Your business is at a higher risk for security breaches and data when you don’t utilize a managed IT services company. A managed IT service company is more affordable than you realize. Managed IT service can be priced as a flat monthly fee, a per-user fee or a per-device fee. Then your business has a fixed line-item on your budget, and the assurance that your risks are managed by a professional service 24/7.
Not convinced? Let’s look at the realities of not have a managed IT service company.
Uncontrolled Spending.
Have you looked at what your IT department is costing every month? You may be surprised at how much you’re spending, and yet, you are still unsure at how well your company’s data is protected. Unless someone within your company is monitoring your IT department, you might not even be aware of what they are doing.
Have they ensured that your data is backed up in a cloud or are they developing a new app that may or may not help your business grow? Is your firewall up to date? Are your employees well-informed on cybersecurity threats that come via email? An unsupervised IT department could be investing in hardware and software that doesn’t protect you or help grow your business.
Add in the cost of recurrent training to keep your employees up to date with the latest security threats and emerging technology, and your business could experience uncontrolled spending. Managed IT service companies offer different pricing modules so that you can pick the plan that best suits your company yet allows for growth.
Unsecured Network and Uncertain Data Back-Up.
No matter what type of business, your business is responsible for the secure storage of employee records, customer data or patient information, which is protected by HIPAA regulations. A cybersecurity breach has the potential to put your business out of business.
Besides employee and client information, your business has a considerable volume of transactional data and customer/patient history. Are you sure that your IT department could have you back up and running after a natural disaster, ransomware attack or network failure?
Speaking of natural disasters which seems to be happening more often and are more severe, do you have a disaster recovery plan? Has your IT department developed and implemented a disaster recovery plan? It’s not enough to have your data backed up to a cloud. Your business should have a plan of where you’d relocate and how you’d get back up and running again.
The Federal Emergency Management Agency estimates that 40 percent of the businesses hit by natural disasters do not reopen and 25 percent of those who do fail within the first year. The Small Business Administration found that 90 percent of businesses fail within the first two years after a disaster. Data loss is catastrophic when coupled with a natural disaster.
A managed IT services company will provide you with a disaster recovery plan that protects your data to help prevent business failure should a natural or man-made disaster occur. The recent Paradise, California fire is a prime example of what could happen to your business should the worst scenario happen. Could your business recover?
Qualified IT employees are in short supply.
According to the George Mason University School of Business, IT jobs have increased by 13 percent while graduates in IT have decreased by 11 percent. Recruiting and retaining qualified IT personnel is expensive and challenging.
If you contract for managed IT services, you don’t have to terminate your entire IT department. You might decide to have a managed IT services company oversee the complex jobs while allowing your in-house IT personnel to focus on new projects or new business initiatives instead of responding to IT crisis resolution.
Most likely, a managed IT service company is able to hire the most qualified IT professionals. Why not get these people to oversee the most complex parts of your business?
Timing of new technology purchases.
Your company could be operating with outdated technology that can’t be upgraded to new security and/or operating systems. Restoring data might become impossible with obsolete technology.
Personnel from managed IT services companies regularly attend the major technology shows and can easily spot potential problems in your existing technology systems that could create significant problems in the future.
A managed IT services company starts to work for you on the first day that you contract with them. They’ll evaluate your entire IT system and make recommendations for updates to ensure the best performance and longer operating cycle. An added plus is that your managed IT services company can recommend new products specific to your industry or business type.
Minimize risk.
Savvy businesses know that minimizing the risk of security breaches, ransomware threats and data loss is one of the best ways to ensure the continuity of the business. A managed IT services company is more than just an IT “guy” that someone recommended to you. They become a valued partner of your business ensuring that your files and data are protected and that you can focus on your business operation.