Your IT provider isn’t just another service provider like the one you call if your plumbing needs to be fixed or where you buy your office supplies. Your technology is an integral part of your business operations, so much so, that an IT outage will generally result in downtime for your business. Where you can’t operate as usual, and for many businesses, at all. The average cost of downtime for a business starts at SGD 13,538 per hour and goes up from there, depending on the size of the organisation. Most small businesses can’t afford to be down for very long, and many end up closing their doors after suffering a major downtime incident. Causes of downtime for technology include:
- Ransomware or other malware infection
- Data breach
- Hard drive crash
- Cloud service outage
- Software or hardware issue
- Problems with network connections
When your technology isn’t properly kept up to date or professionally managed by an IT professional, then your business is at a higher risk for downtime incidents to keep occurring regularly. It’s also hard to get ahead of your competition when your technology isn’t fully optimised. An IT provider is integral to your business success in a number of ways.
Reduces the Risk of a Cyberattack
Managed IT providers will handle all the complex areas of cybersecurity for your business to ensure your systems and data are properly protected. This will include things like 24/7 monitoring of your network for any threats, as well as providing patch and update management to keep all your devices secured. Cybersecurity is much more than simply having an antivirus installed. It includes access management to secure cloud accounts, mobile device management, security for remote team devices, and more.
Wards Off Tech-Related Downtime
With downtime being so costly for businesses, it’s important to avoid it at all costs. Your equipment is much more likely to go down and you’re more exposed to a cyberattack if you don’t have your IT professionally managed. The top two causes of downtime for the Asia Pacific region are:
- Hardware failure (60%)
- Data corruption (47%)
An IT provider will regularly maintain your equipment to ward off any problems that can arise that may cause downtime. This includes maintaining it both externally and internally. Businesses that use managed IT security services experience less attack-related downtime because they are better protected from data breaches and malware.
Helps to Improve Customer Experience
Customers expect businesses to be using modern technology and they expect response times that are prompt. As technology has progressed, the expected turnaround time for a company to respond to an inquiry has gotten shorter. Nearly half (46%) of surveyed customers expect companies to respond to an inquiry in less than 4 hours. An IT service partner will help your company put systems in place that improve your ability to assist customers promptly and that makes it convenient for staff to do so. Systems like VoIP with CRM integration reduce manual entry time and help keep all customer records in one place for easy access.
Improves Optimisation
One small business can be struggling with technology, while another one of the same size can be excelling. Digitally advanced small businesses will typically earn more revenue per employee than those that aren’t because their workflows are optimised. Managed IT providers will do more than just watch over and maintain your technology systems. We will work with you to understand your business and use IT to optimise it to run better and enable more capabilities without increasing costs. Some of the types of optimisation that IT can provide to a small business include:
- Eliminating time-consuming manual processes
- Integrating systems to improve data sharing and flow
- Automating to save time and improve speed
- Introducing new helpful technologies
- Keeping systems updated to the latest standards
- Helping companies utilise features in cloud services they may not know about
Reduces Your Operational Costs
Some small businesses shy away from signing up for monthly managed IT services because they see it as an additional cost. But an IT partner can actually lower your operational costs. By reducing downtime (both small and large incidents), safeguarding your network from a breach, and improving your workflows through technology optimisation, your business can operate more efficiently. This means fewer costs for you and more ability for your team to focus on their work rather than fixing a computer problem they’ve run into. When your IT is optimised and running smoothly, so is your business.
Learn About Our Customised Managed IT Service Plans
Managed IT Asia can help your Singapore business save money, optimise, and reduce your risk of a cyberattack. Ask us about a customised managed IT plan that fits your business and will help you excel. Contact us today to schedule your free consultation. Call +65 6748 8776 or reach us online.
MANAGED IT ASIA, we are an IT Support, IT Solutioning and Managed IT Service Provider specializing in serving Small Businesses across Asia. Call us at +65 6748 8776 and let us manage your Small Business IT today!