Small business expert Gene Marks helps us identify what small businesses need to succeed.
By David Bates, vice president, Marketing & eCommerce, North American Resellers for Xerox
We recently hosted a “Dreaming Discussion” with 14 representatives from small- to medium-sized businesses in the Philadelphia area – a session designed to facilitate out of the box thinking and foster ideas that we can then apply to our client’s biggest pain points. The Dreaming Discussion was an opportunity for us to identify potential gaps and unmet needs in the marketplace and dream up solutions to them.
Gene Marks, small business expert, owner and renowned columnist for publications including the New York Times, Forbes and The Huffington Post, hosted the session. It was a lively conversation around mobility, workflow and technology trends. The participants represented companies ranging in size of 30 to 250 employees, and their job titles spanned owner to IT director to operations manager. They shared many great ideas and frustrations.
Here are 3 insights from our session. Each was illustrated by an onsite graphic recorder who captured our ideas from the discussion in real-time.
1. Mobile is key, but it opens up security concerns. While on the go, employees often access servers and are able to print documents remotely, bringing on a whole new level of security threats and concerns. Companies now must deploy security policies to try and manage employees that have access to confidential data anytime, anywhere. The topic of network security was much more important among the participants than originally expected, and most of the participating companies had some type of employee mobile device security policy. The majority actually goes the extra step and issues devices (phones, tablets, laptops) to their employees to maintain ownership (and control). Additionally, most of the participants either had implemented a Bring Your Own Device (BYOD) policy, or were seriously considering one. The key takeaway is that mobile security is a significant concern to businesses, regardless of size.
2. The shift to going paperless may be slow, but it continues. Paper consumption is down, whether by printing smarter or seeking solutions to transfer hard documents into electronic formats. Just about every participant has placed heavy emphasis on turning paper into digital documents and storing them in systems that allow for easy access and search ability while also saving physical office space. Participants discussed how multifunction printers, including Xerox products, have fueled that conversion. They also uncovered the types of hardware/software that help companies organize and manage documents after they are scanned into a device, like the Xerox ConnectKey platform. A key takeaway was that multifunction printers do a lot more than people realize, so education is critical.
3. Technology needs to be part of the company’s DNA. A few questions that came up were about choosing whether to go “cloud” or stay on-premise, what applications would best suit their needs and if it’s best to consider a customized system instead of something off the shelf. But no matter the question or concern, the participants came to one conclusion: Whichever technology solution a company chooses, it will never succeed without full management buy-in and the right attitude among users. In other words, companies that establish a culture where technology is central to their success are the ones using it best.
Want to learn more about what the SMBs and Gene Marks thought of each topic above? Watch this video, below.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=m7KfaL6wu9U&feature=youtu.be
Interesting and valuable article… one thing I’d challenge, is the first info-graphic seems to state “technology needs” to “secure and protect data” however I would believe this is not a technology specific requirement, but a business wide one.
Security has been “dropped” into the world of technology for most organizations, but really it’s bigger than that. I see a business as analogous with a “human”.
Both have explicit and implicit needs;
Human – Air, water, food. (love, comfort, company)
Business – Product or Service, Customers (Information, Technology, Security)
Can a person survive without love/comfort/company? Perhaps. Can they thrive? Unlikely.
Can a business survive without Information, Technology, Security? Perhaps. Can they thrive?
We needed a change in mind-set from both the Business and Technology worlds, that within a single organisation both are dependent on each-other, so that in order to thrive a business needs technology and security, and vice-versa. I believe that through ITIL and the commoditisation of IT Services, business have learned that technology becomes an integral part of its lifeblood, and most have embraced technology as a fundamental part of their make-up. Some of the outcomes of this group demonstrate that.
But, we need some of that for Security too. For many years Security has been seen as the “no department”, as a means to prevent something (which in many cases has been needed), however we need to a change the perception, and both technologists and security personnel need to drive that change.
Understanding the business is key, aligning security goals to organisational goals essential. It won’t be easy considering where we are coming from today, but security people, we need to “find a way to say yes”.
James – thanks for your comments and I really agree with you. Your points probably do not show up in the graphic as well as they did in the conversations with these small business owners. Much of the discussion was about their business needs and how do we manage security with those needs. While we tend to focus on IT-centric security measures, a lot of it is about how we conduct business, personal behaviors, etc.
When you think about security beyond the IT processes, it becomes a very interesting issue. Much more about the humans, somewhat less about the technology, and a lot to do with the business.
Great post but I was wanting to know if you could write a litte more on this topic?
I’d be very grateful if you could elaborate a little bit more.
Bless you!
Thank you for the kind words. I used the blog’s search field and entered ‘smb’ — and here are some of the articles that came up:
Experts Weigh In: Real Business Advice for SMBs
Focus Friday: How to Be More Focused in Your Small Business
and
The Managed Print Services Opportunity For SMBs In Europe
I hope this helps.
[…] few months ago, we shared these findings of Xerox’s “Dreaming Discussion,” and today we’re reminded again of the third result: technology needs to be part of the […]