You might wish that your employees know more about IT and its inner workings, and you’re not alone. SMBs often suffer from a lack of IT talent, and they might try to supplement this lack of proficiency by training employees on how to do basic computer tasks required to work effectively. Thankfully, you don’t have to rely on just your knowledge and that of your employees when it comes to maintaining your technology.
It’s not uncommon to hear about small businesses having difficulty with managing and maintaining IT solutions. Even the most basic topics regarding business technology can be troublesome for businesses with limited budgets and resources. It makes sense that you would want to remove this responsibility from whoever is doing it, but how can you do so without destroying your bottom line?
Outsourced IT is still a relatively new concept, but outsourced services in general have been around for quite some time. Business owners and even individual users have been taking advantage of outsourced services for quite some time, and the fact that they can take advantage of managed IT services via outsourcing companies makes managing their technology much easier.
Do you fall into the broad term of “professional services?” If so, you might be interested in hearing how managed IT can help you improve operations and take advantage of other various benefits that they provide for organizations like yours. Let’s take a look at some of the many solutions that MSPs can offer for your business. You’ll be surprised by how much more work you can get done during the workday!
Time is one of the few resources in business that cannot be reclaimed. It should be the goal of every business executive to spend most of their time making money. Unfortunately, when you experience trouble with your technology or network, this becomes difficult at best to accomplish. Outsourced IT is a great method that any business can implement in order to create more free time to focus on business operations and money-making initiatives.
Every piece of technology comes with this risk. Although, some businesses are better at mitigating this risk than others, and it’s usually based on how they approach their organization's IT maintenance.
What would you do if you got a surprise bill for tech support? Would you go around the office asking where it came from, or would you worry more about trying to figure out how you’re going to pay for it? Clearly someone in your office doesn’t know the proper way of asking for IT support if you are receiving mystery invoices. Regardless, it’s important that you understand that this is the norm for an organization working with a break-fix IT provider.
We’ve all ran into problems that weren’t easily solvable, even by technically-proficient people. In fact, it’s often the case that simple problems can be escalated far beyond where they deserve to be. Sometimes all it takes is a little outside perspective, and some out-of-the-box thinking, to fix an issue.
Not too long ago, businesses would seek out technology professionals for help in resolving difficulties. Nowadays, the way companies go about IT maintenance has been turned on its head. Instead of reacting to major hardware failure, businesses are finding it more economical to proactively maintain their technology, preventing major issues from happening in the first place.
How does your business handle technology problems that come with using servers, workstations and other solutions in the workplace? Do you solve problems as they come up, or do you take a proactive stance to keep your tech under control? Either way, the fact remains that break-fix IT is an inefficient and wasteful way of approaching your technology solutions, especially with managed service providers changing the way SMBs implement technology.
The modern business faces all sorts of challenges, and IT solutions are often a great way to skirt around these issues. However, many of these businesses are also finding the management of their IT to be a major pain point, especially with a limited staff and budget. Here are the top five challenges that a business faces when attempting to make changes to their IT infrastructure.
If your IT isn’t fully integrated in the day-to-day operations of your company, it can be holding your team back from achieving maximum productivity and efficiency. Granted, you have to have a dedicated IT department before they can be even remotely involved with your business. Some small and medium-sized businesses consider themselves savvy enough to get by without dedicated IT support, but they’re sadly mistaken.
Technology helps business owners around the world achieve greatness on a regular basis, and it’s become so attached to the office that the two are inseparable. The only issue with this is that you become completely reliant on it, making technology issues feel catastrophic. Instead of paying for an on-site visit from a technology support provider, wouldn’t it be more convenient to just pick up the phone and have someone fix the issue immediately?
Small business owners, beware. On July 14th 2015, Microsoft will stop supporting the aging server operating system, Windows Server 2003. If your business is still operating servers using this outdated OS, you need to upgrade away from it before the end-of-support date. If you don’t, you run the risk of hacks and security discrepancies.
