Of all IT service providers, only 72% of them offered disaster recovery services in 2018. This is one of many important things to consider when you’re looking for customizable tech support for small businesses. This is doubly important if you’re the owner of a company. After all, any new business needs the best in tech support to get off the ground.
Before you think about outsourcing IT responsibilities, here are some things you should know about tech support for small businesses.
Getting Technology Solutions for Businesses
Does your business need IT support? If it uses the internet and any other technology to function, chances are it does. Unfortunately, that’s rarely as easy as hiring someone off the street to be your IT department.
A lower level IT salary sits somewhere between $50,000 and $80,000. For specialized technicians, this figure climbs even higher. Most companies with fewer than 50 staff members can’t even justify the expense of hiring an IT professional in-house.
The practicality of this will depend largely on what type of business you have and what level of IT service it needs. But even when a business truly needs a dedicated team to work on cloud storage, network security threats, and other technical challenges, the finances just might not be there.
That’s what tech support for a small business is for. For a monthly or yearly fee, you can outsource your tech support to an outside firm dedicated to helping companies thrive in the digital landscape.
Different Kinds of Tech Support for Small Businesses
There are several different levels of IT support. Certain providers only work on a break/fix basis — when you have a problem, you can call them and they’ll fix it for you. On the opposite end of the spectrum, some providers offer full 24/7 support. This means people are on-call constantly to keep the technological side of your business up and running.
Generally, a client’s specific requirements will dictate the level of support they receive from the external IT firm.
Some companies even offer web and software development, alongside their technical problem-solving services.
What to Expect with an IT Support Service
All too often, small businesses end up with a long to-do list of items for their technical support team. This can cause potential overload to IT support services when businesses finally decide to outsource their IT requirements.
To help combat this issue, getting tech support for your business should never be put off. Fortunately, a good agency should be prepared to work with you through this initial period of activity until things get evened out.
To get the most out of your IT support service, you should define your needs ahead of time. You need to be able to describe to a sales rep what you need them to achieve, and how often their services will be required.
Your tech support service may involve farming out certain tasks or activities, such as setting up computers and networks. They may be able to help you with email setup and support. Depending on the firm, they may specifically address data backup and security matters.
Perhaps the most important role tech support firms can fulfill is simply making sure that your security is up to par. With so much spyware and virus activity infiltrating networks left and right, a business can’t be too careful with their information — and the information of their customers.
Even more disturbing is the possibility that, without adequate security measures, you never know when a cyber attack could destroy your business or its credibility with customers. If the amount of money being lost to unnecessary downtime doesn’t concern you, the possibility of a data or security breach should.
Tech support shouldn’t be assigned to an under-qualified member of your staff. The success, efficiency, and security of your small business depends on having excellent tech support to meet your individual needs. When you’re ready to streamline your business, rely on the professionalism of The AME Group for help.