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Small businesses have many of the same IT needs as larger companies, but often, they don’t have the same budgets to hire a full-time, salaried IT director or CIO, let alone an in-house IT team. That’s why small businesses benefit the most when they outsource their IT. With a managed services provider, small businesses can have their own proactive IT team that also comes at a predictable, monthly cost.
When it comes to outsourced IT, the most common mistake that small businesses often make is choosing an IT professional or company that only works when there is an issue. This means a small business is waiting for something to break, for computers and networks to be down, or for a security breach to occur. In other words, they are just waiting for something to go wrong–and something always goes wrong.
This type of break-fix model is problematic for a multitude of reasons; It comes at an unpredictable cost; it is inefficient and unreliable; it doesn’t allow for integrating IT providers into your business environment. It is a waste of time and resources. Unscheduled downtime can be detrimental to small businesses, especially if that downtime is extensive, if backups and disaster recovery are not sufficient, and if critical data is lost. When employees wait for networks to be restored or devices to turn back on, business opportunities walk out the door.
Small businesses need a more proactive approach, and that starts with partnering with the right managed services provider. With managed services, you’re inviting expert IT professionals to integrate into your business environment and build a relationship that’s rooted in understanding how, why, and where you work, so they can apply that knowledge to technology recommendations and security measures.
In the event of an unscheduled issue or emergency, managed service providers are also on-call, but a preventative plan is already in place, so those emergency events become a rarity and are better-managed altogether. If something does go wrong, comprehensive backup and recovery plans are immediately enacted to ensure critical information can be restored.
Proactive measures are critical to small business security. Approximately 43% of cyberattacks are focused on small businesses, with only 83% able to recover. This inability to recover, and recover quickly, will put any small business at risk for the worst-case scenario. However, managed services drastically reduce this risk—all security measures, protocols, and procedures are in place and up-to-date, giving small business owners peace of mind.
Additionally, predictable monthly expenditures are a critical key to the success and sustainability of a small business. An unexpected break-fix IT bill can devastate a budget. Through outsourced managed services, small businesses have an ongoing retainer, so they know exactly what their IT costs are, with no surprises.
Most of all, small business owners just want their systems to work and for their information to be safe. If you are a small business owner, you need to outsource your IT to a dedicated service provider you can trust and one that understands small business.
Ready to talk about IT services and solutions that make the most sense for your small business needs? At MidnightBlue, our focus is on keeping your business secure, backed up, and running 24/7, so you can focus on running your business. Contact us today.