Why Outsourcing to a Colocation Center is Beneficial For a Growing Business

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StrategyDriven Managing Your Business Article |Colocation Center |Why Outsourcing to a Colocation Center is Beneficial For a Growing BusinessBy the end of 2020, industry watchers expect businesses to spend $51.8 billion on colocation services.

Data is the new oil, and as such, you will not achieve much if you do not develop a robust plan for your information technology (IT). If you invest in a weak IT infrastructure, it will invariably come back to bite you.

For many firms, though, the issue is whether they should bring their IT infrastructure in-house or outsource the task to a colocation center.

Here is an analysis of some crucial benefits the latter can deliver, to aid your decision making.

What Is Colocation?

Colocation is when an organization houses it’s privately owned servers in a third party storage space. Essentially, you rent the area where your servers will stand outside of your premises.

When you’re setting up a colocation arrangement, you physically transport your servers to the center. The service provider’s team then sets them up for you and will remain in constant contact in case you need to upgrade or down and for any other needs you may have.

You still retain ownership of the servers even as they sit in the rented space.

In return, you pay a monthly fee for the maintenance service and storage space the colocation facility provides you.

Advantages of Relying on a Colocation Center

If maintaining your IT infrastructure in-house is not suitable, then colocation might offer you a compelling alternative. Here’s a look at some of the reasons to consider it:

1. Cost Efficiency

Affordability is one of the primary benefits of colocation that makes many businesses go down this route.
When you take server hosting in-house, you invest in more than just the server. You have to account for a resilient cooling system, power supply, robust network connectivity, just to name a few.

These costs can quickly run up a significant bill, especially if you are not running a large number of servers that can bring the unit cost down.

Furthermore, to make the necessary equipment upgrades to keep up with technology means that you should forecast for significant capital expenses regularly.

In stark contrast to such a scenario, colocation gives you access to all aspects of the infrastructure necessary to keep your servers running. However, since a colocation service hosts several customers, the costs of supporting the infrastructure are spread across all the customers.

That makes the overall cost to you notably cheaper than bringing it in-house.

2. Access to Top-Tier Expertise

Running a data center calls for you to stay on the bleeding edge of new technology regularly. Unless you have a full scale IT unit in-house, keeping up with the latest developments can take away significant time from your core operations.

Additionally, you would need to frequently train an in-house IT team for their skills to match emerging tech breakthroughs.

A colocation service provider, on the other hand, deals with technology as their core competency. Meaning that every day such a firm digs into new technologies and trains its staff to acquire top-tier talent.

Simply put, a colocation service provider makes it their primary business to learn all there is to know about data center technology and perfect that service.

When you partner with such a provider, you get to tap into their exceptional talent pool. For a fixed fee per month, the headache of continually training your team on new technology goes out the window.

All the expertise you need now becomes a call away, which lets you focus on your core business.

3. More Robust Redundancy

Every time your IT infrastructure is down means your business can’t operate optimally. In turn, that means that you lose money. Thus, ensuring that your server hits maximum uptime is critical to your top line.

Outsourcing your server hosting to a colocation service company ensures that you keep downtime incidents to a minimum.

Colocation firms run a more efficient power and cooling infrastructure that enables your server to avoid unnecessary breakdowns.

A reputable colocation facility will also leverage sophisticated analytics that helps it achieve energy efficiency. The better these facilities utilize their energy, the more optimally the equipment will operate.

Therefore, when you are shopping around for a colocation partner to outsource to, inspect their downtime record.
An ideal mark is a proven record of 99.99999% uptime at the least. That’s essential to you as it means you can expect to experience downtimes that don’t last beyond 3.15 seconds any time one occurs during the year.

4. Scalability

When technology becomes a critical component of your operations, you need it to be flexible when it comes to scaling.

At a lower level, you can manage to run a server in a dedicated area on your premises. But when your business grows, you quickly run into the challenge that is needing to scale your server and hosting.

But isn’t building out a data center an option? If your organization has a significant budget that can accommodate substantial capital expenses, then such a choice might work.

However, just because you can does not mean that constructing a data center is wise.

In case of a decline in your business, you will have to scale back your IT. When you own the data center, it means you let the facility run idle.

Renting the space out to other firms might be an option, but then it means you will need to manage it as the landlord. Investing the time to do so inevitably takes precious time away from your core competency.

