Information Technology Services

Information Technology in the Modern Office

Information Technology is crucial to the business efficiencies of the modern office.  Virtually all record keeping, from accounting through to customer relations management, is now undertaken in an electronic environment. To achieve maximum benefit from these solutions the IT infrastructure should be carefully planned and designed so as to provide the maximum integration of it’s component parts.  Considerable business efficiencies may be obtained through such integration as well as the ability to generate customised reports to assist the overall management of the business.  Consultants with a speciality in this area, such as ‘Midas Solutions’, can assist in all these stages.  Being a Microsoft partner Midas Solutions is able not only to design for the future but has the technical capabilities to recommend and install hardware and software solutions and provide training in their use.  The rapid development of the mobile and WI-FI environment will enable this technology and information therein contained to be totally portable and used by management and sales whilst working away from base.  The opportunity for cost effective home working solutions is now one that can be considered without the need for an extensive budget.

The Problem

Traditionally larger organisations have employed an IT Department and full-time IT personnel to implement and maintain their systems.  Besides having a large cost overhead the sourcing of appropriate personnel for smaller businesses is challenging.  Opportunities do exist for cost effective maintenance of existing systems but these organisations are rarely qualified in systems design and implementation.  The responsibility for IT therefore usually falls on a less experienced person as a secondary task within smaller organisations.  As with many other processes in such organisations rarely has the appropriate planning and documentation been carried out.  Without such forward planning the implementation of more enhanced facilities, systems and software becomes problematic as time goes on and whilst the cost of hardware continues to fall the cost of implementing and using such hardware is often greater than the price of the product itself. 

Security

In an environment where “computer hacking” is an every day occurrence great emphasis should be given to network security.  Rarely is this addressed and precautions usually focus on the veracity of employees rather than the risk of external attack.  Most organisations maintain valuable data not only to themselves but on their clients and suppliers.  Without the appropriate security measures in place this data can easily be compromised.  Should third party data be compromised this could easily lead to expensive law suite and whilst most companies will have complied with the requirements of the Data Protection Act the act in itself requires reasonable precaution be taken to protect data at all times.  As part of any IT implementation Midas Solutions would give high priority to the security aspects, having due regard for the sensitivity and type of data. 

Disaster Recovery 

It is a common fact that most businesses that suffer a “computer disaster” go out of business within 3 years.  The importance of a documented rehearsed and proven recovery plan cannot be underestimated.  Most organisations have realised the need for back-up but rarely has this been taken further than backing up information onto a removable device such as a cassette tape, portable hard-disk or key-drive.  Thought must be given to the effects of a computer outage, can the business survive without it’s computer systems and for how long it can survive with a minimal level or operation.  Disaster Recovery should include not only testing the data but analysing the time to resurrect systems and/or provide emergency facilities to enable business continuity.  It is commonplace to find that the back-up material is either left on site or inadequately protected and most companies are not aware of the need to have “a test run”.  Disaster Recovery should cover the whole business, not only the IT and Telecoms facilities but office accommodation and other tools needed for day-to-day operations.  Many larger organisations where formal tenders exist are now requiring copies of disaster recovery plans within their submissions and whilst there will be some time and cost associated with it’s initial creation, it’s value must not be underestimated.  Midas Solutions can design such Disaster Recovery plans and make recommendations for back-up procedures and assist in the testing and documentation of such. 

Mobile Working 

Rarely do we find an executive now without his “Blackberry” or the equivalent product using Windows Mobile. The creation of remote push e-mail is another specialist area and should be considered in the overall IT design.  Integration of the Blackberry environment with the existing e-mail facilities provides the basic functionality, however, a properly configured Blackberry Enterprise Server can control the Blackberry environment to such an extent the users can be limited to what websites they visit and facilities they use on their device.  This can form part of an IT policy which is implemented company wide and besides eliminating any inappropriate use of the internet or associated information sources, can cut down on mobile telephone accounts by reducing the amount of data exchanged.

Helpful Contacts

Midas Solutions

Web Address: www.midas-solutions.co.uk

A north west general business consultancy providing all business advice, marketing advice. Information Technology Services, Disaster Recovery Planning and Disaster Recovery Services

Telephone Contact: 01253 895927 or click here.