With Business Technology
As far as delivering the right technology, technicians with experience not only understand how a business can utilize certain solutions to solve operational problems, but they also understand the potential value it has to a business as a whole. The procurement of new technology can be difficult for people that don’t know exactly what is needed to accomplish organizational goals.
Since most businesses have to be diligent about choosing prudent technology investments, having experienced perspectives is a great benefit that can go beyond dollars and cents; it can create environments where workers can be the most productive and allow business leaders to build processes that can bring a level of consistency that isn’t found in businesses that don’t have expert perspective driving their IT investments.
In business today there are a lot of considerations to be made about IT. Does your business use remote workers? Does it have systems that need more security or more transparency? Most important of all, can it build the dynamic IT infrastructure you need to forge ahead confidently? With Point North Networks consultants working to help build your business’ technology, you can gain the peace of mind needed to know that you are getting the IT you need affordably. This makes for a more reliable technology environment.
Experience with Support
Getting the right technology is only half the battle. If it isn’t supported, managed, and maintained correctly, you might as well flush money down the toilet. The key to a reliable IT infrastructure is expert support. This means experienced IT technicians that know what they are looking for/at and that are able to reliably keep your technology up and running efficiently and securely.
Today, there are more threats than ever, and that is before you consider that technology breaks. To ensure that your business doesn’t grind to a halt with technology problems, having experienced IT experts actively working on keeping your IT running effectively is more important than ever. Of course, you can hire IT staff to accomplish this, but if your business can’t afford the thousands of dollars a month that a professional IT technician would command, considering a managed service provider like Point North Networks is your best option. Not only can you have experienced IT technicians at the ready if something happens, they work proactively to ensure that you don’t have to deal with productivity-sapping downtime.
Business IT can get complicated, but at Point North Networks we pride ourselves on being a solution to our clients’ IT problems, not another problem. Give us a call at 651-234-0895 today to talk to one of our consultants about how we can help you get the most out of your business.
Top 10 Reasons to back up data
A good business owner envisions the future and what it could bring about. You may have already devoted a considerable amount of time to the good things that could happen, but how often do you picture the bad?
If you don’t imagine the worst-case scenario, you could be putting your business on the line. Are you prepared to deal with data loss or data corruption?
Data backup and disaster recovery are critical components of any successful business. Most companies rely on data in at least some capacity, so without it, operations can be stymied significantly. This is reason enough for you to have backup data. However, there are several other reasons for data backups. Here are the most important ones.
Why You Should Have a Data Backup Plan
Data backup is extremely important in today’s digital world where cyber threats are increasingly becoming a menace. As Morgan Stanley describes it, “Backing up data refers to the process of making a copy of the information typically stored on your desktop or laptop computer, smartphone or tablet.”
Loss of data could happen due to human error, accidental deletion (68% of businesses report this as the main reason for data loss), natural disasters, malicious attacks, external hard drive failure or another hardware failure, or stolen or lost devices. Data backups on a regular basis are one of the best practices all businesses must follow.
As the IT world evolves, so does the need to have backups on different devices including mobile devices or your desktop system.
Prevention from data loss
Preventing loss of data is the main reason to have a data backup. Having data backups will ensure that you are able to recover your lost data easily and continue your business operations. As most businesses now operate digitally, the importance of data has never been so crucial. And making sure that have a proper data backup plan will only ensure that your business doesn’t face any obstacles.
Competitive edge
In case of data loss, your business might come to a standstill and other, more prepared businesses will be able to take advantage of this situation. However, if you have data backups, you will be able to continue with your business as usual.
Reduced downtime
Research shows that 42% of companies faced major downtime due to loss of data. Having data backup will reduce the time spent looking for lost information. By creating a proper backup system, you will ensure that your productivity is not hampered.
A must for a disaster recovery plan
A disaster recovery plan is a set of policies and procedures you follow during a disaster. Data backup is one of the most important components of this plan as it allows businesses to get back to work without disruptions.
