• Introduction
  

• Create your first IT system
  

• Manage your IT systems on a day-to-day basis
  

• Communicate more effectively using IT

• Make sure your systems and data are secure
  

• Help your staff to make the most out of IT
  

• Plan your IT systems for the future
  

• Get started with e-commerce
  

• Maintain and develop your e-commerce services
  

• Understand IT regulations and policies
  

• Make the most of your IT and e-commerce

Introduction

IT is a part of almost every business' day-to-day life. It enables businesses to work more effectively or take advantage of new opportunities that wouldn't exist if it were not for the development of new systems and services.

However, whatever level of IT and e-commerce solutions you use, it's important to get them right. This means that you need to understand the ways in which technology can make your business more effective and how to go about selecting the right system to meet your business needs. You also need to select systems that are capable of growing as your business grows.

Create your first IT system

If you're starting a new business or you feel that you can benefit from using IT and e-commerce in your business, make sure that the solutions you choose suit your needs now and can be adapted and extended where necessary in the future.

First-time system builders

If you haven't built an IT system before, assess your business needs before starting. For advice on how you can ensure that you get real benefits from the introduction of IT, see our guide on how to get the most from IT in your business.

The components of an IT system

To find out more about the types of equipment you can buy or lease and how to maintain them, see our guide on computer hardware: the basics.

Your hardware will be more effective if you have the right software for your needs. Decide whether you want an off-the-shelf software solution or a system designed specifically for your needs. For help finding the software packages that are most likely to boost your efficiency, see our guide on computer software: the basics.

As your use of computer systems increases over time, you could take advantage of networking to share the cost of peripherals such as printers and provide access to shared data. To find out more about the different networking options, see our guide on computer networks: the basics.

Introducing computers to your business

If you haven't used IT systems in your business before, you will probably be moving from paper-based systems to electronic processes.

Computerised accountancy systems are very common applications for new or developing businesses. To find practical advice on choosing the right package and making the switch, see our guide on accounting software.

Manage your IT systems on a day-to-day basis

To get the most out of your investment in IT, you will have to manage the day-to-day operations of your systems. If you haven't got technological expertise, there are simple procedures and best-practice policies you can follow.

To maintain your own systems, you'll need maintenance routines, back-ups and a plan for disaster recovery. See our guides on keeping your systems and data secure and business continuity planning in IT.

You could outsource the maintenance of your IT system. For help finding the right supplier and managing them effectively, see our guide on how to choose and manage your IT supplier.

Your systems should be able to communicate with others, both inside and outside your business. To find out about sharing information between individual computers and systems, see our guide on computer networks: the basics.

If you have a website or run an e-commerce site, ensure that the content of the site is accurate and updated regularly. This will help in promoting a positive image for your business, and attracting and retaining visitors to the site. To find out more about the maintenance issues associated with websites, see our guide on maintaining your web content and technology.

It's important to make sure that your systems are secure. A small investment in a firewall or anti-virus software could save you significant amounts of money compared with the costs of your systems being disrupted - or even crippled - by viruses or hackers. See our guide on keeping your systems and data secure.

Security is also important when running an e-commerce site. Any disruption of service caused by hackers or denial-of-service attacks can have serious implications for the success of your site. To find out more about how to protect yourself against online threats, see our guide on securing your e-commerce systems.

Communicate more effectively using IT

Effective communication is central to most IT and e-commerce systems. Most of these technologies are developed to make communication between buyers and sellers faster and more reliable.

Basic telecommunications

For an outline of the choices of systems and features available to small businesses, see our guide on how to get the most from your phone system.

Improving your Internet access

Broadband connections make electronic information-transfer between your business, and customers and suppliers faster and more reliable. The facility is always available, unlike standard dial-up connections that require you to connect when you want access. See our guide on using broadband in business.

Mobile networking technologies

You may have staff working remotely from your office, for example sales staff out on the road or engineers working on customer sites. It is important that they can access your IT systems from wherever they are in a secure and effective manner. See our guides on mobile technology and wireless technology.

Cost-effective marketing

To get your sales message out to customers and potential customers, marketing by email offers speed and cost benefits over traditional mail marketing. You can target specific groups or interests more easily - although you must make sure that the messages are focused directly at the recipients. See our guides on how to develop an e-marketing plan and generate business from your e-marketing plan.

Collaborating online

Setting up an extranet can allow customers and suppliers access to relevant areas of your IT system, so they can update key information or directly obtain relevant files. An extranet can save time and minimise transport costs for data that your business needs to share. See our guide on the benefits of intranets and extranets.

Supply chain software can help you to collaborate with business partners online, which can reduce your costs and speed up your processes. See our guide on supply chain software.

