Starting a business is a big step, and there are a lot of plates to keep spinning! When first starting, IT support might be the furthest thing from your mind, but you’re likely to reach a point where tech niggles and IT queries start eating into the time you could be spending on your business, and when you start taking on more employees, those little IT jobs start to multiply too! So with that in the mind, how do you know when to get help from an IT company?
Before we start, it’s important to note that there’s no one-size-fits-all here, but there are a few key things to think about when you’re making the decision to pick up a phone to talk to an IT geek.
Company size
Some people might want IT assistance from the outset, and that’s absolutely fine – but as a rule of thumb, we recommend that any business should start thinking about outsourcing IT support once there are five or more employees.
This isn’t a number plucked out of thin air. It’s at this point that keeping up with important updates can begin to become a problem, leaving the business open to security issues and people’s mistakes like clicking on a dodgy email link. Obviously, if you’re a tech whizz yourself this might be a little different, but with at least five workstations to provide support for, you might start finding your time being spread a little thin at this point.
Staying on task
IT support is often a game of troubleshooting and problem-solving to find the root of issues which is something that can take up a lot of time. As we touched on above, most people won’t go into business with a view to carrying out constant IT support, so if you find your workday is consumed by IT issues, it might be time to find someone who did choose IT support as their path!
Finances
We couldn’t write this without talking about the budget. That’s usually why people don’t start off with IT support, it feels like a luxury that would be stretching things a little too far! Having said that, there are a few things we do recommend paying for from the start including antivirus software and some basic training for your team. Yes, this isn’t the same as having 24/7 monitoring and assistance, but it will still help reduce your workload and the likelihood of a potential security breach.
IT Support for small businesses: What do they need?
We don’t just love computers and all things tech, we do this because we want to support small businesses in their journey to greatness. With that in mind, we’ve put together these bits of advice we think will be most helpful if you’re not yet ready to employ an IT company.
You need layered security
Security, onions, ogres… they’re all similar in that they should have layers. Most people employ an antivirus and a firewall and think that’s enough to protect, however that’s only part of the story.
- Training – Staff training is important. Your IT security is only as good as the people in your company, so don’t underestimate the power of giving people the confidence to spot a dodgy email and not fall foul of a phishing attack.
- Antivirus (with firewalls) – This is a definite must-have. It might not fully protect you from all threats ever, but it’s a great start.
- Data backups – BACK UP YOUR DATA. Make sure you have an offsite copy somehow in case something happens to any physical backups. This can be the difference between getting up and running again quickly after some kind of emergency, and the business folding. That’s not us being dramatic either, we don’t do drama.
Something is better than nothing
If you’re a bit unsure where to start, something like Microsoft 365 has built-in security features to help with some levels of protection. It’s not as good as separate antivirus, but it’s very definitely better than nothing. You can also use the cloud storage provided to back up your documents and data.
If you’re looking for more help and support, then hiring an IT support company like ourselves for proactive monitoring, means you can go about your day without even thinking about your IT, which is how it should be in an ideal world.
Want to get your work day back from being IT support? Book a call with Lee and find out how we can help.
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