SCW Blog

Running a business is rarely easy. There are a lot of moving parts that require attention and there are only so many hours in the day to get everything done. As technology professionals, we often notice that small business owners can do themselves a disservice by not truly understanding their business—whether that be by having delusions of grandeur or by not having the proper perspective that would allow them to do more to build sustained and consistent prosperity. In this week’s blog we take a look at some of the ways that business owners hinder their chance of success.

We could (and usually do) talk about managed services all day long…and to be honest, it’s easy to do, just because there are so many ways that they benefit a business. Today, we wanted to focus our attention on one specific benefit that managed services offer: the inherent proactivity they feature.

The average IT infrastructure is made up of dozens of technology solutions that all work in tandem to ensure your business’ success… at least, that’s how it’s supposed to work. Oftentimes, you’ll need to contact your technology vendors to either procure new solutions or get your existing ones to work with theirs. How do vendor relations figure into your company’s prolonged success?

Nowadays, technology and business are intimately interconnected, the success of your operations and processes largely informed by the tools you have in place. Let’s go over three ways you can help boost your potential success even further by implementing the right methods.

You might have encountered the term MSP while navigating our website, but what does it mean to be a managed service provider? Today we want to get into the nitty-gritty of what we do for our clients and how you can benefit from our services. It’s our goal to show just why managed services have completely changed the landscape of business as we know it today.

There are a lot of threats out there that can place some pressure on your business to think and act a certain way, but unless you are actively searching for threats on your network, you might find yourself coming up short in regards to network security. Why is monitoring your network so important, even with preventative measures in place? It all starts with imagining the worst-case scenario.

Sometimes a business model or way of managing something complex comes along that changes the game for countless businesses, industries, and organizations. One such model is managed IT services, and it can effectively replace the way you used to manage your technology with a better, more efficient method. It can impact your budget, increase your bottom line, and save you countless hours throughout the workday.

Look, we get it; technology management is not easy, especially for small business owners who already wear a lot of hats. The last thing you want to do is add even more to your plate when you already have so much going on. That’s why we offer managed IT services to SMBs in the area. But what if we told you that managed IT services aren’t just for small businesses, but for all types of companies and organizations? Let’s discuss why this is the case.

We work with a lot of businesses, but one in particular may surprise you. Let’s talk about how our services made a certain organization’s critical processes a lot easier to manage during their busiest time of year:

When you get excited to implement a new technology solution for your business, it is easy to let the expectation blind you as to the true value you get from it right out of the box. It’s no fault of your own; it’s human to have expectations that exceed reality. In business, though, it is important that you keep these misconceptions in mind, especially when it comes to your technology systems and implementing them.

There are generally two approaches to technology maintenance. One of them addresses issues as they appear, and the other involves addressing possible issues before they become operational problems. How does your business go about technology maintenance? If it’s the first, also known as “break-fix” IT, then you are going about things the wrong way and leaving a ton of savings on the table.

When it comes to your business technology, you shouldn’t settle for anything less than the best. Unfortunately, technology is one facet of running a company where many business owners feel they have the least amount of control, perhaps due to its many moving parts and overwhelming complexity. The question becomes one of how you want to approach managing your business’ technology and finding the right skill sets to do so.

It comes as no surprise that IT maintenance and management is a pain point for small businesses. Perhaps they don’t have the resources to perform in-house maintenance because they lack the funds to hire trained technicians, a practice which leads them to rely on existing resources to make it happen. Unfortunately, this leads to inconsistent maintenance at best, a practice that can be both dangerous and wasteful in the long term. We’re here to tell you that not only is proactive maintenance important, but that remote maintenance is the best way to make it happen.

Small businesses are often in a precarious position with technology management, struggling with budgeting and acquisition of new technology as well as the difficulties that come with hiring top talent. Thankfully, they have an ace up their sleeves that allows them to stay competitive: managed IT services. With a great managed service provider helming their technology strategies, small business owners have a lot less to worry about than they might otherwise… at least in terms of their technology, anyway.

Revenue generation is the name of the game for businesses. That’s why the decisions they make with their available capital are really important. SMBs especially need to have a rapid and noticeable return on their investments if they want to keep pace. To that end, technology is one investment that can provide that kind of fast ROI. Here are three ways you can use technology to benefit your business.

Regardless of what your business does, there is a good chance that it relies pretty heavily on technology. When that technology falters, so does your business. Sure, this might be for a couple hours at a time, but it all adds up and has a major impact on the success of your business. Many organizations have outsourced their IT support and management, but could benefit from a more proactive approach than the one they currently employ. Today, we will take a look at some of the priorities that businesses should consider when choosing an outsourced IT provider.

One of the most valuable things for a business to know, in terms of its cybersecurity, is how vulnerable it is to breaches and exploits. This kind of information can be gathered via a process called penetration testing, or “pen testing.” Let’s go over how the average pen test is conducted to see how these insights are collected.

It wasn’t too long ago that in order for business technology to be fixed, or to undergo general maintenance, it either needed to be brought to a specialist’s location or for the specialist to come to yours. Nowadays, this isn’t so much the case. As we continue our blog series on the benefits offered by a managed service provider, let’s consider the support options available.

If you need to get your current IT infrastructure under control, you don’t want to deal with amateurs. You want to resolve your issues and quicken your response times, as well as grow and upgrade your infrastructure in a way that makes more profits and enhances productivity. To find out if you need an upgrade to your current IT systems, ask yourself the following questions.

There is an inherent value in approaching experts regarding any services you need, whether it’s building maintenance or your technology. It really helps to have IT professionals to turn to for any and all questions or concerns you might have regarding your computers, servers, and any other technological asset your organization might need to succeed.