Six Sure Signs You Need To Change The Way You Manage Your IT

When the engineer that came to fix your PC at 9 am is still in your office at 4.45 pm.

If your PC is infected by malware, the only way that you can be absolutely sure that you have a clean PC is to reload it from scratch. Without a recovery plan, it can take an entire day to reload Windows 7, apply all of the patches required, and then reload your business software. If you want to avoid escalating IT support costs, you need a recovery plan that allows you to rebuild your PC’s in minutes, not hours.

When your server crashes and your tape backup won’t restore.

Although there is dispute about how frequently tape backups fail to restore (some sources quote 70% failure rate), it is clear that manual methods of data backup cannot be relied on for data backup. In any event, your critical data should be automatically backed up to offsite storage to protect you not only against server failure, but also against fire or flood.

When your staff tell you that you need a faster internet connection and have no way of knowing if they are right.

Companies everywhere are turning to video and podcasts on their web sites to engage with their customers which is great for customer engagement, but can take up internet bandwidth that you need to use for VPN connections or client extranets. If your firewall is more than 2-3 years old, consider upgrading to a "next generation firewall" that not only protects you from hackers, but also provides you with clear information on how your internet connection is being used at any time.

When your internet link fails and your staff stop working because they can’t access your hosted email / CRM systems.

Cloud computing services allow you to reduce operating costs and access your business applications from any internet connected device … but only as long as your internet connections is working! Before moving your business applications to the cloud, make sure that you have considered making provision for access to key business applications using 3G / 4G cellular, satellite, or a second internet connection in the event of failure of your primary internet link.

When an employee’s PC “breaks” after they installed some software from the internet.

Free software is great until one of your employees installs the wrong kind of free software on one of your PC’s. Unless you want to keep on paying IT engineer callout charges, you need to take control of who can and can’t install software onto your company PC’s. You need to ensure that any software installed isn’t a Trojan in disguise or badly written freeware, both of which can make your PC’s run unreliably and eventually crash. If it isn't possible to lock down your PC's then you need to strengthen your web security to make sure as best you can that your users don't accidentally download malware from the internet.

When the engineer who took a £250 cheque from you yesterday is back at 12.00 today.

When new bugs are discovered in software that you have installed on your PC’s, the “bad guys” hurry to work out how to exploit them so that they can get their code onto your PC’s to steal your personal information and logins. You must make sure that updates required to protect your PC’s are installed, otherwise you are a sitting duck for malware that can be accidentally downloaded from comprised or malicious websites.

You may not be in the IT Business, but most businesses today rely on IT. Our IT Support Services keep your systems running as reliably as possible without the need for you to employ your own skilled IT staff. If you would like to know more, please download our white paper, visit our web site, or contact us by phone on 01707 255060, or via email at info@clearview.co.uk.

How should your growing business manage IT?

Small businesses now rely heavily on IT, and the proliferation of Apple and Android tablet devices only serves to increase reliance on technology that many business owners don't fully understand ... But it sure needs to work!

As companies grow it becomes impractical to rely on ad hoc support contracts to keep their systems working reliably. IT Systems need regular maintenance to perform at their best and remain protected against internet malware, so business owners need to take a decision to either employ a full time IT Manager or outsource to a Managed Service Provider.

Why IT Management is difficult for small businesses.
Larger companies can cost justify employing a full time IT team including teams of first line support engineers, experienced systems professionals and an IT manager. The system is proven and works well because junior members of staff have clear opportunities for career progression, senior technicians can roll their sleeves up and get to grips with new technology, and the IT Manager can occupy himself with developing IT strategy to meet the businesses' needs and managing his team. Unfortunately, it’s a different story for SMB’s. Skilled IT staff are thin on the ground and command good salary packages, so you need to make sure that you are going to be able to keep them busy.

IT Managers Need A Challenge
SMB’s are not always attractive employers for good IT professionals as they have fairly simple IT needs. Since most IT Managers are techies at heart, they like to be able to get to grips with the latest technology. Given that most of the tasks required to keep your systems running smoothly are routine in nature (e.g. updating antivirus software and ensuring that required Windows Updates are installed) , a small company is unlikely to be able to offer an IT professional the opportunity to build the infrastructure of their dreams. There is therefore a relatively high rate of turnover amongst IT staff in SMB organisations with IT staff leaving to seek new challenges in larger companies where they can gain experience in the latest technology. 

