When you have a small business, it is even more important that all your systems are working to optimum efficiency. Ironically, big businesses have higher costs and break-evens, but they can generally make more mistakes as they have a critical mass that can sustain them. Thus, should an important email from a client not be received for a few hours because of a system glitch, this might be serious but not disastrous. For the small business, with a limited client base and an obsession with reacting quickly so as not to lose business, any problem could be the difference between success and failure. When this is the situation, there is no room for IT down-time, and you need to be assured that you have immediate back-up to prevent any failure of your systems.
Get a good IT outsource partner
If you’re running a business in Columbus, OH, you need to find good network support. Ideally, you should find a company that is highly responsive, as your problems should be urgent for them too. To find out whether a company will be as efficient as it promises it will be, it’s often a good idea to contact references from their existing client base. You would also need to satisfy yourself that the company employs sufficient engineers to cope with its client base. There are few things more frustrating than having a system crash and being told that it will be several hours before you can be assisted, as your support service is busy attending to another problem elsewhere.
Ideally, although having a team of IT people to work on your account might be necessary, having one point of contact is often advisable. That way you are able to establish a relationship with your Account Manager, and should expect that this individual becomes as passionate about your business as you are. In fact, if your system is hosted by a support company, you would ideally like them to know that your Internet connection is lost before you’re even aware of it. You truly want a company that has its finger on the pulse of your business.
The services that can be offered
Depending on your needs, you may look for network support that provides you with firewall support for your network equipment, or can allow you to have remote access, will host your emails, and will be able to provide cloud apps. At the end of the day, many companies will be able to provide you with a range of services, so the one you should choose would be related to the price charged, as well as to the level of partnership that you believe this company would be willing to build with you.