Make sure your systems and data are secure

Having the correct information available to your staff at the right time can make the difference between profit and loss, and success and failure for your business. However, the threats posed by hackers and viruses mean that you must protect this information.

Start by identifying the threats posed to your IT systems. Risks that are IT-related have become much more important as technology use increases. Risk management is a process that you can use to understand and control risk. See our guide on identifying and managing IT risks to your business.

Having identified the risks to your business, you can implement effective information security measures. These help your business to continue to operate effectively and profitably. The BS ISO/IEC 27001 standard has been written to gather together good practice on information security in a form that is useful for businesses of all sizes. To find out more about the practical application of this standard, see our guide on information security best practice.

Your IT security policy should take account of the common risks to the information that your business relies upon. This policy might include secure login identification for using IT systems and logical access controls that limit access to information. See our guide on keeping your systems and data secure.

Many businesses use wireless local area networks as they are convenient, cheap and easy to install. However, they can also be very insecure unless you take appropriate precautions. To find out about keeping wireless networks secure, see our guide on securing your wireless systems.

The growth of the Internet has brought new opportunities for con artists and fraudsters. Typical scams involve you or your staff giving away important identity information that can allow the fraudsters to use your businesses credit for their own purposes. However, with simple precautions and an informed workforce you can avoid most of these problems. See our guide on avoiding scams.

Help your staff to make the most out of IT

With the right IT systems, you can provide staff with access to the right information quickly and easily. You can also provide them with the right levels of support and training to ensure that they use the systems in the most effective manner.

Speedy connections

If your staff use the Internet or email regularly, a broadband connection can help your business' processes to be more efficient. Broadband connections are fast and are always on so transferring large files to customers or suppliers can be quick and reliable. See our guide on using broadband in business.

Support and training

Your IT system will probably represent one of the most significant investments for your business. If staff are trained to use IT properly then your business will be more productive and the systems will run smoothly. See our guide on IT support for your staff.

As your business becomes more reliant on IT, you will need employees with IT skills and experience. The most widely used IT skills qualification in the UK of this type is the European Computer Driving Licence (ECDL). For more information on how small businesses can use the ECDL as a structured framework to train employees in IT, see our guide on basic IT skills.

Internet policies

You should have a firm set of rules on what is and isn't an acceptable use of your systems by staff, and ask that they sign these to confirm that they've read and understood them. To find out more about defining and enforcing policies to avoid legal or unauthorised-use issues, see our guide on how to introduce an Internet and email policy.

Operator safety

You need to ensure that your staff can work comfortably and safely when operating computer systems. This can involve good workplace design and sensible working practices. For more information, see our guide on how to ensure your employees are operating computers safely.

Plan your IT systems for the future

Planning your IT system with room for change can help you bolt on additional functions when you need them. There's little point in investing in a new IT system only to find that, six months later when you want to add more staff or software, it isn't capable of expansion.

Help with planning

In order to plan effectively for both your current and future IT needs, you must specify your requirements correctly and acquire the appropriate technology. See our guide on how to make the right IT choices.

For practical advice on selecting the most appropriate IT partner and how to make the relationship work, see our guide on how to choose and manage your IT supplier.

Going online

Before you put your business online, consider all the options and make sure that it's as simple as possible to make the move when you decide to. For example, you may at some stage want to create and manage a website to promote your business or have a fully transactional online shop. See our guide on planning for e-commerce. 

Mobile working

If you've got staff out on the road or working from home, you may want to consider mobile solutions and the ability to connect to your systems remotely. For example, sales people on the road can instantly check stock levels or people who work from home can access internal documents, making communication more effective. To find out about the practical and technical issues you'll need to consider, see our guides on mobile technology and wireless technology.

Get started with e-commerce

There are several issues that you should consider before selling your goods and services via the Internet. This site provides a number of specific guides that will help you through the entire process.

First steps

From the outset, it is important to plan for the development of your e-commerce system. You need to be aware of opportunities and how to exploit them. See our guide on planning for e-commerce.

Investigate your options for getting online. Make sure you choose the right website and email addresses so your customers and suppliers can find your online presence quickly and easily. See our guides on website hosting optionschoose the right Internet service provider. and how to

Consider the different ways to connect your business to the Internet, ranging from dial-up through to ADSL, cable and satellite. See our guide on options for connecting to the Internet.

Pay attention to the design of your site. The overall look and feel will play an important role in its usability. There are also legal issues to consider in the design of the website. You must comply with the Disability Discrimination Act. For advice on good design principles, see our guide on best practice in web design.

