(Photo above: Shane Ketterman)
Wow! Hard to believe it’s 2015. I mean, it kind of sounds a little odd to even be saying it. 2015. Aren’t cars supposed to be flying? How come we aren’t teleporting yet? I guess we will soon see self-driving cars so that’s going to be fun (and a little disturbing at the same time).
Despite all of the things we thought we would be doing, here are a few safe bets that small business owners can expect or should be thinking about as the new year is upon us.
Windows 10. As expected, Microsoft will be launching their next version of Windows very soon due to the massive disaster that Windows 8 was. It was so bad that businesses did not adopt it, Dell had to force it on people and the sales numbers were a sheer embarrassment. I have been testing the new version for a few weeks and I can say without a doubt that it’s what Windows 8 should have been. No surprises here but the interface is more modernized, there are a slew of extremely useful features for businesses, those awful tiles are gone, and overall I feel it’s going to be a hit since Windows 7 is actually getting quite old and the upgrade cycle is long past due. Windows 10 feels much like Windows 7 except it has far more updated features and some really nice business features people have been asking for.
The Cloud and Software As A Service. I know. I know. It’s an overused term these days but here’s the deal for 2015. The cloud is here and it’s here to stay. It all began with enterprise usage, then mid-market business, and now we are seeing massive adoption by even the smallest of businesses. Why? Because it allows you to work from anywhere, stay protected, compete, and generally save a lot of money off the bottom line. So what will the big usage be for the small business? I’ll predict these: Office 365, Storage, Backups, Development, and Servers; and not necessarily in that order.
Internet Security. As you might have noticed, practically everything has internet access or at least connectivity to the Internet to perform a function, store information, or communicate. We just saw 2014 filled with attacks on businesses, information loss, hardware ruined, and millions of dollars vanish all due to hackers, malware, viruses, etc. No matter who you are or what you provide, you are a target. Internet security is always on the production list for each year but 2015 is a good time to start making progress and tightening things up a bit.
Upgrades. 2014 was pretty good in terms of economics but the general consensus was to hold back a little on IT expenses. As we begin 2015, the outlooks is quite a bit better and it would be a great time to do some upgrades this year. Many small businesses have the infamous “Small Business Server” which will soon be end of life for some versions; There are new and better ways to stay safe from hacks and malware; Virtualization can save thousands of dollars in hardware and energy costs, and as stated above there’s the cloud and Windows 10 on the horizon.
Making Things Work Together. This one is big. Not a day goes by when someone does not ask me if their software can work with another piece of software, or if they can allow customers to see information, or if they can provide better customer service using what they own. 2015 will be a big year for having people help you figure out how to make things work together.
Mobile. If you sell anything or provide a service, do you make it easy for people to a) find it, and b) buy it? Over the holiday in 2014, more people used Mobile to make decisions, research, and buy than ever before and it’s only going to increase. Mobile can be a phone, tablet or even a laptop to some extent. It does not matter than you are local and it does not matter that you are small; people are shopping and doing their business on mobile these days. This trend will only continue.
I could list a few more but those ones are going to be pretty safe bets for the smaller businesses. None of these are particularly new or ground breaking but they are safer bets and far more attainable for small business due to the wider adoption rates and economies of scale causing costs to come down.
Why is all this important though for businesses here in Central Oregon? The reason is very simple and yet complex. We are not in a local micro-economy any longer. Your business now competes with businesses around the world (you might not know that, but it does). We all love to support local and we definitely should; but when it comes to comparison pricing, customer experience, and giving people what they want, then you are competing with a global economy and a sea of similar businesses.
There are many factors that make a business who they are and technology is not the “only” factor but it’s a very critical one and becoming more so every day. In 2015, the above trends are a few ways you can begin thinking of how your business competes and wins.
Shane Ketterman is the fun and energetic owner of TDI Tech Solutions which cuts out the typical IT jargon and helps local businesses boost revenue, reduce costs and minimize risks.
