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Why Choose an IT Support Company?

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Every time you turn on the news there’s always another newfangled gadget out there.  With more and more businesses moving onto the Internet, how do you stay on top it all?  A Boston Consulting Group survey showed that small businesses spend only 3% of their advertising budget on the Internet.  One of the major hindrances is that small businesses don’t have the staff or infrastructure to keeping up.  Instead of creating a whole department or relying on substandard acquaintances hire an IT support group.

Why? Three reasons: flexibility, scalability, and transferability.

Flexibility without being flimsy

Every small business is different and thus their IT needs are different. Bringing in an outside IT support group gives you choices without groping around in the dark for a solution.  Any IT support company worth their salt will be able to show you past projects that worked; whether it was increasing up time (time your computers are working) to Cloud security. We currently have 99% up time across all our clients.

Running a small business also means making every second count. Any down time can mean big losses. So, it’s best to choose a company that can offer 24/7 support. Even as a backup plan, if your IT specialist is out then you have someone to turn to. To be able to do that, your it support provider should be able to reach your office fast. So for example, if your business is headquartered in Boston, then you probably need business IT support in Boston.

Scalability

At first, it’s always easy to just put your toe into the water.  Let’s say your initial experience with Cloud data storage for just your accounting needs.  Now you want to back up all your data in the Cloud. To handle and maintain such a network, you’d need to hire more people right?  With an It support company, it’s simple to augment your staff.  This shifts the risks and the costs of finding qualified and reliable people to someone else.

Transferability

As your business grows so do your IT needs. Let’s say you open an office on West coast, three thousand miles away.  You could spend a fortune looking for someone to get that office up and running.  However, if your IT support company already has onsite service to 98% of the United States, then you’re already covered.

In this age of specialization, every business should consider finding experts in fields that they rely on, but can’t master on their own.

BYOD: Reining in the Cost

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We over here in tech land have often extolled the virtues of BYOD (Bring Your Own Device). Allowing your employees a certain modicum of freedom can go a long way in increasing their comfort and productivity.  However, this relatively new business practice can come with unforeseen costs.

Originally, the phenomenon was coined the consumeration of enterprise.  It was intended for high level executives only.  But as the practice spread, a few companies, like Network Sourcing Advisors, began to feel the pinch.

How can a practice that requires employees to buy their own equipment with their own money eat at the bottom line?  Well, taking smartphones as an example the costs are usually hidden, but rest assured, they will rear their ugly heads.

With Network Sourcing Advisors, it began with transition costs.  They had company-issued smartphones, but those all had to get shelved.  Those employees that didn’t have their own smartphones were upset.  Those that did, had to learn how to use them in accordance to companies policies.  Network Sourcing Advisors ended up $300,000 over-budget to bring 600 personnel up to speed.

Also, take the publisher Slate for example.  The company began subsidizing their employees devices.  To make sure that all their employees are up-to-date using the most efficient data plans, they estimate that they shoulder about $1,020 a year per employee.  They do this because the cost is tax deductible.  And of course, the benefit to the employee.

We’ve covered some of these bases before.  However, until now we’ve lacked concrete numbers.  And as always, whenever considering such an ambitious IT project, one should consider augmenting their staff in order to make things run more smoothly.