IT support is important for any business, but finding the right type of support is especially important for small and medium enterprises.
When internal resources are limited, it’s pertinent to find the right structure or outsourcing plan for your IT management. IT support for small businesses can look like enlisting co-managed support for your internal IT manager or outsourcing entirely to a managed service provider (MSP). With these options, there is a lot of flexibility and several factors to consider in designing your organisation’s ideal IT set-up.
To find the right IT management support as an SME, there are a few steps your business can take.
Step 1: Does your business have internal IT resources?
Taking the first step should always mean doing an inventory of your current environment. Depending on the size of your business and your current team structure, it’s helpful to run a full assessment of your workforce’s bandwidth.
Do you have an IT support team or an IT manager at present? Perhaps one of your teammates is the unofficial “IT person” to whom everyone brings their frozen monitors and laptop problems? Or maybe your organisation even has a dedicated team that is constantly inundated with the latest technology emergency.
However your IT management looks, it’s important to take an honest look at its current structure and bandwidth. If your current resource(s) are constantly overbooked or don’t have the capacity to take preventative actions, it might be time to consider enlisting extra IT support.
Step 2: Identify your biggest areas of IT challenges
If you’re considering finding small business IT support, it’s important to identify the gaps the provider would fill, and for which areas they should bring expertise. Without a clear understanding of where you need the most support, it will be more challenging to find the most cost-effective solutions.
There are quite a few areas in which you may need IT support, including:
Infrastructure: LAN management is the collection of skills and tasks that keeps your network running to its design specifications. With evolving technology developments in Unified Communications (UC) and software apps, the complexity of your LAN is likely increasing-- which can strain networks. As businesses embrace flexible working strategies and introduce new technologies, end-to-end network performance becomes ever more critical.
Internet / Wi-Fi: The more devices connected to your network, the more your business needs solutions that offer security, speed, and reliability. Businesses are facing an acceleration in the frequency, diversity, and the impact of disruptions. Today, having a reliable and stable network is a bare minimum requirement for business operations.
Data & Structured Cabling: Strong Wi-Fi and hard-wired connections as well as connections between devices on your network can truly make a difference to productivity. Businesses usually outsource engineers and IT specialists for the implementation of Cat6 & Cat6A UTP/STP Cabling, fibre optic cabling, electrical works, and more.
Cyber Security: It’s necessary to constantly strengthen your defences against cyber-attacks with comprehensive cyber security solutions. For business to safeguard against potential data breaches and the resulting financial damages, they must have the best (i.e. up to date) cyber security measures in place. Investing in robust solutions and 24/7 monitoring not only gives you peace of mind that you're secure, but also empowers your internal team to focus on growing the business.
Cloud Services: Is your business set up to meet its full potential? Cloud technologies offer reliable and effective back up (so that your data is insured) and remote monitoring, as well as co-location and data centre services that are tailored to your business requirements. For most modern organisations, cloud solutions are the cutting-edge technology and industry-leading security measures that can take your business to the next level.
Voice Solutions: Tailored unified communication solutions allow you to stay in touch with your customers anywhere. By bringing together different communication channels like voice, video, chat, and email into one integrated platform, UC solutions are the future of business communications. If your communications are siloed there may be gaps in customer experience and less efficiency between internal teammates. For example, there may be an opportunity to host your voice communications directly within Microsoft Teams rather than having separate telephony so that your team can access everything in one platform.
Compliance: Compliance is often heavily tied to data and systems security, meaning that companies need to ensure they are adequately protecting sensitive information. It’s important for businesses to consult experts to ensure their security measures are up to standards. Other than the hefty fines from regulatory bodies like HIPAA, GDPR, etc., non-compliance leads to rejection of liability insurance claims. For example, PhilHealth reported it denied claims worth over $115 million due to non-compliance issues.
Step 3: What are your plans around scaling or upgrading your IT infrastructure?
After you’ve assessed the current state of your IT, it’s a good practice to look ahead to your business’ future potential. If you have plans to scale soon, it’s important to consider how your technology resources may need to expand with your business.
Are there any plans which may require you to upgrade your tech library? For example...
Does your organisation need to enhance cyber security as it takes on more customers and has more data to protect?
Are there any areas where you may be at risk for non-compliance?
Would adapting to UC help you better meet the needs of your customers and work more efficiently?
Can you enhance your customer communications by adding new workflows to your call manager?
Does your organisation need a centralised documentation platform in which to store team data and information?
Is your business prepared for disaster recovery in the case of an emergency or disruption?
Are there any plans to increase work flexibility; going to a hybrid work environment or fully remote?
Are you currently using outdated telephony (ISDN / PSTN) or any other expensive hardware that could be replaced with a more modern solution?
Step 4: How do you choose the right IT support for your small business?
After you know what your baseline IT needs are in addition to any potential opportunities, you will be well positioned to find an MSP to support your business IT services. Leveraging your understanding and goals, you will be armed with the right criteria to apply when evaluating providers.
The possibilities are plentiful when your team has the assistance of a managed service provider or extra IT support on its side. When you have access to a team of experts, in addition to leading technology solutions, your organisation can become more strategic about where it invests time and resources. IT support for small businesses not only helps to “get the job done,” but can also be a driver for growth optimisations.
Concluding Thoughts
Finding the right IT support for small businesses can take many forms—from hiring an in-house IT manager to outsourcing an IT managed service provider. There are many ways it can be both a cost-effective and strategic decision.
At KubeNet, our vision is to be the leading provider of sustainable, accessible, agile and trusted business solutions that enable our customers to reach their highest potential.
Learn more about KubeNet’s managed services here, or contact our team here.
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