Your IT Systems Are DOWN! Where Is Your Managed IT Services Partner?
Posted by Bryan Maggi on Sat, Jan 28, 2012 @ 11:10 AM
Sunny Saturdays (like this weekend) make you want to pack the car and head to the nearest coastal town for some stress-free relaxation. Besides, you deserve a weekend off. You grind out 60/80/100 hours work week routinely. Work can wait until Monday. Everything should be fine. Or will it?
As an entrepreneur, small business owner, or manager, why should you think anything could negatively impact your IT systems over the weekend. With no one working, nothing should be over-taxing the company's IT resources, right?
In the wonderful complex world of IT, this is when the tech gremlins go hog wild as we say. Historically and ironically, most networks, internet lines, and server systems seem to arbitrarily decide to take the weekend off as well. This leaves for a spectacular start on Monday morning with more stress - staff cannot generate revenue, you cannot work, clients cannot be reached, invoices cannot be remitted, sales and marketing halted, and so on. No one likes a "$10,000 Monday morning loss".
The Solution -
Hire a qualified managed IT services partner that will own your IT headaches. Ideally, select an IT managed services outfit that is specialized to your specificy industry. Also, verify your IT service plan includes 24x7 network and server room monitoring and alerting. Most importantly, identify your IT service coverage includes an on-call IT technician.
After-hour access to your office is crucial. With access, your IT group can get your systems back on online and stabilized before Monday morning. Another important piece of advice, your IT partner should have a business continuity plan ready to deploy. Basically, a contingency plan ("Plan B or C") designed and tested to return each critical component of your IT operations back to service. Prosaic is always better than catastrophic.
In short, with the right IT support and services partner, you can live in peace again. You can get a portion of your life back with one less business item to stress over. As the old medical proverb states "an ounce of prevention is worth a pound of a cure". So, partner with a professional IT management firm with a solid service guarantee to manage the success of your business. Enjoy your weekend.
See you Monday morning.
