When you’re starting a business, it can be tempting to think that you can handle the IT yourself. Given that 25% of new CEOs are under 45, many will have grown up using technology and may feel like they have a good enough grasp of IT already. Given our experience, we’re not so sure! Today, we’re going to detail a few ways that managed IT for a new business can be especially helpful and let you know the IT services and solutions which are absolutely essential.
Why IT Services Are Essential
In order to stay competitive, you need to be operating at maximum efficiency and avoiding risks like cyberattacks, data breaches, and downtime. This is true whether you are competing with other local businesses or trying to take on the global market. Technology plays a huge role in almost every business. Whether it’s for their finances, their marketing, or their employees, technology is critical. This also means there is fierce competition for high-quality managed IT support services.
When things go wrong with your technology, your business can suffer badly. That’s why you need to make sure that you have the right IT support in place.
What Are Business IT Services?
Business IT normally refers to managed IT services. This is where a third party take responsibility for managing your IT. These managed IT services for businesses include troubleshooting and day-to-day support, but also cybersecurity, cloud computing, web hosting, procurement, training, and more.
Business IT services for small businesses can be incredibly valuable as they allow the business to focus its limited manpower on serving its customers while letting trained IT professionals handle the technology side of their business. Business IT services are not simply the same as computer repair or computer networking. They are a much more thorough and comprehensive approach to working with technology in your business.
There are three key IT areas that businesses need help with. Almost all IT services fit into one of these three categories.
- Software – Installation, updates, remote monitoring.
- Hardware – Procurement, installation, maintenance
- Network Services – Networking, cloud computing and cybersecurity
The Most Needed Business IT Services
Every business is different and so the combination of IT services they need will also differ. However, the most important parts of any business’s IT will normally be the following…
- IT Support
This is the day-to-day troubleshooting and remote assistance from an IT helpdesk. Knowing that professional IT help is only a phone call or email away gives you peace of mind and helps fix small IT issues which frequently occur in businesses. - Cloud Computing
Almost every office now uses some form of cloud computing, whether that’s a SaaS product or a full cloud deployment of their network. Cloud computing specialists can help you choose the best cloud platform, help with migrating your data, and ensure that access to your cloud network is protected. - Cybersecurity
Cybersecurity is vital for every business. There’s no such thing as being “too small” to be a target of cybercriminals and the risk of ransomware, malware, and phishing scams never been higher. Professional cybersecurity services help keep your business safe. - Business Phone Systems
VoIP telecoms help businesses cut the cost of their monthly phone bill while also allowing them to take office calls anywhere, even on their mobile. - Business Data Backup
access to their data, many companies would be unable to do business. Having a regular, reliable data backup means that in the event of data being corrupted, encrypted, or stolen, you can still continue to operate. - Hosted Email
Email is still at the heart of how most businesses operate. If this is the case for you, it’s far to valuable to rely on consumer grade email solutions. You need enterprise-grade hosted email. - Disaster Recovery
Businesses need to be prepared for the worst, whether that’s an office fire, a flood, or a ransomware attack. Disaster recovery services help prepare for and mitigate the effects of disasters and help your business get operational again ASAP.
Benefits Of Having Business IT Services
Get It Right From Day One
It is better to get something right the first time than to try and fix it later. By partnering with a managed IT services provider, you can build a professionally managed network which works for your business needs. Early-stage decisions like this can be the difference between a business’s success or failure. Your future self will thank you for using managed IT services from day one.
Easily Scalable
Managed IT services are either charged per device, or per user. This makes managed IT a highly scalable solution. If you’re successful, your small business won’t stay small for very long and as you add more users your IT can become exponentially more complicated and costly if you are managing it yourself. By using a managed IT provider like Carden IT Services LLC, you can simply add another user to your monthly service plan for a small, incremental cost.
Focus On Your Business
No matter how good you are at IT, you’re the CEO, not the tech support. As your business grows and both the management and technological sides of your role grow more complex, one is likely to suffer. Because CEOs care about their business, they often neglect the IT side. This can lead to inefficiencies and vulnerabilities developing.
By using managed IT services, you can focus 100% of your time and effort on your business and your team and know that your IT is taken care of.
Have An Advantage Over Your Competition
If your competitors are other start-ups, many of them will be attempting to go it alone and handle their own IT. By having managed IT support, you will have an immediate advantage over these other start-ups.
If your competitors are more established businesses in an industry you are looking to disrupt, you’ll need every advantage you can get. Carden IT Services gives you the same great IT service whether you’re a start-up or a multinational. This allows you to compete at a high level.
Reduce Costs
Managed IT services for start-ups aren’t just cost-effective, they can be cost saving too. Businesses which use managed IT services are more efficient, suffer less downtime and are less at risk of cyber-attack. Reducing downtime equates to increasing productivity, and ultimately, increases profit margins.
Stay Up To Date As Technology Changes
Even if you know everything there is to know about business IT today, will that still be the case in 2 years’ time? What about in 10 years? The more successful your business becomes, the less time you’ll have to stay up to date with all the latest technological innovations.
Our IT support team is constantly researching new productivity tools, testing enterprise IT and cloud solutions and gaining knowledge on emerging technologies. This is all in the services of our clients, finding new ways to improve their IT systems and making sure that there’s never a problem we’re unprepared for.
Need Professional Help With Your Business’s IT?
These advantages in this article are just some of the ways that managed IT support can benefit new businesses. Whatever your product or service, if you’re a start-up and are looking to get your IT perfect from day one, speak to our team today.
Our dedicated team includes specialists in cybersecurity, cloud computing, hardware procurement, and data backup as well as a fully staffed IT helpdesk to provide day-to-day IT assistance. We have years of experience helping small business owners use technology services to generate long term growth.
