Growth in any business almost always means more technology is being brought into the workflow. Whether it be hardware or software upgrades, the transition towards a more tech-integrated culture is bound to come with some headaches. Traditionally, it’s this point that companies would hire an in-house IT tech.
When something’s broken, this is who you would take it to for a quick fix – in other words, the age-old reactive approach, aka the “break/fix” approach, to IT support. After fixing the issue (or replacing what was broken altogether), you or your company paid the bill and carried on – until the next tech issue put you back at square one.
For small to medium-sized businesses, hiring an IT tech isn’t necessarily the best approach in a modern world of proactive IT managed services. There are a variety of differences between reactive and proactive IT support, ultimately boiling down to a modern approach versus a legacy approach.
Downtime
While you might think having an in-house professional, is the quickest route to a fix, that might not necessarily be the case. With the advancements in cloud computing and remote access, IT professionals have the ability to perform instant maintenances on machines around the world. Let’s say that your system goes down, completely halting your workflow. For the break/fix approach, the IT support tech has to get ready, drive to your business, investigate the issue, and implement a fix that may or may not completely resolve the issue. For the proactive approach, calling an IT support line or submitting a ticket alerts a team of IT professionals to your problem, springing professionals into action to address your problem without the additional downtime that comes from commuting to perform direct in-person maintenance.
Software Updates
Routine updates to operating systems or software are part of technology, but even routine maintenance can cause headaches. In the past, IT techs likely distributed software updates directly. Proactive managed services can perform scheduled updates outside of business hours, greatly cutting back (if not completely eliminating) downtime during the update process. Less downtime means less focus on getting the system back up and running and more focus on actually using it.
Complete System Failure
Then there is the worst-case, DEFCON 1 scenario – the entire system has been wiped clean. All of the client files, tax documents, meeting notes, and in-progress projects are completely gone. Thankfully, the IT tech has a backup… right? Assuming they’ve kept track of the backup drive, you hit the process again of waiting for the tech to get ready, commute to the office, perform maintenance, and do a complete system restore. With the proactive managed service approach, cloud-based system backups and restoration simplifies recovery even in the worst scenarios. Remotely being able to restore your tech fleet from a recent backup means minimal loss and less downtime, keeping productivity and security high.
For incredibly small teams – one to two people – going to your local computer store or finding a local tech may be a more affordable and sensible option. At a glance, on-site IT support might seem like a necessity for small to medium-sized business. In reality, (no offense, IT guy) they are a liability in comparison to the capabilities of a modern proactive managed service provider. With faster maintenance, more availability, and streamlined routine maintenance, the proactive care that a new-age managed service provider gives is almost always the better choice when picking an IT plan for your business.
