Improving the experience for your customers is a priority for any business. Are you aware how large a part your own infrastructure plays in this? Transforming your IT will transform your customer's business also. In this months guide we take a deep dive into the world of digital transformations.

Introduction Digitalisation can be a gamechanger for SMEs but it needs to be part of a wider strategic plan to develop your business. Choosing the right digital products is key to delivering fast and sustainable results. For today’s SMEs, competition is rife wherever you look. In the start‑up phase, you need to win market share to survive; in the rapid‑growth phase, you need to refine your processes for scalability to beat out established, mass‑market‑ready brands. If you overcome these challenges, then you will typically reach the maturity phase where cost control, optimisation for profitability and innovation become the focus. At every stage, if you don’t make every effort to differentiate yourself from your competitors, you may well fall behind and lose the race to the top. This lifecycle is not new. But what is atypical is the pace at which market conditions are changing, forcing SMEs to respond—and quickly.

Before you can measure success you must first identify what it is you are measuring. In this guide we offer a general list as a starting point covering 7 major KPIs to consider. This is by no means an exhaustive list, there will be many KPIs which are specific to your business or industry. Similarly we don't necessarily use all of these with every client. We work with each client individually to gain insight and understand the KPIs needed to provide effective reporting to facilitate strategic planning.

Have you considered moving to a cloud model for your business data but don't know where to begin? You could also be forgiven for worrying about such a switch so much that it never actually happens. This is a common issue in IT infrastructure planning which we covered recently in our 10 Questions piece: "Are we actually doing this or just talking about it?"

Embarking on a business transformation through technology requires a good understanding of these 10 questions. Question 1 Could IT make new competitors more agile and gain more market share? There’s no doubt about it—technology is a competitive weapon. Companies can use it to solve critical problems, slash time-to-market, build barriers to competitor entry and even, sometimes, to completely reinvent the way business is done in an industry. From grooming (Dollar Shave Club) to bookselling (Amazon), the restaurant industry (Deliveroo) to banking (Starling, Revolut), traditional players have had to catch up or die. Where are your competitors in the race to innovation?

Aabyss are launching a new program bringing together SMEs in the Liverpool city region to help drive growth through technology innovation. The SME Digital Growth Peer Network will be exploring technology strategy with 10 powerful questions that boards should be asking. We will be exploring these questions over the coming weeks both on-line and via a series of peer networking events.

During the course of IT consultancy, we encounter clients who are frustrated by the way their IT infrastructure has failed to deliver on their expectations. A succession of poor IT investments which have never yielded the kind of returns desired. They approach us looking for leadership to rectify their historical failures and revolutionise their relationship with technology. When analysing the reasons for their previous failures there are some consistent themes which crop up time and time again.

Running an SME can often seem like a never ending stream of crucial choices. You are the core decision maker, responsible for many things; growth, client success and ensuring project deliverables are achieved. With so much at stake and so many plates to spin, some things can often be overlooked and IT can fall victim. When you are so occupied with other tasks, the small warning signs or tiny changes in normally mundane maintenance tasks that normally serve as a trigger to take action are often missed by your busy eyes. Pro-active management of key infrastructure is critical to enabling smooth growth and overall success within your business. Here we briefly discuss some basic IT red flags to keep a lookout for.

MSPs and cloud providers in line for legal regulations after government consultation. Government officials have issued their response to a cyber security consultation held earlier this year looking at possible changes to the Computer Misuse Act. Now the responses have been digested it is looking increasingly likely that information security practices are going to become a matter of a legally binding framework of responsibilities.

The latest ONS crime survey for England and Wales is out and it makes grim reading for anyone concerned with their IT security and privacy. After a brief dip in 2019 the number of computer misuse crimes reported was back to record levels not seen since 2017 with 1.8 million being reported in the year to June 2021.