Working with a colocation provider takes such burdens off your shoulders. If your strategy bears fruit and your operations grow, your data center capacity can expand with you. In the event you need to scale down, all you need to do is place the call, and it’s done.

Reinforce Your IT Operations by Outsourcing It

Technology now sits atop every industry, and leveraging it to gain a competitive edge is critical. Your IT infrastructure plays a significant part in how well you deliver on your objectives. Thus, relying on a colocation center affords you the benefits of an optimal data center operation with a minimal downside to keep your activities running optimally.

Is your organization in need of more efficient operations? Checkout more of our content for tools, advice, and practices that can help your firm deliver superior results.

3 Ways to Benefit Your Business with VoIP

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When you’re trying to get your home business off the ground, one thing that is of the utmost importance is making sure you have effective ways to communicate with clients/customers, and other employees if you have them.

One of the best ways to do that is with a VoIP phone system. You can learn more about VoIP solutions at www.vtechsupport.com/services-solution/voip-solutions/. Simply put, VoIP (Voice over Internet Protocol) is a digital telephone service that allows you to make and receive calls through the Internet.

So, why not just use a traditional telephone to communicate with others connected to your business? Can VoIP make a difference? Let’s look at three ways this service can benefit your business, and why you might want to make the switch.

StrategyDriven Managing Your Business Article | 3 Ways to Benefit Your Business with VoIP

1. It’s Cheaper

You want your business to continuously grow, right? Well, think about how many phone lines you might need in order to make that happen. Even if you only have a few, if you’re working on international business, the costs can start to add up quickly when it comes to calling times.

With VoIP, you only have to pay your Internet Service Provider – and you’re doing that already! It’s a good idea to have a solutions team at the ready in case you run into any issues with your VoIP, but the cost can still be less expensive than traditional phone lines, especially if you’re making long-distance calls to other countries.

2. It Makes Conference Calls Easier

If you have to have a conference call with several people at once, VoIP is the clear winner. Not only is the cost of conferencing usually built into the VoIP service you have (unlike most phone lines), but because the communication is through the Internet, you can enjoy additional benefits.

This includes things like video conferencing where you can share images and texts in real-time. It’s a great way to keep things organized and make sure everyone on the call is getting the correct information.

3. It’s Portable for Telecommuting

Remote work has become hugely popular in the U.S. and across the globe. As of 2019, about 4.7 million employees in the U.S. work from home at least half of the time.

When you use VoIP for your business, your remote employees can connect to it from any location, and they’ll have a specific phone number that won’t change no matter where they go. Not only does it allow them to access the phone to make calls, but they can also send faxes and access the other data services of your office.

VoIP isn’t necessarily anything new, but many businesses still aren’t taking advantage of it the way they could be. So, whether you’re a business owner with several remote workers or you just want to streamline your communication options with clients and customers, it’s worth looking into VoIP solutions and how they can save you money, time, and the headaches that can sometimes come from working with a traditional phone system.

Things to Consider Before Finalizing Your Business Printing Solutions

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StrategyDriven Managing Your Busines Article |Business Printing|Things to Consider Before Finalizing Your Business Printing SolutionsQuality Business printing is ideal in fostering your brand’s image and represent its identity subtly. It is integral for a persuasive marketing campaign, advertising your product or services, creating awareness about your event or merely an exhibition of your company’s annual growth. But to be able to compliment all the best features in a well-planned budget is every business owner’s wish. A reputed printing agency would offer you prime-quality business printing services at a highly competitive rate. While finalizing your business prints, you must make sure that they are well optimized to meet with the highest quality and standards. Because it is the quality of your printable that defines your brand. Another prospect that must abet the entire process of business printing is cost-effective planning, which plays a crucial role in every bulk printing job.

And, to ensure everything goes right from the beginning, you should exclude the chances of minor human errors to costly technical lapses. Common mistakes, such as sending the wrong file to the printer or missing on the quiet space while designing, must be dealt with utter dexterity and attention. To assist you in avoiding any such nuisance, printing Brisbane has compiled an intricate check-list – so that you may make sure, and every detail rests in the right place while finalizing your business printing solutions. Also, in this article, you will find easy ways to fix the short-comings without the hassle or drain in the budget.

