Get the Most of IT Support Fundamentals from Your Service Provider

IT support fundamentals consist of activities that strengthen your business’s IT infrastructure and strategy. This is done by developing a strategy to maximize the performance of your entire network system, and by embedding network security in all aspects of the system. Constantly monitoring and optimizing your system is another area that requires in-depth knowledge of the latest threats and solutions.

The support covers areas of security, business applications, cloud services, network stability, and disaster recovery, among others. It is not simply relegated to fixing problems.

It also depends on the level of service you have selected, based on your own specific needs. It is possible to start from an occasional specialized approach, level up to a proactive support, and expand further to a fully managed integration system of support.

In some circumstances, the company may have many IT experts on staff but may still need help for very specific but critical areas such as security or web development. In that case, IT support would look very different from a fully managed network system in which an expert outsourcing company handles all of the aspects of IT for a client. What are the differences in IT support fundamentals for these various circumstances?

A Growing Trend

In its Global Outsourcing Survey 2018, Deloitte revealed that 84% of the 500 companies surveyed have either started discussions or pilot projects, or have implemented at some disruptive solutions with IT outsourcing companies.

While cost considerations may be the initial reason for outsourcing IT support, businesses may soon discover the other benefits to their enterprises.

Types of IT Support Fundamentals

Fully Managed Service

Some businesses are so involved in their core activities that they have not developed their own in-house experience in IT to cope with the demands of the modern-day business operations. These enterprises are the perfect candidate for a fully managed service. It is even possible that their IT departments are outdated and require a new approach.

Do You Have these Symptoms?

There may be indications in your business operations suggesting that it would be advantageous to partner with an expert firm to meet your IT needs. Here are a few tell-tale signs.

• Have you noticed advanced processes in your competitors’ advertising that you would like to implement, such as an integrated marketing approach that responds to clients’ needs quickly?
• Are you finding that it is costly to hire the full-time level of IT expertise that you now require?
• Is your management struggling to direct the IT department? Perhaps they need the IT department to lead innovations in business practices using new artificial intelligence (AI) technologies to enhance and streamline procedures.
• Is there a general confusion about the role of IT and how it can improve your customer service, or reduce costs or boost security?

These are all indicators that a fully managed IT program would be most beneficial to your company.

What does this Partnership Look Like?

These are just some of the ways a fully managed IT partnership would positively impact your business in many vital areas:

• A Stable Network: With continuous maintenance, the reliability and efficiency of your network will improve. Your staff can depend on full access to the resources 24/7 for 365 days a year.
• Risk Management for Security: A robust security system demands knowledge of the latest techniques in response to the latest threats. Should a disaster occur, a recovery process should be in place to minimize the damage.
• Increased Productivity: The latest development in business processes ensures that your staff can focus on the core business objectives instead of repetitive tasks that could be automized through AI capabilities.
• Cost Effectiveness: Once your staff members are involved in the latest best practices, they will have a deeper understanding of how they can leverage the technology for your specific situation. With solid advice, your managers will be able to innovate and improve areas such as customer service, internal communication among staff, cost reduction.

There are other advantages to fully managed IT support system, but the most important is the confidence that it can give to your enterprise. With this confidence, you and your staff will be able to concentrate on growing the business.

Proactive Support

In other business circumstances, internal IT departments do manage the demands placed on them but may require extra support in specific areas. One of the most prevalent areas for support is ensuring network stability.

Some IT departments lack the manpower to monitor the situation 24/7 for 365 days a year. By partnering with an IT service provider, the reliability of the network can be monitored every minute of every day. In addition to this, an expert company will prevent failure from happening through comprehensive preventative maintenance strategies. If an incident does occur, they can lead the way in disaster recovery.

Strategic Partnership

Perhaps your business is struggling with an aspect of IT such as security issues to technical nightmares or demands from a regulatory body. Hire an expert IT firm to not only solve the specific issues but to provide advice on other issues in the future. Their depth of knowledge in specific areas will most likely surpass what your staff has the time to develop.

In most cases, they have probably solved similar problems with their other clients and can use this wealth of experience to remedy your situation.

Looking for an IT service provider that can support your business needs? Partner with a professional company that specializes in fully managed comprehensive IT support fundamentals.