Blog / Does your SMB need managed IT support?
Every business runs into information technology (IT) problems. Whether you just have a few Excel sheets or hundreds of clients accessing a variety of online tools, you’re using IT. That means you’ll inevitably face IT challenges. Unfortunately, many small businesses take it upon themselves to handle their IT needs directly, without qualified help. Then, as their business grows (and we certainly hope yours is), their IT needs (and problems) grow. Eventually they either need to hire in-house staff (which can be prohibitively expensive) or outsource to an IT provider. Exactly when will depend on the nature of the business and specific IT needs, but here are four questions small business owners can ask themselves to decide if it’s time for some managed IT support.
How secure is my business?
This topic is actually a much broader question than it seems. That’s because when people think of online security, we tend to worry about viruses or ransomware (or any kind of malware). We think about phishing scams and socially engineered hacks among other threats. All of those are serious cyber threats, but anti-virus software and seminars about identifying phishing emails is not the full story when digitally securing your business. Lagging on updates for your applications, ignoring hardware and software expiration dates, and weak password management procedures are all potential risks that many SMB owners forget. A competent managed IT support provider will keep track of these (and many more) items on your behalf.
What is my backup situation like?
One of the most critical resources in your business is its data. Client lists and contact information, accounts receivable, and payroll information are all needed just to keep your business running, to say nothing of the gigabytes of other data that can inform strategy decisions. Since this information is so important, it obviously needs to be backed up. The questions become how often are you backing up, and to how many places? After all, if you ever need to recover and you only have a single backup from last month, then you’re at risk of losing a lot of data. Of course, that’s better than dealing with a corrupted backup file, in which case all of your data is gone for good. Having multiple backups in different locations is critical to managing backups correctly, so give this due consideration when deciding if you want to keep managing your own IT resources.
What do I do if my server crashes, and how long will it take to recover?
Having multiple healthy backups is a great first step, but did you know it can take hours or even days to recover from a crash? That can be a painfully long time, especially if being online is critical to your revenue flow. Having a precise plan of action that prioritizes important processes is critical. Which applications do you need up and running to get back on your feet? Which data do you need to recover first to make those applications useful? If you can’t answer these questions (and finding out the answer is a chore), it might be time to think about bringing in experts to help develop a disaster recovery plan.
Who can access my business’s important information and why?
The advent of cloud technology and shareable files has been a boon to productivity but has also made it significantly easier for confidential information to get leaked. There’s no reason for your salespeople to have access to HR documents, and vice versa. Clearly defined roles and good file security are essential for growing businesses, and if maintaining them has become cumbersome, it’s probably a good sign it’s time to contemplate bringing in some managed IT support.
Keeping track of all these items is a chore even for the most dedicated IT entrepreneurs and technology officers. As a business owner, you should ask yourself if managing IT is the best use of your time and talents. Chances are the answer is no. While it might be an interest, a hobby, or a passion, it’s not your core business focus. That’s why we suggest consulting with IT experts to create manageable, actionable plans for handling problems (or at least answering the questions posed above). If you have concerns about these topics or any part of your IT management, contact TRINUS to discuss developing a comprehensive strategy and get yourself some stress-free IT.
Sincerely,
The TRINUS Team
trinustech.com
