In the day-to-day it can be all too easy to not realize or just ignore the problems proper IT support can fix. But if you step back and look at the larger picture, you begin to see how IT support provided by a strategic partner can unify your business and increase efficiency across the board.
Here are six ways investing in IT support can help your business grow:
1. Reduce downtime
IT outages and unplanned downtime cripple your organization – not just your business, even large businesses.
For example, In July 2018, Amazon experienced an unplanned outage that lasted about 12 – 15 minutes. This might sound negligible but it’s estimated that those 15 minutes cost Amazon more than $2.5 million in lost revenue.
This means that any time your IT systems go down, your business will lose out.
This could be a direct loss — like Amazon — through a reduction in sales. Or it could be an indirect loss due to a drop in productivity that happens when your employees lose access to systems and data.
Global giants like Amazon can absorb a large loss. Most small businesses can’t and might not be so lucky to recover from that.
When you outsource your IT support, you reduce the likelihood of unplanned downtime. Not only that, but you assured that — if the worst were to happen — you have access to a team of experts equipped to get your business up and running again ASAP.
2. Increase your operational efficiency
Owners of small businesses often retain control of IT support — or delegate it to employees in other departments who have at least some IT knowledge to keep the company running and to keep costs down.
How hard can it be?
The truth is, this isn’t an efficient — or reliable — way for you or your employees to spend their time.
Think about it:
Could time be better spent on actually growing the business, rather than firefighting IT issues that arise on a day-to-day basis?
How will you cope when a major issue arises and you don’t have the right people there to support you through it?
Outsourcing your IT support means your staff doesn’t have to worry or stop whenever an IT problem occurs — qualified professionals are on-hand to fix the problem so your resources stay focused where they are needed.
Not only that, but experts in IT will be able to resolve the problem in a fraction of the time, which means less time spent fixing a problem and more time pursuing operations that grow your business.
3. Keep your costs under control
When you’re growing your business, it’s tempting to cut corners to minimize costs.
Most of those corners cut is IT support and we urge you not to do that. The best solution small business would do is to have in-house resources on hand to manage your IT for your whole company.
Unfortunately, this solution is out of reach of many small businesses. as it is expensive – costs associated with recruitment, salaries ,training, and benefits. And your work is never done. You will need to recruit more staff as your business grows and ensure your staff keeps up to date with industry trends.
Outsourcing your IT support helps you retain control of your budget and have a reliable support .
In fact, the data suggests managed IT services can lower your IT costs by up to 40%.
So investing in your IT could actually save you money in the long run — giving you more to reinvest in your business.
4. Identify potential issues before they cause any damage
Is your current IT strategy reactive or proactive when a problem occurs ? With dedicated IT support, your infrastructure can make the important move from reactive to proactive.
Outsourced IT support gives you 24/7 network monitoring for peace of mind.
Dedicated IT support can identify potential issues before they escalate, reducing — or even eliminating — any downtime or disruption that occurs as a result.
This reduces the financial impact on your business and helps you maintain your reputation with customers. Two elements key to business growth.
5. Protect your data
As a small business, it’s vital to protect your organization from cybercriminals.
It’s easy to believe it will never happen to you, but that couldn’t be further from the truth. In 2017, more than half of organizations experienced at least one ransomware attack.
If you want to avoid such attacks on your business, you need to work with a team of experts to ensure you keep pace with the techniques used by cybercriminals.
According to AT&T, there is a disconnect between the way business owners perceive cybersecurity risks and how they act upon it in their organization:
“Despite cybersecurity being the top technology priority in the past year, many organizations see it as their most underperforming IT area.”
Outsourced IT support can help you bridge this gap and protect your business from threats that could cripple your business (and your reputation).
6. Keep up with the latest trends and insights
The IT industry is constantly evolving in line with new technologies. If you want to maximize business growth, it’s essential you have an IT support team that prioritizes innovation.
Not only is it difficult to ensure an in-house team keeps up to speed, but there’s currently a shortage of skilled IT professionals. A recent report from Gartner highlighted this. They listed IT talent shortage as one of five emerging risks, stating:
“Organizations face this talent crunch at a time when they are already challenged by risks that are exacerbated by a lack of appropriate expertise. Previous hiring strategies for coping with talent disruptions are insufficient in this environment.”
They also suggest there will be 1.4 million job openings for IT specialists in future. This makes outsourced IT support seem even more appealing, if not essential, for small business owners who may not be able to afford hiring an on-staff professional.
IT innovation is key to business growth. When you outsource your IT support, you can take advantage of your competition’s lack of resources — always keeping one step ahead.
Are you ready to outsource your IT support to people who want to help you grow your business? Get in touch to find out how we can help.