5 Signs Your Utah Business Needs Managed IT Services
Utah has a strong reputation as one of the best states to run a business. Utah enjoys a growth rate higher than the national average, as well as record-low unemployment rates, which makes it an ideal place for running a small business. It is estimated that there are around 277,000 small businesses in Utah, and that number is continually growing.
While establishing your business in Utah is a smart move, location alone does not guarantee success. Your company needs to stand out from its competitors and keep up with changes in your industry. Since IT has become such a critical part of modern business operations, partnering with an excellent managed IT services company in Utah is an imperative part of helping your business succeed.
While large corporations have the budget for an in house IT department, most businesses in Utah need more affordable solutions. Managed IT services are a great option for Utah businesses because they provide you access to an outsourced team of IT professionals at a lower cost than a single salaried employee.
If you’re still attempting to manage your small- or medium-sized business in-house, here are 5 signs it’s time to upgrade to managed IT services in Utah:
1. Your staff is overworked
Is your staff in charge of troubleshooting technology? If so, it’s likely they’re dealing with issues they aren’t equipped to handle and perhaps are overworked trying to fill multiple roles. This is a significant indication that your technology needs management from outsourced IT specialists.
Taking care of a company’s entire IT infrastructure is not a simple job. It requires a range of tasks, from dealing with software updates, to taking care of network security, to providing IT support and troubleshooting issues. That’s not even including additional needs, such as staying on top of the latest technology trends and cybersecurity threats.
By relying on one or two untrained staff members to handle all of these tasks, you risk letting security and important IT maintenance slip through the cracks. Limited staff with limited IT knowledge are likely only concerned with fixing pressing IT issues that have led to downtime. They don’t have the time or the know-how to implement preventative measures to find and eliminate causes of downtime or proactively seek out new cyber threats.
If your staff seems overwhelmed with troubleshooting your technology, then now is the time to consider managing your technology out-of-house. Enlisting the help of a managed IT service company in Utah is a cost-effective solution that provides you with the necessary resources and manpower to make sure all your IT bases are covered.
2. You don’t have a cybersecurity defense plan in place
Cyberattacks present a major threat to businesses and can cause significant damage when they occur. Unfortunately, cybercrime is increasingly common and can have far-reaching consequences to the companies that are targeted.
Many small businesses do not have a cybersecurity defense plan in place. This situation can arise for many reasons. Firstly, smaller businesses may underestimate the risk of their company being targeted by cybercriminals and therefore neglect to plan for a data breach. Secondly, businesses may believe that creating and implementing a comprehensive cybersecurity defense plan is too expensive.
But cyberattacks are non-discriminant—any business, no matter its size, can be subject to a data breach. And if your business does not have a cybersecurity defense plan because you think it’s out of your price range, consider this: A data breach can cost a company anywhere from $1.25 million to $8.19 million on average. That’s to say nothing of the potential customer loss and reputational damage that accompanies these successful cyber crimes.
With these consequences in mind, the real question is, can you afford not to have a cybersecurity defense plan in place? The cost of a cybersecurity plan is meager in comparison to the cost risk of a data breach, especially when your cybersecurity defense is developed by a reliable managed IT service company.
3. Your business is growing, and your infrastructure can’t keep up
Do you have big plans for your small business in Utah? If so, you need to have the right IT infrastructure in place to help you scale your IT according to projected business growth.
There is nothing more frustrating than your business becoming increasingly successful but constrained by your technology. Your business needs IT solutions that grow with your business so that it can reach its full potential.
In-house IT specialists often struggle to adapt an IT infrastructure to company growth, since they are generally caught up in dealing with everyday IT support. As your business grows, more system errors and problems occur as a result of the increased workload that outdated systems won’t be able to handle.
On the other hand, a managed IT service provider can ensure that your infrastructure is not only equipped to deal with increasing business success but actually aids your business’s growth.
4. You’re spending too much time fixing frequent IT issues
If your company experiences frequent IT issues that are getting in the way of you running your business, you’re not getting the IT support you need.
Frequent IT issues can lead to increased periods of downtime, which can potentially cost $100,000 per hour—a cost that most businesses simply can’t afford. Further, frequent IT issues directly impact business productivity in ways that will halt future growth. When frequent IT issues happen time and again, you can be left with frustrated employees and dissatisfied customers.
Outsourcing your IT to a managed IT service provider is an excellent way to ensure frequent IT issues become a thing of the past. Because of their proactive approach, reliable MSPs focus on identifying the root causes of downtime and eliminating them, thus reducing overall downtime and increasing productivity.
5. You don’t have an IT infrastructure strategy that matches your business goals
As IT is integral to the success of business operations in the digital age, you need to do all that you can to ensure that your IT capabilities match your business strategies. Outdated technology, insufficient IT support, and unreliable software will leave you falling behind your competitors and unable to achieve your business goals.
At IT Harbor in Provo, we pride ourselves on creating unique solutions for business through our managed IT services. We understand that every business is unique and therefore requires unique IT strategies that can help them grow.
Not only that, but we also offer robust cybersecurity defense, 24/7 support, network management, and more. We are dedicated to reducing downtime in your office and ensuring your technology aids instead of hinders your business growth.
If your business is experiencing any of these 5 signs, reach out to IT Harbor today for a free assessment or to learn more about our services.
