It’s universally accepted and acknowledged that any business of any size that exists today requires technology in order to actually stay in business. Customers and employees alike expect the modern conveniences that come with having 24/7 access to systems and information. So in order to stay relevant and thrive, it is necessary for business owners to embrace and adopt the systems that deliver fast, efficient products and services – whatever they may be. But while larger companies tend to have the resources to support IT staff or even full IT Departments that are solely responsibility for managing all things IT, this isn’t always an option for small to mid-sized businesses with smaller budgets. Unfortunately this leaves many small businesses feeling overwhelmed and frustrated, investing time, money and energy in patching together short-term solutions for resolving IT issues only after they occur. And wondering why there isn’t a better IT service solution. Because wouldn’t it make more sense to invest in longer-term solutions for ensuring that your IT system is running at peak efficiency and actually being managed proactively to avoid major issues altogether? Mostly wouldn’t it be great to rid yourself of the headache and stress of dealing with IT issues, and instead focus on running your business? The good news is that there actually IS a better IT service solution out there – one that also happens to be an affordable and smart…perfect for any size business. The IT industry calls it managed IT service, which is defined as the practice of outsourcing day-to-day management responsibilities as a strategic method for improving operations and cutting costs. But as a smart small business owner, you can just call it peace of mind. Read on to determine if working with a managed service provider might be the right solution for your small business IT needs. If the answer is a resounding YES, give Corsica a call at 877-367-9348 or check out the service plan details and find out how we can take the stress out of your IT. Or go ahead and schedule a free consultation right now.
1. Your Resident IT Expert Isn’t an IT Expert At All
Does your go-to IT person double as the Office Manager, PR Director, Finance Manager or Dental Assistant and simply squeeze in IT troubleshooting because they happen to know just enough about how to get the Wi-Fi back up and running to have been designated as the expert? Over time, this person unofficially becomes the “IT Person”, despite having other full-time responsibilities and no real training or background in IT, outside of some savvy internet searches. Kudos to him or her for taking the initiative needed to self-teach some critical troubleshooting skills, but chances are the proactive maintenance that needs to be done on your system in order to prevent system-wide issues or failures aren’t on anyone’s radar screen. Which means that under this scenario you are not only distracting a team member from their real responsibilities, but you are also putting yourself at risk for all sort of IT woes in the future. And it’s just a matter of time before the “future” becomes now.
2. Your IT Team Is Only Working In the Business, Not On the Business
Let’s say you do have an IT person or even a department. Depending on the size and nature of your business, you may still be setting yourself up for system issues in the future if the IT team is spending most or even all of their time reacting to common issues and tasks like new user set-ups, troubleshooting printer or Wi-Fi issues, locked email accounts and the occasional non-functioning PC or laptop emergency. Maybe the IT professional in your office is also your Business Analyst and is required to devote large chunks of time to creating or generating time-sensitive reports for the Business Development team – reports that take priority over everything else. Whatever the scenario, the critical question here is whether or not your current IT team has the bandwidth to maintain and manage the existing IT environment in order to prevent issues BEFORE they occur, or do they simply react to what’s already happened and do their best to fix it. Because if they are never able to work on the business then they aren’t truly managing or maintaining your systems – they are keeping you running in the short-term but ignoring the long-term needs of the business itself…and the reality is that this will catch up to you one day.
3. Every Day Brings a New IT Problem
Large or small, IT problems cause frustration and create downtime and even worse, lost productivity. And while no computer is fail-proof and IT issues are a fact of life that you cannot control, what you can control is how frequently they impact your team and how quickly they are resolved. A managed service provider like Corsica Tech will first and foremost assume responsibility for your overall system and knowing the health of all equipment. It’s a critical wellness check for your computers and is the best way to prevent very small issues from becoming system-wide problems that cause downtime. Things like patch management, virus protection, and checking on the status of your backups should be done in the background automatically and reported to you on a regular basis. This proactive approach will head off most major issues, and cut down on the overall frequency. Beyond that, issues that do occur – large or small – will be addressed quickly if you partner with a managed service provider that has a 24/7 Helpdesk. Many issues now can be solved remotely and with very little involvement from your team. Corsica Tech for example employs a ticketed triage system to assess every single issue that comes in via phone or email. It something cannot be solved over the phone or using remote access, an on-site technician will be deployed immediately so that you can get back to business as soon as possible.
4. You Can’t Predict Your IT Expenses
If the only thing predictable about your IT budget is that it’s completely and wildly unpredictable and based solely on when something catastrophic happens in the micro or macro environment, then a managed service provider is a good solution for you. Not only will you have a predictable monthly fixed fee, but any good MSP is going to partner with you to forecast your future needs and the estimated budget for those needs based on knowledge of the age of your overall systems, equipment, data storage, health of your servers, and the longer-term growth strategy of the business itself. This is not to say that there won’t ever been expenses outside of your monthly service fee because hardware and software do need to be upgraded from time to time, but the difference is that the “surprise” element of the majority of your IT budget can be eliminated as a result of the proactive management, monitoring and maintenance done by a managed service provider.
5. You Don’t Actually Know What Your Most Pressing IT Needs Are
You know you need the technology that powers your business to work, but that doesn’t mean you want to focus your time and attention in researching and making sense of the latest IT trends and deciding if you would benefit from having certain capabilities…nor should you be expected to. And you absolutely should not chase after every new “next best thing in IT” development that comes along. The latest and greatest isn’t right for every business, so what you really need is a trusted advisor who can offer recommendations on everything from disaster recovery to how to make sure that company data accessed through employee-owned smartphones remains secure. More importantly a trusted Managed Service Provider will advise you on the much less glamorous aspects of IT that are critical for keeping your small business up and running, like the health of your servers, whether your data backups are working properly, the best firewall to protect your data and why you even need a firewall in the first place. There are many IT parts moving in the background and it’s perfectly okay and absolutely smart for them to stay in the background as far as your focus is concerned, so long as someone else is actively monitoring and maintaining them. That is the peace of mind that working with a managed service partner like Corsica Tech will provide.
6. Your Current IT Provider Isn’t Responding Fast Enough
If your current IT provider doesn’t demonstrate a sense of urgency when IT issues arise, then it’s time to find a new solution. You need a partner that understands that downtime equals lost sales and lost productivity. You need to know from the outset what you can reasonably expect when contacting your MSP with something that requires resolution. And you need full transparency on the process for addressing all Helpdesk issues from start to finish. Anything less than this is unacceptable for your business and you can do better. Period. Here at Corsica we are proud to say that our U.S.-based 24/7 HelpDesk Team is the best in the business, providing real-time support – when you call, we answer and we stay with you until the problem is solved. Essentially what a managed service provider will do for your business it to take responsibility for your IT environment, and maintain, monitor and manage your computer system so that you don’t have to. Because don’t you have better things to do that lose sleep over your IT?
About Corsica Technologies
The mission of Corsica Tech is to deliver custom IT service solutions to small and medium-sized businesses, providing them with exceptional customer service, and the peace of mind that their IT systems are being professionally monitored and managed so that they can focus on their core business. Corsica Tech’s managed IT service program provides an affordable, reliable solution for businesses so they can focus on their core business and not the IT solutions that power it. For a fixed monthly fee, Corsica Tech will monitor, manage and maintain your IT systems, ensuring that your network is running at peak efficiency. It’s like having that go-to IT professional down the hall, only better. Schedule your free assessment or contact Corsica directly at 877-367-9348 or service@corsicatech.com.
