Are Managed IT Services Better For Small Business?
by TUCU Managed IT Services in Toronto
Are Managed IT Services Better Than The "If It Ain't Broke" Approach
Managed IT Services is a term used to describe an effective model of IT management services where a network is first optimized and then proactively maintained by outside IT providers. The model is different from traditional “break & fix” IT services where you only call for help after a problem has already occurred.
Proactive IT Services Management has been the leading recommendation for several years now. Here's why.
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The Problems With Break & Fix Hourly IT Services
The problems with break & fix are many, and we’ll dive into them below, but in short;
- Break & fix IT services leave you open to security vulnerabilities.
- Break & fix services are reactive, not proactive, so by the time you’re experiencing a ‘techache’, you have also already lost time, data or both.
- Break & fix (or lack of monitoring critical systems) leaves you more likely to experience major crashes which are not only expensive, but have the added risk of your IT provider being otherwise scheduled and unable to race to your problem. In this case, you may judge your IT provider based on how quickly they can drop all clients and put out your fire, instead of their knowledge, skills, ability and desire to proactively and securely manage your network and reduce risk of fires in the first place.
With break & fix, and no in house IT employee, you are often not getting the best out of your technology, and IT recommendations are accepted or rejected based on “ well if it ain’t broke”. While things may not be completely broken down yet, unmanaged critical systems will break, and they will break big. Since these big breaks are largely preventable, let’s take a look at just how managed services are better for your business.
Benefits Of Managed IT Services For Small Business
Reduce Stress & Annoyance
Stop putting up with “small” problems that can lead to bigger problems, or that simply slow you down and frustrate you every single day. Opt for IT improvements that improve your daily workflow, and enjoy having unlimited tech support a call or email away.
Eliminate avoidable problems. Problems cause frustration, stress and unplanned costs. Managed services eliminate most avoidable problems during the network optimization phase and through regular, consistent updates and planning.
Eliminate the us vs them divide. When you have a lot of reactive IT problems, your IT provider is racing to put out fires often, and you’re being hit with those invoices, it can feel like you’re on opposite teams. Ignoring recommended upgrades and then being frustrated and held hostage by emergency repairs makes you an unhappy customer, and believe it or not, this break & fix cycle makes your IT provider unhappy too. They want to do a good job, protect your network, keep you happy and earn your loyalty and referrals. By aligning yourself with your trusted IT provider, optimizing your network, and letting them take care of things regularly, you’ll have less problems, and an easy to manage fixed monthly fee.
Reduce lost productivity - with managed services, we update all servers and computers every week.
Reduce data loss risk - during network optimization, we will ensure you have good data backup in place, and we will test it regularly to ensure recovery is possible. A single data loss event for a small business results in an average unplanned cost of approximately $3400 + the tech support service fees. This is a preventable expense.
Eliminate unplanned invoices with managed services, network optimization + regular updating + upgrade planning + unlimited support for one affordable, fixed monthly fee.
Be certain that critical systems are taken care of. On a break & fix approach, you probably don’t have a skilled IT employee on your team checking on critical systems such as data backup, antivirus and server logs regularly. These seemingly unimportant tasks are where the biggest, most disastrous and expensive IT problems occur.
Managed IT Services help small business to:
- add skilled IT support to your team
- reduce the stress, annoyance and frustration that lack of good IT can cause
- avoid having to manage or retrain after IT employee turnover
- better work with your trusted IT Provider to
- eliminate avoidable problems
- reduce the risk of big expensive problems
- better budget your investment
- better plan for IT upgrades
- have more productive, more enjoyable work days
So what do you think? Have these points helped to highlight some "you don't know what you don't know" areas for you with respect to IT management? Did this post help you to better understand the benefits of managed services?
TUCU is a Managed IT Service Provider for small business in Toronto. This means we offer a flat fee for unlimited computer support and network management services for your SMB or nonprofit organization. To learn more about these valuable IT Services, please contact us today.
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