Show:
Reasons to Hire an IT Consulting Service
In the modern economy, even before the pandemic of 2019, businesses from all industries were rapidly moving to the internet and providing their products and services through electronic mediums. The lockdown situation due to Covid-19 caused businesses to shut down their physical stores and the only option they had was to sell online.
For many businesses, this was the first time that running their business online was their only source of revenue, and in order to maximize returns, they needed to optimize their digital platforms through the help of an IT support team. Moreover, businesses that were already digital experienced such a high influx of customers that they needed IT to support them to help them cope with the increased demand.
Digital business has advanced many folds today and requires companies to do a lot more than just have a website and a social media page. These are some key areas in which a competent IT support team can provide effective solutions to help a business use technology to their benefit both online and offline.
IT Consultancy
Whether you are looking to set up an IT infrastructure for the first time or expand and optimize an existing one, IT consultancy is what you need to learn how to do that. Many business owners underestimate the significance of a quality IT consultancy and how it can help the business because they don’t know what it entails. The fact that they’re unaware of its advantages should be the number one reason why they choose to go for it. The purpose of IT consultancy is to educate the client about the digital solutions that are available and show them which services will work better for them.
Small business owners can benefit the most from a seasoned IT consultant as they are usually working with a limited budget and need to gain the most value from their IT investment.
IT Support
Even with the best IT infrastructure in terms of hardware and components and even with top-of-the-line software and services, the possibility of something going wrong cannot be eliminated entirely. If you’re still wavering, experts say that quality IT support will be the safety net you fall back on in case a network component collapses, there is a system failure or a new team member needs to be brought up to speed with current processes.
The efficiency and effectiveness of an IT system are limited to the competency of the users. A good IT support team can help you train your team to ensure that you are able to make the most of your digital infrastructure.
Cyber Security
Small to medium scale businesses underestimate the significance of cybersecurity and are under the impression that being a small business makes them not a viable target for a cyber-criminal. According to research, 58% of all cybersecurity attacks were targeted towards SMEs. Contrary to popular belief, SMEs are the perfect target for cybercriminals because they rarely have any security in place, or the security they do use is often very weak and easy to penetrate.
More importantly, smaller businesses can serve as a gateway to larger companies that they work with. Rather than directly attacking a large firm with high-end security in place, an affiliated SME gives them easy access to big fish. The digital attack on Walmart in 2005 was a prime example of this technique.
Recovery and Backup
Client data is sensitive information and losing it to a security breach can have lengthy legal implications for the company who was entrusted with it. Data can also be lost due to hardware malfunctions or user errors. It takes years to build up a good clientele and losing this information for any reason can prove to be a financially expensive loss for the company. Not to mention that it also seriously dents the reputation of the company.
An expert IT support team can help you create solid backup protocols that will ensure your data is regularly maintained. With these protocols, they will also set up recovery procedures so that in the case that data is lost, it can be recovered with minimal damage.
IT consultancy does not have to be an expensive service for a business to invest in. You have different options when purchasing IT consultancy services depending on the kind of features you will be using. If you choose to go for remote assistance, this will make the service even more economical. However, your aim should not be to save money with this service but rather to gain as much value as you can.
There are many different ways an IT support team can come in handy and make sure you discuss your business and your requirements with the service provider so they can advise you on which service will suit your needs the most. Think of IT consultation as an investment rather than an expense.