For many of us, our job roles haven’t changed, just the places from which we perform them. While a temporary loss of motivation is entirely reasonable (we are in a pandemic after all), we cannot drop the ball on our businesses. View this as a once-in-a-lifetime opportunity to develop your business and complete the tasks on your to-do list that have been building up for years. Experience trial and error while people are distracted. Master new ways of working and practice while you have the time off, then return to work on your a-game.

We may be working hours which are a lot more flexible, and swapped our office blocks for our fluffy socks, but for business owners, some things remain exactly the same.

One necessity existed before lockdown and will remain afterwards: the need to continually innovate and improve our businesses, or at the very least, maintain their operation at peak performance level.

With remote working becoming the new norm, many adjustments are required to replicate our productive office environments.

Giacom concluded that by implementing the following steps, working remotely could be a lot easier:

1. Continuing to collaborate via video-chat – do you use Zoom or Teams? These video-calling platforms replicate important face-to-face discussions and should therefore be suited to your company’s needs.
2. Fixing home broadband – more than 40% of businesses are reporting problems with staff working at home, caused by poor networks. Over 60% say they are ready to invest to give their teams business grade, secure WiFi at home.
3. Putting in place a cloud or hosted telephone system (called VoIP). Many small businesses have run their businesses in lockdown by diverting their landline to their mobile. Online/hosted phone lines WILL replace current landlines within the next 5 years.

We understand that automating your business may have never been a priority in the past, however small businesses need to figure out how to drive digital technology across their whole business, to improve things in the long term. Here’s how:

1. Making your business secure by completing regular back-ups, and moving information to the cloud. This keeps all of your information in one place: a fully encrypted, secure storage centre online. Think of it as a portable hard-drive which can be accessed anywhere – even if your computer fails, the information will be kept safe in the cloud.

2. Improved WiFi, fibre and 5G. Broadband which works on the move, at the speed you need it to.

3. Security and Anti-virus. With many people operating with non-secure devices, there is a much higher risk of malware, viruses and cyber-attacks. Switch to an all-in-one security system to prevent irreversible damage!

4. Define areas for integration and automation. If you take five minutes to complete a task daily, that works out as 1,200 minutes a year, or twenty hours. What if it could be done in 30 seconds, thanks to a new automation process you’ve installed? That’s only 120 minutes, or two hours a year. Which sounds more efficient? Which would you rather pay for in staff costs?

Step into the future

Working in a different ‘office’ doesn’t excuse complacency! We have a duty as business owners to drive innovation, and propel our businesses into the future. This can be done with the help of an IT Consultant.

With things beginning to return to semi-normalcy, trading as we once knew it is predicted to resume within the next few months. However, the ways in which we work have changed permanently. The changes which we implement now can quite literally help to make our companies pandemic-proof.

With reasonable adjustments in place, 70% of business owners report that they are feeling positive about their business prospects going forwards, despite moving into what feels like unchartered waters.

Things can never improve if they don’t change. Technology can advance your business in so many ways, so please, contact us today for a free consultation to discuss how you can begin this journey to improvement.

As always with JSE Computing, we don’t want to sell you a package deal, or the same random combination of services as we provide your competitors down the road. All services are completely bespoke to the needs of your company, with your specific goals and ambitions in mind. Your problems are unique, therefore your solutions should be too!

Visit this link and fill in your details if you’d like to keep up to date with what we do at JSE, or visit our website if you’d like to arrange a consultation. We look forward to hearing from you.

All statistics provided by Giacom, 2021.

JSE Computing Ltd 2021 © All Rights Reserved.

The grant is for micro-businesses in NI (those that employ less than 10 people and have a turnover of than less than 2m) who want to grow and develop their customer base and trading potential online.

Invest NI will provide a grant up to £5000 to support 80% of eligible costs (projects must have a minimum of £1,250 of eligible expenditure). It is on a FIRST COME FIRST SERVE BASIS, applications close on 12th March 2021.

This is where JSE Computing come in 😇

The grant can go towards activities such as:

• Reviewing current digital marketing capabilities and online sales channels.
• Developing a digital marketing/e-commerce strategy to drive growth in online sales.
• Implementing a new e-commerce website or improving the existing one(s).
• Training and knowledge transfer to develop the digital marketing and e-commerce capability of the employees for the business.
• Improve integration and automation with existing e-commerce systems.

As of THIS WEEK we have been able to facilitate all the above services. We also provide a range of social media and blog services which can be added on to meet the minimum budget needed to access the grant.

INFO AND LINKS:

JSE Computing website, blog and social media services: https://www.jsecomputing.com/content-writing-and-marketing

Apply for the micro-business e-commerce grant:

https://www.investni.com/micro-business-e-commerce-grant

Seating Matters is a family owned business in Limavady, who are global manufacturers of clinical seating for patients with reduced mobility, or who require physical support. As an ever-evolving company, Seating Matters came to JSE Computing for support in advancing their ordering systems. Previously, orders and quote requests were arriving through multiple different channels and had to be uploaded manually.

Not only was this slowing down production, but it was also leading to errors in order processing: information was being translated incorrectly across the factory and so the wrong things were being made, and since Seating Matters process such a large volume of orders, the occasional order request was going missing.

To solve this issue, we created a web application that allowed the Seating Specialists to create more accurate price quotes, at a quicker rate, that linked to their existing Sage database.

To do this we decide on a proof of concept that took chair components and their prices from the Sage database, which could only be viewed internally, and synced them to a new database in our ISO accredited datacentre. We changed the prices on the Sage database and these changes synced out to the new web application.

