January 27, 2023 | By christa

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Is Your Business Struggling with Obsolete Tech?

• Tech(know)logy

Is Your Business Struggling with Obsolete Tech? What do Walmart, Chick-Fil-A, BMW, Comcast, and Ford Motor Company have in common? They’re all family-owned businesses that managed to make it big. Companies that have jumped through the hurdles of time and kept up with the unprecedented challenges that today’s economy brings.

Not all businesses have been as fortunate, however. In fact, since the beginning of the COVID-19 pandemic, many family-owned businesses have struggled to stay afloat while others have sunk entirely. What’s one of the biggest issues keeping struggling companies at bay? How do you keep your Your Business from struggling with Obsolete Tech?

Years of Stagnation

A 2021 report found that family businesses are struggling with implementing digital technology and creating environmental sustainability. Often, generational businesses go in one of two directions. The first is finding longevity and allowing the entity to thrive for many years. In today’s digital world, that means staying on top of the latest technologies (and trends) for relevancy and competitiveness.

On the other hand, some businesses turn their back on technology and continue down the road that they’ve been on since day one. This often creates tension among the older and younger generations. Perhaps the younger generations see the value that innovation and tech can bring to the table.

Time for a Transition

Businesses today need updated technology in order to adapt to change. It might seem risky with all the cybersecurity threats and ransomware out there, but it’s a step that is critical for long-term success.

After all, you can’t do what’s always been done and expect a different result. On that note, let’s look at a few of the benefits of implementing technology as a family-owned business:

Cybersecurity

There are several benefits to implementing cybersecurity measures:

1. Protecting sensitive data: Cybersecurity measures can help to protect sensitive data, such as financial information, personal information, and proprietary business information, from being accessed or stolen by cybercriminals.
2. Maintaining trust: Cybersecurity breaches can damage a company’s reputation and erode the trust of customers, partners, and stakeholders. Implementing cybersecurity measures can help to prevent such breaches and maintain trust in the company.
3. Avoiding financial losses: Cybersecurity breaches can result in financial losses for a company, including the cost of responding to the breach, legal fees, and lost business due to damage to the company’s reputation. Implementing cybersecurity measures can help to prevent these losses.
4. Complying with regulations: Many industries have specific cybersecurity regulations that companies must comply with, and failure to do so can result in fines and other penalties. Implementing cybersecurity measures can help companies to comply with these regulations.
5. Enhancing productivity: Cybersecurity breaches can disrupt business operations and cause employees to lose time and productivity. Implementing cybersecurity measures can help to prevent such disruptions and enhance overall productivity.

Implementing cybersecurity measures is essential for protecting a company’s sensitive data, maintaining trust, avoiding financial losses, complying with regulations, and enhancing productivity.

Cloud-Based Solutions

Let’s change the “if it ain’t broke, don’t fix it” mindset.

Cloud-based solutions are essential for generational businesses for a number of reasons:

1. Scalability: Cloud-based solutions can easily scale up or down based on the needs of the business, making it easy for generational businesses to accommodate fluctuations in demand or changes in the business.
2. Cost-effectiveness: Cloud-based solutions can be more cost-effective than on-premises solutions, as they often have lower upfront costs and require less maintenance and support. This can be especially beneficial for generational businesses, which may have limited resources to devote to IT infrastructure.
3. Flexibility: Cloud-based solutions offer flexibility in terms of location, as they can be accessed from anywhere with an internet connection. This is particularly useful for generational businesses, which may have employees or customers in multiple locations.
4. Security: Cloud-based solutions often have robust security measures in place to protect against data breaches and other security threats. This can be especially important for generational businesses, which may have sensitive or confidential information that needs to be protected.
5. Collaboration: Cloud-based solutions can facilitate collaboration and communication between employees, regardless of location. This can be especially beneficial for generational businesses, which may have employees working remotely or in different locations.

Overall, cloud-based solutions can help generational businesses to be more efficient, flexible, and secure, which are all key factors in building a successful and sustainable business.

Communication

As previously mentioned, there seems to be quite a bit of tension between the younger and older generations of today’s family-owned businesses. New technology can bring enhanced communication efforts through valuable insights/analytics and continuous involvement from all members of your team.

Let Us Help!

While implementing new tech can be incredibly beneficial, it oftentimes proves to be confusing and time-consuming in the beginning stages. Fortunately, the IT service providers at LeadingIT can help you formulate a digital transformation strategy and walk you through the steps of implementation.

Contact us today for a consultation.

LeadingIT offers 24/7, all-inclusive, fast and friendly technology and cybersecurity support for nonprofits, manufacturers, schools, accounting firms, religious organizations, government, and law offices with 20-200 employees across the Chicagoland area