Businesses of every size fear the ever-present looming cloud of IT problems that never seem to disappear. That doesn’t have to be your forever reality. Consistently reacting to IT problems, as often seen in a traditional IT department, never gives you time to plan for updates and enact preventative measures. Your IT budget ends up being spent almost entirely when disaster strikes instead of avoiding the disasters in the first place. Proactive IT support ensures that your IT infrastructure, including each particular service, is monitored and maintained even outside of regular business hours, preventing potential issues from escalating into major problems.
Proactive IT support eliminates that pesky cloud and lets you worry about running your business instead of playing a medical professional who always puts bandages on issues instead of addressing the underlying problem.
What is Proactive IT Support?
Definition of Proactive IT Support
Proactive IT support is an IT service that prevents technical issues rather than just reacting to them. It involves regular maintenance, remote monitoring, and troubleshooting to identify and fix potential problems before they cause downtime or data loss. Working with professional IT support allows monitoring to be done as efficiently as possible and not a checklist item for an in-house employee. There are times when having an unbiased third party benefits your bottom line.
Benefits of Proactive IT Support
Improved Uptime and Productivity
Proactive IT support helps to minimize downtime and ensure that IT systems are always available and running smoothly. Customers will lose trust in a business if they aren’t there when needed. According to a recent Salesforce report, 80 percent of customers now consider the experience a company provides to be as important as its products and services. Putting practices in place to ensure customer access is crucial.
Help desk support plays a crucial role in proactive IT management by resolving technical difficulties and ensuring that IT systems are always available and running smoothly. It includes managing and maintaining IT infrastructure and services, providing proactive IT management and support, and allowing internal IT teams to focus on core business tasks.
Stable systems increase productivity and efficiency, as employees can focus on their work without interruptions. With proactive IT support, businesses can reduce the risk of data loss and ensure business continuity.
Cost Savings
Proactive IT support can help businesses save money by reducing the need for costly repairs and replacements. Emergencies will always cost more in terms of potential revenues lost, including any business reserves, resulting in almost a double loss scenario. You don’t want to be put in a situation like that.
By identifying and fixing potential problems early, businesses can avoid expensive downtime and lost productivity. The cost of downtime varies widely based on size and industry, but the average cost for small companies is around $427 per minute. Any lost revenue hurts but can be catastrophic for small to medium-sized businesses.
Bundling data backup with other managed services, such as network, security, and cloud computing, can provide significant cost benefits by creating a comprehensive solution.
Proactive IT support can also help businesses optimize their IT infrastructure and reduce waste.
How Proactive IT Support Works
Managed IT Services
Managed IT services involve outsourcing IT management to a third-party provider, often referred to as managed services. The provider monitors, maintains, and troubleshoots IT systems, leaving the expert internal resources for more strategic activities. Managed IT services include the following:
- Cloud services
- Ongoing network monitoring
- Remote and on-site
- Infrastructure and computer repair
- IT support
- Cybersecurity support
- IT helpdesk
- Business continuity planning
- And more!
Each service is refined and maintained to ensure its health, security, and efficiency, providing comprehensive support for your IT infrastructure.
IT Support Services
IT support services provide technical assistance and troubleshooting for IT systems. Support services can be customized to meet the specific needs of a business. Remote monitoring is integral to IT support services, enabling real-time notifications and proactive maintenance.
- Network support: Ensuring a stable network is a multi-step approach, which includes network security, ongoing network monitoring, wireless network support, network cabling, network design, and architecture. Maintaining all aspects and not just the endpoints will keep your business running smoothly.
- Helpdesk support: IT issues can occur anytime, so we offer 24/7 helpdesk services to meet your needs. It’d be great if problems only happened when it was convenient, but that rarely happens. We’re there whenever you need us; our average response times are under five minutes.
- Cloud support: Cloud usage is in every facet of business; it couldn’t be more vital. Our cloud support includes automated cloud data backups, cloud migrations, disaster recovery services, and cloud administration and management.
Cybersecurity
Managed Security Services
Managed cybersecurity services provide proactive protection against cyber threats. This can include monitoring for suspicious activity, implementing security patches and updates, and responding to security incidents. According to Techopedia, in 2022, 493.33 million ransomware attacks were detected by organizations worldwide.
At JCM, we protect your business data and even support SaaS services that use their own security. We provide next-level SaaS protection with automated recovery and backups for Gmail, Microsoft 365, and more. Managed security services can help businesses avoid emerging threats and protect their data and systems.
Working with a Managed Service Provider
Benefits of Partnership
Partnering with a managed service provider (MSP) gives businesses access to expert IT knowledge and resources. Choosing the right company to partner with takes research and careful consideration. Managed service providers can help enterprises optimize their IT infrastructure and improve service quality. Partnerships can also provide cost savings and improved efficiency.
Choosing the Right Partner
When choosing a managed service provider, businesses should look for a provider with experience and expertise in their industry. We built an extensive “How to Choose a Managed Service Provider” checklist to help identify the areas to focus on when looking for an MSP. Ultimately, the provider should have a proven track record of delivering high-quality services and support. Businesses should also consider the provider’s pricing model, service level agreements, and customer support.
The Importance of Proactive IT Support Can’t Be Overstated
Proactive IT support is essential for businesses that rely on IT systems to operate. Proactive IT support can help companies improve productivity, reduce costs, and stay competitive by preventing technical issues and minimizing downtime. By partnering with a managed service provider, businesses can access expert IT knowledge and resources using that to improve their overall IT service quality.
JCM is more than IT support. Although an essential aspect of our business, we offer a wide range of services, including VoIP (Voice over Internet Protocol) phone service, security cameras, and fiber internet service in Fort Lauderdale. We’re a proper managed service provider who supports everything we offer. Contact us today to discuss securing the IT health of your business.
