Maintaining a full-time in-house IT department is expensive, and that’s why organizations are turning to managed service providers (MSPs). MSP/Co-Managed services provide strong benefits to companies. According to a CompTIA study, more than half of all businesses surveyed said the major reasons they sought managed services were to save money, free up staff, access current technologies, and increase security. Many of these companies cut their annual IT costs by 25% or more.
Although some organizations go with fully managed IT, there is another option: co-managed IT. This is an excellent option if you want to keep some tasks in house, but your organization still needs help. Here are some signs that your team may need support:
Discover the Nine Signs You Need IT Support
If you experience any of the following situations in your organization, you’ll benefit from co-managed IT support.
You Rely on One Person to Solve All Your IT problems
No matter how amazing someone is, it’s ineffective to have one person resolve all of your IT issues. There are two main reasons a company ends up this way. Either they hire someone for the role, or someone else fills in because they are a jack-of-all-trades. Neither of these situations will benefit your business. When a single person is responsible for fixing all of your technical issues, they’re most likely just multitasking while putting out one fire after the other, and not truly maintaining and strengthening your company’s technology. Another problem is that when you truly have an expert, you’re out of luck when they go on vacation or quit. You need IT support services from people who have mastered technology and know how to solve issues at the root and implement preventive strategies.
Frequent Data Loss or Unusable Assets
Your organization can’t afford to have data go missing or be hard to find. You can’t secure data you can’t find, and if you’re bound by industry-specific data protection regulations (like HIPAA compliance), you could get in trouble with regulatory agencies.
It’s also important to have a knowledgeable IT team because someone inexperienced might not create proper data backups. Your backups are worthless if they can’t be restored. Anyone can save files, but only an IT support specialist can make it restorable.
You can’t back up data in any format and be able to restore that data later. For instance, say you have ten websites on your web server and you’re running cPanel. There is a way to protect your websites so they can be imported easily into cPanel on another hosting account, but that isn’t possible if you don’t create your backup in the correct format.
You Get Hit With Malware and Viruses
If your organization is getting attacked with viruses and malware, you have holes in your IT security practices. That means your team is either inexperienced, unaware, or too busy to fix the issue at the root. Cybersecurity needs to be a priority, no matter the size of your company. Your IT team should be your first line of defense against malware and cyberattacks.
Your Organization Misses Deadlines
Of all the reasons your teams might miss their deadlines, if it’s because you lack technical support resources, your IT team needs help. Missing project milestones is a big deal and can cost you a client’s trust, or even their business.
Your Current IT Systems Aren’t Reliable
Do you experience glitches and problems with your IT systems? Do you have excessive downtime, slow performance, or not enough capacity? These issues are most certainly impacting productivity. When employees can’t get their work done because they’re constantly fighting against insufficient IT systems, it’s time to get some outside help.
Your IT Equipment Is Out of Date
Are you still relying on older technology that barely serves its purpose? Maybe you’re still running Windows XP, or you’ve got a copy machine from 1995. Whatever the case, if your technology hasn’t been upgraded by your IT team, they probably need some help. Either they don’t know what to do, or they’re too busy working on other issues to look at your equipment.
You Don’t Know if You’re Buying the Right IT Equipment
A good IT team will make sure you buy the right equipment to meet your needs. Without expert input, you risk buying the wrong models and spending too much money on things you don’t really need.
Your Internet Connection Is Unreliable
There is no reason your organization should struggle with an unreliable internet connection for long. If connectivity issues are a common theme in your office, your IT team needs help.
You Don’t Have a Cybersecurity Plan
Without a cybersecurity plan, it will only take one incident to bring down your company. For instance, if you’re hit with ransomware, your entire hard drive will be encrypted, and your files will be inaccessible. The attacker will demand a ransom with the promise of restoring your data, but there’s no guarantee they’ll actually release your data once you pay. Unfortunately, these attacks don’t just target big corporations. In the first half of 2021, there were 304.7 million reported ransomware attacks. With a strong cybersecurity plan, you’ll have backups you can restore without issue. You might need to get new devices if you can’t reformat the hard drives, but you will still have all of your irreplaceable data. A cybersecurity plan will also involve awareness training for employees and policies that support secure operations, like using encryption, automated threat detection, multi-factor authentication, and other forms of identity security.
Get Co-Managed IT Solutions From TRT
Whether your IT team is struggling or they just need some extra help, TRT’s co-managed IT services can help. We provide an expert, professional, and secure managed IT service model for companies that need to outsource some or all of their IT needs.
Whatever you need, we’ve got you covered, no matter how simple or complex. We can help you stay compliant with industry regulations, reduce your help desk requests, and ensure you have a strong backup and disaster recovery plan. We can also implement cybersecurity protections, help you connect wireless printers, set up a company network, or update your firmware remotely.
Contact Technology Response Team today to get the IT support you need.