Make Ample Communication and Time Management

While planning your business print solutions, one element that should be your utmost-priority is effective time management. This habit will not only enable you to address any shortcomings gently but will also maintain your composure before your big day.

Most often, people are reluctant to finalize the features of their print job until the final moments. Consequently, they have no time left to fix any mistake by the end of the print job. Therefore, it is essential to keep a buffer and finalize matters with a handsome time in hand.

Once the designing of your files is complete, never assume that this will not require any further revisions. Your printer might spot a problem or ask for any minor adjustments that could be time-consuming – thus, make sure your designer has enough time to address any feedback properly.

Also, you should know to stay specific in your instructions which means you must prepare your homework before dictating the set of instructions to your printer or designer. Otherwise, a non-prepared pitch could cause you the additional cost and a tremendous amount of time.

Do not assume that your designer or printer is a perfect navigator or a mind reader. Simple tasks could be tricky to understand and can lead to hazardous complications. So, make sure you have outlined every instruction prominently and precisely.

Review Spelling, Grammar, and Other Technical Issues

A slightest of the spelling or grammatical error could be highly embarrassing and can damage the entire reputation of your brand. Make sure you have examined each line thoroughly before finalizing it to the printer. The job can be laborious, so to assist you in this, you can ask a few others in your workplace to proofread and confirm whether the files are ready for the print job. Review every aspect beforehand, make sure your file has buffer space on each side, to avoid trimming off important design or element. Also, you must ensure that the fonts your designer is using are, either available with your printer or you should send your files in PDF format.

It is obvious that to save a few minutes; we skip proofreading and review of important elements, which might later cost us in both time and money.

Making mistakes in human but not bothering to correct them timely is a crime. Yes, simple typos and grammatical mistakes commonly happen in the designing process but it is upon you to make sure that everything is perfectly tuned before it is too late.

Proofreading does not only mean to correct the typos, but it is a process in which you keenly inspect every element of your file and make sure it is print-ready. A wrong version of the file, a missing font, bad color choice or a slight mistake in the contact section can be a very costly affair.

Attend the Context, Avoid the Mainstream

Most of the printable should be utilized for onetime event or campaign, which might not last further than a limited duration. Very rare are the chances that you can use those printables on some different occasions. But, this does not in any way concede that your design is completely worthless after one use; instead, you can plan smartly and use it in other mediums of marketing such as websites, t-shirts, standees, etc. Yet, you should not oversaturate the minds of your target audience with similar prints and designs – rather, a creative remedy can save you a good many bucks.

Another important item you should not oversee is the use of stock images in your creative business printing solutions. If free images are your only resort, then make sure they do not scream “stock image” before the viewers. Otherwise, the whole impact of your art-work gets nullified.

Before finalizing your business prints, focus on the central theme and the information you want to convey dominantly to your audience. Every illustration in your print must convey the same story, boldly and proudly.

Pro Tip, Distribute Wisely

The main phase for which you have been making all those efforts is the distribution of your business print material. It encompasses the prospects of your business, target audience and an effective method of delivering your message to your clients. Not all will get enticed with your branding but those who would – must receive your print material appropriately; this is the reason why it is equally important to carve out a fruitful distribution strategy even before the finalization of your print job.

With a focused emphasis on your potential market, you can save a lot on distribution and carry-out the entire campaign with hallmark success. Stretching your budget is not the only important factor that determines marketing gains – but, it is the effective distribution of both money and assets that determine your success. Know the demographics and see whether your audience of distribution or the placement of your marketing material is relevant enough.

All these prospects must be taken into keen consideration because they possess great potential to influence your entire campaign.

Conclusion

If you follow the above set of instructions while finalizing your print solutions, not only you would be able to avoid major mistakes, but also you can save a healthy amount of time and money for your business.
Always make sure that you are choosing a professional for each task and never compromise on quality. Bulk business printing is a cognitive and rewarding way of connecting with the masses; therefore, one must deal it with diligence and tact.

Simple Methods to Grow Your Small Business

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StrategyDriven Managing Your Business Article |Grow Your Small Business|Simple Methods to Grow Your Small BusinessEvery entrepreneur aspires to have a business that grows and generates a good profit. Fortunately, with a bit of careful planning, any company has the potential to become successful! To help you achieve success, here are some simple methods to grow your small business fast.

