If you're like most small- or medium-sized business (SMBs) owners, you're always looking for ways to optimize your company’s resources and improve performance. One area you’re probably neglecting is your business’s IT system and its proper management.

Investing in new IT solutions can boost your team’s productivity, improve your customer service, and fortify your cyber defenses. To maximize the returns you gain from any new IT investment, be careful of these common mistakes.
1. Failing to align new tech with business goals
While many advertisers sell new technologies as the ultimate solution to all your problems, the truth is that not every IT solution is a good fit for all businesses.

Are your IT assets contributing to your business’s profitability and overall growth? If you can't tell whether your IT is helping you turn a profit, it's time to seek the help of professionals who can evaluate your technology's performance and spot any anomalies before it's too late.

Voice over Internet Protocol (VoIP) telephony systems are more mobile, have greater functionality, and cost less than traditional landline phones. But like any type of IT, VoIP is vulnerable to disruptions caused by equipment failure, disasters, and cyberattacks.

Investing in new IT tools is one of the best ways to improve your business’s efficiency, data security, and ability to serve your customers. But it won’t always produce the outcomes you want if you go about it haphazardly. When purchasing new technology, make sure to avoid these mistakes.

Even the best managed IT services provider (MSP) can overlook certain business continuity plan (BCP) details. This is why businesses should always be on the lookout for the following pitfalls of BCP to ensure that the plan works as it should.
Over-optimistic testing
The initial testing attempt is usually the most important, because it's when MSPs can pinpoint potential pain points in the recovery plan.

Like all things, business continuity plans are not perfect. They have pitfalls that can result in your business’s failure if not taken into account immediately. Don’t blame it all on the IT guy; often, the way a system is designed can also have loopholes.

What’s the worst thing that could happen to your Internet of Things (IoT) devices? If you guessed ‘getting infected with malware,’ you’re right. Many users think IoT gadgets don’t need the same protections required for PCs, laptops, and smartphones -- but they do.

Your service provider, who you have tasked with looking after your company’s IT, has kept your business up and running for the past 10 years. Usually, that kind of longevity in developing continuity plans has resulted to some providers overlooking or underestimating certain issues.