Hard to believe, but another new year is already upon us! From all of us at Blue Ridge Technology, we hope your 2025 was a great year, both in business and outside of it.
As we look ahead to 2026, most of us are giving some thought to resolutions, goals, or commitments for the new year. This is certainly worth doing, but this isn’t the place to talk about fitness goals or healthy eating.
Instead, let’s think about what kinds of New Year's resolutions your business should make, especially surrounding tech and IT.
1. Find One Process to Automate — and Do It
Business automation tools have come a long way in the last couple of years, thanks in large part to artificial intelligence (AI).
We know that at this point some readers’ hackles may go up: there’s a lot of hype around AI, and some worry about job displacement. Those are both real concerns, but there are great automations that don’t fall into either category.
Here’s an example. Just recently at a routine doctor’s appointment, the provider mentioned using a new AI tool and showed me how she used it. The tool automatically recorded audio during the visit, then selectively transcribed only the important information as a first draft of her after-visit notes. The AI tool automatically blanked out irrelevant and personal information we discussed, and the summaries were really, really close to perfect.
This is a great example of positive AI: it replaced probably 10 to 15 minutes of work that the provider otherwise had to do herself, freeing her up to focus on her patients.
Automation like this will look different at your business, and it’s possible to go automation-overboard. Our recommendation: commit to find one process to automate, then see it through.
2. Evaluate 3 New Software Solutions
New software tools go live every single day. Chasing down every single one is a fool’s errand — you’ve got a business to run, after all! But somewhere in that crush of new tools, there’s probably something that could really help your business.
Our challenge to you: choose a business area or software type that you want to improve, then evaluate 3 new software solutions you haven’t considered before in that category. See if what’s out there looks like it would work better than your current solution.
Of course, in some categories this is easier said than done. Not sure where to start? We can help. It is our job to keep track of all those new software tools hitting the market, and chances are we already have a shortlist of recommendations in just about any category you might need.
Reach out to our team to talk through what your current software ecosystem looks like and what part you want to improve in 2026: Contact us now!
3. Tighten Up Your Cybersecurity with a Comprehensive Security Audit
Cyber threats just aren’t backing down. More threats pop up every day, and many of them are more capable than their predecessors. If you’ve never done a thorough cybersecurity audit, or if it’s been a few years since you’ve looked closely at your business’s digital security posture, then make 2026 the year you lock things down.
There are common-sense steps that every business can take right away, like requiring multi-factor authentication, passkeys, or other more secure credential systems. (Most business cloud tools support these options natively, without any additional hardware or detailed configuration.)
But ultimately, cybersecurity is an area where nearly every small to midsize business needs an outside assist. The threats are complex and the stakes too high to wing it or go it alone.
Ready to nail down your cybersecurity for 2026? Reach out today.