The Best IT Infrastructure Setup for SMBs
What is the best IT setup for small businesses?
Even though we may start out small, the business goals we set our sights on are usually significant. Whether we are starting a tech startup aiming to become the next unicorn or the non-profit trying to become the cornerstone of the community, one of our first steps will be an investment in Information Technology.
When it comes to IT, the challenge for SMBs (small and medium businesses) is stiff. This is because they have to compete with established corporations that can afford to hire full-fledged IT teams. To be competitive, small business owners need their IT infrastructure components to be flexible, scalable, and efficient. And that too within their limited budget.
So, how do we achieve that? How can we achieve a fast, agile, and scalable IT setup? Before we begin evaluating which IT Infrastructure setup option is the most suitable, let’s revisit my favorite mantra:
When you buy a laptop, you are investing in a tool that lets you use the word processor, spreadsheet, photo editor, or design software that makes you more productive and efficient. In effect, you are buying not the machine but what the machine can do for you. That’s a good philosophy for dealing with all things IT.
How To Build An Ideal IT Infrastructure Setup For Small Businesses?
So let’s begin building the best IT infrastructure for your business with the right components:
1. To BYOD or not?
The Bring Your Own Device (BYOD) concept allows employees to use their personal devices- laptops, mobile phones, and tablets for work. This is an attractive policy for small companies that are starting out because it allows you to get up and running quickly. At the same time, you also free up capital that would otherwise be tied up in devices. Also, employees can hit the ground running since the employees are familiar with their own devices and there will be no learning curve. But, the most important benefit of BYOD is the increased employee mobility and the associated productivity gains.
BYOD is appealing from the cost and ease of setup perspectives. But from an IT support and security perspectives, it can range from being difficult to a nightmare. The difficulty in IT support comes from the variety of devices that employees will likely be using. The use of personal devices for work also creates data storage, ownership, and privacy issues. Not to mention the threat of malware and cyber-attacks.
After your company grows beyond 4-5 employees, BYOD isn’t worth the trouble or the risk. Think about the long-term impact of BYOD policy on your IT security and compliance requirements. Even a simple question such as how to deal with the device and data when an employee leaves the company can potentially put your business at risk.
Using an MDM (mobile device management) you can tackle many of the issues arising from a BYOD policy. An MDM gives you remote access to all company devices and lets you deploy security patches, update operating systems and applications, and most importantly remotely wipe all the data on the device if needed. Whether you have a BYOD policy or not, an MDM must definitely be part of your cybersecurity policy.
Verdict
So, what’s the verdict on BYOD? Mobile Device Management Solutions provide the security cover for a lot of the problems that result from a BYOD policy. But, the complexities in IT support due to the variety of devices used are still unresolved. The constant troubleshooting requirements alone can be a huge drain on your IT resources.
A compromise can be achieved by adopting a CYOD (choose your own device) policy. This policy lets employees pick from a few different types of devices approved by your IT. Thus limiting the variety of devices and making IT Support less cumbersome. A CYOD policy along with an MDM is a great solution for small businesses. It gives them the flexibility and employee mobility they need.
2. Network and WiFi
Which Is Better -Wired or Wireless?
For most small to medium-sized businesses, we recommend going for a wireless network. For large wired networks, running cables is expensive and time-consuming. It is especially inefficient for high-growth companies that usually end up moving into larger offices. They will have to redo the cabling after every office relocation.
Wireless networks are:
Cost-effective
Easy to set up and access
Faster and easier to scale, and
Provide flexibility for employees
Should You Buy Consumer-grade Or Enterprise-grade Network Equipment?
90% of Network and WiFi issues we solve for newer clients are due to their network equipment. We regularly see companies using Ubiquiti, Eero, Google WiFi, Netgear, etc. in their offices. While these are not bad brands, they are designed for small home networks and don’t perform well in dense corporate environments. If your office has ten or more WiFi devices, you should consider getting business-grade equipment such as Cisco Meraki or Aruba.
Enterprise-grade network equipment gives you lots of benefits such as ease of management, better security, greater scalability, and consistent performance, to name a few. We have shared the benefits of a WiFi network for small businesses as well as the things to know before upgrading your WiFi network in our previous blogs.
Do You Need Both A Primary and Secondary ISP (Internet Service Provider)?
You may have the best possible internet package from the best ISP, but unfortunately, ISPs go down sometimes. Our businesses are so dependent on the internet that even a few minutes without it can cause massive disruption in our services. To safeguard against such disruptions it is best to signup for a backup ISP. This will give you peace of mind and more importantly ensure uninterrupted business services even if your primary ISP goes down.
Dual Internet access needn't be an expensive affair. You can choose a lower-tier plan from a different ISP while keeping the more dependable ISP as your primary. Managing two different ISPs and packages may seem intimidating, especially if you don’t have prior experience. If you are unfamiliar with the concept, it is advisable to get professional help for setting up your failovers.
Verdict
A wireless network with CISCO Meraki network gear, a primary ISP along with a lower-tier package form a second ISP as a fallback.
3. Productivity Apps- Which Is Better Microsoft 365 or Google Workspace?
Many business owners have difficulty deciding which set of productivity applications- Microsoft 365 (formerly Office 365) or Google Workspace (formerly G Suite) is best for their business. We will restrict our consideration to SaaS platforms since cloud-based applications are the norm now. Both Office 365 and G Suite let you create documents, spreadsheets, and presentations in the cloud. They also offer sharing and collaboration capabilities. Besides, they also provide cloud storage, syncing as well as video conferencing functionality.
These SaaS platforms are always online, accessible from any device or location, and integrate with your other apps. The ease of sharing and collaboration capabilities improve your employee mobility and productivity. So, the important question is not why but which one to choose?