If you use the Internet, you’re aware of how heavy a presence cats possess. You can hardly navigate the web without seeing a hilarious cat meme, or four. Rather than admit that the human race is obsessed with these furry companions, what if the hairballs are using the Internet themselves and instigating a complete technology takeover? This just might be the case, according to new research.
We’ve been known to discuss the importance of proactive IT solutions and handling issues before they become problems. However, the difference between the two isn’t always as clear as it should be. The true value of our managed IT services can only be understood if the difference between the two can be distinguished.
It’s important to understand that you as a business owner wouldn’t be as successful as you are today if it weren’t for the talents of your professionally-trained team. You need to understand that the complexities and time constraints of running a business put a lot of responsibility on your shoulders, and you can’t take matters into your own hands as often as you’d like. The ideal situation is one where your team’s professions encompass all aspects of your business. This is especially true for IT.
Have you ever been stuck in a technology rut while working on a major project? If this is an everyday occurrence for you, your gut might be telling you that there’s a better way to handle your business’s IT. Most of the time, there’s usually a better way to handle these issues, and it’s with the latest and greatest technology. Your IT provider needs to be familiar with the most recent developments, good or bad, to deliver you the best quality services available.
The latest in a string of costly settlements associated with the violation of the HIPAA law highlights the importance of your health care organization closely following HIPAA’s mandates. Is your practice’s IT infrastructure HIPAA compliant? If not, then even an overlooked detail as seemingly-insignificant as updating software will subject you to penalties.
When it comes to IT support, communication is key. The parties giving and receiving support must absolutely be on the same page. If not, then a PC disaster is imminent. Sometimes, IT support miscommunications can be so bad that they're funny, as seen in the 2001 movie "Zoolander." Thankfully, nobody is really this detached when it comes to computers, right?
Technology grows more mobile with each passing day, but the need for technical support remains the same. But, sometimes you just can't get on-site support while you are traveling. What, then, would you do if you had an urgent need for IT support, especially if your provider doesn't offer remote support?
The difference between giving great customer service and poor customer service is the difference between keeping and losing a customer. When it comes to great customer service, nowhere is this more important than with remote IT service.
Humans are notorious for staying within their comfort zones. When something new or unfamiliar rears its ugly head, we often are too habitual to change with the times. While this is mostly applicable to social situations, such as an introvert being stuck in a hot, stuffy room full of people, comfort zones can also apply to your outdated laptop or smartphone. Upgrading can be challenging, but very rewarding.
Today is opening day for Major League Baseball. Teams are finishing up spring training and making the last round of cuts before they start the regular season. In the MLB, each team is allowed to have 25 players on their club when they break camp. Every year each club has a handful of guys that make that decision hard for the General Manager.
This situation happens in your business as well. After determining the viability of an expense, the least viable expenses are often cut from the budget. Redundant expenses can really drive down the bottom line, so cuts are made. Here are three ways the IT professionals at k_Street Consulting, LLC can save your organization money and give your team the best chance to succeed.
As the top men's and women's collegiate basketball teams in the United States begin the 2014 NCAA tournament, there is a competition going on that doesn't get quite as much press. That is the competition for local market share. When that competition is stiff, as it always is in the NCAA tournament, you have to find ways to set your business apart. There are a lot of similarities between running an efficient business and the make-up of a championship basketball team.
One indisputable fact about doing business is that everything goes better if you plan ahead. Having procedures in place preparing you for anything is a great move that will save you time spent dealing with problems. The value of preparedness can especially be seen when it comes to performing maintenances on your computer network.
When your technology goes down, it's a painful experience for your business because operations grind to a halt. When you have to deal with an expensive computer repair bill from your IT company, then it's basically like they're adding injury to insult, or kicking you while you're down.
A masochist enjoys doing things the hard way. Masochists make lousy managers because their enjoyment for punishment will make it so that nothing gets done on time. Nobody, not even a masochist, enjoys it when IT problems take forever to fix. With remote IT support, the punishments of technology problems are removed and IT becomes easy for everyone!