Having an archive
Many businesses rely on past data for present and future operations. Data backup enables them to create an archive that can be dug into to find important data whenever the need arises.
Fast recovery
Cyber threats like malicious email links, etc can result in data loss. Data backup will ensure that you can restore things before all is lost.
Reduce unwanted work
Reports indicate that more than 41% of companies face reduced productivity due to data inaccessibility. Data backups mean you can quickly find deleted files and reduce the unwanted work of searching for data haphazardly.
Better auditing
Audits are an important part of every business life cycle. With proper data backup, you can ensure that all financial, accounting or other regulatory information is available readily, making audits a breeze.
Annual reporting
Annual reports require data for the entire year or even more. Data backup will ensure that you have access to it, helping you create more detailed annual reports.
Peace of mind
With proper data backup, you can enjoy peace of mind as you will not have to worry about loss of data and how you will tackle the situation.
Disaster Recovery Process
The process of such recovery is just as important, as without it, you cannot get back into business following the loss of business-critical data. You must enable actions like incremental backup and differential backup to ensure things are fine.
This is what enables your business to maintain operations even in the face of severe disasters, like a hacking incident or a natural disaster.
While having data backup is helpful, you still need a method that ensures a quick recovery time to avoid downtime. You might consider concepts like data backup, operations, workforce longevity, and alternative working conditions when putting together your recovery plan, whether the disaster is from nature or your fellow humankind.
Your business should implement a cloud-based data backup system for increased storage capacity and a recovery tool that takes periodic snapshots of your data. Storing data on Cloud will allow you to accomplish the following:
- Data backup can be taken throughout the workday rather than only once at the end of the day.
- Cloud makes backups accessible at a moment’s notice, something which is incredibly valuable when recovering from a disaster.
When your company is under pressure from a disaster, time is critical. You don’t want to be worrying about how and when to restore your data. It helps to just have the cloud take care of these processes for you.
Other Data backup best practices
Now that you are familiar with the importance of data backup, let’s look at the ones that will allow you to save your data better and provide you with a competitive advantage.
- Always take full backups of your data
- Keep the backup of original data easily accessible
- Follow the 3-2-1 rule
- Make storing backup information on the cloud or Google Drive a habit
- Keep a check on your stored data and the last full backup
- Perform backups – full backups, differential backups and incremental backups regularly
How Point North Can Help with Backups
Start taking your data backup and disaster recovery seriously before you suffer from a situation that could easily have been prevented. Alternatively, partner with a data backup solution provider like Point North.
We enable a host of services to both large and small businesses including incremental backups, differential backups, backup services, saving backups, Cloud Services like cloud storage, full backup services, regular backups, and a lot more.
To learn more about how you can take advantage of enterprise-level data backup and disaster recovery solutions, reach out to Point North Networks, Inc., at 651-234-0895.
Frequently Asked Questions About Data Backup
Why is data backup important?
Businesses today deal with heaps of data. Most of their operations and a majority of their success depend on the data they store. If this data is lost, businesses will get crippled and will take a long time to get back to action. However, data backup can prevent this situation and have them back running in case of a loss of data.
How data backup helps businesses?
It is a process that gives businesses a competitive advantage, reduces downtime, provides an archive, allows faster recovery, reduces workload in finding the right data, enables better auditing and annual reporting and gives absolute peace of mind.
Why is it a good idea to hire a data backup service provider?
Dealing with data is a critical function and you just can’t afford to go wrong there. Having a professional partner will ensure that your data is stored safely on Cloud or remote location and that the process of data storing is followed meticulously.
Tighten Up Your Network Security with Superior Access Control
How often do you find yourself stressing out about who has access to which data or internal resources on your company network? What about who has access to open the front door of your office or who has access to important physical resources within your building? Ensuring the security of your business’ assets is critical, and access control tools can help your company ensure that only authorized individuals have access to specific parts of your organization’s infrastructure, be it physical or digital.
