There is no smart entrepreneurship without advanced IT and vice versa

The question is whether there is a company today that could survive without information technology (IT) business solutions. From the most common solutions like sending emails or changing passwords to accessing databases, IT helps run the business more securely, quickly, and efficiently. Optimizing business, protection, savings, improving customer experience, easier communication, or expanding business is impossible to achieve long-term today without using information technology.

Today, we really cannot, according to the opinion of the executive director at SysKit Toni Frankola, imagine basic business without communication platforms, email, cloud storage, networking, and analytics, as well as various cybersecurity solutions. In recent years, one of the primary business requirements and challenges has been enabling hybrid work, that is, performing work from any location, with cloud-based technology. The cloud has been available for years, but the corona crisis and the energy crisis have prompted a shift from on-premises infrastructure to cloud, which is a slightly less pronounced trend in highly regulated industries, although they are increasingly turning to the cloud as well.

Importance of security

– There is a special emphasis on resilience to security incidents. Cyberattacks are becoming more frequent and sophisticated, so a holistic approach to security should be considered. Among the renowned cloud service providers, Azure has emerged as one of the most reliable solutions due to high security standards, compliance with ISO and SOC standards, and wide integration capabilities with other cloud services. Among communication platforms, Microsoft Teams should be mentioned, which, due to its persistent collaboration capabilities, has attracted more than 270 million users.

Security, automation, and business intelligence solutions that enable savings and accelerate processes have become a business imperative, and our response to today’s business demands has been the development of SysKit Point. In discussions with clients and analyzing market needs, we realized that users face significant challenges with data visibility and security. Our product is a SaaS (software as a service) platform for managing Microsoft tenants. Our clients have hundreds of thousands of users in their environments. With the help of a centralized dashboard and reports, IT professionals can quickly take control of resources, and with automation capabilities, systematically implement data policies. Thus, we support companies in complying with various international security standards, says Frankola.

Response to changes

Accuracy, timely response, reliability, and directing resources to core business are just some of the key contributions of IT to companies, believes the sales director at Setcor Krešimir Jurić, and the cloud, or infrastructure as a service, is today a highly sought-after solution. Namely, he said, conventional IT processes and systems can no longer provide their users with solutions and answers to rapid changes in challenges facing all industries.

– IT sector leaders in companies are looking for a reliable partner who can compensate for such dynamic demands and provide solutions. Instead of spending time and money solving ICT problems, companies can focus those resources on strengthening their position in their market or expanding into new ones. Setcor, for example, manages their ICT needs and takes care of the company’s infrastructure, including managing and maintaining ICT capacities. The user is provided with a solution for a secure network of their data center, which they can previously create independently thanks to an online tool. Thus, companies can have their virtual data center, significantly saving on energy, increasing efficiency, flexibility, scalability, and reliability, and simplifying management, thinks Jurić.

Facilitating business

And the director of software engineering – internal engagements and FIYU product manager at Serengeti Saša Ivičević emphasizes that IT solutions facilitate daily business for entrepreneurs and that companies apply various IT solutions for the same purpose: to reduce administrative tasks, speed up processes, improve communication, increase productivity and efficiency, and improve the quality of services and products. In his opinion, today the most prominent IT solutions are in the domain of cloud solutions, artificial intelligence, the Internet of Things, and blockchain.

– Entrepreneurs are looking for solutions for automating business processes, managing customer relationships, and increasing productivity, that is, solutions that enable easier organization and management of business processes and resources. Often, these are solutions tailored only for specific business needs. Frequently sought solutions are also project management software, CRM (customer relationship management) software for managing customer relationships, and accounting and finance software.

Additionally, entrepreneurs are looking for solutions that enable secure and efficient communication and collaboration remotely, such as video conferencing tools, cloud document management solutions, and tools for virtual workspaces. Serengeti, as a consulting IT company, offers a complete package of services needed for the development of IT solutions, and we can collaborate on the principle of the Team Extension Model, where our experts complement existing client development teams with their experience and knowledge. Collaboration is also possible in the form of independent project execution, where we develop a complete solution according to the specifications and needs of the client. In recent years, our focus has been on developing our own product FIYU as an IT solution that accelerates and facilitates application development, explained Ivičević.

Artificial intelligence

The most common requests from users are cloud solutions and data protection, says Lazo Dodić, sales solution specialist at Data Target, a subsidiary of Comping that deals with data center management, and Data Target’s solutions help entrepreneurs perform some tasks as efficiently and quickly as possible, increase their availability, system security, and mobility, and better serve their employees and clients with data. As user habits change and need to be approached differently, they provide users with daily support.

For the sales department head at DataBox Zvonimir Milas, it is clear that IT solutions enable entrepreneurs to improve business processes and accelerate the digitalization of business infrastructure. The most prominent solutions in Croatia and the world are certainly those that rely on artificial intelligence.

– This is a trend that will last, but service providers must be ready to react in time and create adequate solutions aimed at improving users’ business processes. Despite the rapid development of the market, business users still seek service providers who will be their daily support and consultants to help them navigate the new environment. DataBox differentiates itself with active customer support. We try to put the user and their requirements at the center, which often includes creating custom solutions, describes Milas.

Caring for employees

In collaboration with partners, Rittal Ecosystem IT has answers to all user questions, emphasized Igor Šugar, regional marketing director at Rittal, as it uses standardized components, systems, and solutions to create scalable and cost-effective IT infrastructure for edge and cloud scenarios. The RiMatrix Next Generation platform is an open system with modularity and flexibility, he explained, which creates the foundation for IT infrastructure that can be configured according to the requirements of almost all industries. Furthermore, RiMatrix Next Generation enables high flexibility, security, and efficiency in a coordinated system solution that includes IT cabinets, power distribution, cooling, monitoring, and security.

The ever-increasing pressure on the labor market creates demographic decline in the ratio of birth and mortality rates, immigrants and emigrants, and retirees and workers, although despite external risks (inflation, war events) the Croatian economy and GDP are rising, unlike the crisis of 2008, notes the executive director at Moontop Branimir Gospić. He observed that due to this, employers are trying to tackle the problem by reducing dependence on labor through projects, digitalizing business, automating, or robotizing.

– They are also using outsourcing of IT departments and switching to specialized partners, cloud service providers, maintenance agencies, and IT solution development, importing labor, and are focused on further positioning the company as a desirable employer, increasing employee satisfaction, retaining and attracting top talent. To retain and attract quality staff, we have identified market opportunities for a benefits program. Moontop is thus an IT cloud-based solution, actually a marketplace (SaaS) for an international flexi and digital benefits program where employers independently determine the monthly or annual budget, employees choose benefits themselves, and create a list of desired sales points where they want to use their privileges, such as favorite restaurants, gyms, and hair salons, listed Gospić.