Managed Support The Managed Service Provider (MSP) provides an experience unlike traditional service providers’ methodology. Let’s take a look at two scenarios: Art is finishing up a design using a popular image editing program, when all of a sudden the software crashes. Annoyed, Art tries to reload the software only to find that it isn’t responding to his commands. He starts to click around, when the whole computer freezes. He calls the service desk only to be told that the IT guy is out to lunch. The issue causes significant downtime for Art. Paul works for a rival business that uses managed IT services. He is using the same program and has the same issue. He calls his support line and the person on the other end of the phone asks him a couple of questions and then remotely accesses the computer, fixing the issue. In no time, Paul is back working on his design. Onsite Support Services Most of the time, a managed service provider can sustain a dynamic IT infrastructure remotely. Sometimes, however, the situation calls for onsite work. Managed service providers hire (and train) some of the best technicians in your market. If your business needs someone to come swap out or install hardware, work on your organization’s networking, or to handle another issue, managed services technicians are trained and proficient. Keep Business Moving Forward Don’t lose minutes, hours, and days to downtime. Call the IT professionals at SRS Networks today at (831) 758-3636 to learn how your business can use managed IT services to its benefit. Be sure to return to our blog Friday for part three of our five-part series of managed IT services.
You can get a pretty good idea by getting answers to the following questions: Does it feel like you are dealing with repeat computer issues or regular downtime? This might seem pretty obvious. If your IT isn’t working, then what are you paying for? In fact, if your staff experiences regular bouts of downtime, you are actually losing revenue. Downtime can come in a lot of flavors, ranging from the entire network going down to a particular application not being accessible. Does it feel like your IT is being actively managed and maintained, or is your current IT provider waiting for you to call them? If a user comes into work and their computer doesn’t boot up, or users can’t access files on the network, is your IT person contacting you to let you know they are aware of the issue and taking care of it? Granted, IT can’t see every issue as it happens (we don’t know, for example, when a shortcut to open Microsoft Word gets removed from your desktop), but big things like connectivity issues, downtime, and problems that affect multiple users should be actively monitored at all times, and smaller issues like errors and required updates need to be managed frequently. Are emergencies treated like, well, emergencies? We mentioned this before with downtime, but does it feel like downtime is being handled with the utmost seriousness? Downtime is extremely expensive. If you have 10 employees that can’t work, that’s 10 paychecks you are still writing out at the end of the week, plus the loss of revenue those employees would have contributed to. Is your current IT provider responding to emergencies within an hour or less? Is every effort being made to get you back up and running? Can your employees get support without being worried about costing the business money? There is nothing worse to an end user than having to deal with an annoying computer problem that’s stopping them from simply getting their job done. It’s demotivating, especially when they don’t feel like they can get anything done about it. Ideally, if a user reports an issue to you, you should tell them they are welcome to put in a ticket and to let you know if it doesn’t come to resolution. Is your network fully documented? Is there documentation for each device on your network? That includes desktops and laptops, servers, printers, routers, access points, switches, VoIP phones, and other devices. This documentation should include purchase/installation dates, who installed it, model and serial numbers, warranty information, and access information. Is your data being backed up? It doesn’t matter how busy your IT staff or IT provider seems to be; your data should be their very first priority. If your data isn’t being meticulously backed up, and if those backups aren’t being checked regularly, it’s time to find someone who will take things seriously. Is your IT firm working with you regularly to discuss and review their own performance? IT isn’t just about fixing issues, it’s about making technology work for your business. If you don’t have an account manager who’s keeping you in the loop when licenses are expiring or software is getting out of date, you won’t be able to budget out your IT roadmap. On top of that, they should be […]
Misconception 1: Our vocabulary is limited to “Did you turn it off and on again?” Yes, yes, ha ha. This one has become the go-to punchline for almost any joke having to do with IT. However, consider what humorist Leo Rosten said: “Humor is the affectionate communication of insight.” In other words, jokes tend to poke fun at a larger truth – in this case, IT resources have gained the reputation of asking this question so often because they do ask it quite often. This is because it actually is an effective way to resolve many issues. Reboots have proven their value countless times over, so when we ask you if you’ve already tried doing that, we’re actually taking a lot of explanations for your issue out of consideration. This allows us to more efficiently troubleshoot the actual problem – and if you hadn’t yet tried a simple restart, it might do the trick. Misconception 2: IT is actually, like, super easy to manage. With computers being remarkably more user-friendly than they once were, it also isn’t all that uncommon for many users to assume that everything that IT does, they could probably do for themselves. Technically, in a lot of cases, yes… but it would probably be a mistake. In IT, while a process might be simple in and of itself, there’s a good chance that there are a lot of other considerations to take into account. For instance, let’s look at the process of setting up a new workstation. It’s a pretty plug-in-and-play process, right? Right – except that there’s data transfer, continuity, and security to also consider. On top of that, there’s also the process of getting the new PC ready for use. If done incorrectly, there are a vast amount of ways that your business can be left vulnerable. This is why it is so crucial to entrust these processes to someone who is very familiar with them. Misconception 3: An IT resource is really just a professional Googler. It isn’t uncommon to see an IT professional consulting Google, and sure, it might be unsettling for an end user to see it happening. However, it might help to put things into perspective. IT is one of the fastest-evolving fields in the world, so even the most credentialed and qualified tech might not be completely up-to-date. Therefore, to prevent their actions from causing a bigger problem, a good IT resource will turn to other resources to confirm that they are taking the right course of action. In fact, this makes it actually preferable to bring in a Google-happy tech. It just shows you that the tech is committed to doing their job correctly. At SRS Networks, we’re proud that our technicians know their stuff as well as they do – and know their limits enough to seek out the right answers to your issue. So, next time you experience a problem with your technology solutions, turn your system off and on again, and (if that doesn’t work) give us a call at (831) 758-3636.