Use a variety of marketing techniques

Marketing plays a key role in business success. When done correctly, marketing campaigns have the power to advertise your products and services to a global audience, drive traffic to your site, and establish you as an authority in your industry. This should lead to increased sales and revenue potential. There are many different marketing strategies available to small businesses. You should aim to experiment with a variety of marketing techniques to find what works best for your business. For instance, try combining techniques like social media marketing with traditional print marketing, such as posters and business cards.

You can easily have printed marketing materials designed by searching for printing services near me online. Make sure you monitor the success of your marketing campaigns closely. That way, you will be able to identify what works well and tailor your future marketing efforts to make them more effective.

Hire a Professional Inbound Marketing Agency

There are several reasons why small businesses should hire an inbound marketing agency. Perhaps the most important reason is that inbound marketing can be highly effective in helping small businesses to generate leads and convert those leads into customers. Inbound marketing is about creating valuable, relevant content that will attract visitors to your website or blog. Once they are there, you need to engage them with compelling calls-to-action so that they take the next step and become leads. Finally, you need to nurture those leads until they are ready to buy from you.

Focus on your employees

Every successful business needs a team of productive, loyal employees. If your employees are dissatisfied in the workplace, then they are going to be far less motivated and committed to your business. This will have an obvious negative impact on your business in terms of productivity and revenue potential. For that reason, it pays to invest in your employees and take steps to boost workplace morale. Some simple ways to achieve this include offering rewards and incentives, holding regular career development meetings, and maintaining a welcoming, supportive atmosphere in the workplace.

You should also make sure that all of your employees have received adequate training and are provided with the correct equipment to enable them to complete their work tasks safely. You can find plenty of great advice on how to boost employee morale within your company.

Look for new opportunities

One of the easiest ways to grow your business is by identifying opportunities to gain new customers and increase sales. For instance, many modern companies are increasing profits by taking their businesses global with the help of international selling platforms like Amazon and Etsy. These marketplaces allow businesses to advertise and sell their products and services to customers all around the world. Many of the platforms offer packages which include order fulfillment and shipping to various countries across the globe. The profits can then be deposited into your business bank account in the local currency.

Expanding your business globally has great potential and can allow you to access a new marketplace and ensure continued growth. However, it should only be attempted after careful planning and plenty of market research. If you’re unsure which steps to take, then it may be worth consulting with a global business expert for specialist advice on how to take your company world-wide.

Provide quality customer service

Quality customer service is another crucial element of any successful business. Think about it – people aren’t going to come back to your company and spend money if they have a poor experience. Recent research by American Express found that 33 percent of customers will consider switching companies following a single experience of bad customer service. Businesses should also be aware that negative feedback travels extremely fast and far in the modern world, particularly via social media platforms. Even just a few examples of poor customer service can harm a company’s reputation and credibility. With this in mind, every business should strive to deliver the highest level of customer service possible. Finding ways to enhance the customer experience can be a reliable way to grow your business and generate more sales. Some simple methods to improve your service include installing customer service technology like chatbots, ensuring that your website is mobile-optimized, and offering customer loyalty programs.

Take the time to get to know your customers and truly understand their needs. You should also make sure that your employees receive sufficient training on how to interact with customers and provide a high-quality level of service.

Final thoughts

Every business owner needs a clear plan in place to help their company grow and reach its short-term and long-term goals. Fortunately, there are plenty of effective strategies and techniques that can be implemented to increase visibility, improve sales, and boost profits. Use the simple methods above to help you grow your small business today!

Eforms 101: Everything You Need To Know About eForms

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StrategyDriven Managing Your Business Article |eForms|Eforms 101: Everything You Need To Know About eFormsEach year, businesses in the United States waste about $8 billion managing paper alone. It’s a shocking statistic, given the amount of lip service business owners around the country pay to innovation. The age of 3D printing has been around for a while, yet the vast majority of businesses are still stuck on technology invented millennia ago.

One of the primary uses of paper in businesses is for creating forms that help collect information. Businesses of all kinds need to gather statistics regarding their customers and input it in their database.

Unlike eForms, handwritten forms tend to complicate things. Not only do they get lost easily, but they also become skewed. Moreover, handwritten forms are very susceptible to damage. It’s the reason more businesses are turning to electronic forms to gather and store information.

But what is an eForm? More importantly, how can electronic forms benefit your business? How do you make the transition from paper-based forms to eForms?