What is Access Control?
Access control is, at its core, a way to restrict access to specific resources within your virtual private networks based on user or role. It generally involves the authorization of some sort and demands that the user verify their identity before being granted access to said resources. Think about it like asking the wireless network for permission before being allowed onto it; once the wireless network or infrastructure has confirmed the identity of the individual, they will have access to the resources.
Access control can be broken up into two groups: digital or cyber access control and physical access control. We’ll go over some of the benefits of both types of access control and how they can help your business keep itself safe.
Cyber Access Control
Your business undoubtedly has data on its infrastructure that should only be accessed by specific individuals and no one else. This might include sensitive employee data, applications or resources, financial records, and so on.
You should be limiting access to important information like this specifically because the fewer people who have access to it, the less likely it will be compromised. Through access control tools, you can control which employees have access to specific data, applications, or resources on your network, based on their role within your organization.
Physical Access Control
Sometimes you want to keep certain users out of specific parts of your office. This is where physical access control comes into play. Physical access control might involve key cards, code-guarded doors, and even biometric scanners, with the intention of securing various parts of your office.
One example of how you might use it is if you have sensitive records stored in a specific part of your office. You might keep that door locked, only accessible to specific individuals within your organization. Another example might be an access gate open only to employees of your business.
Tips to Maximizing Network Security
All businesses, irrespective of their size, can become targets of hacking and other cyber attacks. Automated attacks, botnets, etc are simply looking at the loopholes in network security (both wireless networks and your entire network) to exploit and complete their advances. This is why it is important to tighten your network security system to the maximum potential and using Superior Access Control is a great way of doing so.
The Cambridge College of Healthcare and Technology defines the importance of network security like this, “Network security is important for a number of reasons. For example, network security helps organizations prevent costly data breaches that can result in millions of lost revenue. In fact, the average cost of a serious data breach is $4.24 million, according to a report by IBM.”
It adds, “Network security also helps prevent the dangerous sharing of consumer data such as social security numbers, private health information and financial information. Cybercriminals can use this information to assume someone else’s identity which has many negative consequences.”
Such cyber threats are not limited to just small businesses, even the biggest conglomerates have fallen prey to data breaches. Companies like Yahoo, Alibaba, LinkedIn, Facebook, Marriot International Hotels, MySpace, Adobe, etc have faced data breaches that amounted to the loss of data of millions of users.
Here are some steps that your security team can follow to mitigate security risks:
Get a firewall
The first step to increase your cybersecurity is by getting a firewall. Hackers usually look for network system vulnerabilities by scanning open ports. These ports are a source through which your business network connects with the wider world of the web. Hackers attack such ports to gain access and control over your systems. A firewall locks down these ports and make them more secure.
Firewalls are the first line of defence that identifies which ports should be open and which ones should remain guarded.
These firewalls can be installed on mobile devices as well as desktop computers to ensure that every device is safe. However, having a firewall at the primary entry to your company network system is necessary despite all your devices having individual firewalls. This will ensure the utmost security of your network, data and other information.
Make your firewall password protected
Cybersecurity is such an important issue in today’s digital world that simply having a firewall is not enough. You must password-secure it to enhance security and allow only authorized users to reach it. Never retain your default firewall password as it is quite easy for hackers to identify them.
They can identify the brand and model name of a network device and guess a password. Alternatively, they can Google and obtain the user manual to find out the default username and password. Setting a password is the most basic step towards better cybersecurity.
Keep your router firmware updated
Outdated router or firewall firmware is yet another common cybersecurity facet that you must secure. Typically, small business networks should be updated for bug fixes and security. Your default router or firewall might become outdated within a year, increasing the risks. So, it is important to keep them updated for enhanced security.
