Digital systems form the core of business in the modern world. You might be juggling customer data, operations, and staying in touch with your team but your technology must be agile and keep you moving without getting slowed down. Systems may however lose their efficiency over time being littered, slow and a burden to deal with.

This is why one needs to make things functional. Now the good news is that you don’t have to have a massive budget or a large IT team to make a real difference. It is possible to see visible differences in the way your systems work just with a couple of clever alterations. And in case you are feeling stuck then IT services and support that comes in handy are able to get you back on track.

Let us look at five easy yet effective solutions you can implement to ensure digital systems are smarter, quicker and more efficient.

1. Get Rid of What You Don’t Need

As time goes on everybody accumulates programs and applications that proved to be more useful in theory than ever in practice. These aged and unused tools sit over in the background consuming storage, system processor and even attempting to update themselves. They may not appear to be destructive, however, cumulatively they slow down your system and make it cluttered.

Uninstalling and eliminating the inactive programs only takes time and will have your computer or server feeling as good as new. It is a minor measure, yet the increase in speed and performance is huge. There is also the possibility that you will decrease risks of security concerns due to old devices that are not tracked.

2. Small Stuff Must be Automated

Consider every little thing that you or your team are doing every day. Such as sending reports, copying files, updating spreadsheets, or replying to run-of-the-mill emails. These activities are not instant and cost time more often than you think and they distract your attention from other more important work.

These repetitive measures can be coped with through automation. There are now many tools that include features of automation and these can be left running in the background without the constant input. They are not hard to use even without being a tech person. They are simply a matter of clicking a few settings in most of them.

The first step will be to choose one of the tasks that you frequently perform and identify the way in which it can be configured to run automatically. Such a single modification could save you several hours per month and leave you with time to concentrate on development, planning, or some other way of serving your customers in a better way.

3. Make Your Filings and Systems Organized

Some of the greatest digital frustrations are related to such factors as messy files and scattered data. When such documents are stored in several random folders, local drives and email attachments, locating what you want, when you want is almost next to impossible. And it becomes even messy when all the team people are working on versions of the same file.

Organize your storage and migrate to a shared system and everything becomes easier. The use of cloud-based tools enables your entire team to have access to files anywhere, collaborate in real time, and to be able to store everything in one location. As soon as it all gets organized, labeled, and easy to locate, your system starts working for you–not the other way around.

You will go faster, less likely to make errors and there will be no mess that exists in a disorganized digital space.

4. Don’t Neglect Software Updates

The little pop up refs to keep your systems updated can be easily disregarded. They crop up at the worst moments, when you are busy or in a meeting or attempting to complete an assignment. However, there is a possibility of getting into real problems when missing updates repeatedly.

Obsolete software is prone to crashing and performing slowly, or even hacking. Upgrades do not only include new functionalities. It frequently incorporates critical patches against bugs or vulnerabilities that may create problems in the future.

Consider designating a regular or periodic time perhaps once a week or once every two weeks to update your system and install updates. It does not take too long and maintains your system in top shape. Better still, in case there are automatic updates. Let your system be self maintaining and you do what you need.

And do not forget to make backup of your important files before making important updates. At least that way you are never caught off-guard.

5. Ask Your Team What’s Not Working

People operate your digital systems- real people who have chores to attend to, deadlines to meet and various styles of work. There are occasions when a system may appear to be working well analytically but in fact, is as aggravating to the people having to deal with it on a daily basis. The best solution requires the least intelligent fix of all, and that is just simply ask your team what is taking up their time.

You do not have to have a long survey or formalized meeting. Just a simple little message can provide good responses, such as even just saying and inquiring, “Is there anything about our systems which is frustrating you lately?” Perhaps a log in is too slow, a program has too many crashes or there is a service they would love to use but they cannot access.

Having the door open to feedback does not simply mean that you are solving minor problems, you are also building trust and demonstrating to your team their input is valued. Most of the greatest improvements begin with very simple conversations.

Why This Approach Works

Smart systems are just easy to associate with costly upgrades or huge changes in IT. However, what proves to be most effective in most cases are the little patches which are done regularly.

Clearing the unutilized programs will help your system breathe. By automating the routine work your team can have time to do creative work. By filing away the papers, one gets rid of confusion and wasted time. Having software up-to-date makes you safe and smooth. And by listening to your team, you can tell that you are interested in their day to day life.

These are not even shiny add-ons, they are simple habits. However, all combined, they make a system that is much quicker, less heavy and a lot smarter.

Final thoughts

Your technology is supposed to support not to hinder you. And there is no reason that transplanting your digital systems into the smarter world should be a complex process. Making a few minor changes will completely change how your team  functions and how your systems are performing.

At this point, you may feel willing to go a bit further and you could look into network monitoring . With these tools you get real time insights as to how your systems are performing, detect issues before they propagate to others and are ahead of any issue. It is as though you are giving your technology an inbuilt alarm system.

However, with no fancy tools your business can also get a long way by implementing the five simple steps discussed above.Smarter systems begin with small considered steps. And you can begin to-day.

Further Reading:

How Test Automation Tools Improve Speed and Accuracy in Testing

The Impact of Mobile App Design on User Engagement and Retention