4 IT Support Mistakes that Every Company should be Mindful of

One of the best functions a company can outsource nowadays is the IT support one. It is rather convenient having another well-focused and trained service provider take care of such an important aspect of work. This is the more financially viable service, as well as the most reliable one.

And it is still very important to note that even when your company works with an IT support provider, things will be easy. Every company out there is different, and some of them are still struggling with several mistakes that are still very prominent. Here is a quick rundown of these issues, that are present in this market:

• Some consider the original manufacturer of the equipment to be a sufficient support source — it is surprising how many businesses out there think that OEM (original equipment manufacturer) is their best source of support. However, this is very limiting, because the OEM is mostly responsible for the equipment they have manufactured and sold. When a company resorts to OEM, this means limited support and sometimes the need to address more than one support provider. This can leave them in limbo or inefficient support service overall, which is never ideal. The only way this sort of support works well is if the equipment in one company comes from a single manufacturer, which is rarely the case. It is always best to outsource the support function to another, third-party manufacturer. They can always be more comprehensive in their approach and not discriminate towards who manufactured the equipment and software in need of service.
• Only relying on self-support — every company relies to a large extent on their own IT team to deal with any problems that may arise. In-house support is a way to go, but it is not always the best solution. One of the major disadvantages of it is that it can create a lot of downtimes when a critical aspect of the company IT infrastructure malfunctions. This is especially the case with big problems and a small staff. When business activities grind to a halt, it can be quite detrimental. At the same time, stationed IT professionals may not have anything to do most of the time if all their duties are centred on support. Any position that is not fully effective leads to payroll bloat, which then, in turn, drains important company finances. Other than that, some IT staff personnel may not be able to support the entire data centre, so the option to rely on an outsourced service remains viable.
• Not backing up servers properly — one of the things that outlines a company’s digital presence is their servers. Whatever platforms the company works with, whether it be external or internal, they keep the essential data. Any loss of data can lead to unimaginable consequences for their business. From tax information to business records and personal information about employees is stored there after all. Loss of such information can lead to a business not being able to recover. That is why every company needs to work on a mechanism, which allows back-ups of servers, to reduce the chance of data loss. That is another reason to consider IT support since such a company can provide these services.
• Not doing frequent updates — software and hardware updates are necessary for every company that wants to remain competitive on the market. Upgrading too often can be costly, whereas not upgrading enough can lead to problems like downtime. Finding the middle ground is possible with the aid of an IT support company.

These are all mistakes that an IT support company can help prevent and recover from.

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