For small and medium-sized enterprises (“SMEs”), economic uncertainty is one of the biggest barriers to growth. A 2017 report from the UK’s Federation of Small Businesses found that uncertainty is one of the biggest contributors to a recent drop in small business confidence. An inability to anticipate future conditions limits the risks that small businesses are willing to take.
Surveys of SMEs suggest that one of the best ways businesses can gird themselves for the future is by ensuring that their IT is reliable, adaptive to future trends, and efficient—yielding better ROI.
In a study led by Dell, based on interviews with over 1,200 small business decision makers, participants in the UK assigned the highest importance to tech providers that offer “reliable products, services, and solutions that do not break and work as intended.” They want services that perform, no matter the circumstances or environment. When it came to ideal technology solutions, those polled overwhelmingly stressed the need for tech offerings that are easily integrated, flexible, and secure. In short, the more that IT takes care of itself, the more small business leaders can dedicate their time to innovation and real-time problem solving.
For small businesses, an investment in IT often translates into a steadier path for the future. This attitude applies to everything from choices in staff laptops to more complex decisions about modernizing servers and data storage.
End-to-end IT consulting is often the most efficient way to accomplish this. For businesses dealing with uncertainty on a daily and quarterly level, the consultant’s impact can be substantial. In some cases, it can even be a lifesaver. After the North West Ambulance Service—which provides aid to 7 million people around northwest England—teamed up with Dell Consulting Services to future-proof their network, they were able to cut downtime to zero and decrease costs, leaving more time for their essential task: caring for patients.
To discover how Dell Small Business can take the hassle out of your IT, click here.
This article was produced on behalf of Dell Small Business by Quartz Creative and not by the Quartz editorial staff.