Most routers come with a dialogue box that alerts you if the system is going to get outdated. You can check for new firmware versions from the administration menu. If these auto-update alerts are not available, you can find the version number from the router admin screen and contact your vendor site to provide you with the latest version.
Create strong passwords
Creating strong passwords is the most important and easiest way to secure your network and enhance cybersecurity. The more complex and strong your passwords, the more challenging it will be for the hackers to crack them.
For your passwords to be stronger, they must be longer and more complex. Using password best practices like including at least 8 characters with a combination of numbers, uppercase and lowercase letters, and computer symbols. Never use the same password twice.
Keep your apps, browsers and OS updated
Installing new updates on your operating system is one of the top cybersecurity best practices. Most such software updates add better security fixes, making it more difficult for hackers to access and exploit your information and data. The same is true for your apps.
Browser updates are also important as every new update makes your browser more secure in cybersecurity. Review your browser security settings regularly apart from installing all new updates.
Use two-way authentication and encryption
More always merrier when it comes to cybersecurity. While passwords act as the first line of defense for your network, numerical codes that are sent to your mobile device or email address should also be added as a second line of defence.
Encryption is another form of cybersecurity best practices. Encryptions protect cyber criminals from gaining access to documents and files even if they manage to break through your security network. You can encrypt Windows and Mac address, flash drives, etc for enhanced cybersecurity and better secure your network.
Block pings and pop-ups
Most routers and firewalls come with several settings that let you determine the kind of visibility your router and firewall will be to the world outside. Ping requests and pop-ups are the most common way hackers attack you. If a network responds to such requests, then it becomes easy for hackers to enter the network. You can use a virtual private network to do so.
You can set your security settings in such a way that your router or network doesn’t respond to ping requests. You can do this through the administration menu.
Frequently asked questions about tightening Network Security with Superior Access Control
Why network security is important for mitigating cybersecurity risks?
Cyber threats are quite commonplace in today’s digital world. As more businesses operate online, their data is always under threat and hackers are finding newer ways to hack networks and routers to gain access to sensitive data. To protect your network from hackers, you must tighten cybersecurity to the maximum through superior access control.
What are some of the most common ways to tighten your network security?
Enhancing your wireless network security can be done by following cybersecurity best practices like installing a network firewall, protecting your mobile devices, desktop computers or any other device, having strong passwords and not using the same password, enabling automatic updates, never clicking on suspicious emails, encryption and blocking pings, two-factor authentication, etc.
What are the benefits of network security?
Having robust network security will keep your sensitive data safe, protect unauthorized users from entering your network, build trust in your customers, mitigate risks, protect important information, and help create a more modern workplace.
Get Started Today
Point North networks, Inc., knows how complex it can be to implement new security solutions, especially if they require a certain level of management and maintenance like access control systems do. We want to help your company take advantage of these solutions in a way that minimizes the additional duties and responsibilities of your organization.
Through Point North, you can implement, manage, and maintain these systems without dedicating your internal resources to them; instead, you can outsource the responsibility to us! Our technicians are more than happy to assist you each step of the way.
To learn more, reach out to us at 651-234-0895.
Broken Computer? Do These Things Before Taking It to the Shop
Try as we might, we can’t prevent all computer issues from occurring—for instance, there’s not much that we can do if a stick of RAM dies, at least, not remotely. However, if you’re stuck with a broken computer and need to bring it in for repair work, there are a few things we recommend you do.
Pick a Provider You Trust
The hard truth of the matter is that some places are just a better option than others when it comes to your hardware repair needs. There are, of course, differences in the quality of services rendered, but also in how these services are rendered. For instance, it is important that you take the provider’s privacy policies into consideration. Just consider how much data you’re handing over to your provider in the hopes that they’ll keep it secure.
Before you entrust your technology to just any repair service or maintenance provider, do a bit of research and ask a few questions. For instance, what kind of privacy policy do they have? What—in detail—do they do to ensure your data remains secure, and if your data happens to be leaked, what measures will be implemented to mitigate the damage? You need to be confident that your provider is going to provide their services responsibly.
