Why It’s Smart to Outsource Your Business’ IT Support

In our increasingly technologically-dependent world, the use of technology has become a crucial component to a business’ success. Staying in the know about the latest technology has to offer can be daunting, yet it’s imperative to help your business grow. Therefore, it’s most efficient – and cost-effective – to hire an external IT company to bring expertise and support to your business.

What IT Services Offer

Consultation

Consultation is at the crux of the interaction between your IT service provider and your business. Having professional IT consulting services on hand ensures your employees have a direct relationship with experts who can explain complex concepts in layman’s terms.

They can offer advice backed by knowledge and influenced by your business team’s input and goals. Your business can learn the best strategies for: planning an IT infrastructure that will grow as the business does, the best ways to implement the cloud, and how to keep your information safe from hackers and accidental data loss.

They can advise on the best servers and software for your business to use, given its individual needs. Essentially, consultation services from your IT support team provides big-picture support to most effectively use technology to your – and your company’s – benefit in the long-term.

Data Security

When it comes to securing your data, there are two main concerns to protect against: hacking or accidental data loss, such as by system crash. Either scenario presents major threats to the well-being of your company, including operational failures, loss of client trust, compliance breaches, and so on.

The company’s reputation is on the line, and a failure on this end indicates severe consequences, like the loss of partner or potential partner companies. Further, the costs to undo the damage can be upwards of $1 million.

In short, both situations should be avoided at all cost, and having proper security measures in place can significantly lower risk.Not only does an IT provider ensure security by both measures, but it will be up to date on the latest government regulations, financial conditions, and technologies that affect your company’s risk level.

Hacking

The stealth of digital information has been the most commonly reported type of fraud. Costs of cybercrime quadrupled in the past four years, reaching close to $2.1 trillion dollars. Small businesses often tend to believe they are more immune to such threats than the big businesses whose cybersecurity hacks make headlines. Most also don’t hire employees designated for the purpose of protecting against it.

There are many precautions and systems your IT provider will implement for you, such as virus detection software, user authentication, monthly system health reports, and daily safety checks. Providers will manage your business’ firewall, handle endpoint security and malware detection to fully ensure that only those who are supposed to be using your system are doing so.

Data Loss

Think of spending time and effort on a data back-up plan, such as data insurance. Just like car insurance or health insurance, having an intricate data back-up plan protects it, in case the worst happens: hard drive failure, accidental deletions, flooding and fire, natural disaster, etc. Even the loss of only 100 files can cost tens of thousands of dollars. Just as with cybersecurity, these costs are on a much higher scale after the fact, meaning prevention is the real key to avoiding them. If certain data is permanently lost, though, customer faith in your company will absolutely plummet. The faster your business can recover lost files, the less productivity will be lost by it. An IT support company will carefully create a disaster recovery plan for your business to protect it from this massive risk and to minimize wasted downtime in case of disaster.They know which disaster recovery technologies are best for your business. They’ll configure backup systems to ensure your data is secured off-site and run tests for functionality. And, in case of an emergency, they’ll be on call to resolve it immediately.

Ongoing Support

You need ongoing tech support for the every-day tech issues that are a nuisance and time-eaters when you can’t easily get past them. Your IT provider will be on-call to solve these problems quickly,so your employees can move on to more pressing matters. Some providers offer instantaneous support guaranteed, but most offer a one-hour response time.  They can repair hardware, software, and provide remote support to save time and help at the drop of a dime. This is also more convenient if the issue occurs at an inconvenient time or place. You don’t have to go to the office to let in the technician in the middle of the night, for example. It would take your employees a lot of time to learn the operational maintenance of certain systems in place. However, not only does your IT provider implement these systems for you, but they can provide much more seamless maintenance of them for your team. They can also spot creative ways to further increase productivity and reduce future issues, like creating automations, troubleshooting Wi-Fi speed issues, setting up VPNs, etc. The real-time support of a help-desk keeps the flow of productivity moving smoothly.

Be Trendy

IT companies center their businesses on maintaining a true level of expertise. It’s their job to read up on the latest information, tools, software, hardware, etc. The best IT companies send their team members to seminars and conferences. This kind of effort would be too much for a business, especially a small business, to keep up with. But by using an outsourced IT company, the business can stay ahead of the competition in terms of technology use while focusing on more important aspects of their jobs. Your company will undoubtedly have access to the best business-grade technologies and know what they are. The IT provider can also assist with online advertising, digital designs, and use of the cloud to strongly establish your company’s digital presence.

If You Don’t Have One, Get One!

If you’re a small business owner without an IT support provider, your company is – at the very least – losing out on productivity, time, and money. At the worst, it’s in risk of huge security and compliance breaches. Hiring a technology support team is the most effective way to mitigate risks of data loss and security and to stay on top of current technology trends.