In this definitive guide, we give you eForm 101. Keep on reading to learn more.

What Is An Electronic Form?

An electronic form (eForm) refers to a computerized version of a form that’s paper-based. In various industries, eForms play a significant role in helping a company achieve compliance. They also help provide customers with a record upon the completion of a job.

How can eForms Benefit Your Business?

Most of the processes in your businesses rely on forms. By choosing to use eForms, here are six benefits you stand to gain:

1. You Get To Eliminate Paper from the Start

Eforms are much more than electronic versions of paper forms. They effectively capture and integrate essential data with critical business systems that you can use to run your organization. By capturing and distributing data electronically from the beginning, you can streamline processes, cut costs, and boost efficiency.

2. They Enable Quick Release Of Essential Business Information

The biggest percentage of the information you need to run your business is often trapped on paper. If you can capture all that information and move it into your core business systems, it becomes easier to shorten cycle times and lower your operating costs.

3. Electronic Forms Improve Data Accuracy

Certain features surrounding eForm information such as auto drop-down lists and completion guides help in capturing data accurately. Electronic forms can effectively auto-populate fields based on previously entered data. Since there’s no need to enter data manually from a paper form, there are hardly any data entry errors or losses.

4. Electronic Forms Make It Easy To Automate Workflow

Upon submission, eForms enable the implementation and automation of workflow depending on a company’s business rules. Applications by your personnel can easily be sent to the relevant HR staff for review. Sales orders can be distributed to the manager for approval, while the finance manager can promptly receive credit applications to review and approve.

Implementing an automated workflow in your business increases speed and accountability.

5. Electronic Forms Are Easy To Design and Set Up

You don’t need any programming skills to design, create, or publish eForm details. Currently, there’s a myriad of eForms software solutions that provide helpful features like prebuilt field validation controls, drag, and drop, and group controls. These features ensure highly sophisticated layouts that have hassle-free design and implementation.

6. You Get to Realize a Quick Return on Investment

Electronic forms typically deliver a considerable ROI within months, depending on the number of forms you process in your business every month. Eforms can radically reduce form completion, processing, and correction costs. All other paper-related expenses like supplies, transportation, and storage are altogether eliminated.

Where Can You Use Electronic Forms In Your Business?

Regardless of the type of business you run, there are many areas where you can embrace eForm technology. Here are some of them:

  • Human Resources: You can use eForms for position changes, timesheets, vacation requests, and employee reviews.
  • Accounting: eForms are ideal for expense reports, purchase orders, mileage reimbursement, and capital expenditure reports.
  • Engineering Department: Use electronic forms for engineering change orders, defect tracking, and requests for product enhancement.
  • Manufacturing Department: In this department, electronic forms can help in employee training certification, survey forms, safety inspections, quality assurance, and document change requests.
  • Customer Service: eForms are perfect for survey forms, incident reports, customer service requests, and customer warranty requests.

Choosing the Right eForm Software

As mentioned earlier, there are lots of eForm builder software solutions for businesses of all types and sizes. To select the ideal one for your needs, consider the following factors:

  • Cost – If you operate a small business, a cloud-based solution is best for your business functions. That’s because you won’t need to worry about purchasing or maintaining hardware, and the cost of the software will depend on how many people use it. For a bigger business with particular security concerns, an onsite solution may make more sense.
  • Ease of Use – The primary goal of downloading an app is to simplify tasks. The last thing you want is a software solution that has a steep learning curve. Opt for a solution with a friendly and intuitive user interface, not a technical one that takes you ages to understand.
  • Customization – Every business is unique, so your forms will be unique. Veer away from software that locks you into specific templates and designs. Choose forms that allow you precisely as you visualize them.
  • Customer Support – Before choosing a form builder software solution, take a look at case studies and customer testimonials to get a good idea of what to expect. You can even call their technical or customer service contact to get an experience of how they handle their clients’ issues. Generally, you want an assurance that you can easily reach customer service should the need arise, and that they won’t abandon you as soon as you’ve purchased their software.

Time to Go Paperless

As more companies strive towards becoming entirely paperless, eForms are increasingly becoming the ideal choice for businesses around the globe. Not only does going electronic reduce costs associated with the printing, distribution and storage of paper, but it also improves workflow in your business.

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