5 Surprising Gaps Your IT Provider Forgot to Mention
July 6th, 2017 by admin
What are the chances that last night’s backup failed? (They might be higher than you think.) Is your IT provider doing all they can to proactively protect your company? What is the right mix of private and public cloud for your company? These are the kind of questions that you should ask your IT provider to ensure that your company is being taken care of.1. Where is their expertise lacking?
Even if you only have a few computers and apps, no single tech can do it all. They may be great at helpdesk, but neglect your backups. They may love servers, but never tackle workstation updates, antivirus, and proactive care. If your business depends on strong productivity, protection, and performance, make sure you know where your IT team is strong, and where you need more attention and expertise.2. You need a multi-year budget for technology improvements.
A one-year plan or budget isn't enough. For example, we suggest replacing primary servers every three to four years. If these projects are planned out and budgeted for ahead of time, your technology will stay healthy. Too often projects get delayed, entropy wins, and the resulting problems become more difficult and more expensive to solve. The best practice is to prepare a realistic long-term budget for monthly support, larger occasional projects, upgrades, and technology rotations.3. What’s the right mix of private and public cloud for your company?
Sometimes the public cloud costs more, but it’s worth it. Sometimes it saves money, but comes with disconcerting downsides. What is the right mix for your company? This type of strategic and thoughtful analysis is completely separate from the classic break-fix IT service. This strategic planning not only impacts how well you take care of your clients and employees, but also impacts how competitive you are in the market.4. What are the chances that last night’s backup failed?
Backups should be proactive and continuous. Most IT providers put backups in place once and don’t check them for years. Not only should they be getting daily alerts for backup problems, as well as notifications for successful backups, they should also be regularly giving status updates to you.5. Are they doing everything they can to proactively protect your business?
Security patches and maintenance processes should be implemented and followed religiously. You should expect your technician to be not only solving the daily technical issues that arise, but also putting in the effort to monitor and proactively manage your technology. Procedures like patching, antivirus, and backups get all too easily pushed to the back burner. Your tech should be telling you how often they perform these checks and how protected your company is.Posted in: Tech Tips