Top 3 Telltale Signs Your Company Needs IT Managed Services
IT systems are a significant investment for any company. The average small company with less than $50 million in revenue can spend approximately 6.9% of its revenue on IT managed services. Mid-sized companies with larger incomes can spend up to 4.1%. Large enterprises seem to spend the least at 3.2%, but it’s still a massive number at approximately $64 million.
GMI, as a provider of IT managed services for companies of all sizes, understands the significant investment an IT system is to a company and the amount of essential data that gets processed through it daily. So when a company grows, its IT department should upgrade as well. IT systems need to be scaled to accommodate business and customer data growth, more employees interacting with the system, and product expansions.
Your business’ procedures and processes need to become more efficient to maintain all the interaction and upkeep required by your range of products or services. Your IT system is no exception.
TOP 3 SIGNS YOUR IT SYSTEMS ARE FALLING BEHIND
#1 - INCREASING DOWNTIMES
Your IT system’s in-house solutions are no longer sufficient if you start noticing that there’s more downtime than there used to be. For example, there is a significant lag on your business’ website because it can no longer handle the number of people logging in. Another example is servers constantly slowing down, leaving a lot of employees waiting for data to load or processes to start.
Time is money in any business, so your IT system should be able to handle larger loads and faster processing of data. Without fast data processing, whole departments can slow down, creating bottlenecks through your system.
Regularly investigate long or recurring downtimes and identify any IT issues contributing to the problem.
#2 - REPEATED SECURITY BREACHES
Customer data safety is paramount to all businesses that access or store private customer information and banking data. This is why cyber security is crucial, and companies make headlines when they suffer a breach. Repeated breaches in your company’s IT security may mean that your IT system security protocols are no longer up to date. They can easily be exploited by malware, phishing attacks, hacks, and other internal and external threats. And if your business or customers’ data gets stolen from your databases, it will rapidly erode customer trust.
Upgrade your security protocols, from hardware to software, with the latest security patches so there are no weaknesses for malware to exploit. Stay aware of the latest security threats and countermeasures.
#3 - NO BACKUP AND RECOVERY PLAN
Data stored in servers and drives is ephemeral. Should anything go wrong, such as a hack, power interruption, a mistake in software installation, or physical damage to the hardware, you can very quickly lose hundreds of terabytes of information. Backups are crucial to a business because they allow you to restore your system quickly. Some recovery processes can take your system back right before things go wrong and won’t cost you much time to fix. But if you don’t have regular system backups, at least once every fortnight with multiple copies, it could lead to years of lost data. And without a recovery plan, there’d be no way to get the data back.
Implement a data recovery plan. Ensure it includes backups and emergency protocols in the event of malware, phishing, hacks, or other data integrity threats.
IMPROVE HOW YOUR BUSINESS HANDLES IT
It’s crucial to consult IT managed services providers about your business systems, especially if you plan to expand your company. A dedicated IT team composed of highly trained and experienced personnel can keep an eye on your company’s computer systems, upgrading and improving them as necessary. And with a managed IT services team, you have access to their services on an as-needed basis and won’t have to worry about the costs of permanent staff.
GMI has years of experience in IT managed services for businesses of all sizes. We know what it takes to improve an IT system and scale it to match the growth of a business. We can regularly upgrade your software and create a comprehensive cyber security plan to protect your company from hackers and other data security threats. Contact us today to discuss your business strategy or learn more about how our services can help.