Maintain a Data Backup (Just in Case)
Okay, just to be clear: there is generally a very, very small chance that a repair shop will cause data loss. Saying this, very, very small isn’t zero. This is just one more reason that a data backup is so crucial. Disasters can come in all shapes and sizes, and accidental or unavoidable data loss during maintenance would qualify as such. Abiding by a BDR (backup and disaster recovery) strategy can mitigate the negative effects of these circumstances.
If Possible, Remove or Protect Your Personal Data
Without questioning the overall trustworthiness of any business or organization you choose to work with, there’s once again a non-zero chance that there’s a less-than-scrupulous employee there who might be tempted to take advantage of the data on the device being repaired. If you can, it is always better to remove this data before handing the device over, although storing the data in an encrypted state is also advisable. That way, even if your data is accessed, it won’t do the person responsible any good.
Retain Your Software Keys
Software is critically important for your productivity, so you’ll want to also have the ability to—just in case the repair process removes it—reinstall the software you rely on. To do so, you’ll need to have the software keys to activate it. Keeping these keys will therefore be a form of insurance for everything, from your productivity software down to the operating system itself.
Just in This Case, Make Your Device Easily Accessible
This is the one exception to our typical rule, as you don’t want the support professional to have any more difficulty than they already will have in dealing with the issue. To do this, they’ll need access. Removing the password requirement to log in will help.
On a related note, you might consider writing up a brief description of what the user is experiencing and providing it along with the device. If your device is in a condition that allows it, you can have a file containing this information display upon startup by saving a copy ro the Startup folder (found here: %appdata%\microsoft\windows\start menu\programs\startup\)
Things Break, So It Pays Off to Be Prepared to Fix Them
With what amounts to a guarantee that things are going to break at some point, it only makes sense to be fully prepared to deal with this outcome. The above list is a great starting point. Working with an MSP can make all of this (and more) far easier to manage.
An MSP (or managed service provider) like us can not only assist you in obtaining hardware maintenance services, we can remotely monitor it to detect software and hardware issues and resolve any issues we can preemptively. Working with us could be the difference between an extended downtime incident and a slight hiccup.
Interested in learning more about the benefits to be had from a managed service agreement? Give us a call at 651-234-0895 today!
3 Variables You Need to Consider for an Effective Digital Transformation
For decades, technology has been the driving force behind some of the biggest and most radical shifts in business. Therefore, it makes sense to assume that the keys to your organization pushing past its limits and becoming truly exceptional lies in the implementation of new technologies that change operations in a profound way. The process of digital transformation does not have to be difficult, but it is important in a business environment so that you can stay competitive.
Digital transformation is the process of implementing new technologies and rethinking the relationship that your goods, services, and operations have with them. It can be seen as a way to innovate and make advancements in ways that might not otherwise be possible. The ongoing COVID-19 pandemic has forced many companies to accelerate their adoption of technology, so digital transformation is a trend that is rapidly increasing in popularity. To help your company make the best decision possible regarding technology, we have put together an easy three-step process you can follow when implementing new technology for your company.
Make Sure Your Objectives Align with Your Business Goals
The technology you implement should align with what you are trying to accomplish as a business. If your goal is to develop products, consider technology solutions that streamline that process. If your goal is to get the word out about services, consider ways that technology can help you get the word out. If your goal is to provide exceptional customer support, think of ways that technology can streamline the process for customers to receive the help they need when they need it. In other words, implementing technology without a clear and defined goal is not going to help your business; if anything, it will make your infrastructure more complicated and bogged down, so we encourage you to think about what your business does well and how technology can help you do it better.