Google Workspace (G Suite)
Google Workspace offers a one-stop-shop for email hosting, storage, and file collaboration. Your employees are probably already familiar with Gmail, Google Drive, and Calendar tools of G Suite. Google Workspace is an exclusively cloud-based suite of tools.
Here are the benefits of using Google Workspace:
99.9% SLA
Admin console that lets you manage users, groups, security settings, features from one place.
Highest security assurance as Workspace is built on Google Cloud Platform
Email encryption in transit
A large number of integration with third-party apps
Microsoft 365 (Office 365)
Besides the online apps, Microsoft 365 offers desktop versions for Word, Excel, PowerPoint, etc. While the Google Workspace apps are pretty basic, the Microsoft 365 tools are feature-packed. They offer all the advanced features you will ever need.
Microsoft 365 offers greater functionalities since it is integrated with Microsoft Office
It offers robust security, compliance, and administration functionalities
Collaboration tools such as Microsoft Teams, Groups, Yammer, and Power BI
Advanced virus protection, rights management, and performance monitoring
A natural fit for offices with mostly Windows-based systems.
Verdict
Despite the availability of the cloud, many businesses prefer to create, edit and share files locally. In such cases having desktop applications is necessary and Office 365 is the default.
On the other hand, G Suite is your best bet if cloud storage, ease of collaboration, and mobility are more important for your business. With G Suite, you can also get branded business emails, which is a nice touch for small businesses.
From an IT resources perspective, deploying and managing Office 365 is a lot costlier. Supporting Office 365 is also more labor-intensive compared to supporting G Suite. So from the operations cost alone, G Suite is more suitable for small to medium businesses.
For all modern-day businesses, web meetings, webinars, and video conferencing have become a necessity. Whether you are a local business with global clients or a startup with remote employees, web conferencing technologies make collaboration a whole lot easier.
Out of the variety of options available out there, we will look at the two most popular conference room technologies- Zoom and Google Meets. These two tools are very similar yet very different.
Zoom
Zoom is an easy-to-use online video conferencing software. It integrates video conferencing, online meetings, webinars, and online group interactions into a single cloud-based platform. Zoom is designed keeping in mind the modern-day businesses that have many remote employees as well as global clients.
The features and capabilities of Zoom allow you to organize virtual meetings with a large number of participants while keeping it interactive in nature. This makes Zoom very useful for businesses that rely heavily on webinars and online collaboration. Features such as simultaneous screen sharing, annotation of screen sharing, virtual breakout rooms, in-meeting chats, and polling make Zoom highly interactive.
Google Meets
On the other hand, Google Meets is a much simpler tool focused on smaller meetings that don’t need to be very interactive, informal chats, and interviews. It does offer an impressive set of features. The most important being its integration with G Suite. The ability to join meetings directly from the calendar with just one click is a big plus. This simple feature ensures better participation from employees and the email reminders ensure that they are also well prepared for the meetings.
As a small business, you will likely be using Google Workspace. So, considering that Meets is already integrated will your suite of applications, it makes good sense to use it for your virtual meetings.
Verdict
If your meetings are highly interactive or if you organize virtual classes and webinars then Zoom is the winner by a mile. But, if your virtual meetings are just weekly standups, one-on-one chats, and interviews, then Google Meets will serve you fine.
6. Communication Systems
VoIP vs Traditional telephone line
VoIP has many advantages over the traditional phone system. Here we list a few of them:
Drastic reduction in call cost- VoIP can potentially save you up to 40 % on local calls, and up to 90 % on international calls
Scalability- Adding phone lines for new hires is just a few clicks away. Removing the lines is equally as simple.
Better call quality- VoIP phone systems have a much better call quality. So you can say goodbye to choppy lines, one-way audio, humming or buzzing, and other communication errors.
Flexibility in network layouts- You won’t have to run additional cables for your phone as you can use the existing Ethernet cable or even your WiFi network.
However, what makes VoIP most useful for small to medium businesses are their features and integrations. VoIP offers a host of special features that make your business more efficient as well as adds a dash of professionalism. Here is a list of some of those features:
Door phone entry buzzer
Voicemail to email transcription
Bandwidth utilization and inbound/outbound call detail reports
Call screening
On the Call Coaching tools, and many more.
We have talked about VoIP in greater depth in our blog: VoIP Phone System For Small Business - FAQs
Verdict
We aren’t going to talk about the traditional phone lines because the VoIP phone systems trump traditional phones in every way.
Here are Your ideal IT infrastructure components
Alright, now we have an understanding of the main IT infrastructure elements for your small business. Let’s summarize your ideal IT setup here:
Devices - Adopt a CYOD (choose your own device) policy along with an MDM (mobile device management)
Network & WiFi - CISCO Meraki wireless network with a primary and a fallback ISP
Productivity Apps -
Use Office 365 if desktop applications and offline functionalities are necessary
Use G Suite if cloud storage, collaboration, and mobility are more important
Conference Room -
Use Zoom if you organize interactive meetings, virtual classes, and webinars
Use Meet if you need one-on-one meetings, interviews, and simple team meetings
Communication - Use VoIP phone system along with business features and integrations
Once you have your basic IT infrastructure set up, most of your IT costs will be directed towards operations and maintenance. To keep this cost down, you should keep your infrastructure:
Simple - avoid unnecessary customizations and modifications
Scalable - plan for growth and ensure that your digital infrastructure can scale up or down on demand
Standardized - use standardized processes for procurement, installation, operations, and maintenance.
Finally, know when you will need help with managing your IT operations. As your company grows, you will need to make a shift from firefighting IT issues to adopting a proactive approach. With the growth in size, the complexities in IT also grow and so do the costs of un-managed IT and downtime. Getting proper IT infrastructure management gives you the insurance you need to work without stress, fatigue, or fear of downtime.
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