Losing an IT Manager causes its own problems. Suddenly, the one person who knows the ins and outs of your systems is gone, so it can be a turbulent time while you go through the process of finding a replacement which in itself diverts you from the process of running your business.

Should You Use A Managed IT Service Provider?
The alternative to employing your own staff to run your IT systems is to employ a Managed IT Service Provider (MSP). For a fixed monthly fee, a managed service provider will perform all of the functions that you would expect from an IT Manager, but at a lower cost. What’s more, you don’t need to worry about keeping them occupied, or whether they may leave your company.

Equally important is that an MSP is equipped to carry out the routine system management tasks required to keep your systems running smoothly and to do so as efficiently as possible using automation software. Unlike a break/ fix contract, an MSP gets paid no more money for sending an engineer to site to re-build a PC that has crashed, so they will do everything possible to make sure that they don’t.

Because of this, many larger companies with their own IT Manager (50 - 100 staff) use a Managed Service provider to support an in-house IT Manager. This way, your IT Manager can concentrate on the bigger picture of how you can use IT to make your business more efficient, and leave the routine maintenance tasks to the MSP who can carry out the work more cost effectively than employing additional staff.

What About Cloud Computing?
he move to cloud computing will undoubtedly be an accelerator to the adoption of managed IT services by medium and larger sized organisations. Organisations who run their business applications as cloud services will have no need to employ a full time IT Manager, but PC’s, printers and firewalls still need to be maintained, and an MSP is perfectly positioned to provide these functions efficiently and cost-effectively.

Want To Know More?
If you would like to know more about our IT support or managed IT services, please download our white paper or contact us at info@clearview.co.uk .

Managed IT Services - A 60 second introduction

Small businesses without in-house technical expertise can often find managing their IT a challenge. To start off with, the task of IT management may fall to the person who knows most about computers, but as a company grows it becomes necessary to call in a specialist when problems arise. As the company grows past 5 – 10 employees however, a more structured approach to IT Management is called for to ensure that your data is properly managed. At much the same time it will probably become apparent that there has to be a better way of managing IT than waiting until something breaks before you fix it. It can take up to a day to re-load a PC from scratch due to the number of updates that need to be applied, and onsite engineering charges can easily start to mount up to a point whereby a single call-out can cost in excess of £500.

If you can't justify employing your own IT Manager, your best choice could well be to engage a managed IT Service provider, but although the approach has been around for some time now, and can deliver significant benefits for small businesses, many business owners don’t fully appreciate what is involved in handing over management of their systems to a Managed Services Provider (MSP), or what they get for their money and so they have shied away from it so far.

What does a managed service provider do?

A managed service provider can either run every aspect of IT Support for you, or can offload day-to-day administration tasks from your current IT manager, allowing them to concentrate on developing your IT to meet your business needs rather than performing routine maintenance tasks. It really depends on what suits you best. In general terms however, a Managed Service Provider provides you with all the benefits of a specialist IT department without having to pay out the associated full-time salaries, or worry about the HR hassles of managing your own IT team.

How can your IT be managed by a Managed Services Supplier (MSP)?

Remote Management software is installed on your PC's and servers and allows an MSP to monitor your IT systems and report back on potential problems such as low disk space, failed Windows updates, or out-of date security software so that preventative maintenance can be undertaken before a system fails. Many of these routine maintenance tasks can either be automated or undertaken remotely, minimising the cost of delivering support by cutting down on the need to send an engineer to your offices.

What happens when IT systems fail?

A managed services supplier should make provision to be able to recover your systems as swiftly as possible in the event of failure. To minimise system rebuild time, a spare PC should be kept in your offices together with a snapshot of your standard PC build. Onsite / offsite data backups are then take to ensure that systems can always be recovered in the event of a system failure, fire or flood.

What about system security?

Robust security is an essential component of best IT practices that MSP's use to make the job of managing your IT easier. By implementing best IT practices such as restricting who can add new programs to your PC's, and making sure that antivirus and Windows updates are installed, your MSP incurs less cost in managing your system which allows them to keep their service costs down.

Managed IT Services allow you to benefit from the same level of professional IT management as a FTSE 100 company without having to maintain your own full time IT team, or worry about your IT manager going off sick or taking a holiday. You can concentrate on growing your business knowing that your IT is being maintained as efficiently as possible. Please download our Managed Services White Paper or visit our web site if you would like to know more. Alternatively, please contact us on 01707 255060 or by email at info@clearview.co.uk. We will be happy to answer any questions that you may have.