How IT Services Help Small Businesses Boost Profitability

It’s never been more important for small businesses to run lean – if you are a small business owner, you know exactly what that means. Fixed costs add up quickly, and can eat up a lot of your cash flow if you’re not careful. Fortunately, IT offers many ways to preserve your margin, and add more value to your bottom line in the process.

Here are just some of the ways IT helps small businesses boost profits:

Cloud storage and computing

The cloud has been gaining importance for several years now. Though many companies still run their systems with a combination of cloud and on-premise server solutions, the cloud has offered an alternative to many identifiable pain points, most of which may well become a thing of the past in short order. Examples include:

Elimination of paper files: without having to store masses of paper files, you can reclaim your file room and repurpose it for something more productive (a huddle room, perhaps?). Additionally, the incidence of lost files virtually disappears, and with it all the man-hours spent printing, sorting, filing, and maintaining a file system. Just think of all the trees you’re saving, too – but that’s just a bonus.

Save on hardware and IT maintenance costs: if your company’s systems and data is cloud based, you won’t have any costly equipment to purchase and maintain. It will also save on labour and maintenance of said servers, as all of your data is stored in the cloud. You might be able to reduce the size of your staff, or eliminate your IT team altogether, and you won’t have to pay for updates, upgrades or repairs ever again.

Increase productivity: by migrating your systems to the cloud, you can provide your employees with an easier way to access company data. They will be able to log in from any device and review documents, calendars, and other company essentials from wherever they are, facilitating better accountability and boosting productivity, which adds value straight back to the bottom line.

Better control of your budget, more flexibility: most cloud solutions offer pay-as-you-go options, and most are pay per user. This means you can know exactly how much you are paying each month, and can easily scale to meet your specific needs. Not least of all, you will be saving thousands of dollars on your energy bills, as you won’t have to power up a room full of equipment.

Business VoIP Phone Systems and Unified Communications

The exorbitant expense of a business phone system just doesn’t make sense nowadays. With the option to choose VoIP, there is little argument left in favour of legacy PBX or conventional phone lines, no matter what size company you run.

Voice over IP (VoIP) is not only vastly less expensive to deploy, it offers so much flexibility, and so many valuable business features that there shouldn’t be a reason not to do it.

Consider these points:

No more phone lines: VoIP can either run on your internal network, or it can be hosted in the cloud, so you can eliminate the cost of maintaining physical phone lines and the infrastructure that goes with them.

Cut toll costs: while you may still pay for long distance, it will be at a fraction of what it would be over a conventional phone line.

Add value to your telecommunications: VoIP offers a robust set of features that add value, not only for your customers, but for your employees as well. Call conferencing, forwarding, virtual phone numbers and area codes, and being able to connect directly from your CRM are just some of the features that will help your workforce save time and be more productive. Your customers will like it because they will have a better experience – and happy customers will keep coming back!

Greenlight ITC: helping your company boost profits and productivity

These are just some of the ways IT services can transform the way you work and boost your profitability. Greenlight ITC offers a range of managed IT services and support packages that are guaranteed to add value and save you money. With the goal of helping you reduce the day-to-day costs of maintaining your technology, we are always ready with expert advice and services that are made for the way Australia does business. Call today to find out more about how we can help.