When it comes to your company’s technology, what does satisfactory mean to you? Maybe you’re not constantly fighting downtime, but when it happens, it takes a toll on productivity. What about predictable IT expenditures – do you come close but have some months that just blow the budget out of the water?
Many small companies take the break-fix route of IT services, however, there are risks of not knowing when something will go wrong or what it will cost to fix it.
How do you recognize when “satisfactory IT management” isn’t benefiting your business anymore? Look for these 4 real life signs:
- Inconsistent response times – Your network is down and you’re not sure why, so you call your current IT provider for help. They prefer to come on-site to diagnose the problem. Sometimes that takes a few hours and other times a few days. There is no consistency of service and every minute of downtime is costing your company money.
- Unpredictable costs – Hourly, ad hoc or as needed services may seem like the more affordable solution, but the costs are open ended. This makes it practically impossible to stick to an IT budget and downright scary when the invoice arrives. Hourly billing also gives no incentive for a break-fix provider to find a permanent solution to an underlying problem.
- Lack of software automation – Software is constantly changing. Updates, bug fixes and newer versions require time and expertise to navigate. Without standardized templates and scheduled installations, a large chunk of your budget could be spent on repetitive activities that could have been automated.
- Reactive environment – Have you ever heard the phrase, prevention is better than treatment? That same advise applies to your IT environment. It’s certainly important to fix what isn’t working, but without proactive maintenance, you could incur the same issues over and over again.
Recently, we were asked to assess the IT of a local construction company where the CFO manages their technology. When problems occurred, the CFO contacted their break fix provider. They were experiencing inconsistent response times that caused downtime and delays, and billing by the hour to fix their problems was costly. Software updates were also considered additional billable items and therefore there was no predictable budgeting.
The construction company moved over to our Cards Complete Managed IT Services package, where proactive monitoring was implemented and software templates were created for automation. With downtime practically eliminated, the CFO now focuses on managing the business finances instead of worrying about IT problems. The entire company saw a huge productivity increase. Is your IT solution keeping up with your growing business? Maybe it’s time for an assessment. Read about our 5-step proven process here, email us directly or call us at (410) 208-3933.