Hello Lee
Welcome to our second
BITS news update.
Thanks to those who gave positive feed back
on our launch issue.
This month we've got two articles which
will ease frustration for you and your staff
and
reduce risks for your business! |
|
Lee
Lee Edge | Director
0845 0940 458 | lee.edge@bits-solutions.co.uk
Managed Service Provider: Your very own IT department
Most major companies have an IT Help Desk, often employing tens or even hundreds of staff. These are the people who are at the beck and call of employees each time their printer won’t work or their laptop won’t boot up.
Sounds expensive doesn’t it? As a smaller business your only option is to manage your own or just call someone every time you have a problem.
This is referred to in the industry as "break fix".
1. It breaks.
2. You call someone.
3. They fix it.
4. It breaks again.
5. You call them again.
....and so it goes on.
The more it breaks the more money they make and it becomes an expensive option for your business.
But don't worry. Help is at hand!
There is another option - a managed service provider (MSP).
The keywords here are pro-activity and cost control. OK, sometimes there will be reactive issues to be dealt with but a reputable MSP will aim to prevent problems arising in the first place.
Secondly, a managed service model means you pay the same amount every month without being charged for the hours worked. That means it’s in the interest of the provider to work proactively to minimise issues.
That’s a win-win situation for both parties.
Here are some key features and benefits of an MSP:
• Fixed costs for budgeting
• Enables better long term planning and budgeting.
• Skills and experience of an IT department at a fraction
of the cost.
• Tools in place to monitor remotely, cutting out on travelling
and on-site time.
• Reduces the need for staff to spend lots of time dealing
with
IT problems.
• Increased employee productivity and morale.
Reduced frustration! |
Not convinced yet? Here are two typical examples of where an MSP can benefit businesses:
• Example 1
Space running out on the server – this is picked up by monitoring and an engineer looks at it and resolves the problem. The client doesn’t even need to know about it.
What would have happened without Managed IT Support?
Eventually the server would have run out of space completely and would crash/refuse to boot up – this would cause considerable down time and prevent employees from working. Worse still your service to customers could deteriorate.
• Example 2
Anti-virus software not updating, this is picked up by daily monitoring by the MSP and corrected.
What would have happened without Managed IT Support?
The customer's machines would ultimately have become infected with a virus. Over time further viruses could have entered the system. Your entire IT system could crash thus affecting business continuity. Worse still viruses could be unwittingly transferred to outside parties via email.
To summarise, an MSP enables you and your team to focus on fee earning work. Ultimately this benefits your profitability, your efficiency and your customer service.
To learn more about how BITS could work with your business as a Managed Service Provider please contact us.
0845 0940 458 | info@bits-solutions.co.uk
How to avoid an IT disaster:
Could your business continue trading?
I could write a lengthy article about disaster recovery but at BITS
our focus is on how to enable our clients to prevent that disaster in the first place.
We see this as vital because recent estimates suggest that as many as 90% of businesses that lose data from a disaster are forced to shut down within 2 years of the incident.
Of course there isn’t just the risk of data loss due to technical failure. The major flooding in the UK last year demonstrated a real risk for businesses in some regions. Sadly it often takes a disastrous data loss to make businesses take action for the future.
So what’s the answer?
Here are our top tips on how to avoid an IT disaster.
1. Ensure your back up routine is followed rigorously.
There is no point having a routine otherwise.
2. Make one person in your business accountable for the routine.
3.
Test your back up routine to make sure you could recover data
if you needed to.
4. Ideally use more than one method. Back up methods are
more robust these days but there is always a risk of failure.
5. For example you could use two methods from the following: Tape back up, external drive back up and online remote
back ups.
6. Ensure back up media is stored off site. Even if you have a fireproof safe, what if you cannot get access to your premises after a fire?
7. Back up frequently. This can also come in handy if you’ve over-written a vital file and want to restore an earlier version. |
BITS can advise you on all aspects of data back up and
IT disaster prevention. Please contact us.
0845 0940 458 | info@bits-solutions.co.uk
Thanks for reading. I hope you found this news update useful.
Coming in future issues...
⇒ The lowdown on mobile email on your phone
⇒ The ins and outs of company legislation on communications |
