The Best Way to Prevent Downtime is With Proactive IT Maintenance

So you’re in the market for an IT provider. What is it that you look for? Do you want a provider who waits until your technology is broken before taking action, or would you prefer one who prevents this from happening in the first place? Chances are that you’re of the former mindset, and you’re not alone. More businesses than ever are switching from break-fix IT to managed IT services.

While break-fix IT was once considered the standard, it’s been found that break-fix involves some rather troubling IT expenses that can be prevented in the long run. For one, break-fix IT fixes technology solutions after they have already broken down. Consider for a moment what else comes with broken technology: the cost of replacement, and arguably more harmful, the cost of downtime.

Downtime is a threat that all businesses have to prepare for. You might be surprised by what constitutes downtime. If you go without a mission-critical application for an extended period, that’s downtime. If you have no Internet connection and your business relies on it for functionality, that’s also downtime. If you lose your entire data infrastructure due to an unexpected natural disaster, that’s downtime. When your technology doesn’t work as intended… again, that’s downtime. See a pattern? Anything that keeps your business from working as intended can be considered downtime.

Now, imagine if you didn’t have to deal with any of that. Imagine that your technology is being cared for properly and that you’ll know the second that something needs to be replaced--before it fails and costs you big time in terms of downtime and budget issues. Imagine not having to pay an arm and a leg just to get the technology support you need, when you need it. What if you had techs quietly working behind the scenes to ensure that your technology works as intended?

This is what managed services seeks to accomplish. We know that it can be hard to manage your business and your technology at the same time. Furthermore, the SMB faces the unique challenge of making due with a more limited IT budget. You don’t necessarily have the freedom to hire a full in-house staff of trained IT experts, as their salaries will (more likely than not) break your budget. But with managed IT services, you can acquire the technology support your business needs without investing heavily where unnecessary.

Some of the popular managed IT services available include cloud hosting, remote management and maintenance, network security, backup and disaster recovery, email management, and so much more. Our managed service model offers SMBs like yourself a smaller, more manageable monthly payment compared to the huge capital costs of maintaining your technology. Furthermore, you can cross out IT as a capital cost in your budget and include in your operational costs, providing further savings. It’s just one of the ways that managed IT services makes doing business easier.

To find out how your business can get started with managed IT services, reach out to SCW at (509) 534-1530.