The success of your company depends on an IT system that doesn’t let you down. Unplanned outages can mean the death of your small business, but it’s not just downtime that causes problems. If your system is antiquated or slow, the problems will be less dramatic, but they’ll still affect your bottom line.
You’ve probably considered adding an employee to support your systems, but after crunching the numbers, realized that you just can’t afford a new staffer. An IT support company offers the perfect solution to your problem. Not only do support companies help you maintain your equipment, they’ll also identify and fix potential problems before they can cause major issues, all at a price you can afford.
A Customized Approach
If you have cable TV, your package probably includes plenty of channels you never watch. The cable company doesn’t care. They know if you want to watch TV, you have no choice but to pay for their entire bloated package. Unlike cable companies, the best support companies don’t rely on a one-size-fits-all approach to support. They understand that your business is unique and tailor their plans to meet your needs. Typical components of IT support plans include:
- Network Monitoring: Some problems occur with no warning, but in most cases, there are subtle signs. Your support company constantly monitors your network for alerts and uses trend analysis to predict failures. As soon as a problem or vulnerability is identified, it’s corrected, helping you avoid downtime.
- Infrastructure Support: Your IT consultants can help your business thrive by creating an infrastructure system that improves efficiency and employee productivity. Although software, hardware, printers and other equipment are an important part of your infrastructure, it also includes people and processes used to collect, create and share information.
- Data Backups: Without working backups, it will be impossible to restore your system if it crashes or is infected by a virus. Your support company monitors your system to ensure your files are backed up daily and that every backup is complete.
- On-Site Preventive Maintenance: Although much of the work your IT support company does can be performed remotely, they’ll also visit your office periodically to perform essential maintenance tasks that will keep your system running efficiently.
- Problem Solving: If a problem does occur, you won’t have to face it alone or scramble to find someone who can fix it – usually at an exorbitant rate.
- Security Monitoring: Keeping your system safe from hackers, viruses, malware and ransomware takes constant vigilance. Applying patches as soon as they’re released, updating servers and firewalls regularly and scanning incoming and outgoing emails for viruses will reduce the risk of a security breach.
- Hardware and Software Recommendations: Why buy a Hummer when a basic SUV will do? If you rely on vendor recommendations only, you may buy more equipment and software than you actually need and spend too much. Your support company is committed to helping you save money and will only recommend products if they’ll actually help your business.
- Website Design: Customers quickly abandon websites if they’re slow, hard to navigate or don’t provide the information needed to make a decision or place an order. In fact, 55 percent of visitors spend less than 15 seconds on a website, according to HubSpot. Your IT support company can design a custom site that’s not only engaging, but also helps convert prospects into customers.
Running your business should by your priority, not dealing with IT issues. We offer a variety of IT solutions that can be tailored to fit your unique business needs. Contact us today to get the process started.