Did you know that 58.9 million employees in the US work for small businesses? This is almost half of the country’s workforce!
What’s more, about 20 million of these people work for micro businesses.
At the other end of the spectrum, we have a starting-up failure rate. Of the businesses that opened in 2014, only 56% were open in 2018.
The main reasons many businesses fail are cyber attacks. In fact, 60% of SMBs with cyber attacks turned six months after the incident.
All of these should tell you how important cyber security measures are today. And this is what IT managed services can bring to the table.
Prevent you from wearing many “hats”
Suppose your business accounts for 41.64% of US firms with two to four employees. It also says that you have two other people working.
It is likely that you pay both of them to work on the main tasks of your business. If you run a small advertising firm, there is a possibility that your graphic designer is, secondly, a copywriter.
This leaves you with not only core tasks, but also accounting and marketing! You are also the manager, human resources, and “financial department”. You can also wear an IT hat as long as you do not pay your employees to do IT work.
All these other jobs you take are killing your productivity. In fact, a study found that admin tasks cost US $ 2.87 trillion in productivity!
They are also taking you away from the things you do best – the reason you started your business. Imagine how many more projects you could take if you had one less non-core task to worry about.
Managed IT services can relieve you of a responsibility for which you may not even have the training. Remember: This is the only flaw in your cyberspace security measures to find a hacker. From there, they can steal sensitive data including your customers.
Make sure your network security is always up-to-date
About two-thirds of Americans have personal experience of a major data breech. 41% of these victims faced fraudulent credit card fees. 35% of the victims also received information about their sensitive sensory data.
A major cause of these violations? Businesses that lacked network security. A common factor among these firms is that they rely on outdated security programs.
Some businesses also use unorganized computers among workers. For example, an employee can connect an infected USB to a company’s computer. If this happens, then viruses or malware can then infect the entire company network.
Unless your company’s IT network is always updated with the latest security programs. But if you are wearing an IT hat, you are likely to delay or forget about updating computer software. If you do, you are not alone – a study found that 40% of people delay software updates. You may also consider that employee officers use VPN software.
A managed IT support team can prevent data breaches from being on top of security updates. These IT specialists use advanced protection from viruses, malware and other cyber threats. With these professionals on your team, you can prevent your business and customers’ data from being compromised.
Prevent costly IT issues that affect productivity
Until now, many businesses consider IT support only for a break-fix approach. In short, they only employ IT, specialists, when a computer breaks down or when the network is down.
Granted, this may sound like a “cost-effective”, practical strategy. These businesses feel they only need IT services when they have a real problem. What they fail to realize is that downtime already hurts productivity.
Suppose you experience an hour-long intermittent Internet connection every business day. That is five hours a week, or about 260 hours every business year! Imagine what a profitable job you could have done during those times.
Keeping your company’s network stable and secure is just one area that IT professionals specialize in. They also schedule all devices and software for necessary upgrades. All these can help prevent already costly IT issues.
… and they decide when they are
And if you run into computer or network problems, you can ensure that IT support is available 24/7. These prosecutors can handle any IT related issues including disaster recovery services. They also keep a backup of your entire system, so in cases of data loss, they are easy to recover and recover.
More cost effective than in-house team
The average salary of small business owners is $ 60,710. Now, compare that with the average salary of an in-house IT specialist, which sits at $ 68,957 per year.
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