You may have seen my series of videos in December 2023 answering this question and why you should have ongoing IT Support in 2024. There are numerous reasons why having ongoing IT Support is not only essential but critical for your business as you grow your business, not only in 2024 but also in years to come too (trust me your future self will thank you for it).
So, here’s some of the reasons why you should have ongoing IT Support for your business, charity or even for yourself as a solopreneur.
Proactive Issue detection
Imagine this situation , you turn up to the office after a weeks holiday and you discover your computers in the office have stopped working , and you have a highly important meeting within the next hour. I imagine you start searching google and call as many IT companies as you can to find one with availability to help.
Well , as you can imagine many IT providers may be busy and unable to help there and then.
This is where your IT Support company come in when you have one. Not only are they there to help if the above scenario was to ever occur but they can also give you information and guidance using their expert knowledge about what issues may occur and what they can help you do to help to stop them from happening.
Cyber Security
Cyber security is a huge topic and one that has disastrous consequences if you get it wrong, not only for your business but for you personally too. We have all experienced a scam call or email and many of us find that scary enough , but that’s just the tip of the iceberg.
Having an ongoing relationship with your IT company will ensure that all of your cyber security is kept up to date and as secure as it can be which includes
1. Antivirus and security protection
2. Disabling of unused ports on each computer
3. Using 2FA or MFA on all online services.
Ensuring your compliance
Compliance is something that is very industry specific but there are certain laws and regulations within the UK that all organisations need to abide by which include the GDPR and other privacy laws.
These laws and regulations are there to protect both the consumer and the business when dealing with personal and confidential information.
Having ongoing IT support in place will mean that the company will intimately get to know your business and can ensure all systems are compliant. This is also a huge consideration when you are looking to achieve the cyber essentials certification too.
Backups & Recovery
Backups and Recovery is something I would consider an essential part of not only a business plan but also as an individual.
Why?
Well , you may have already experienced the frustration and time wasted when your computer gets damaged , broken or just simply stops working. You have to either get it fixed or buy a new one and then sometimes your data is gone.
Well good news, working with an IT support company with an ongoing commitment means that they will have a backup of your entire system and able to recover it to another machine quicker than you installing and transferring everything over yourself , saving you time and frustration.
Training & Support
Training & support for your staff and yourself is of paramount importance, especially when you are running a successful business , we all know how busy it is.
Working with a trusted IT company on an ongoing basis means that not only they stay up to date with the latest tech and know how to use it but they can also support your users and ensure all people who regularly use your system can also be given training where necasary.
Future-proofing your technology
We all want to future-proof our business right? Imagine you get the next big contract or sale and you don’t have the required infrastructure in place or maybe you need to onboard an employee but your systems are too complicated?
Well , that’s where an IT Support company can come in. Yes , they can’t perform miracles or make you get sales but they can help you get your tech stack in order so that your systems work and give both your employees and customers a better experience. As well as this IT companies are also keeping themselves at the forefront of new tech too.
