IT support services aren’t an optional extra for businesses, they are an absolute essential. Businesses that have a third-party professional manage their IT for them are more secure, have higher productivity, and spend more time looking after their customers and less time fixing IT problems.
Almost every business now relies on technology to operate, even very small businesses. Unless you run a cash-only business, at minimum you will have a POS terminal connected to a credit card machine. But that’s just the beginning, other businesses will have dozens of devices which are integral to keeping their operations running smoothly. These devices can include laptops, desktop PCs, mobiles, internet routers, servers, firewalls, tablets, and more. Each one of these devices, as well as the networks they are part of, need to be secure and efficient for a business to compete at the highest level. This means that unless you happen to also be a technical expert, without effective IT support, your business will be unable to run properly.
Why is IT support important in a business?
IT support allows employees to do their jobs without having to worry about the technical aspects of the business. This frees up time for them to focus on other, more profitable tasks and projects that need completing and less time trying to troubleshoot technical issues. This leads to more creativity and productivity in the workplace, which benefits everyone involved.
For a business to run smoothly, it needs to have the correct infrastructure in place. In the modern world, this means having quick access to expert IT support when things go wrong. At Carden IT Services, this is our passion – helping businesses make the most of their technology with professional IT support.
Why IT Support Is Important?
For those wondering why IT support is important in a business, we’ve put together a list of some of the real-world benefits that our clients have experienced as a result of our expert managed IT services.
- Improved Stability
You need your IT to be reliable. Even small errors can add up to a lot of wasted time and money. Managed IT services significantly reduce the number of errors, glitches, failed processes, and crashes. Your hardware and software will be more secure, and better integrated. - Enhanced Productivity
Managed IT isn’t just about protecting existing hardware and software. Our team have introduced dozens of solutions to our clients, from small fixes to major changes in workflow which have increased productivity and enabled better collaboration. For example; the ability to use SharePoint to allow multiple users to collaborate on a file in real-time. - Avoid Unnecessary Downtime
Downtime can cost a business a lot of money, and the more employees you have the more costly downtime becomes. If you have 10 employees, and your entire network goes down for an hour, you’ve lost 10 person-hours of productivity. Having your network professionally managed gives you peace of mind that it is being proactively monitored, refined, and defended by our team. - Improve Customer Satisfaction and Retention
If your technology is unreliable, customers will end up thinking of you as an unreliable company. - Streamlining Work Process
New technology can reduce repetitive or duplicated office tasks and use advanced AI and cloud computing to streamline your workplace. For example, using OCR scanning technology to automatically categorise documents and upload them to the cloud as they are being scanned. - Improved Network Security
Every business is a target for cybercriminals. There’s no such thing as being “too small to be at risk”. Without professional cybersecurity, you run the risk of being hacked, infected with malware, or worse. Cyber threats can not only cause downtime for a business, but they can seriously damage your reputation, especially if customer data is compromised as a result. Managed IT services give you round-the-clock protection against a host of cyber threats. - Minimises Cost
The cost of managed IT services is often equal to, or even less than, the cost of hiring a single full-time IT professional in-house. But you don’t just get access to one professional, you get access to an entire team of IT experts, with cybersecurity specialists, hardware engineers, and team members skilled in networking, cloud computing, business telecoms and more. This makes IT support services particularly well-suited for small and medium-sized businesses, which typically cannot afford to have full-time employees devoted solely to fixing computer problems and maintaining servers. - Hardware and Software Kept Up To Date
Hardware and software being out of date is one of the main risk factors for a ransomware attack. Patch management is an important part of IT support and involves making sure that all hardware and software is updated to the latest firmware and has the relevant security patches and licences.
Types of IT Support Services
IT support is a broad field, but it generally breaks down into 5 key areas.
- Remote IT Support Services
Thanks to remote access tools and cloud services. Almost all IT support requests can now be handled by remote IT technicians. At Carden IT Services LLC, we have a dedicated support helpdesk which can assist our clients with their day-to-day IT enquiries, and after hours our IT support team in the UK takes over, allowing us to give 24/7 IT support if needed. - Managed IT Support Services
This is a step beyond just fixing things. Managed IT support involves a team working proactively to improve and fortify your network. The higher the quality of managed IT support you are receiving the less day-to-day IT issues you should encounter. - On-Site IT Support Services
While most IT support requests can be handled remotely, there are occasionally hardware or cabling tasks which require an on-site presence. We have dedicated on-site engineers who can travel to premises within New York state when needed. - Cloud Computing/Virtualisation
Almost every business uses some form of cloud technology, whether that’s a cloud storage like Dropbox, a SaaS (Software as a Service) product like Salesforce, or a cloud computing platform like AWS. We have dedicated cloud computing specialists who can help you make the most of our existing cloud tech as well as suggest other areas which could be virtualised in the cloud. We’ve helped businesses of all sizes to migrate their data and networks to the cloud. - Break/Fix IT Support Services
This is the most basic form of IT support. The break/fix model works as it sounds, something breaks, and the support provider fixes it. This is useful in the short term but relying on break/fix IT can be expensive in the long term if underlying problems or vulnerabilities are not addressed.
Having a good understanding of the distinct types of IT support services can help you choose the best for your specific needs.
How Can You Get IT Support For Your Business?
If you think that your business needs managed IT support but you’re wondering “How can I get IT support”, don’t worry – here are the steps you need to follow.
➔ Step 1. Learn About IT Support Options
First, you need to understand the different types of IT support which are available. The list above explains the 5 main types of IT support.
➔ Step 2. Understand What You Need
Consider how your business uses IT and whether those circumstances are likely to change in the future. Once you understand this, it should help you decide which type of IT support is right for you.
➔ Step 3. Find a Professional
Speak to one or more IT support professionals. You could hire an in-house team, but as we mentioned earlier it is often more economical to hire a third-party provider.
➔ Step 4. Ask the Right Questions
Ask questions that relate to how you actually use technology in your business. Only you truly know the challenges and goals of your company, so be sure to articulate those to each potential provider you speak to and listen to how they might use their knowledge to help you with them.
➔ Step 5. Assess Their Knowledge
It’s a good idea to compare providers and also to speak to other industry professionals. For example, if you run a small family law office, you probably know other people who also run law offices. Speak to them and learn from their experience using IT providers. What did they like? What didn’t they like? What did they wish they’d asked up front? Once you’ve spoken to them, you’ll be better able to assess potential IT providers.
Ready To Get Professional IT Support For Your Business?
There are many options for getting the IT support you need for your business but hiring a managed IT support company could be the best business decision you make for your future success. With the right IT support services and team, you can grow your business.
Hopefully after reading this blog, you can now understand why so many businesses choose to partner with third-party managed IT support providers. By doing so, you could increase the security of your network, improve your overall productivity, and decrease the amount of IT errors you encounter. You also get access to a wealth of IT knowledge and the confidence to pursue new IT opportunities like cloud computing.
If this sounds like something your business would benefit from, speak to a member of our team today for a no-obligation call about your IT challenges and goals and how we could help.