Managing company information and data can be the bane of the small business owner and remain a challenge no matter how big a business can get. If your business is in any field that requires adherence to either compliance or strict security standards, your need to manage business information is even more essential. There are three significant ways businesses can stay above water when processing information, and they all involve modern, easy-to-use software.
1. Staying Organized
Staying organized is typically easier said than done (particularly if your personality ranks a “low C” on the DISC assessment). But it’s the first necessary step toward managing your business information. Whether your data that needs organization is either sensitive in nature, confidential financial information, or just general client data, you need a way to keep it organized so your business can run efficiently.
Luckily, there is a multitude of ways to digitally organize your business information so you can avoid the paper trails that could potentially bog you down for decades. For project management and storing documents in the cloud, software such as Basecamp and Asana are just two of the many popular tools that enable collaboration and information-sharing across teams. Office 365 is another system popular with mid-size to larger companies for staying organized with documents, calendars, and more.
2. Secure Important Documentation in a Safe Manner
One of the most crucial reasons to properly manage business information is to keep it secure. Even if you’re not in the healthcare, financial, government, or other highly regulated industries that need to comply with regulatory bodies, your information could be exposed. One of the greatest mistakes made by small businesses today is thinking their information is valueless because of their size. Remember that giant Target breach? It was the result of a breach of a small contractor Target employed. Access to one small company could be access to a much bigger one, which could ruin both.
To secure documentation properly, businesses should look to document storage software which can safeguard all data in either an on-premise or cloud-based system. Document storage software is also a valuable way to transfer paper documents to digital realms if your business wants to make that type of migration.
For management and decision makers, businesses may also look into board meeting software such asConvenewhich provides a secure space to access and collaborate on highly confidential information.
3. Easily Access Important Business Information
No app for organizing information or protection standard for securing it is useful unless employees can access the business data they need. Both cloud-based and on-premise technologies abound for businesses looking to make sure their information stays protected yet accessible. Depending on your business’s needs, systems from companies as robust as Oracle to more common apps such as Dropbox run the gamut of providing safe access to your information while ensuring employees can collaborate on it.
If your data is in the digital realm at all, you’ll want to look for a storage provider that guarantees two things: ultimate security (including service level agreements [SLAs] for cloud storage that serve as contracts and standards for what the provider ensures), and ease of access.
Your data should be both secure and freely accessible to the right people in your organization. Implement best practices to ensure your business information stays organized, secure, and accessible while your company grows.
