Clearing Out the Digital Clutter

By the end of January, your business will be well into the swing of operations for 2025, and you may notice that your digital workspace feels a little cluttered. This could be constantly flitting between applications, disorganised file structures or a jam-packed collection of mailboxes. It’s a great time to tackle your digital environment, clearing out excess digital clutter for yourself and your team. Doing this can significantly boost productivity, strengthen security and potentially save money. Let's explore some key areas to focus on:

Review Software Subscriptions and Functionalities

How many software subscriptions is your business currently paying for? It’s surprisingly easy to accumulate unused or underutilised software. Take a closer look at the subscriptions you have and ask: do I need all this software, am I using all the features, and are there more suitable and/or cost efficient solutions?

This process can be tedious and time-consuming, which is why many businesses end up with lots of different app subscriptions. However, upon reflection, you may find that you are paying for a wealth of features you do not use or that multiple subscriptions overlap in functionality. Consolidating or cancelling unnecessary subscriptions not only seriously decreases digital clutter but can also bring significant cost and efficiency savings. This is where CTRL-S comes in. We can assess your software resources, identify redundancies and streamline your IT infrastructure.

Consolidate Drives and Cloud Storage

File clutter is common when working in a modern business. With files constantly created, downloaded and viewed, it is easy to fill up your workspace quickly. With many of us having a file dumping ground on our devices, whether that is the desktop, downloads or another folder it quickly fills up. This becomes a bigger issue when it is a shared drive or cloud storage location that becomes a digital dumping ground, with files scattered and duplicates accumulated, finding what you need becomes a frustrating exercise. Implementing a robust, centralised file storage solution, such as an internal SharePoint site, can largely mitigate this issue by providing your whole time with a clear system to follow. Doing this will reduce the number of files held, speed up searches, improve efficiency, reduce frustration and potentially reduce storage costs with less data being held.

Conduct an IT Health Check

Many businesses fall into the trap of reactive IT maintenance. This means they only address issues when they arise, leading to performance issues, costly downtime, security vulnerabilities and frustration. Performing a comprehensive IT health check is like a digital MOT for your business. It involves assessing your IT infrastructure, business processes and business direction. This includes:

• Business Analysis and Process Optimisation: This is the practice of analysing your business processes to identify inefficiencies, bottlenecks and opportunities for automation or improvement through technology. This includes:

o?? Process Mapping: visualising your current workflow to pinpoint areas for optimisation.

o?? Requirement Gathering: understanding the needs of your business users and stakeholders.

o?? GAP analysis: identifying the differences between your current state and desired state in line with your business goals.

• Technology Roadmap: This step involves evaluating the performance of your systems and identifying areas for improvement. Whether the desired improvements are in speed, automation or flexibility, this process aims to build a roadmap for change based on performance data gathered. The roadmap will outline strategic IT investments aligned with business goals and will consider:

o?? Cloud Solutions – Evaluating the potential of cloud computing for increased flexibility and scalability.

o?? Automation opportunities – identifying processes that can be automated to improve efficiency and reduce manual errors.

o?? Innovative technologies – exploring emerging and disruptive technologies, such as artificial intelligence and machine learning, that can drive new opportunities and innovation within your business.

• Comprehensive Security Audit and Infrastructure assessment: This goes beyond a simple vulnerability scan. It involves a thorough assessment of your existing IT Infrastructure (hardware, software and network), security protocols and data management practices.

The audit requires an understanding of:

o?? Vulnerabilities your business may be exposed to

o?? Active prevention methods, such as antimalware software or a network firewall

o?? Your team’s knowledge and education of cyber security issues

o?? Business compliance with key regulations, such as GDPR

Many businesses choose to display their efforts by gaining certification, such as Cyber Essentials.

• Backup, Disaster Recovery and Business Continuity Planning: Ensuring your data is backed up regularly and securely and that you have a comprehensive disaster recovery plan can be vital to your business's survival when an incident happens. It helps to ensure a swift recovery to BAU operations and that any damage is minimised, providing your business with resilience.

How Can I Streamline My Business and Clear Out Digital Clutter?

There are several ways your business can clear out digital clutter, and no one approach will work for every business. However, many businesses choose to start by utilising the full functionality of their core business productivity software and building out from there.

Streamlining with Microsoft 365

With many businesses relying on a patchwork of different software solutions leading to inefficiencies, compatibility issues and a lack of flexibility, Microsoft 365 offers a unified central hub for business operations. The suite has tools for communication, storage, collaboration, and productivity, which are often familiar to your team and integrated into a single platform. With a constantly evolving catalogue of features, Microsoft 365 has beneficial features for every business.

Clear out your digital clutter with CTRL-S

We understand this can be a daunting and time-consuming process for many businesses. However, working with CTRL-S provides your team with a wealth of:

• Experience – with over 70 years of combined experience, our team are equipped with the knowledge and experience to create a unique strategy for your business.
• Services offered: CTRL-S offers a wide range of services with no specific vendor tie in. We are committed to procuring and tailoring services to provide the best experience for your business. We believe that every business’s IT infrastructure and app package should be as unique as they are.
• Scalability: We believe every business should be dynamic and able to scale with their industry. The strategies we design have growth and your business’s goals in mind.
• Communication: Effective communication is crucial. We recently received 93% in our customer satisfaction surveys for Speed of Service, utilising an industry-leading communication portal, the CTRL-S team won’t leave you in the dark.
• Managed Subscriptions: Centralise your subscriptions, optimise licensing and reduce administrative burden by allowing CTRL-S to handle the complexities of license management for you.

Start your cleanup today. Partner with CTRL-S to experience the benefits of a clean, well-maintained IT system. Let the professionals handle the technical complexities while you focus on running and growing your business.