Expectations are rising and yet SMBs are also under pressure to do more with the same or fewer resources. The solution: find new ways to optimize operational efficiency in order to improve productivity and reduce costs.

According to IDC research, 60.2% of SMBs with 100 to 999 employees cited improving efficiency as their top business priority in this past year. And yet, only 23% of those same businesses rated efficiency-enhancing infrastructure investments, such as expanding or upgrading a network, as a high priority.

Here's a look at five business challenges SMBs face today:

1) Providing Easy Access to Information
Delivering appropriate access to information and tools in a timely and secure manner so employees can make solid business decisions is a challenge nearly all SMBs face.

2) Delivering Anywhere, Anytime Access
SMBs today have to provide employees working out of hotel rooms, airport lounges, remote branches, and home offices with anywhere access to information. Without it, mobile and remote workers lose valuable time. Worse, sales personnel may have outdated customer information or miss urgent messages informing them of a critical business matter.

3) Creating Effective Business Processes
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Inefficient operations can prevent an otherwise qualified SMB from doing business with some organizations.

4) Ensuring Regulatory Compliance
Government regulations mandating higher levels of customer or patient privacy is another ongoing challenge for companies of all sizes. The right combination of security, encryption, storage and data lifecycle management all contribute to a more compliant corporate posture.

5) Enhancing Employee Collaboration
Without solid and frequent collaboration among employees, good ideas die and opportunities are missed. Connecting employees, regardless of locale or device, has been a long-standing challenge in today’s mobile environment.

Custom’s motto in the corporate SMB space is “Creating Efficiencies by Mapping Objectives to Technology” - that is, aligning tactical IT solutions to strategic business goals and objectives. By doing so, we have empowered many of our clients to reach their goals in an efficient and timely manner through the introduction of appropriate technologies rooted in a solid value proposition.