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The current business environment is hardly recognisable from what it was a year ago. Since the onset of the COVID-19 pandemic, social distancing norms have led to a massive overhaul of operations across sectors. A key trend has been businesses working and collaborating remotely. As online meetings replaced physical meetings, Microsoft Teams recorded a collective of 2.7 billion meeting minutes in one day last year.
Greater agility, efficiency and the ability to conserve capital were seen as essential to growth in an uncertain business environment. As the pandemic intensified, businesses realised the importance of digitisation for their long-term success in a challenging landscape. So much so that, according to the results of a Mckinsey survey, companies have accelerated the digitisation of their customer and supply chain interactions and of their internal operations by three to four years.
When it comes to small and medium businesses (SMBs), the journey towards digital operations is not a straightforward one. Choosing and configuring an infrastructure that promotes efficiency, offers flexibility and helps optimise costs can be challenging, especially with the plethora of options available today. There is also the question of securing one’s operations in a world of increasing growing cyberthreats.
Read on to know how Microsoft’s powerful devices can empower SMBs to unlock growth in a taxing business environment as today’s.
Fostering agility and efficiency with the latest in technology and hardware solutions
It is crucial for SMBs to be agile and efficient to secure a competitive advantage in today’s world. Employees can attain these qualities as long as they are equipped with powerful devices and intuitive technology solutions that can meet their remote working needs. According to IDC FutureScape, more than 70 percent of digitally-enabled SMBs will adopt hybrid models by the end of 2021, which entail both working remotely and on-site.
Laptops and devices that run on the latest Windows 10 operating systems, and equipped with new 11th Gen Intel® Core™ Processors, provide faster run-times and a powerful performance that SMBs employees need to remain competitive.
Adding to the nimbleness and agility of SMB employees are Microsoft 365 and OneDrive. From sharing files, apps, and resources to providing insights from dynamic data visualisation, this suite of applications facilitates collaboration, and performs key business functions for SMBs without the need to invest in additional hardware and software.
Investing in state-of-the-art devices to optimise costs
Is it necessary to spend capital on upgrading devices, or should one deploy it elsewhere to secure growth? This is a frequent dilemma that SMBs face when it comes to investing in latest devices and upgrades. Many of them choose to delay their investments, unaware of the hidden costs in doing so. According to a Techaisle report titled, ‘New Windows 10 PCs are a strategic investment in productivity and security for SMBs in the modern world of work’, olders PCs:
• Needed to be repaired more than four times in the past year
• Cost around three times more to run
• Led to almost four times more productivity loss
Modern Windows 10 devices with Intel vPro® technology can help achieve an efficient, optimised and secure way of managing IT infrastructure that avoids costly downtime, while enabling long-term savings.
A comprehensive approach to cybersecurity
With remote working becoming the norm and more and more devices sharing data and sensitive information on public networks, ensuring cybersecurity of operations has become an important priority for businesses across sectors.
SMBs and startups are particularly vulnerable to sophisticated cyberattacks. According to a report published by Cyberpeace Foundation, 43 percent of all cyberattacks are targeted towards startups and small businesses.
Microsoft 365 Business Premium’s Defender for Office provides SMBs with advanced security features that protect files and data, and warn employees if they are opening malicious attachments.
Microsoft Defender Antivirus safeguards operations from spam, malware and ransomware. Microsoft 365 Business Premium offers multi-factor authentication (MFA), which can prevent up to 99.9 percent of identity attacks. It also allows for options for limiting access to sensitive files, and restricting actions like forwarding or clicking the ‘reply all’ option on emails.
