Ah, technology. I love it. It permeates everything we do as humans. That’s because it is, in a way, what makes us human. And part of being a successful human is to be good at using the available technology to your advantage. Most of us know the importance of technology outside of work, but it’s actually the technology that we use at work that drives our modern way of life.
The problem? We’re not always using technology effectively in the workplace. Offices fall into several traps that prevent technology from serving them well.
Sort Out Your Printer
If you’re a small business that’s growing fast, you may have noticed that queues have started to form at the £200 printer you bought when you first set up. Now, though, you’ve got about 15 employees, maybe more, and you’re still relying on the poor little thing. It’s heaving under the strain and it’s about to collapse.
Most businesses don’t realise how much of a boost it can be to productivity to get a mid-volume production printer. It eliminates queues at the printer, and it also makes for a higher-quality print than your entry level printer could manage.
Update Your Computers
In 2010, Intel set out a roadmap which would see the introduction of higher performance chips with much lower power consumption. Later, they delivered on this promise and made available desktop processors that used as little as 35W. Across the industry huge efficiency gains have been made as smaller transistors, more tightly packed, use less power.
You want to make sure your business is part of this trend towards lower power usage. It’s not that you’re sacrificing on performance. It’s simply that you don’t need to run the highest end, power hungry chips to carry out your operations. Ensure you avoid old chips. These are worse performing and use a lot more power.
Get Your Office Connected
Unlike a couple of years ago, office workers now would like the convenience of being able to do work using their mobile devices. In fact, it may be that for your business, things like iPads and SmartPhones can replace bulky computers. If so, you’ll save on power.
The problem, however, is that it’s difficult to know how to get devices connected to both each other and peripherals like the printer. This is where consulting with an external IT professionals company can be a real help. If you can get a standardised procedure in place, you may be able to a mobile computing environment. If employees can compute remotely, it frees them from having to be tethered to the office. And this may be to your advantage.
Use The Cloud
One solution to your mobile problems may be in the cloud. If you can get all of your employees onto a single, secure cloud service, then you negate the need for expensive servers. Plus, you also get rid of all the little costs that come with running your own in-house IT services. The cloud can reduce costs and bolster productivity in important ways.