Has it really only been a few decades since we walked around with brick-sized mobiles and all had a Hotmail email address? There is no doubt that the IT revolution has changed the way in which we do business – as well as organise our daily lives – but not all companies have kept up with the implications of the new way of doing things.

Take websites, for example. At first companies were merely uploading their brochures online, but they have now realised that the two media are different.

Jason Potter, the founder of The Other Guys, said that it was important to have a strategy which allowed both to work hand in hand, as they had different audiences – and impacts.

“It also depends on your business, as each has a different need or goal to both print and web based communications. It is part of our job not just to create but also to work together with clients to ensure both parties fully understand any objective or goals. In this approach we ensure that we are not just producing work but also educating and working side by side our clients to produce a finished product that both satisfies the client’s needs/wants and also maximises their business goals,” he said.

Setting up a website is not an end in itself, however, and while companies understand the need to update their brochures on a regular basis, they do not always appreciate a website’s need for dynamic content.

Maurice Aquilina, the director of M7Alpha Creative Studios, pointed out that more often than not, the website provides the first impression for prospective.

“You’ve spent money, improved your search engine rankings and, finally, you’re getting valuable visits. Do not blow it now! In the fierce online competition for exposure, you might not get a second chance.

“From a design and technical point of view, updates are crucial to keep your website up and running smoothly. You or your web designer/developer should schedule regular check-ups to all your site’s functions. See that your website looks and works well on various mobile devices and that no new browser release breaks anything,” he advised.

“On the information side, it is quite obvious that old, outdated content will give that same impression of your business; slow, sluggish, irrelevant. Frequent updates and fresh content will get your customers engaged and excited about what you have to offer… while earning valuable search engine ranking points in the process. Bill Gates once said that ‘content is king’, just make sure yours is the one leading!”

IT has also changed the way in which businesses operate and there are now numerous software development companies which realise that each sector has very specific requirements. ISB Ltd has specialised in real estate and hotels, for example, with considerable customisation offered.

“The ideal is to have a suite of in-house developed, readily-available software solutions around which you build the concepts of customisation, flexibility and scalability,” director Alan Darmanin explained, adding that it also made ISB’s business model easy to export. In fact, ISB serves clients in Malta, Switzerland, UK, France and North Africa.

“This presents us with superb potential and possibilities to sell solutions internationally since real estate, hospitality and ecommerce businesses in various countries usually have varying business processes that would require software flexibility.

“No two businesses ever have the same needs and business processes, even if coming from the same country. Business decision-makers have understood that the concept of one-size-fits-all software solution too often has undesired effects, usually requiring organisations to model their business around the software solution rather than the other way round,” he said.

Another company which has grown internationally on the back of its customisation potential is PTL. Business intelligence consultant Daniel Mangion believes that the best way for a company to grow is to deepen the bond with its existing client base by selling them more of its products and services.

“This approach – through acquired knowledge – then offers the spring board to selling the same services to new clients, thus increasing the client base.

“A business can also expand by moving into a new market, by introducing a new product or service or by optimising sales by learning about new delivery channels,” he said.

Of course, it is not only businesses that have gained from IT. Government agency Mita has also used IT to improve accessibility to government services.

An eID enables individuals to securely identify and authenticate themselves when transacting with government in any of the available online services. The eID was introduced in 2005, and its take-up amongst organisations was substantial, however its use amongst citizens remained relatively low, Mita’s Roderick Spiteri said.

Maltese businesses assume they are operating off the radar and therefore exempt from security threats and disasters

“Today, in total there are about 61,000 active eID accounts. With the aim to increase take-up, the eID account is being provided to all citizens as part of the National ID Card rollout process, which is expected to be completed by September 2015,” he said.

“The eID system is critical for certain services that require secure authentication, such as taxation and health services. In fact, it was reported that in 2014, 97 per cent of corporate tax returns were submitted online.”

He is still not content, however, believing that the increase in utilisation of eServices among citizens needs to be promoted further.

“An exercise is being conducted to simplify the authentication process, increase usability and facilitate accessibility. Furthermore, a review is being performed to ensure the eID authentication process is applied only where necessary,” he added.

Software can help businesses gather information but that in itself can create a problem: data overload. Dominic Scicluna, the head of business development at Exigy, is an advocate of business intelligence.

“Normally, the power of a business intelligence (BI) tool is not evident until it is actuallyimplemented, at which time deficiencies and inefficiencies within the business are exposed.

“The benefits of the tool are reaped in when the business gets aligned and starts reacting to its data trends. These patterns and trends will emerge through the tool’s powerful reporting functionality, which provides a 360 degree view of the business at a particular point in time and drives more accurate budgeting and forecasting.

“As different users start using the system, they will immediately recognise the insight the tool delivers across all levels of management. BI provides easy access to the right data at the right time, driving more proactive decision-making,” he said.

“Perhaps the most challenging step is to get the business to trust the output of BI. Once such a hurdle is overcome, the requests for new information will grow up to an extent that the system becomes an indispensable tool for the business.”

With software getting so much of the attention, it is easy to overlook the hardware. Paolo Dellamano, managing director of GC Renting which operates the Grenke franchise in Malta, warned that because of the extremely quick development of new software dedicated to business, and as they need more and more powerful performances by the IT where they are installed, IT equipment should be changed at least every three years if not two.

“There is also a problem linked to the material obsolescence of the electronic components of computer motherboards and chipsets that after two years of heavy usage start to deteriorate.

“This is the reason – for example – why the warranties given by more or less all the IT brands on electronic parts have a maximum extension of two years! They perfectly know that after this period of time several problems may happen.

“At the end of the day, it’s really more expensive to keep IT equipment efficient after three years than to change it with the very latest technology.”

It is not only software and hardware that can fail. The overwhelming reliance of companies on IT can leave them vulnerable to everything from data theft to data loss.

Curt Gauci, director and co-founder of Kinetix IT Solutions, believes that the weakest link tends to be devices.

“There is no denying that mobile devices have totally transformed the way we work. In our experience, however, most companies are not aware of the threats they are exposing themselves to in terms of data leaks – and are definitely not prepared to handled them

“The largest corporate security vulnerability is data loss and it is getting harder to protect it. With greater work flexibility comes greater vulnerability to data loss or security breaches. How many times have you left your tablet, mobile or even laptop behind? The unfortunate thing is that it usually takes such occurrences to sound an alarm bell with business owners, alerting them of the importance of implementing a data leak prevention strategy,” he said.

“Maltese businesses assume they are operating off the radar and therefore exempt from security threats and disasters. Threats to a company’s critical business data present themselves in various forms, from data leaks, hardware and system failures, human error and viruses, to burglary, power surges and blackouts, among others! With disasters like power cuts and floods, all too many companies assume these could never happen to them,” he said.

“Thankfully, Malta is not particularly affected by natural disasters. International research and reports state that of the companies that lose their data in disasters such as these, 90 per cent are out of business within two years and nearly 50 per cent never reopen their doors at all. If this alone does not sound any alarm bells, simply think of the repercussions – the time and money lost should you experience a massive system failure and lose all your business data.”

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