Have you ever thought whether your IT service provider is meeting your IT support needs or not? Does your IT support provider fix the network crash or downtime related problems as soon as they arise? If not, then it is not working up to your expectations. Every business has different IT support needs based on the infrastructure, network requirements and business processes. Therefore, you need to carefully examine your needs before choosing an IT support partner.
Here are some basic parameters on the basis of which you can evaluate your IT support needs.
Experience in IT support
Check if your IT support provider has relevant experience in the field. It is important that your support partner should have hands-on experience in handling IT-related problems. If you use Microsoft products then you should go for a company having relevant experience in repairing Windows operating systems and machines.
Off-site or On-site support
Are your employees working mostly in the office premises or outside? This will determine whether you need on-site support or remote support for your business. If your employees work in the office premises then you need an engineer to visit and resolve the issue in the hour of need. For the employees working outside business hours, you will need offsite IT support.
How much and how frequent you need the IT support?
The amount and level of support your business needs depend on the number of users, number of devices and workstations, environmental capacity and business operations. If you have more than 100 users and workstations you may need a higher level of support.
When does your company need support?
Do people in your company work for long hours or stick to a fixed hours schedule? Your company has a 24 X 7 work environment or closed on weekends. Depending on these factors you may decide the time for which you need support.
Type of support you need for your business
On the basis of your business processes and network infrastructure, you can decide what type of IT support is required by your business. There are three types of basic support models for small businesses: In-house support, Break/fix support, and Managed IT support.
Small companies rely on the in-house support which comprises of one or more employees who have some technical proficiency other than their key roles.
The break/fix model is commonly used by small businesses wherein the support provider is called when a problem arise. This model has an advantage of paying only for the time a support provider is called but sometimes big issues may create emergencies if not detected at the right time.
The managed IT services model has a closer working relationship between the support provider and the client. Servers and key processes are monitored to with the aim of preventing issues from occurring or identifying when issues occur (e.g. a hardware fault) and immediately taking corrective action once the issue arises. So in contrast to the break / fix model, the managed IT services model is pro-active rather than reactive.
Zero Effort Networking provides managed IT services in Sydney and its surroundings. ZEN also offers backup and disaster recovery services to the clients which ensure the recovery of lost business data any time a disaster strike. ZEN’s monitoring and management system resolve your IT problems proactively before they can impact your business.
The IT support needs are not always the same. Your expectations may change as your business grows with time. The level of IT support you need may also change as your business matures. Therefore, it makes complete sense to evaluate the level of support needed for your business before looking for an IT partner.
For more information on managed IT services Sydney please mail us at info@zen.net.au or Call us at 1300 93 94 95 and we will be happy to assist you!