UK business owners and MDs have a critical opportunity to review their business technology; the systems that keep operations secure, connected and efficient. From IT support and cybersecurity to telephony and connectivity, these elements form the backbone of your business. Planning proactively now means you’ll stay strong, resilient and ready to excel throughout the year.

1. Audit Your Business Technology

   • Hardware & Software Review Outdated systems slow productivity and increase risk. Create an inventory, identify aging assets and plan upgrades before they fail.
   • Test Backups & Recovery A backup that hasn’t been tested is a liability. Run a full restore test now to confirm you can recover quickly if disaster strikes.
   • Review Support SLAs Are your IT support agreements aligned with your business needs for 2026? Negotiate now to avoid surprises later.

2. Strengthen Cybersecurity

   • Run Vulnerability Scans Cyber threats don’t ease up after the holidays. Identify weaknesses now so you’re protected for the rest of the year.
   • Refresh Staff Training Human error causes most breaches: 43% of UK businesses experienced a cyber breach in the past year and phishing accounted for 65% of attacks. A quick phishing-awareness refresher can save thousands.
   • Update Access Controls Remove dormant accounts and enforce MFA across all critical systems. Yet only 40% of UK businesses use two-factor authentication, leaving a significant security gap.

3. Optimise Telephony

   • Check Call Quality & Reliability Poor audio frustrates customers. If you’re still on legacy systems, consider cloud telephony for flexibility and cost savings.
   • Integrate with Collaboration Tools Unified communications (e.g., Teams integration) boosts productivity and reduces missed calls.
   • Review Contracts Are you paying for unused lines or features? Trim the fat and reinvest in better tech.

4. Ensure Resilient Connectivity

   • Test Internet Speed & Stability Slow connections kill efficiency. If performance is poor, explore fibre or leased line options.
   • Plan for Redundancy Internet failures cost UK businesses £3.7 billion in lost productivity in 2023, with SMEs losing £7,500 per year on average due to downtime. A backup connection (LTE/5G failover) can prevent losses that often exceed £3,350 per outage.
   • Secure Your Network Update router firmware, disable unused ports, and enforce strong passwords.

Pro Tip: Budget for Growth

Forecast IT spend now. Factor in cybersecurity upgrades, cloud migrations and telephony improvements so you’re not caught off guard.

Conclusion

Your business technology is the engine that drives your operations. By taking these steps now, you’ll reduce risk, improve efficiency and position your business for growth in 2026.

At HBT Communications, we help UK businesses stay secure, connected and ready for what’s next. Whether you need a full IT audit, advanced cybersecurity solutions, cloud telephony or high-speed connectivity, our experts are here to guide you every step of the way.

✅ Book your Business Technology Health Check today

✅ Speak to our team about year-end upgrades on 02476 867400