Getting the right IT support in place is critical to make your small to mid-sized business (SMB) run smoothly and efficiently. 89% of SMBs experience problems because they bought cheap IT equipment. But it’s equally important to keep good equipment running, and for many companies, that means retaining the best outsourced IT support available.
Lots of small and mid-size companies in the NY and NJ regions struggle with choosing the right level of support – Do we need 24/7? Or will 9×5 (nine hours per day, 5 days a week) be enough? That’s important. But so is making sure it’s the right quality of support, and that can be trickier to determine. Not all IT support and outsourcing contracts are created equal. And it’s beyond the fine print too.
Let’s look at the support window first. Many companies automatically gravitate to a 24/7 outsourced help desk as a knee jerk reaction. But those contracts may cost more and may not be necessary. To help guide you, imagine this scenario: It’s 2am on a Saturday morning and your server goes down. A business process that typically runs overnight comes to a halt. Ask yourself these questions:
Many SMBs may be surprised when they do the math and realize that 9×5 support (at Exigent, that means 8:30-5:30 weekdays) is the right fit for their businesses, and a great way to keep a lid on IT costs.
For some businesses, though, the answer is yes, 24-hour, 7-days-a-week outsourced IT support is essential. For example, recently the POS and credit card processing system at global brand with a flagship retail location in Times Square crashed on Thanksgiving eve, bringing business to a halt on what would have been two of their busiest days of the year, Thanksgiving eve and Thanksgiving day. Thanks to Exigent’s swift remote and onsite support response, however, disaster was averted as we worked into the early morning hours to bring their operations back online so sales could resume.
For businesses like this, the next big question after whether they need 24/7 support is: What does 24/7 support really mean?
When Exigent decided to offer 24/7 support, we thought the latter scenario wasn’t good enough. We went whole hog with a staffed, 24/7 help desk operation with alert techs ready to prevent or remedy whatever goes wrong, because we believe that’s what quality outsourced IT support looks like. Unfortunately we can’t say the same of many other IT companies in the NY/NJ region.
Getting the right IT support for your business is as important as choosing the right technology. It’s important not only to buy the right quantity of support, but the right quality as well.