5 Upgrades to a Faster, More Profitable Business

It doesn't always take a huge investment to improve your bottom line. Performing routine upgrades or adding a single piece of equipment can make operations much smoother, and in the end, more profitability. Here's a list of a few relatively simple upgrades to your IT infrastructure that make a huge difference!

Upgrade your RAM
This is the age-old solution to bring new life to a sluggish workstation. RAM usually runs pretty cheap, and the more RAM your PC has, the less it needs to rely on the hard drive to run applications. In other words, RAM is an affordable way to give your workstation a swift kick in the pants. However, we are noticing an unfortunate trend with RAM pricing. RAM tends to become more expensive for outdated PCs; this is due to manufacturers halting production in order to make newer RAM modules. If you are looking for more performance out of your PC, then take some time and check to see if your PC can handle more RAM. A RAM upgrade is always an inexpensive way to provide a noticeable performance boost.

Invest in Content Filtering
Like the previous upgrade, content filtering is all about improving performance, only this performance is in regards to your staff. Content filtering will aid in the focus of staff members who might sometimes be lead astray by the temptations of the Internet. Block everybody's access (or only that of a select few) to time-wasting sites like YouTube, Facebook, Twitter, and Netflix. Eliminating distractions will at first make employees feel like they aren't trusted, but once they realize how much more productive they are, they will come around. Be firm with your staff, keep in mind that employees are at work to work, not to watch cat videos while playing Farmville.

Gigabit Networking
If you are connecting your workstations to your switch with CAT 5E cables, then you can upgrade to gigabit Ethernet for drastically improved network speeds. High speed network switches used to be pretty expensive, but today, switches that will transfer files over the network at speeds 10 times faster than 5E are much more affordable.

Deploy a UTM
A Universal Threat Management system is an all-in-one digital security system. They provide your network with a firewall, a content filter, antivirus software, spam protection, a network load balancer, and VPN device--all bundled into a single appliance. A UTM can prevent malware and other threats from hitting your network, along with a lot of service calls and user issues.

Employee Training
Okay, this isn't technically an upgrade, (that is, until scientists at Boston University figure out how to upload new skills into our brains Matrix style) but a little extra training can go a long way when it comes increased productivity amongst staff members. Knowing how to utilize time-saving features in the software that your company uses every day will lead to optimal staff performance. Training can come in a lot of forms, from scoping out free or cheap online webinars and training videos, to taking classes and attending events geared towards your industry. Be sure to check out all of the options before committing to anything too expensive.

It also helps when your staff can freely contact a help desk and ask an expert a question whenever they run into a simple issue. The trouble is, most pay-by-the-hour tech support firms are, well, pay-by-the-hour, and nobody wants their employees racking up unneeded bills. Reach out to SMART Services at 586 258-0650 to discuss ways to get your employees full access to technical support without nickel and diming you with bills that are charge by the hour.

To improve your company's efficiency and bottom line, contact us to find out which of these upgrades are the most cost effective for your needs and your budget.