These days, small businesses are more dependent on IT systems than at any other time in history. Because of this, even the slightest technological hiccups in our systems can have expensive, lasting consequences. Perhaps the most dramatic illustration of this occurred back in 2013, when Amazon went dark for half an hour. Sure, it was a paltry 30 minutes, no big deal, until you consider the mega giant was theoretically hemorrhaging $66,240 every 60 seconds, based on their quarterly revenue.
Of course, your company probably isn’t a staple of international commerce like Jeff Bezos’ beloved brainchild. Because of that, many small business owners don’t think much about the impact a downed server or security breach could have on their bottom line. For some of them, IT takes a backseat to more “pressing” issues, and they go the cheap route with their tech support. This cost-cutting solution seems like the idea of the year, and will likely work great for the business — until it doesn’t.
Maybe your long-time technicians fail to notice a piece of outdated equipment or security software, and your server gives up the ghost during peak business hours. Virtually all work grinds to a halt, and your employees are forced to wile away the hours shooting three-pointers into the trash bins. Even if it was just two hours... add up the cost of wasted wages for your entire team, the financial cost of missed business, and the much more intangible loss of customer goodwill as they struggle with diminished service on a workday, and you’ll come up with a sum that will disabuse any business owner of their illusion about “cheap” IT.
And that’s not even close to the worst-case scenario. Imagine, for a minute, that your technicians assure you, your network is secure, despite the lack of regular monitoring and maintenance.
These words of comfort sound nice until the day a team of expert hackers actually manage to access your systems and find outdated security solutions in place — basically, a front door left wide open. At that moment, your business becomes a criminal’s playground. They’re free to access financial information and personal data of your customers and employees, hijack your business to send out floods of malicious software and spam, hold nearly every aspect of the company ransom for thousands of dollars, and cause chaos to their hearts’ content.
The fact is, fixing problems is a lot more expensive than preventing them. When you cut corners and utilize subpar IT professionals, you’re paying for an array of shoddy, Band-Aid solutions that will be applied piecemeal, and usually too late, like a finger plugging a hole in a dam. On the other hand, when you make a substantial investment in quality IT support, you’re investing in the most basic aspects of the future of your company.
Robust network security, dependable computers and servers, consistent Internet safeguards, and other fundamental components of your company network are far from luxury items. In these times when technology forms the scaffolding upon which businesses run, if any piece of the operation fails, the whole system suffers, usually accompanied by a fat financial penalty.
There is an ever-growing list of potential technological pitfalls that can have permanent consequences for your business. Things like hackers zeroing in on vulnerable small businesses, rogue employees with a grudge, lost laptops, aging and unreliable hardware, fire, natural disasters, and IT “professionals” that have no idea what they’re doing, to name just a few. As companies depend more and more on technology to stay competitive, it simply doesn’t make sense to relegate IT to the neglected corners of your budget.
When it comes to business, there’s a lot to worry about these days. A total collapse of your company’s technological infrastructure doesn’t need to be one of them. Invest in a robust, managed IT package from tried-and-tested professionals, and leave the worrying to the experts. You can rest assured that our IT team of experts truly have you covered.
“These words of comfort sound nice until the day a team of expert hackers actually manage to access your systems and find outdated security solutions in place - basically, a front door left wide open.”
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