S. M. E.: The Three Principles of Running a Small and Medium Enterprise
Running a small and medium-sized enterprise (SME) has never been an easy task. To survive and thrive, it is helpful to play by three principles that go conveniently by its acronym SME, with each letter standing respectively for “security”, “mobility” and “efficiency”.
The First Principle: S for Security
Security is the first and foremost priority of running a business. Faced with the gauntlet thrown down by internet safety, the enterprises have to adopt a number of measures, including constant backup of important files and installation of anti-virus software in order to effect a thorough protection of the computer against viruses, ward off email viruses, filter junk mail and withstand hackers’ attacks. A comprehensive protection can help one cope with phishing websites, junk mail, computer viruses, attacks from hackers and even WannaCry, the ransomware that has raged globally in earlier times. Don’t worry when confronting these attacks – watch out for what’s coming in and manage accordingly.
Besides internet safety, physical safety should also be attended to. Incidents like shop theft and break-ins due to employees’ negligence are frequent occurrences. Installing IP Camera (IP Cam) and security smartphone can aid enterprises to enhance shop and office security. Users can make use of smartphones to record the happenings in the shop in real time. In case unusual signs are detected, such as the accidental opening of windows and doors, the system will notify the users immediately to prevent losses.
The Second Principle: M for Mobility
The second principle stands for mobility, as SME is known to have an edge on flexibility and responsiveness. To allow flexibility, documents have to be digitalised and sent to the cloud. Amongst all, scan-to-cloud is an indispensable function. By it, users first have the document scanned and launched onto the cloud. After that, they can connect to the cloud data management system on the internet explorer of mobile devices to save and retrieve documents, or to do so using the cloud storage application. In this way, one can work seamlessly in whatever locations. Armed with a reliable laptop, one can perform all sorts of tasks all over the world. Like Sun Wukong’s somersault cloud, a full suite of cloud services stands one in good stead at work.
The Third Principle: E for Efficiency
Efficiency is the soul of excellence. As the saying goes, “To excel in the task, one has to hone the tool”. For the large number of documents to be processed and edited daily, to speed up document saving and retrieval and ratchet up the editing speed is key to thriving business. The cloud editing services provided by Office 365 enable SMEs save, retrieve and share documents in whatever time and places. Not requiring installation, Office 365 can run on all mobile phones, computers and operating systems. Besides document editing, it also consists of a wide array of functions including cloud storage, text instant messaging, video conferencing and even internet calling, which greatly enhances the efficiency of SMEs, facilitates the flow of information and helps enterprises to catch hold of each client and every opportunity.
Last but not the least, a point to remember: among the SME principles, as their order suggests, security should come first, with mobility and efficiency being more advanced strategies. All three principles, however, should work with cloud services to generate the biggest impact. The aforementioned principles should help SMEs emerge victorious and take the lead in the field.
