It seems that year on year; the tech industry comes out with increasingly powerful upgrades for existing platforms while simultaneously developing new ones. 2022 has been a bumpy post-pandemic year, but it has been no different. This year even saw breakthroughs in quantum computing!
So, how can you start up in 2022 with your own SME, and what tech should you invest in? While your niche field of work as an SME will greatly impact the answers to these very valid questions, we’ve decided to focus on SME tech that every enterprise at any level will find useful.
Powerful, Reliable Storage
It almost goes without saying that your SME’s operations are only as good as your storage solutions. If you are in the hosting niche, you’ll know this all too well, and storage is probably one of the first things you consider when starting out.
Even if you aren’t in the hosting services niche, storage plays a pivotal role in your ability to provide any digital service.
Without proficient, reliable, and cutting-edge storage solutions, you’ll be putting your business at a disadvantage compared to your already established competitors. You’ll need to (at least) match their capability storage-wise to stand a chance at securing business from their customer base – or building your own.
EqualLogic has a great range of hard drive disks and solid-state drives that are enterprise ready. These can help you rival and potentially exceed your initial competitor’s abilities to provide their services – no matter what those services may be.
Solid-state drives, for instance, can greatly improve the speed and efficiency of your workstations, while a selection of hard drive disks can provide your SME with a storage array that’ll store almost anything you could imagine.
An industry standard setup could be using solid-state drives to run your workstation and server operating systems while using a storage array for all your file management. This keeps everything segmented but organised in a way that makes sense from hardware and overall management perspective.
Don’t get caught out on the basics!
Enterprise Ready Switch
The importance of a switch for efficient internal networking cannot be understated. If you plan on hooking both your servers and workstations up through a router and only a router, then you will have difficulty expanding when the time comes.
A switch will allow for the streamlined management of various wired ethernet connections to your internal network with ease but, most importantly, simplicity.
Having a powerful router is always a good idea, but without a switch, you’ll most likely be wasting the advantages a powerful router can give you.
Do your research and choose a switch (Cisco has some great ones) that’ll suit your needs for your SME’s scalability.
Cloud Storage
We’ve already delved into how important having a good storage solution can be for a start-up in the tech enterprise industry, and cloud storage also plays a pivotal role for most SMEs today.
Cloud storage solutions are ideal for those SMEs that need a place to backup their work but don’t have the space to store it all locally. While local storage is always preferred for ease of access and total control over who can access your files, it isn’t always a valid option for start-ups.
In addition, plenty of cloud storage plans can easily handle backups and start off with a free storage allocation. The big ones are Google, Amazon Web Services, MediaFire, Dropbox, and many other big cloud storage names in the business.
Transceivers
Transceivers often get forgotten about until you’re told you need one. Transceivers are for you if you are the kind of SME that currently (or will) require the transfer of huge quantities of data.
They often work best when you need to transfer a lot of data quickly and over a fair distance.
Investing in transceivers can often be great practice before they become essential for your day-to-day operations. Doing it this way can help you build your internal network with your transceivers in mind, rather than adapting your network later on when the need for them arises.
Dell has an abundance of excellent options to consider, with breakneck transfer rates of up to 65Gbps for their shorter-range products.
Rail Kits
This may seem simple, but you’ll be surprised how many SMEs don’t invest in good, high-quality rail kits. The physical organisation of your server, workstations and storage are vital for keeping your operation ticking over without a hitch.
For example, a well-organised server room can help your admins easily find and troubleshoot an issue, increasing overall uptime. Rail kits are an essential part of this. Keep a few spare kits around; you never know when you’ll need them!
In Conclusion
Starting up any business or enterprise isn’t easy. In the tech industry, you’ll need all the basics to stand a chance of breaking ground and building a customer base.
While this isn’t an exhaustive list, it is a great starting point for tech to consider if you haven’t already!
