Small Businesses Need To Be Tech Savvy

In this day and age, there is no excuse for letting your tech priorities slide. Small businesses are constantly under pressure to provide top quality services and products that compete with the best, while always trying to minimise costs, time and even staff. Avoid these common issues with advice from a professional IT consulting firm in Melbourne and do what’s best for your business. 

Without doubt, the biggest mistake is not having anyone to call when something goes seriously wrong.  Many smaller companies assume that the expense of a professional service is too costly, and so try to rely on the limited knowledge of existing employees. While your office tech head might be able to help with a few minor obstacles, they are unlikely to be able to solve the mystery that is a system shut down, or something equally disruptive to the business.

Other avenues that companies may pursue include over the phone support services, or relying on a large electronic service provider. These two methods are also likely to disappoint, and eat up valuable time and energy. Receiving instruction over the phone is hardly helpful if you don’t know what you’re looking at, and the latter option often results in a different technician arriving at your office each time with no knowledge of your set up or prior issues. Putting your faith in a reliable IT consulting company should ensure you get a regular technician, if not someone who has been briefed on your history and current situation.

A trusted consultant can then help you with some of the other areas where small businesses run into trouble. For example, any quality consultant will have a good understanding of how long certain hardware should last. Have you hoarded old computers in your office that are six or seven years old? The optimum lifespan of most modern computers and laptops is around four years. As this creeps up to five or six years, the maintenance costs often begin to outweigh the savings. Furthermore, in this time frame the latest technology is likely to have advanced significantly. Your six year old computer will be considered slow, outdated and inefficient.

Another area of concern is power protection and security. Adequate power protection means having some back-up systems in place in the event of a power outage, to ensure your valuable data is not lost for good. Security is not prioritised by many businesses, which is perplexing. Either the risks are not appreciated, or companies simply brush off the threat as not likely to happen to them. In reality, your data is at risk from viruses and hackers, and so it is essential to have a dependable technician on board.

Anyone who has experienced the sinking feeling when their system crashes will know that backing up your files can be life-saving. Work with your IT provider to arrange a strategy for backing up data. Which items are important enough to protect? How often should data be backed up, and by whom? You will need to work out a schedule which works most efficiently for your business.

Businesses rely on a sound technological infrastructure now more than ever, not only with the running of the business but also for customer service and prompt communication. There is no question that a crash can be disastrous and even spell the end for your business, so the best plan by far is to prevent problems and minimise the damage should they occur. Please get in touch with Mon Technology for more information about our reputable IT consulting services in Melbourne. 

Reach Your Business Goals

Those who have employed the assistance of a professional IT consulting firm in Melbourne know that their value is not to be overlooked. Harnessing the power of information technology can help your business to excel in ways that you never knew were possible.

A business can have the best product or service in the world, but the success of this is limited if the information technology structure and resources are lacking. Nowadays it is becoming increasingly important to have a significant online presence, and if your encounter frequent network problems that interrupt your ecommerce site then this is a major obstacle for your business. Just about any business also needs a flawless and well-designed administration system in order to operate smoothly. Of course, there are endless individual elements that each business will uniquely require. The goal is to piece together a comprehensive IT solution that best serves your business’s interests.

A good IT consultant is going to evaluate your current system and identify the areas that are working well and those that are letting your down. They will add features, take away redundant parts, and overall ensure your system is as efficient as possible. When you are finished with the initial setup, you should be left with a fluid, cost and energy efficient model that is easy to operate. It is often not until we experience a new way of doing things that we realise just how inconvenient and illogical the old way was. A consulting service might be able to isolate communication issues between employees that are dragging productivity down, for example. Keep in mind that there is much more to it than just the initial setup. It is a great idea to have a company on the record which is monitoring things as they go to immediately overcome any obstacles.

If it is a specific problem you have that needs immediate fixing, such as a server crash, then an IT consulting agency should go beyond fixing the problem to actually advising how to avoid this type of thing in the future. After all, businesses trust an IT company because they are expected to go this extra mile. In this day and age, a number of computer issues can be resolved after the employer has researched a few ‘how-to’ articles. But it is the long term results, as well as the confidence that they are finding not just any solution but the best solution is what keeps clients coming back to a professional service.

Some businesses, particularly small businesses, have been known to dismiss the value of an outside IT service. This is deemed an extravagance that simply cannot be afforded. However, there are a number of ways in which IT professionals can be firmly within your financial reach. Many larger IT groups offer a range of strategies that you can choose from according to your situation. You can either choose a pay by the hour service, which is good for coming to fix mystery issues, or a flat fee which is sensible for a routine service or complete installation. Of course, in the long term, the services delivered are going to maximise profitability, productivity and efficiency and so any money will be well spent.

A good IT approach is a tailored one. You need to determine the level of service you want and what will give you the best return on investment throughout the lifespan of your business, as well as in the short term. Choose the team which is renowned for their consistent work for a range of clients. Contact the informative IT Consulting Experts in Melbourne at Mon Technology.