When some small businesses try to save money, they’ll take a DIY approach to as many things as they can. What they don’t realize is that doing that with something as important as their IT infrastructure may not actually be saving them money.
A DIY approach means that when something breaks, that’s when they call to have it fixed, instead of having an ongoing managed services plan from an IT professional.
Because technology has become a vital part of any business, when a computer goes down or a server is infected with a virus, it can mean a company is at a standstill until the equipment is up and running again. And each minute down is costing money.
Which is the best and most economical option, proactive or reactive support?
Reactive support is also known as break/fix, i.e. when it’s broken, then we’ll call someone in to fix it. This is akin to never having any maintenance or oil changes done on a car, and only calling in a mechanic after you’ve broken down in the middle of the highway.
Proactive support is having regular maintenance and monitoring done on your computers, network, and other IT to ward off any problems before they cause downtime. It’s like the regular maintenance for oil, tires, brakes, etc. that you get done for your car to keep it running efficiently and keep you safe.
What holds people back from using proactive IT support?
Cost is the main factor. They believe that paying a monthly fee for ongoing technology maintenance would be more expensive than just waiting until something breaks to have it fixed. But is it really?
The High Costs of Being Reactive About Your Technology Maintenance
When you try to handle your IT yourself and are reactive about maintenance, it’s like being in the dark. Do you have a PC about to crash because it needs a parts replacement? Is an unpatched device about to let in a ransomware attack?
When your systems aren’t being monitored proactively, you don’t know until the bad thing happens.
Here are several ways that having a proactive managed IT plan can reduce your costs and save your New Jersey business more money than taking a reactive break/fix approach.
Ongoing Maintenance to Mitigate Downtime
Our proactive support program (PAS) gives you visibility into what’s going on with your computers. They are continually monitored, and we receive daily alerts on their overall health and fitness. This allows us to be proactive about maintenance, being able to fix things before they result in a crash and downtime.
Just how much can downtime cost you? For small businesses it costs as much as $427.00 a minute. So, just an hour of downtime having an emergency repair done on a computer can cost you as much as $25,620, much more than a proactive support plan.
Protects You from Costly Data Breaches & Security Incidents
It’s a dangerous world out there when it comes to the internet, and the risks keep getting higher. If your network and devices aren’t protected it can mean costly consequences.
The FBI recently reported a 400% increase in reported cyber crimes due to the pandemic.
Phishing and hacking related attacks are still the #1 cause of data breaches, but last year, a user-error related problem jumped into the #2 spot, which was misconfigurations of security settings.
What happens if you hope for the best and reactively take care of something like cybersecurity? You can suffer a costly ransomware attack, data breach, or other security incident that may not only cost you thousands of dollars but could mean closing your doors. This happens far too often to small businesses that can’t recover after a cyberattack.
A big part of proactive support is the boost in security, services include:
- Ongoing updates & security patch application
- Managed antivirus
- WebProtect web filter (to block malicious websites)
- Network Intrusion Prevention System
Unlimited Remote & Phone Support Improve Productivity
We’ve talked about some of the big IT issues that can be more costly when you take a reactive approach rather than proactive, but how about those little IT issues?
A wireless printer that won’t let you print to it or a software that’s acting up can be stealing minutes of productivity here and there through the day.
The average worker spends 22 minutes a day dealing with IT related problems.
If you have just 15 employees making an average of $18 per hour, if they didn’t have anyone to go to for tech support when they needed it, it could cost you approximately $1,980 a month in lost productivity.
With the Proactive Support Program from Two River Computer, you and your team get unlimited phone and remote support, which allows you to get the help you need when you need it. No more struggling with computer problems that steal away precious (and costly) time.
Lower Your IT Costs Today with a Proactive Support Plan
Security, ongoing maintenance, and proactive response all add up to peace of mind for you and lower overall IT costs. Learn how proactive support can make your life easier and improve your bottom line.
Contact us to sign up & start saving today! Call 732-747-0020 or reach us online.
