The challenges of running a business during the coronavirus pandemic will continue in 2022, and having a sound IT infrastructure will be crucial in overcoming many of them. For instance, when adopting a hybrid work model, businesses can maintain optimal efficiency and avoid costly downtime by ensuring that their IT systems are always in top shape. One of the best ways to do this is through proactive IT support.
What is proactive IT support?
Imagine your employee's computer is crashing and not booting up. To fix the issue, you contact a third-party technician who says they’ll go to you. Traffic is bad, so the technician arrives after an hour. They then spend 30 minutes examining the problem before they recommend replacing the broken computer’s components to get it to work. In all this time, the employee is unable to perform their tasks, negatively impacting your organization’s overall productivity.
This approach, in which repair, maintenance, and upgrades are performed only on an as-needed basis, is called reactive IT support. Essentially, you do something only after a problem has occurred. It’s a common practice that, as shown in the example above, can result in considerable downtime and loss of productivity.
Proactive IT support is the opposite of reactive support. It involves upgrading, troubleshooting, and maintaining IT systems in anticipation of and to prevent interruptions and prolonged downtime.
Think of how you perform regular maintenance on your car to avoid it breaking down on the road — proactive IT support has the same goal for your IT systems.
One of the biggest challenges with proactive support is confirming the real-time status of your IT systems, which is crucial to knowing which upgrades to install and preventive measures to implement. Continuous 24/7 monitoring is therefore a key process, but it’s something that even full-fledged in-house IT departments have difficulty handling.
This is why proactive IT support is best left to managed services providers (MSPs) who have the tools and people needed to monitor your tech 24/7. MSPs can detect and resolve an issue immediately before it compromises your operations. They can also schedule crucial but time-consuming updates and upgrades outside of business hours so these don’t affect your employees’ productivity. Most of these processes are done remotely for speed, but MSPs can also provide onsite support for complex repairs and maintenance.
Why do you need proactive IT support?
Whether it’s caused by cyberattacks or faulty components in your IT system, downtime is highly expensive. In fact, research indicates that every hour of downtime can cost businesses $84,650. Therefore, preventing downtime through proactive IT support can save your business a lot of money.
But the benefits don’t end there. Proactive support also means:
Improved customer satisfaction and loyalty
Consumers want a high-quality experience from the companies they do business with. Efficient and uninterrupted service is critical to this experience. Thanks to proactive support, you can provide continuous service to your customers, which can improve their opinion of your business and turn them into loyal customers.
Compliance with industry regulations
Highly regulated industries like healthcare and finance impose stringent regulations regarding how covered businesses secure customer data. Prolonged downtime can be seen as an infringement of these regulations, resulting in investigations, lawsuits, and heavy penalties for the company. If you’re in a regulated industry, proactive IT support can reduce your risk of suffering downtime and being penalized.
An optimally functioning IT infrastructure is a good thing for any company at any time. For proactive IT support, you can trust our IT specialists at [company_short]. We have the expertise and experience needed to address both simple and complex IT problems, ensuring that your company is always productive and on the track towards growth. Learn about the many ways we can help your business by contacting us today.