Lean On Your IT Department or IT Resource
When it comes to your business’ implementation of new technology solutions, you want to take as hands-off a position as possible. Too often management and the C-suite get too involved in the decision-making process regarding IT. It is important to remember that you have an IT department or IT resource for a reason; respect their opinions and consult them on the implementation process. Understand that you may have a biased opinion of the technology because you want it to succeed and you think that it can be a great asset, but know that the ones making the cold and calculated decisions are often the IT resources implementing the solution. Just because something works perfectly for one organization does not mean that it will for you, and you should ensure that any solution you choose to implement is right for your organization well before the implementation process begins.
Get Your Staff On Board
Any new tools you implement will surely come with some resistance from your staff. Sometimes those who have been with you for a while are stuck in their ways and might not immediately see the benefits of implementing great new technology solutions. Therefore, it becomes your responsibility to show them just how much they stand to gain from not just learning your new tools, but mastering them as well. Implementing new technology is most beneficial when it’s done in a top-down manner, meaning the boss shows the employees just how confident they are in the solution by actively using it themselves. Employees are more likely to buy in when they know there is some passion behind it, and they will appreciate any training you can offer so they too can learn as much as possible about it.
Get Started with Digital Transformation Today
Point North Networks, Inc., can help your organization adopt new technology solutions and improve operations for the better. Our trusted technicians can be there for every stage of the process, from design to implementation to training and support. To learn more about how we can make a difference with your digital transformation strategy, reach out to us at 651-234-0895.
Considerations That You Need to Make When Adding New Technologies
It’s no secret that new technology can be useful for a business, unfortunately too many businesses struggle with their technology implementations. When adding new tools to your business, you will need to understand that the more deliberate you are, the more success you will find. Rushing any new deployment is sure to have some types of issues. For today’s blog, we take you through some of the best practices of adding new technology to your business.
Your Business’ Needs
When looking to add technology, you should only do so when you recognize a need for some. Too many businesses add technology that, in theory, will enhance productivity only to have problems supplanting the practical usefulness of their current technology. Of course, there will always be some type of transitional period, but the more a business is identifying problems and deploying technologies as a response, the fewer problems they will ultimately run into.
Take a Beat
Another solid practice to adhere to before you go ahead and start putting new technology in place is to take a bit before you make any financial commitments. Can you make do with the technology you have? Could it just be some strategic alterations you can make that won’t necessitate the time and expense that goes along with new technology? Sometimes it’s just about using the tools you have more effectively, not introducing new tools. Take some time to adjust and monitor, but at the end of that time, if you’re convinced the new technology gives you the best chance to be competitive, then go ahead and go for it.
Assign a Competent Project Manager
A large percentage of new technology implementation failures happen because the people running the project are stretched too thin, or aren’t up to the task of carrying out the project. For small business owners, it is tempting to do it yourself, but your influence is more important in other parts of your business. You need to have a project manager to serve as the point of contact, develop the training regimens and schedules, and deal with the inevitable challenges that arise during the new technology deployment.
Stand Behind Your Choice and Get to Training
Once the project begins, one of the most important parts of implementing new technology is to get your people behind it. Typically, there is some type of pushback, even if people have been complaining about the old technology for some time. Workers get comfortable with one thing and are afraid that their jobs will change for the worse if they are forced into using new technology. Some even think that their jobs will be irrelevant. For the business owner to get their people behind the new technology, you need to explain how it will positively affect their jobs and the company as a whole. By getting people to understand the positive aspects of implementing new tools, they will be more engaged in the training process, and ultimately, get up to speed faster.
Testing
After implementation and training, understanding how best to use the technology is going to be a process. The best way to ascertain this is by testing. Testing the solution, the employees, and the whole workflow is a critical step in understanding what changes need to be made, what policies need to be altered, and how the system works for your business. You’ll want to give your workers advanced notice that there will be training and monitoring as to make them understand that the more committed they are to getting the technology incorporated, the faster things can go back to normal. Additionally, you will want to get feedback from your employees. They are the ones that are using the new technology, after all.
