IT support has evolved from the motions of break-fix to break-fix into a comprehensive service that proactively helps businesses get the best from what technology has to offer them. In this blog, we’ll debug three critical misconceptions that can stop a business from tapping into the benefits of IT support today. Is yours potentially missing out?
1. Misconception: IT Support is Only for Tech Emergencies
And ‘oopsies’! Many businesses, particularly small and medium-sized enterprises, hold the belief that IT support is only necessary when something goes wrong. This reactive approach can be costly and is actually not best practice. Today, IT providers are using their expertise and tools to foresee and prevent problems before they can cause harm.
More broadly, IT providers are often now technology partners; they help businesses align and use technology to achieve their strategic goals. Providers such as our own team at MT Solutions are in this camp of providers that combine personal and proactive IT support services with a wider portfolio of IT strategy and consulting services.
How it’s costing your business:
Waiting for a crisis means you are always playing catch-up, which can be more expensive and time-consuming than maintaining a proactive stance. Regular IT maintenance prevents many emergencies from occurring in the first place.
IT support isn’t just about fixing problems; it’s about optimising your systems to prevent issues from arising. IT support providers can also help you tap into the opportunities lying in front of your business when it comes to technology.
2. Misconception: It’s Too Expensive
It’s quite common for businesses to be wary of getting IT support too quickly as it might cost more than the value it provides, which is a totally understandable concern. How do you know if investing in your IT will be a great investment in your team’s ease and productivity, your business’s financials, and better outcomes for your customers? A thought experiment can illustrate how.
Why it’s costing your business
Okay, so here’s the thought experiment: Think of your IT budget and then how much you pay your lowest-salary full-time employee in your business; now imagine if they both took a day off, fell ill, or just weren’t working at their best. Which would have the most impact? The state of your IT gives or takes away things like minutes, hours, focus, energy, and money from your business. It’s your most prolific employee in the sense that every employee relies on it to work.
Yet often, many SMEs are underinvesting in their IT! With its speed, reliability, scalability, ease of administration, foreseeing and preventing issues, and so on, you get the idea. Businesses that underinvest in their IT may pay less, but they often end up paying twice.
3. Misconception: All IT Support Services Are the Same
There’s another common belief that IT support services are interchangeable, quite like going from one restaurant to another one that has the same menu. This often leads businesses to focus on choosing their IT support based on price rather than expertise and quality of service.
Why it’s costing your business
Not all IT support services are created equal. The expertise, responsiveness, and services offered can vary widely between providers. Choosing a provider without researching their capabilities and getting to know them can lead to inadequate support and services that impact your IT and people alike.
What is an IT Service Provider Today? How Can They Help My Business?
Comprehensive IT service providers are often also called managed service providers (MSPs), and they are not the same as the traditional break-fix IT support providers from yesteryear, which is often where these misconceptions come from.
An IT service provider is a technology partner that usually offers a wide scope of services that enable your business to lower lost time, money, and risks across the board while also enabling more productivity, scalability, and ease of working for your teams.
They do this by offering services like:
- Managed IT support including a frontline helpdesk and on-site support, as well as back-end IT management and monitoring
- Cloud services include server hosting and Microsoft 365 implementation and support, as well as efficient and secure remote work enablement
- Cyber security services for protecting your data, users, devices, and network from cyber threats
- Connectivity and networking solutions for improving network speeds, reliability, and security, as well as evolving them effectively with your business’s changing needs and growth
- Telephony and cloud phone system solutions for your communication and collaboration needs
- IT consultancy services for developing and executing IT projects and strategies to achieve your goals
- Business continuity solutions that enable your business to keep working even when a system malfunction or permanent loss of data occurs
- And more! This could look like compliance, business process automation, and digital transformation solutions, for example.
The net result of these services? A more flexible, secure, high-performing, and scalable business that can achieve more using less, beat the competition, and sustainably grow with peace of mind.
Do you have an IT partner for your business journey? Has this given you pause for thought? We’d love to help you explore the possibilities that great IT support services can offer. If you’re curious about transforming your business’s IT, why not book an informal meeting with our friendly team?
MT Services: Enabling Birmingham and Lichfield’s Businesses to Securely Thrive With Managed IT Support and IT Services
Since 1973, we’ve been delivering IT services to businesses in Staffordshire and Birmingham and have kept up with the times. As a technology partner, we take away the pains of IT management, cyber security, and digital transformation for our clients and help them unleash their potential with more productive, scalable, and secure IT that fits their needs, rather than the other way around.
Discover solutions and insights for your IT challenges today by booking a consultation with our team. All that we ask for our time – is yours! Better results for your business start with a conversation.