Our next step was to create a configurator where the seating specialists could design the chairs they sold and add all of the components they needed to build them. This meant that an online inventory of what exactly is needed for each chair could be made, minimising the risk of the seating specialists selecting components which are not compatible with certain chairs. We worked side by side with Seating Matters and began adding all of their chair models into the new configuration system, starting with their least complicated chair and working our way up to their most advanced. It was a success!

All of the orders now flow seamlessly from the cloud-based ordering system we created back down into their local Sage database which has fully transformed operations at Seating Matters reducing the labour intense processing of the orders. The bespoke software which we designed is built on the latest Microsoft Technology, and is hosted in our ISO accredited data centre.

We at JSE Computing are extremely grateful to be able to provide this assistance to Seating Matters, a company which prides itself on its organisation and forward thinking, and know that our input has had such a large impact on its efficiency. But don’t just take our word for it, please see the video below to hear what the team in Seating Matters have to say about it.

Great to have Todds Of Campsie on board. We migrated Todds onto our Office 365 platform protecting their business with our Kaspersky Endpoint Security Client and safely storing their business-critical data in our ISO accredited data centre in Belfast via our encrypted cloud backup software.

This move has modernised the IT systems as Todds, helping rings run smoothly behind the scenes. A decision which also positively reinforces Todds’ security measures, ensuring that important information is securely stored and protected.

Local Supporting Local

Todds are a long-established family company originally from Coleraine but expanded to their current site in 1990.

Having had a number of franchises over the years they have consolidated their position with the Kia franchise to become a Main Kia Dealer for Northern Ireland. They still remain as a franchised Aftersales point for Chrysler Jeep & Dodge.

They are very much a family business with James Todd (Managing Director) starting the company in the early ’80s. Over the years he was joined by his sons filling managerial roles as the company has expanded.

Since it’s our business-birthday, we want to share with you four exciting services that are available (or will be very soon) at JSE – we know you’ll love them, especially since some are free.

Here’s what’s in the pipeline at JSE Computing…

1. Online training course in detecting phishing and scams; through emails and other online communications

We like to think that we are internet wise, and can detect when something is ‘a bit off’ about an email. Yet when technology is as advanced as it is today, it can be easy to be mislead from time to time… You might wonder if there is any harm in clicking the occasional link, or filling in a form, when you haven’t entered any card details, or lost any money? The answer is YES. Your data and details could be at risk – probably the most valuable aspects of your company! That’s why we’ve created this online class for businesses on how to spot when you’re being scammed. This is available for companies of all sizes, and class times can be altered to suit you. Kapersky certified course, delivered by us.

2. Support group chats for IT issues and technical support

Picture this scene: productivity is booming, you actually get your work finished early for once… and then you press print, and the nightmare unfolds. Unholy noises. Very concerning mechanical banging. The #*@%$! printer is broken again. Thanks to our free Whatsapp groupchat for existing customers, you can get the support you need for technical problems, even out of hours.

3. Marketing and creative writing services

As well as launching your website and creating your online platforms, we can also help with the presentation and descriptions of your products/services. Allow our fully qualified creative writing department add some je ne sais quoi to your advertising. Have you ever experienced the feeling of disappointment when you know your ideas and plans are innovative and unique – but when you type them out or explain them to someone else, your words just aren’t doing them justice? Never again, with JSE Computing writing services. We understand your time is precious, and creating formal advertising and descriptions can steal you away from what’s most important – providing valuable services to your customers. Let us do what we do best, so you can get back to doing what you do best.

4. 24 Hour remote monitoring and management

We are pleased to announce that we now offer 24 hour remote IT monitoring with our RRM service. This means that we can keep an eye on your IT systems, checking for any security risks and internal server errors – essentially working as your own personal IT department from a distance. We will discover and fix any IT problems before you even realise something is wrong. This is a truly premium service which is huge benefit to developing and already established businesses, which helps ensure that technological problems will NEVER block productivity, only aid it.

Back in 1998, John Shearer set up JSE Computing alone. Now, 23 years later, it’s a multinational company, with customers all over the globe; all the way over in America, in Spain, and right back at home here in Northern Ireland.

A lot has changed in the IT world since then; can you remember when the internet was something which you literally plugged in to the wall? As much as we enjoy the nostalgia, we are glad things have moved on to where we are today.

Today JSE are proud to have expanded into a business with a huge range of services. The combination of these services are unique to JSE Computing, and are only offer by a very select number of IT Consultants in the whole of the UK and Ireland.

One thing which hasn’t changed since the beginning, is our two passions: our customers, and our love of IT. These things won’t change in another 23 years, either.

Thank you to our loyal customers and great friends.

Robert Ferris Estate Agents is the North West’s leading independent agents for residential and commercial sales and lettings, with over 30 years of local knowledge.

JSE are providing a full hardware refresh and moving many of their services to our cloud platform to enable the team to work remotely as and when required. An essential move during the pandemic! This will also strengthen the security of the data and important information stored in the company’s online records, reinforcing their already stringent safety measures.

For extra security and comfort, Robert Ferris made the astute decision to back up their critical data offsite, using our ISO Accredited data centre herein Northern Ireland.

We are pleased to be working alongside this respected, local business. Thank you Robert Ferris team!

Welcome on board our new client EMN Transcription Services Ltd.

Elaine and her colleagues at EMN Transcription Services Ltd. transcribe audio from a variety of sectors including academic, legal, media and medical.

EMN Transcription Services Ltd. have moved onto our Office 365 Business platform incorporating the latest SharePoint services all secured by our Kaspersky Endpoint Security.

As well as this, some small adjustments were made to get EMN Transcription Services Ltd. certified on the Cyber Essentials government backed scheme. Well done EMN!

They also have the first keyboard we have ever seen in 20+ years of business that have worn some keys away! Of course, we were happy to source them a new one via our hardware procurement service. Thoroughly impressed, though.