Oftentimes when you start a business, your tech support needs will naturally fall on the person who is least afraid of office technology and working with computers. While this may be enough to get your business up and running, it likely won’t keep it running smoothly for long. This business partner usually has a much bigger role in the business and continuing to provide tech support will either distract from their intended contribution or fall wayside as the business grows and they have less and less time to tinker with technology.
For this reason, tech support should be a role you consider for your small business from the very beginning. Whether you hire in-house or use a managed service provider, your small business technology solution should be influenced by what your business does, the tools you need to do business, the size of your company and your future plans for growth.
In-House or Managed Service Provider?
Small business tech support is comprised of many different functions requiring high levels of expertise for each niche area. As a small business, you likely won’t have the resources to hire an entire team, but which first step is best for your business? Should you hire a full-time IT employee to juggle the many aspects of tech support for your business? Or can a managed service provider save you money while accomplishing even more on your behalf?
Let’s dig a little deeper and explore some of the benefits associated with each option:
In-House Tech Support
Benefits of hiring a full-time employee to handle your tech support needs:
- Readily available during business hours to handle small requests such as paper jams, unresponsive monitor or other system issues.
- Their salary is pre-budgeted so you will not incur unplanned tech support costs.
- You are their only “client” and they work with you and your employees on a more personal level.
Managed Services
Benefits offered by going with a managed service provider for your business tech support needs:
- You can easily budget and plan for the low monthly cost of managed IT services, which is often much lower than the salary of a qualified full-time IT employee.
- You have an entire tech team (covering every level of tech support from CIO to customer support) at your disposal.
- With managed services, you don’t incur the cost of updating constantly changing technology.
- Your managed service provider can monitor your business technology 24/7 and alert you of any problems or vulnerabilities that require immediate attention and fix the problem before you open the office the next day.
- Your managed services tech support team stays updated on the latest and greatest in business technology so they can pass it on to you, increasing the value of your IT investment.
- A managed service provider can view your business from the outside looking in and often identify ways that technology can further streamline your business.
Learn More
Choosing the best tech support for your business can literally make or break your business. You want to go with the option that provides you with the support you need to handle your current business technology needs and keep up with the growth and evolution of your business. At Enstep, we work with many small businesses to develop customized business technology solutions to best fit their needs. Contact us to learn more about how managed IT services can support your business goals.
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