How to Get the Most out of Your IT Support

Today’s businesses rely on sophisticated technology to reach their goals. Without the right types of technology, it’s basically impossible for your business to streamline its processes, automate services, collect data and communicate with customers.

As a business owner, though, you don’t really have time to handle your company’s IT requirements. Considering that many tech professionals get paid $100,000 or more per year, you also may not have enough money in your budget to pay full-time staff members.

On one hand, you need the IT support. On the other, it’s money you might not have.

What’s your best option?

Consider outsourcing your IT support. Doing so gives you an affordable way to keep up with competitors. In return, you’ll get some of your time back so you can focus on growing your business.

To get the most out of your IT support, though, you need to know what types of jobs you can outsource easily.

Outsource Your Routine Maintenance

Routine maintenance helps keep your equipment in good shape and extend the life spans of servers, computers, and even networks. Proactive maintenance can also help you avoid catastrophic failures that will interrupt your business processes.

Routine maintenance usually involves steps like:

• Updating software.
• Removing old files and software that slows your system.
• Installing new drivers so hardware can work properly.
• Replacing worn hardware that could fail soon.

Outsource Your IT Infrastructure Upgrades

As your business grows, you may reach a point when it makes sense to upgrade your IT infrastructure. Legacy systems might have served you well in the past, but they can make your employees and business inefficient as they age.

Eventually, you will need new equipment to keep up with your competitors and provide the level of service that your customers expect.

Outsourcing an infrastructure update or rebuild makes sense even if your business has an IT team. Unless you provide professional development opportunities for your team, few of your IT professionals may know about the latest equipment.

Unfortunately, one of the downsides of working at the same company for several years is that people often lose touch with developments in their field.

By outsourcing, you’ll get an expert who has experience with the latest technology available to businesses.

Protecting Data With Backup and Disaster Recovery

No matter what industry you work in, data plays an important role in your business’s success. If you lose access to that data, then you may also lose:

• Customer contacts.
• Access to work applications.
• Research for new products and services.
• Information about your employees.

Managed backup services ensure that you never lose access to your information. By outsourcing your managed backup needs, you get to store data off-site, which will protect you from loss after your office experiences a flood, fire, earthquake or other disaster.

With managed services, you also benefit from:

• Active testing that ensures the functionality of your system and applications.
• Military-grade encryption.
• An effective plan for how to recover your data after a disaster.

Outsource Your Office Relocations

As your business grows, you may find that you need to move to a new location that gives you more room and offices.

It’s an exciting time in your company’s evolution, but it also takes a lot of work. After all, you have to pack everything and move it to the new location. Depending on the size of your business, the moving project could take a weekend or several weeks.

Relocating your technology equipment is one of the most laborious aspects of moving. It’s easy to make mistakes that can lead to an extended downtime for your business. Instead of taking a risk, outsource the project to a company that has experience with office relocations.

Some of the benefits that you get from hiring a relocation expert include:

• An inventory of your equipment.
• Labeling that makes it easy to reconnect the equipment correctly.
• Minimized downtime for your employees.

A professional can also make suggestions about whether you need to upgrade certain aspects of your technology. If you need to upgrade your equipment soon, then you might as well do it during a move, when everything has been taken apart.

Outsource Your Network Security

Poor network security can lead to data leaks that result in costly litigation and fines. Some attacks will also damage your company’s reputation and steal the sensitive information that you need to do your work.

Partnering with network security professionals will help protect your system and give you peace of mind. When you choose a reliable partner, you can expect benefits like:

• Multi-tier protection that targets and eliminates malware.
• Less spam that can slow worker productivity.
• Advanced firewalls that block spyware.
• 24/7 monitoring that keeps you updated on any threats to your network.

Network security is one of the most important things for your business to invest in. Unless you know that you have a staff member trained to stop the latest forms of malware and cybersecurity attacks, you need to outsource with an IT firm that stays current on these and other threats.