It is time for small businesses on Long Island to start thinking big about their technology.

As Long Island business continue to grow and employees are added, the task of managing their data becomes more and more important.

With the ever-growing movement of the Internet of Things (IOT), Bring Your Own Device (BYOD), multi-device management and the reliance on enterprise level business software, it is more important then ever to have a strategic technology plan that aligns with the goals and strategies of the rest of your business.

By having a detailed and documented plan for the future of your businesses technology solutions, it will make it easier and more productive for all departments throughout your company to be cohesive in their decision-making. Accounting, marketing and operations should all have a clear understanding of the platforms and storage options that each are leveraging to be sure all information will be integrated seamlessly.

The management of your information should be clearly defined, weather it is through a cloud based platform like dropbox, or google drive for a small business, or if you are leveraging a remote data center, it is important to communicate a plan for the future and to have common goals for your technology.

Small business owners can leverage local companies to assist them in making this task easier and more effective. A long Island based technology company, Optel BCS, just announced a free Proactive Technology Alignment System to small and mid-size business in the New York Tri Sate area. The Proactive Technology Alignment System is a 4-step process that analyzes your business goals to create a strategic roadmap that will align your technology and communication practices with the strategic growth of your business.

The Proactive Technology Alignment System is an absolutely risk free program that we offer to local businesses. We execute the 4-step process that assists business owners in preparing the future growth and we help decide what technology is right for your business. You will have the option to implement as little or as much of the strategy as you would like. I have outlined a guide to our process; this will help you and your team to get started towards aligning your technology goals with strategic business objectives.

Step 1- Discovery: One of the members from our success team will sit with your staff and gather strategic information that will help us understand the goals of your business. In the discovery phase we will discuss growth strategies and processes to better understand your business and design a custom technological solution that will align your communication systems with the strategic growth of your business within a specified budget. Step 2- Analysis: Our success team then meets with our internal engineers to discuss your goals and together we will develop a strategic plan that aligns a scalable technology plan with the long term growth strategies of your business. We piece together a plan that is ready to be presented to you and your team. Step 3- Strategy: The presentation will outline the outcome of the discovery and analysis stages and will explain the current health of your systems and the enhancements that are recommended for future alignment. We will also discuss the associated investments and finance options to prepare you for implementation. Step 4- Implementation: After finalizing details, your success team manager will be your main point of contact they will work directly with our implementation team to execute the proposed strategy. Throughout the process you will have regularly schedule progress meetings to keep you informed of the success and productivity of your project. After implementation of new hardware our team will likely propose long term monitoring to ensure the health and reliability of your system. The best part about our Proactive Technology Alignment System is that there is zero commitment from you. If your business is serious about growth, it is time to start thinking about your technological needs. It is important for your staff to define a technology path and be cohesive in their decision-making.