Isn’t it Time for REAL IT Support?

Unless you came in like gangbusters with a massive amount of venture funding, your business probably started like most: Small. Let’s say you are several years past your company’s ‘startup’ point. You’ve been hiring, and you’ve grown from two computers in your home to twelve in an office. Things are looking up as your business continues to grow, but at the same time, problems with your network are growing as well.

No matter how your Small or Mid-size Business (SMB) began, you share some common stories. Over the years, we have heard them all. The one we hear most is this:

You start as a home-based business – one person, one computer. As you grow, you bring on a second person, then a third. Your laptops still suffice, and perhaps you’ve put together a rudimentary file-sharing system, but the business isn’t yet complex enough to do anything else.

At this point, you typically don’t need much help with your network, but who handles it for you? Often, it’s somebody’s son or daughter, nephew, or niece – perhaps one of the employees ‘knows a little’ about computers. This method is cheap, and it works… for now.

We often hear the results of such a situation:
“My son has been doing a great job, but now he’s going away to college.” This is literally what a prospect said to us. He had ten computers somewhat strung together (inefficiently), with an outdated and useless firewall and no Anti-virus. No data backups in place – just what was stored in the computers.

Cybercriminals smile when find someone like this, saying something akin to “Woohoo!” For stark clarification, it is important to note that from the mouth of a hacker “Woohoo!” is never, ever good.

The small office IT ‘tinkerers’ may have knowledge about doing simple things, but it never takes long for them to get out of their depth. They can usually get a computer working again after a failure, but these erstwhile ‘IT guys’ are ‘small picture’ players. Even a small network of ten computers falls into the province of ‘big picture’ players. With a payroll of ten or more employees, you have a lot riding on your network.

Going back to the example above, with the IT son (who wasn’t always available when he was needed) going off to college, a smart business owner will seek out experienced, professional IT. The problem here is that most of them do not know what that is. How can you tell the difference between good and bad IT?

What does good IT support look like?

To see what separates good from bad IT, let’s look at the characteristics of both.

Good IT

If you’re looking for a true a true Win/Win arrangement consider Managed IT Services providers. The client pays a monthly retainer or subscription for comprehensive, all-inclusive services. Also called Managed Services Providers (MSPs) this IT model will set up the network for constant monitoring and proactive preventive maintenance. The less time they spend on little ‘fixes,,’ the more your productivity increases, they save more money, and they can offer lower cost to you. Win/Win.

MSPs accomplish this by using automation and AI (Artificial Intelligence) among other tools. A great MSP already knows when most predictable problems occur, and they put the ‘fixes’ in early. Even if the IT help desk isn’t on the phone and no field techs are poking around in the server room, much work is being done to provide as close to a permanent ‘YES’ response from the network as possible.

Bad IT

The ’dirty little secret’ of the IT industry is that it’s largely unregulated. Anyone can call themselves an IT company, and all that is required is a standard business license. The guy who builds your backyard fence needs to be licensed by the state or municipality.

This where ‘Break/Fix’ (B/F) vendors flourish. Their model has no help desk, and typically no remote monitoring and repair. Their methodology is simple: something breaks, and they fix it at an hourly rate.

Here's the rub: the B/F guys make money based on billable hours. This means they have no vested reason for fixing things quickly or permanently: More hours equal more money.

This model is a waiting game:
Something breaks.
You call, usually you have to leave a message, so you WAIT for them to call back.
Then, you WAIT for them to show up.
Then, you WAIT for them to troubleshoot the problem.
Now, you WAIT for them to fix the problem.
Then, you WAIT for the bill.

Remember that while all this waiting is going on, somebody, perhaps even your entire staff is 100% unproductive.

Eventually, the client will get tired of the excessive downtime waiting what’s broken to be fixed. It’s the IT equivalent of having a hamster on a wheel trying to power an automobile.

Isn’t it time to graduate to smoothly running, reliable IT?