The Essential Office Equipment for Your Business
Technology has changed the way business is done, and continues to change it even faster everyday. Technological tools that seemed extravagant a few years ago have become essential in less than a decade. Many small business offices are struggling to keep up. This isn’t because they can’t afford the equipment, but because they’re unsure which equipment is necessary and which isn’t. We’ve put together a list of the equipment essential for any office, regardless of size or industry, to make the equipment procurement process a little less stressful!
Here is our essential office equipment list, to keep productivity high.
1. A Desktop Computer
While every office can’t afford computers for every desk, the computers you do buy will be the lynchpin of your office structure. This is not a purchase to be glazed over. When it comes to your office’s computers, go with a company with a great reputation – one you know and trust. Secondly, depending on industry, you might need a custom computer assembled (or several). Again search out an expert that understands what you want and need and can get you those capabilities at an affordable price with minimal maintenance. While everyone in the office may not have a CPU on their desk, making the right choices about which computers to get and how they are used day to day can make every employee’s life easier.
2. External Hard Drive
This one may seem redundant after purchasing a computer, but when it comes to security and functionality, no system is fail-proof. Many people handling important computer files work to maintain duplicates of those files, on the chance that their desktop computer’s hard drive fails or gets corrupted.
Make no mistake; these hard drives need to be company owned. If employees are moving business data and personal data back and forth from the office and home, chances increase that sensitive business data will leak, or that the drive will be corrupted or jeopardized by viruses from a home computer.
Secondly, keeping these duplicates in separate locations is a wonderful security measure, if your office or workstation is broken into or vandalized. A good external hard drive is a perfect and important, “just in case” purchase.
For particularly sensitive, client data you should consider making copies onto external hard drives and keeping those drives in a safe location in another office or (ideally) another building.
3. Network Server Solution
The key to most successful businesses is the ability to share important information seamlessly. If your business needs any type of network to support your database, email applications, and other files, you’ll need to set up a network server. There are several factors to consider when choosing your server hardware – needed storage, security requirements, and backup options, among other things.
What is wonderful about network servers is their ability to make sharing information easy. However, this also makes an improperly installed server very dangerous for your business’ sensitive data. If a server isn’t installed properly, every computer connected to that server (and all the files those computers share) are susceptible to hacking.
When your business is ready to upgrade to a network server, contact a technology professional like the I.T. specialists at Business World. The cost of professional installation will be worth the peace of mind further down the line.
4. Wireless Router
Keeping with the seamless sharing of information, every office in today’s world needs to be wireless. While a router may seem like a large investment for a small operation, as your office grows, you will pay for the investment in the money saved on not buying cables and installing networking connections. Wireless routers are key to keeping your office productive and enjoyable. Nowadays, wireless capabilities should be on the mind of anyone building an essential office equipment list for their business.
Another reminder – if network capabilities make your files slightly more vulnerable to hacking, a wireless router will be the primary way many (local) hackers will use to get into your system. This shouldn’t keep you from installing a router, but it should keep you from installing a router yourself. When installed correctly, this technology is (almost) incorruptible, but when installed incorrectly hackers see a welcome mat. Contact a professional to ensure the job is done correctly.
5. Multi-Function Copier
Okay you got us – it’s a copier. But it’s really important!
Whether you plan to print out all of your marketing materials or just need to handle basic jobs, a a high-quality copier will end up saving you tons in time and money. This shouldn’t make your office an all-printing, free-for-all, striving to remain paperless is still a great goal. But when you need a hard copy, it’s best to have a printing capabilities on hand. The copiers available to small businesses today vary greatly in prince and capability
Investing in the right hardware products for your startup business will help you stay organized, boost productivity, and minimize extra costs associated with completing basic tasks. Because every business has unique needs, consider talking to a computer specialist and data security professionals for recommendations on the types of equipment that will be a good match for your business.
If you have any questions about your business’ best bet on office hardware purchases in Arkansas, Contact Business World by calling 501-214-5482, today!
