What Role Does IT Support Play in Small Business?
Small businesses often struggle to stay competitive in increasingly complex and fast-paced business environments. According to our recent small business study commissioned by Google, 80 percent of US small businesses are not taking full advantage of digital tools.
And yet, an IBM Business Tech Trends Study found that 75% of small businesses plan to increase their investment in big data analytics over the next two years. Effective technical leverage is one of the most important ways small businesses can keep up and enhance performance. This can be facilitated by reliable IT support such as IT Support New Orleans.
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Smarter Decision-Making
By having an IT support provider on hand who provides technology and software assistance, you can make smarter decisions about purchasing new devices and services. In fact, research shows that organizations that have a dedicated helpdesk have better revenue growth than those that do not. This means that even if your company isn’t growing substantially right now, by making sure that your IT team has access to reliable systems- you can pave the path for future growth.
Effective Data Management
Data is the lifeblood of any business, so it’s essential to have an effective data management strategy. As a small business owner, you’ll want to be sure that your backup and disaster recovery plans are up-to-date and well-funded.
Data security should also be a priority for you, whether your company is considered high-risk. A hacker could cause significant damage if they break into an unprotected network or database and download sensitive information such as customer records.
Keep your technology competitive
The role of IT support in small businesses is multifaceted. It is a service that helps you stay competitive in the market, prevent data loss and downtime, prevent cyber-attacks and data breaches, and prevent identity theft and fraud.
But how does it do that? By keeping your technology competitive. As new technologies emerge and older ones become obsolete—either due to technological advancements or because they’re simply no longer useful—your company needs to keep up with these changes to remain competitive in the marketplace.
IT support assists with choosing new hardware or software as well as helping train employees so they can use them efficiently once implemented into your organization. This can mean anything from choosing between different types of accounting software options (such as QuickBooks vs. Fresh Books) down to deciding on recycling options.
Profit-Boosting Productivity
As a small business owner, you want to increase your productivity to make more money. IT support can be a tool that helps you do this by helping you implement new tools and use them correctly. Here are some ways IT can help boost your productivity:
- New tools: The right software or hardware may not be available at a reasonable price through traditional vendors. With Managed IT Services providers, you’ll get the option of choosing from cutting-edge tools, open source options, or building custom solutions from scratch.
- Proper use of existing resources: Companies often purchase multiple products that perform similar functions when they could have purchased one product with all the needed features. When evaluating which products best suit your needs, research each one’s capabilities carefully before investing.
IT Support in Small Business: Reliable Security
Industry specialists IT Governance reported an 11% rise in security incidents in 2021 compared to 2020, leading up to a staggering 5.1 billion breached records. More importantly, A Verizon report found that 43% of cyber-attacks target small businesses. Reliable security is an essential function of IT support for a small business. They can help protect your data, network, company, and employees.
The importance of reliable security cannot be understated—you need to know that your data is safe and secure at all times. Your network should also have the necessary defenses to prevent malicious attacks or other threats.
The IT support team provides this protection in many ways. They may set up firewalls and other software packages on company machines and monitor networks for suspicious activity; they might even perform penetration testing (an attack simulation) on new systems before they’re implemented into production environments.
These are just some examples of how an IT support team protects a small business’ data and network—and this doesn’t even touch upon their role as allies against cyber-attacks!
Finally, businesses need to ensure their employees are protected from internal and external threats. Without proper measures taken by management teams making decisions about technology usage within organizations, there will always be risk involved when handling information over any kind of medium, whether it be paper documents stored away somewhere safe like offsite storage units or electronic files stored on servers maintained by professionals who specialize in cybersecurity services such as hackers working part-time jobs at companies like Carbonite. Incorporated because, let’s face it: no one wants someone like me trying to hack them because if I did, then I probably wouldn’t want anyone else to know about my successes (or failures).
IT Support Helps Small Businesses Save Money and Focus on Growth
One of the most important reasons small businesses use IT support is that it can help them save money. When you’re a small business, every dollar counts. If you have an IT team or system, you don’t need to spend money on hiring outside contractors when your computer needs fixing.
You can also ensure that solutions are implemented correctly and cost-effectively by using IT support rather than calling in expensive outside contractors who may not have all the knowledge needed to deal with your specific issues.
With an IT team in place, small businesses are also able to make smarter decisions regarding their technology infrastructure and investments because they have access to professionals who understand what works best in terms of software updates and hardware upgrades—and they won’t have any trouble keeping up with security threats either!
Your business is unique; the right IT support provider will understand that. The best IT support for your small business is understanding your needs and delivering on them.
Post courtesy: Bridget Juelich, Sales & Marketing Manager at CommTech