Sales and marketing online

If you want to sell directly through your website, you'll need to have the infrastructure in place to showcase your products and services and process orders electronically. See our guide on how to create an online shop.

To complete your e-commerce solution, you'll need to set up the facility to accept payment through your website. See our guide on accepting online payments.

Once your shop is online, consider how to monitor its effectiveness, make it more powerful and ultimately sell more through it. See our guide on how to develop an e-marketing plan.

Maintain and develop your e-commerce services

Your work doesn't end with setting up your initial e-commerce system. You need to maintain the site, constantly review how well it is operating and consider new opportunities and ways of working that it may present to you.

Maintaining your e-commerce site

As the website owner, you must ensure that the content of the site is accurate and updated regularly. This will help in promoting a positive image for the business, and attracting and retaining visitors to the site. See our guide on maintaining your web content and technology.

As your e-commerce presence grows, so you must protect yourself against the threats posed by hackers, viruses and fraudsters. Identify the risks that they pose and implement appropriate security controls to counter them. See our guides on managing risk in e-commerce and securing your e-commerce systems.

Identifying new opportunities

Mobile commerce (m-commerce) is a type of e-commerce conducted through mobile devices such as mobile phones, personal digital assistants and other devices with a wireless connection. M-commerce brings new opportunities to small businesses both to sell new services and to operate existing businesses more efficiently. See our guide on the essentials of mobile commerce.

Extranets can enable your business to communicate and collaborate more effectively with selected business partners, suppliers and customers. They can play an important role in enhancing business relationships and improving supply chain management. See our guide on the benefits of intranets and extranets.

An e-marketplace allows you to use a variety of online services such as electronic catalogues, business directory listings and online auctions to sell your goods and services more effectively to other businesses. See our guide on e-marketplaces, online auctions and exchanges.

Common mistakes

Remember that not all e-commerce developments are a success. You can learn a lot from the experiences of other e-commerce providers and, hopefully, ensure that you don't make the same mistakes. See our guide on common e-commerce pitfalls.

Understand IT regulations and policies

There are a number of different regulations that you need to be aware of, particularly if you store customer or supplier information, or if you sell goods or services online. In addition there are internal policies that you are recommended to implement if your staff make use of the Internet or email.

Data protection

If you store details about customers, suppliers or potential suppliers on your systems, you must comply with the Data Protection Act 1998. See our guide on how to comply with data protection legislation.

E-commerce regulations

When trading over the Internet, the same rules apply as with the formation of other types of contract. The E-commerce Regulations 2002 are intended to ensure that electronic contracts are binding and enforceable throughout Europe. See our guide on trading online - understanding e-commerce contracts.

Be aware that legislation is also in place to regulate the ways in which you can use electronic marketing to promote your e-commerce services. See our guide on e-commerce and the law.

Website notices

To comply with both regulations and good business practice you should include a variety of notices on your website. Typical examples include the terms & conditions under which your site operates, a privacy policy, any disclaimers that are appropriate, and a copyright and trademark notice. For examples of what such notices should include see our guide on sample internet policies and notices.

Internal policies

If your staff have access to the Internet and make use of email, then you should be aware that there are some associated concerns. These can range from spending excessive amounts of time on personal matters through to potentially opening your business up to the risk of prosecution. Consider introducing policies that clearly state what is acceptable and what is unacceptable in terms of Internet and email usage. See our guide on how to introduce an Internet and email policy.

Make the most of your IT and e-commerce

To make the most of your IT and e-commerce investment, there are several points you need to observe:

• Focus on the business benefits, not the technology - you may want to make your finance team more productive by eliminating repetitive processes. All you need to know about the hardware and software is that it will achieve this - its technical specification isn't important.
• Only approve projects when you're confident that they support your business objectives - if you're looking to get products to market faster it's worth investing in supply-chain management software. But if your customers prefer longer lead times, there's little benefit to making the investment.
• Plan to achieve measurable improvements - eg if you start an online shop, it's a good idea to set sales targets and monitor their effectiveness.
• Don't leave the planning to your suppliers or consultants - only you know what your business really needs from IT. Suppliers and consultants may have their own interests in mind - they may suggest you spend more than you need to achieve your goals.
• Recognise that there is also a requirement to provide ongoing support to your staff to ensure that problems are quickly resolved and system performance issues addressed.
• Get your budgeting right - including future expenditure or maintenance, replacement and upgrading. If you've made provision for your IT systems, you won't be looking around for cash when you need to boost your system or take advantage of new technologies.
• Review projects regularly to ensure that the planned benefits are being realised - eg if your finance team are still carrying out repetitive tasks your IT upgrade should have eliminated, you'll be paying twice, once for the IT and again for the staff costs it was supposed to have replaced.