Get It Working
Finally, after all the hand wringing, politicking, testing, and tweaking, your business will have new, and hopefully better technology to use. Adjustments to the tool will be ongoing, of course, but it’s a solid practice to get it as close to finished before you start using it for day-to-day operations.
New technology can be extremely useful for a business, but without the consideration that it is going to change the way you do things, it can be a major problem, too. If you would like to talk to one of our IT experts about how we can help your business implement the technology you need to improve your operations, and do it successfully the first time, give Point North Networks, Inc., a call today at 651-234-0895.
3 Ways Your Small Business Might Benefit from Artificial Intelligence Technology
Artificial intelligence has taken the world by storm, and the advent of emerging technologies has many small businesses thinking about how they can utilize it to cut costs, improve operations, and eliminate unnecessary or repetitive tasks. Let’s take a look at three ways your business can leverage artificial intelligence to the best of its ability.
We should first start by outlining what we mean by “artificial intelligence.” In the business environment, AI and, on a more broad scale, machine learning, is when automated technology performs tasks normally accomplished by human workers with an emphasis on taking data and applying it to specific scenarios in which it can learn or identify trends. It is expected that the AI industry will exceed $390 billion by the year 2025, so it’s safe to say that this technology is not going anywhere. Your business has much to gain by thinking about how it might apply it in the near future.
Here are just a couple of ideas for how you might be able to use AI for your business.
Streamline Certain Tasks and Operations
Businesses often have a lot on their plate. Between managing resources and maintaining operations, it can often feel like an overwhelming balancing act where spending too much time on one thing leads to not spending enough on another. Some tasks require more time and focus than others by virtue of how complex and thorough the work must be, such as vetting new hires or assisting customers in need.
Consider some of the more lengthy or time-consuming tasks out there. Most businesses need to search for top-tier talent to keep themselves competitive, which means sifting through mounds of resumes, cover letters, and other documents for job applications for qualified candidates. This process can be automated through the use of artificial intelligence. Another aspect that can be automated and improved through the use of AI is customer support. Customers often ask the same questions, and if AI systems can learn from and build their foundation of knowledge based on interactions with consumers or clients, they can provide your organization’s employees with more time to focus on innovative new ideas and workflows.
Improve Data-Driven Analytics
All businesses collect data in some way, shape, or form, but the way that this data is used will vary by industry. In fact, some organizations don’t fully utilize the data available to them; either they collect the data and don’t know what to do with it, or they collect the data and don’t have the tools to adequately act with it. Either way, AI gives businesses the opportunity to make full use of this important asset.
AI allows your organization to use any data it collects to its advantage through predictive modeling. By extrapolating data for trends, AI is able to take its best guess at what the future could hold for your business. Through the use of AI, organizations can leverage available data to make educated decisions about their futures; this ensures that the organization can move forward in an informed way that is both in line with its business model and progress-driven.
Cut Costs and Increase Efficiency
We have all heard the horror stories related to AI and how it is stealing jobs away from qualified human beings, but this is the wrong mindset to approach this technology with. While it might be concerning to laborers in unskilled industries, the truth of the matter is that most workers can stand to benefit from AI to a certain extent. Let’s reframe this perspective; instead of saying “AI is going to steal my job,” you can instead say “AI will make my job easier.” Suddenly, the prospect of implementing an automated system is not so scary.
When looked at through this lens, it’s easy to see the value that AI presents and the opportunities it poses for not just simple tasks, but more complex ones as well. Even if AI cannot fully automate more complex tasks, the fact alone that it can help make certain aspects of them easier to manage should be reason enough for celebration, as any technology that can make running your business and managing your workload easier should be given full consideration. And you know what they say… less time wasted means more profit!
Now that you know about some of the ways that businesses can use AI to their advantage, the only question remaining is this: how are YOU going to leverage artificial intelligence? What ideas do you have for this exciting technology? Be sure to let us know in the comments below.
