Small businesses in Massachusetts that are just starting out face many challenges.
For these businesses, the path toward success is more like a climb up a steep, rocky mountain than a straight, even road. Businesses have the Herculean task of sourcing capital, marketing in a highly competitive environment, screening and hiring the right people and more, all on a limited budget.
Since money is often tight for startups, entrepreneurs may end up putting IT support on the back burner. This is not advisable, because IT support is critical to the resilience and growth of any organization.
Managed IT Services for Small Businesses vs. In-House IT Support
IT support can be in-house or outsourced. However, for many small businesses, building and staffing their own IT department is too costly. This is especially true for companies that have only just begun operating and for whom cash flow is still a major issue.
If this is the case, it may be hard to budget in the costs of an in-house team, such as staff salaries and equipment, especially if their IT needs are not yet that extensive or complex.
A more cost-effective and equally effective alternative to in-house small business IT support involves managed IT services for small businesses.
Managed IT support companies for small business typically offer services provided by in-house IT support departments, such as network monitoring and IT consulting in Massachusetts, without the significant time and resource investment. With managed IT services, organizations only need to pay for the services they need.
Regardless of whether a company chooses in-house or managed small business IT support in Massachusetts, it will benefit from the wide range of productivity, security and cost-saving advantages of this essential service. Read on to learn more about them.
Top Five Reasons Why Small Businesses Need IT Support
1. It Helps Prevent Cyber Attacks
Small businesses are particularly vulnerable to cyber attacks. This is because small businesses typically don’t have the resources to protect their networks and data from malicious actors like larger organizations do.
Data breaches in particular can have severe consequences for a small business. According to IBM’s “Cost of a Data Breach 2022” report, the average cost of a data breach in the U.S. is $4.35 million. This figure includes losses stemming from reputational damage, business disruption, lost business and difficulty acquiring new customers.
IT support companies for small business help protect against malicious actors, whether attacking from outside or inside an organization, by providing preventative cybersecurity services such as:
- IT audits/assessments of possible network vulnerabilities
- Zero trust IT network design
- Sandboxing to identify malicious behavior
- Firewalls
- Network segmentation
- Access control
- Cloud-based network security
- Scheduled software updates and patches
2. It Helps Companies Recover From Data Breaches
IT support departments and managed IT solutions providers can also help with creation of an incident response (IR) plan. This outlines the step that all stakeholders need to take to protect the business in case its cybersecurity is compromised.
If, despite precautions, a cyber attack occurs, a provider of small business IT support can contain the breach and prevent further access to a company’s network. Regardless of whether the attack was a result of phishing, a distributed denial-of-service (DDoS) attack, an IT team can protect sensitive customer information and other important data as well as immediately address vulnerabilities in the network. Afterward, the IT team creates an incident postmortem to determine how the attacker got past network security and how such incidents can be prevented in the future.
3. IT Support Disaster-Proofs Important Data
An IT team can help small businesses protect critical data from unexpected and destructive events that may affect server rooms and other places where this data is stored or transmitted. These include power outages, equipment failure, server room fires and even natural occurrences such as tornadoes, floods and earthquakes.
Some solutions that a provider of small business IT support in Massachusetts may offer are:
- Disaster recovery plan creation – A disaster recovery (DR) plan details the steps a business, its stakeholders and IT staff must follow to protect data in case of a cataclysmic event. DR planning helps businesses ensure continuity and minimizes the risk of data loss as well as profit loss.
- Cloud services – Storing backup data on the cloud helps ensure that a copy remains even after a catastrophic event that damages or destroys physical IT infrastructure.
4. IT Support Helps Ensure Smooth Business Operations
Costly downtimes, disgruntled employees and angry customers can result from business disruptions stemming from tech issues. One example: A voice over IP (VoIP) device stops working, and as a result, no one can reach the business’ sales phone number. This seemingly minor tech issue may result in a customer representative not meeting their daily target and countless lost sales for the company.
Having IT support on call allows business owners access to technical support and troubleshooting at the first sign of trouble. This helps costly delays in the delivery of business services, ensuring the smooth day-to-day functioning of an organization. Meanwhile, access to IT consulting helps business owners and managers make better decisions regarding business continuity plans.
5. IT Makes It Simpler to Scale Network Infrastructure
As your business grows, so do your IT needs. Infrastructure scaling allows a company’s business infrastructure to increase in size and power appropriate for its rate of growth. It also helps ensure that the network is up to date. Scaling is an essential part of capacity building, and it requires IT expertise to accomplish.
There are two types: Horizontal and vertical scaling.
The former involves adding more physical components to the infrastructure, such as additional servers and computers. While horizontal scaling makes network infrastructure more complex, it also makes it faster, improving service delivery speeds. Meanwhile, vertical scaling involves adding power, such as more CPU or RAM, to increase a network infrastructure’s capacity and improve its performance.
IT support companies for small business helps company owners determine the best way to scale their network infrastructure, whether it’s through vertical scaling, horizontal scaling or a combination. More importantly, IT support companies for small business create and implement a scalability strategy as well as manage the network infrastructure to ensure the best possible performance.
What Managed IT Services Can Do for Startups and Small Businesses
As previously discussed, in-house small business IT support departments are expensive to run. There is equipment to purchase and maintain, staff to hire and train and software to pay for and update. What’s more, a business owner or manager will need to either oversee the department themself or hire a manager to do it.
However, going without IT support is not an option in today’s digitally connected world and a digitally reliant business environment. Whether a company does its business online or simply uses technology, like computers and the Internet, to serve its customers, it needs an expert to turn to in case an IT-related problem arises.
Managed IT services for small business are a cost-effective way to gain access to IT expertise and support, even IT consulting in Massachusetts. Because small businesses don’t have to create their own IT departments, opting for managed services eliminates the expenses associated with sourcing, hiring, training and managing IT staff.
Other benefits of managed IT services for small business include:
- Future-proofing: Managed service providers stay on top of new technologies, ensuring that your business’ network and IT processes evolve and adapt. For instance, an MSP partner can help a small business transition from an enterprise system to a cloud infrastructure.
- Peace of mind: Data breaches, natural disasters and other events that threaten business operations often happen when they’re least expected. Most managed service providers deliver round-the-clock services, so they’re easy to reach in case an emergency arises.
- Predictable costs: MSPs typically charge standard fees on a monthly or even yearly basis. Knowing how much the service costs helps small businesses budget more easily for IT expenses.
- Data compliance guidance and support: Small businesses, especially those that handle sensitive customer information, are required to meet strict standards and regulations. Some examples include the Health Insurance Portability and Accountability Act (HIPAA), the Sarbanes-Oxley Act of 2002 (SOX) and the Payment Card Industry Data Security Standard (PCI DDS). An MSP can ensure that a small business’s networks, processes and systems comply with these regulations.
Businesses that already have an in-house IT staff will also benefit from a partnership with a managed services provider. While the latter takes charge of everything from ensuring security compliance to monitoring for threats, the in-house staff members can focus more on improving their core competencies and innovating services and solutions.
Reliable IT Support Solutions for Small Businesses in Massachusetts
Gain access to IT expertise on demand through M&H Consulting. Since 2001, this Boston-based form has been providing top-notch onsite, remote and managed IT services to Massachusetts and other areas in New England.
M&H Consulting’s solutions include:
- Outsourced CIO and CTO services
- IT consulting
- Disaster recovery planning
- Infrastructure upgrades
- Network design
- Data center management
To schedule a free consultation, contact M&H Consulting today.
Categorised in: Uncategorized