Business owners of all sizes and shapes cannot avoid looking at technology systems and infrastructure at some level or other. This can be quite a daunting task, consuming time and resources as well as being expensive, more so if you’re not an expert in technology.
This is clearly evident in recent survey findings that an average small business spends as much as 7 percent of its annual revenue on IT when compared with a spend of only 3.2 percent of revenue for larger companies – for the very same services.
This might seem contradictory as a bigger company obviously means more employees, software, hardware, servers and so on. But larger organizations also are more planned and strategic in their IT efforts, which results in smarter spending and overall savings.
However, smaller companies can benefit like larger companies if they outsource their IT services. An efficient IT services company can make your business more efficient, saving you considerably in money and time.
Don’t just offload, but partner. While working with an IT services company, make that company a partner, not a mere vendor. When evaluating potential candidates, make sure that they grasp your mission and values for business. You want someone who will visit your premises, conduct a detailed study of your current systems and work closely with you to put in place an IT strategy that is tailored for your business needs.
A customized overall plan will help you achieve your business goals in an effective manner. A good partnership should also constantly re-evaluate this plan at-least on an annual basis or anytime that your business passes through a rapid growth or transition period.
Check your existing systems thoroughly. One common mistake that small-business owners make when organizing their own technology resources is purchasing, updating or implementing unnecessary hardware and software options that don’t suit their business purposes. For example, a standard PC operating system won’t work well as a server or backup system that most commercial businesses demand.
A Managed Tech Services Manhattan firm will guarantee that the systems and resources you acquire will be suitable for your needs and don’t come with any unwanted excesses that may overload or slow down your system. Higher savings will also be seen in formulating a proper hardware upgrade and warranty program for a full fledged operation.
Utilize time effectively. While days cannot be made longer, entrusting an IT consultant to manage your technology resources will free up your time allowing you to use it more productively.
Final Words
A formal standard managed services agreement should ensure tech support during business hours, round the clock monitoring of your core infrastructure, operations and online backup services. This will help you with speedy and personalized service than any on call automated help line will be able to provide. Trust us, you’ll never want to be on hold with a recording while dealing with an IT emergency. Also constant monitoring ensures that most problems will be fixed before you even become aware of their existence!
