We know you’re wearing a lot of hats, and keeping up with current technology trends may not be on the top of your priority list; the good news is that it is on ours. At Intel, we’re focused on building reliable, stable technology that can keep pace with the demands of your business, so when the time comes to pick new business technology, the decision is simple.
We’ve narrowed down a variety of current technology trends to four key areas: cybersecurity, performance, connectivity, and mobility. When looking for technology to make your business more productive, seamless, and efficient, evaluating how a device addresses these four considerations can help you get started.
Trend No. 1: Hardware-Based Cybersecurity
Cybersecurity is the most important topic small business owners should have in mind. Small businesses need to be aware of more than the different types of threats—malware, phishing, and ransomware, for example. They also need to know the best IT security practices to help protect their business against these threats.
Beyond educating your employees to recognize scams and suspicious links, as well as how to improve the strength of their passwords, one of the best ways to stay secure is with hardware-based security. Hardware-based security helps to shrink the attack surface—the total number of possible ways to gain access to your systems and devices—severely limiting hackers’ options for potential attacks.
Modern cyberattacks continue to evade software-only security methods. Combating these threats requires a more comprehensive defense that secures devices at the application, software, firmware, and hardware levels.
PCs that come with security technologies rooted in hardware, such as those based on the Intel vPro® platform, help protect against firmware attacks that are invisible to traditional antivirus solutions and go beyond traditional threat detection that can be bypassed by modern threats. An end-to-end security solution, rooted in hardware, helps keep devices secure across all levels to protect your employees and your data.
Trend No. 2: Performance
Another area for consideration is the performance capability of your business PCs. Employees can lose up to one workday each year just waiting for a computer that’s three years or older to boot up and are also likely to be less productive on older PCs.1
Equipping your employees with high-performance, responsive business-class PCs can help to improve productivity, efficiency, and collaboration. For example, the latest 12th Generation Intel® Core™ technology is optimized for business productivity and multitasking, dynamically adjusting processing based on how each PC is actually used, so small businesses can get fast system performance with fewer interruptions from complex applications.
Investing in PCs built with the demands and needs of business in mind can also help to improve employee satisfaction and retention. A 2021 study by McKinsey found that “people who report having a positive employee experience … are eight times more likely to want to stay with the company.”2
Trend No. 3: Rapid Connectivity
Wi-Fi and cable technologies are the root of modern collaboration and connectivity; without them, the digital workplace wouldn’t exist. Powerful wireless technologies like Wi-Fi 6E (Gig+) and devices that support Thunderbolt™ technology that delivers high-speed data transfers, cable management, and flexibility for external port access can significantly boost your business productivity.
When your employees experience rapid connectivity—whether it’s Wi-Fi 6E, 4G LTE, 5G, or through Thunderbolt™ technology—they can access resources more efficiently to better support your customers and clients and collaborate more effectively, maximizing your overall team impact.
Trend No. 4: Mobility and Remote Workforce
Remote and hybrid work is now a common workplace model as an outcome of the COVID-19 pandemic. Employees enjoying the flexibility that comes with the remote/hybrid workplace will need mobile-friendly, durable, and performant PCs as well as secure and reliable remote access. Business-class devices based on the Intel vPro® Essentials platform come with built-in hardware-based security features and Intel® standard remote manageability capabilities. This means that your IT team or services provider can centrally manage all of your devices in a secure manner, providing patches, upgrades, and troubleshooting, whether your employees are on-site or remote.
When your employees have devices based on the Intel vPro® platform, they get the performance features they need to work effectively from wherever they are located, and you have confidence that those devices and your great ideas and inventions have another level of security protection that can’t be addressed by software alone.
Intel vPro® Essentials for Small Businesses
When you’re a small business owner, it’s important your technology addresses each of these trends in a cost-effective way. Fortunately, Intel recently launched the Intel vPro® Essentials platform, powered by the latest generation of Intel® Core™ processors. This version of the Intel vPro® platform is built specifically for growing small businesses that are looking for the power, flexibility, and built-in security they need, no matter if they have a dedicated IT team or not.