Six spring clean tips for your business tech

Spring’s the traditional time to clear out the office cupboards, but what about your technology? Over time, businesses accumulate a mix of digital clutter, outdated hardware and slow systems.
Eventually, these things stop being helpful and start to become more of a hindrance. If your tech feels like it’s holding you back, or you can’t see the wood for the trees, it’s time for a reset. Here are six straightforward ways to sweep out the digital dust and get your business running efficiently in time for summer.

1. Dust off your hardware

And for once, we’re speaking literally.
You might have never considered it, but dust is the silent killer of electrical equipment. When vents get blocked, computers and servers run hot. This slows down performance, increases fan noise, and can even shorten the lifespan of your expensive kit.
Spending a few minutes with a can of compressed air to clear out PC vents, server racks and laptop ports is a simple, low-cost fix that can help prevent sudden hardware failure and keep your office running quietly.

2. Check your foundation

Everything your business does online relies on your internet connection. As you use more cloud-based apps and video tools, the demand on your bandwidth increases.
If you’re dealing with daily dropouts, slow uploads or freezing calls, your connection could be holding you back. So take a moment to test your actual speeds against what your team needs to do their job (do a speed test on various devices in various rooms). If your current setup is struggling to cope, upgrading to business full fibre broadband gives you a reliable, high-speed foundation, so you can just get on with your work.

3. Quiet the digital noise

Digital clutter isn’t just old files sitting on a hard drive (tip: you should look to spring clean these too).
Every time a phone pings, a desktop banner pops up or an email demands your attention, it breaks your focus.
Some of these notifications are important. Some aren’t. That’s why you should take some time to audit the apps and services that are allowed to interrupt you. If a tool isn’t essential for real-time work, turn off its notification. Or, if there are certain notifications you do want to keep on receiving, you could instead choose to silence notifications from certain sources or individuals.
The point is, giving yourself and your team more space to concentrate is an easy boost to productivity.

4. Ditch the desk phone

Or should we say evolve it?
Old phone systems, tied to a single desk in a single location, can be restrictive. If your team works flexibly, you can make sure your phone system matches that flexibility.
Switching to a modern solution like CloudComms removes the need for clunky hardware. You get a smart, cloud-based system that lets you make and receive business calls from anywhere, even on your mobile or laptop. It’s less clutter, less complexity, and far more freedom.

5. Audit your subscriptions

Software subscriptions are easy to sign up for and even easier to forget about. Take a close look at your monthly outgoings and hunt down the tools and services you no longer use.
You might find that you’re paying for more user seats than you actually need, or you have two different apps doing the same job. Trimming these forgotten subscriptions is a quick win that puts money straight back into your pocket.

6. Secure your digital keys

A security spring clean is just as important as a physical one. Start by deleting saved credentials for services or accounts your business no longer uses – even delete the accounts if you can (and you know you’ll never need them). If an old service gets breached, your details won’t be sitting there waiting to be found.
Also, if you’re not using a password manager yet, it’s time to combine spring cleaning with a late New Year’s resolution and get one set up. That way, your team only has to remember a single, secure master password. It makes login easier and prevents the danger of reusing the same simple password across multiple sites.

Ready for a refresh?

Sometimes a spring clean means fixing what you have, and sometimes it means throwing out the old to make room for something better.
If your current internet or phone system is slowing you down, we’re here to help. Explore our full range of solutions at business.zen.co.uk or speak to our team to find the right fit for your business.