{"id":19786,"date":"2018-07-19T14:35:51","date_gmt":"2018-07-19T19:35:51","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.hostgator.com\/blog\/?p=19786"},"modified":"2018-09-07T17:10:13","modified_gmt":"2018-09-07T22:10:13","slug":"summer-tech-initiatives-small-businesses","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.hostgator.com\/blog\/summer-tech-initiatives-small-businesses\/","title":{"rendered":"5 Summer Tech Initiatives for Small Businesses"},"content":{"rendered":"

5 Summer Tech Initiatives for Small Businesses<\/h2>\n

The summer is a slow time of year for most businesses, with many customers and clients out enjoying the longer days and extended vacations. <\/span><\/p>\n

This makes summer the perfect time to implement new technology. With your business and employees less stressed by pressing deadlines and client demands, you can finally tackle some of those technology projects or updates that have been put on the back burner.<\/span><\/p>\n

Bolster your tech before this season ends with these tech initiatives.<\/span><\/p>\n

\"HostGator<\/a><\/p>\n

1. Digital Security<\/h2>\n

Big, high-profile business aren\u2019t the only ones being attacked by cyber criminals. According to <\/span>Verizon\u2019s 2018 Data Breach Investigations Report<\/span><\/a>, small businesses represent 58 percent of data breach victims<\/a>.<\/span><\/p>\n

Per the report, the majority of breaches (73 percent) came from outsider threats, while 50 percent came from organized criminal groups and 12 percent involved nation-state or state-affiliated actors.<\/span><\/p>\n

To protect your business from expensive and damaging cyber attacks, it\u2019s important to implement improved digital security<\/a>. For example, if you don\u2019t have an IT team, consider hiring consultants who can mitigate threats and monitor regularly for you.<\/span><\/p>\n

Use the summer months to educate your employees as well. You may even want to start a cyber security series, sharing a new digital security tip for employees to learn and then follow each week.<\/span><\/p>\n

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2. Mobile Responsive Website<\/h2>\n

More and more consumers are accessing information and purchasing goods via their mobile device. According to<\/span> eMarketer\u2019s estimates<\/span><\/a>, smartphone retail mcommerce sales in the U.S. increased more than 50 percent in 2017, to total $102.14 billion.<\/span><\/p>\n

\"mcommerce<\/p>\n

In order to successfully compete, it\u2019s important for small business owners to have a mobile responsive website<\/a>. This makes it easy for customers to find and purchase your products or services, or simply read about what you have to offer-which is, of course, step one in the buying process.<\/span><\/p>\n

To do so, start with your development team. Is your website already mobile responsive? If so, head online and test it with a number of mobile browsers. What\u2019s showing up wrong? What\u2019s not working properly? <\/span><\/p>\n

Better yet: do what the big tech companies do and '<\/span>eat your own dog food<\/span><\/a>.'\u009d In this case, that means requiring employees to only use your app or website via mobile for an entire week. You\u2019ll be sure to come up with a long list<\/a> of issues that need to be addressed.<\/span><\/p>\n

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3. Better Developer Training<\/h2>\n

Employee training is valuable for all employees, but especially those in tech-focused roles, like your development team. With technology changing at what feels like the speed of light, and more and more tasks on their plate each day, it\u2019s crucial that they stay up-to-date. <\/span><\/p>\n

As you look to improve your online training for this team, start by asking them what they want to learn about.<\/span><\/p>\n

'If you haven\u2019t asked your technical talent what they want to learn, you could be missing an opportunity to customize your learning strategy, and more importantly, to build your business. Your technical talent is often closest to problems that will produce cost savings and or increase sales, service or efficiency if solved. Therefore, they often know what they need to learn-so ask,'\u009d suggests <\/span>DeveloperAcademy.io<\/span><\/a>. <\/span><\/em><\/p>\n

Use their answers, in addition to tech leadership preferences, to start searching for a better tool to implement the training they requested. Look for platforms that allow for customized lessons<\/a>, dedicated implementation and ongoing development support, and gamification. All of these features make it more valuable for your employees, and easier to manage from your end.<\/span><\/p>\n

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4. Collaboration Tools<\/h2>\n

With so many companies choosing to hire remote employees, it\u2019s become imperative to implement better collaboration and communication tools. This is the only way for teams to work together without being in the same office, and luckily, technology makes it easy to facilitate. <\/span><\/p>\n

There are likely a number of collaboration and communication needs between your various employees. Consider onboarding a variety of the following tools to mitigate those woes: <\/span><\/p>\n