Many businesses do not have IT support in place. They wait until there is an issue and then call in the IT specialists to resolve it for them. However, your business could benefit in a number of ways from ongoing rather than ad-hoc IT support.
Here are five reasons why:
1) 24/7 Maintenance
When you have ongoing IT support you have peace of mind that your IT systems are looked after 24 hours a day, 7 days a week, 365 days a year. Our team receive real-time alerts if something happens to your systems which means we can proactively investigate the issue and get it resolved quickly for you. This includes:
- server problems or failure
- lack of storage
- slow WiFi
This is key as server issues can impact the entire running of your business, including access to client data and key information. A lack of storage if undetected can cause problems with your backup data and slow your systems down impacting your company’s productivity. One of the most frustrating issues for your team can be slow WiFi which again can affect productivity.
It is imperative all these are monitored and then resolved immediately to keep your business running smoothly and efficiently. If you rely on ad-hoc IT support to resolve any issues then these are only addressed when they become real problems; this is when people tend to notice them. At this point, you will need to arrange for the issues to be investigated and resolved which could impact your business whilst you wait for this to happen.
2) Secure data
Keeping your data safe and secure is one of the most important elements of an IT system. With viruses and hackers becoming more and more sophisticated, you want to know that your information is protected.
When you have ongoing IT support we ensure you have unlimited storage backups; we use Dropbox for cloud-based storage and backup to ensure that in the event of anything happening on your premises, your data remains intact.
We put encryption in place to keep your client information secure and email is securely hosted to avoid hackers or viruses. Plus with 24/7 monitoring, every day of the year, if there are any issues with your backups we will spot them straight away and fix it for you.
3) Cost-effective
To employ your own IT staff in-house can be expensive. Individuals usually command high salaries in their industry so attracting them in could be costly. The recruitment and interviewing process can be time-consuming and expensive, you will either need to employ a specialist IT recruitment firm to ensure you get the right person or be confident that you have the knowledge to assess their experience and skills.
With ongoing IT support from a specialist company, you can avoid all this. Here at Woodstock IT, we have an experienced, trained team with all the relevant skills and knowledge. We’re reliable and flexible, working with you to ensure your business service levels are maintained whilst any IT work required is carried out. You benefit from economies of scale as you won’t need to employ any full time IT staff in your business but you’ll have a full time IT team at your disposal!
4) GDPR compliance
You will no doubt have read about the new General Data Protection Regulation (GDPR) coming into force in May 2018, in fact, we’ve written a useful article about it for you here. This is bringing in changes to the way in which businesses utilise and store client data, including protecting it against hackers and viruses.
Your IT support team will ensure compliance with the regulations from a systems perspective, indeed, compliance with any regulations regarding software and hardware. The team stay up to date with all the latest legislation and take proactive steps to keep your business protected and compliant. They will also monitor your software licenses and ensure these remain up to date but also work with you to plan for the end of life of any of these products, looking at replacements or upgrades as required.
If you only have ad-hoc IT support then you need to monitor any legislation and compliance changes yourselves. You can call in contractors as necessary to make changes but this could take time as they will need to review your systems in order to do any updates or upgrades; an IT support team would already understand your IT software and hardware and know exactly what was required straight away.
5) Real-time support and upgrades
With ongoing IT support in place, the team have in-depth knowledge of your current IT systems and your requirements. They ensure your software, hardware and data are protected from viruses and hacking attempts. The team can maintain your assets in real time and can also upgrade and downgrade your storage as required, ensuring systems are as up to date as they can be.
Not only will you have your own IT department ready to assist you at any time, you will also benefit from our purchasing power when you come to buy new equipment or upgrade your existing system.
Get in touch
To discuss your ongoing IT support requirements and ensure your business continuity is maintained from an IT perspective, please contact us on 01403 290321 or email support@woodstockit.co.uk.
