Large organizations have dedicated managers and staffs to handle their own internal Computer and Networking needs, these people are called IT, for “Information Technologies”. The reason for this is simple. These companies may have hundreds of computers networked across many geographical areas. Hiring a simple computer repairman to “fix” a problem each time something happens is not a viable option. He would spend more time trying to understand the vast infrastructure than fixing the problem. Wasted time is wasted money.
While a small-to-medium size business may have a much less complex computing and network infrastructure, they can still benefit from having a professional watching over their equipment. The reasons are much the same. By outsourcing your IT management to a single firm, you have the security of knowing that professional computer engineers have a deep and personal understanding of your computer and network infrastructure.
IT Management is not just about fixing problems; it is also about maintaining and upgrading your infrastructure. Take for example this common problem experienced by many small businesses, and the ensuing adventure in trying to fix it “yourself” .
You have a somewhat older computer you use to keep track of your bookkeeping, print invoices and checks, etc. You have a very busy schedule, but you know that the only way you get paid is to send out invoices. So you take a few moments to sit down to invoice your customers only to discover that the printer you purchase in 1995 has died. Of course it would die on a busy day right when you needed it the most. Now you’re faced with a question, do you try to fix your old printer, or you do go down to the office supply store and buy a new one? Even though it’s an older printer a $25 fix is still cheaper than a $250 new device. Most people in this situation who do not have a trusted IT manager opt to purchase a new printer. After all sending it out to be fixed may take a few days, and buying a new one will get you back to working sooner. While buying a new printer may be the correct choice in half of these cases, a five minute phone call to someone who knew about what you used could save you $225. $225 may not be anything to IBM or Microsoft, but that $225 could be a tank or two of fuel you need to go out and work.
When you arrive at the office supply store you are confronted with many different options for a new printer. Color or black, Inkjet or Laser, USB or Network, Printer or Multifunction, etc, etc? Of course most people will ask the sales associate at the store for help. While many of these sales associates are knowledgeable about what specific products are on their store shelves. They are not trained to know every detail about every product they carry. Again, while they may be very enthusiastic in trying to help you pick out a printer they are not familiar with what computer and software you are using.
So you pick out a printer that you and the sales associate feel will work. You drive back to you office and spend a hour unpacking and setting up the printer only to discover that the printer is too new to work on your older computer. Or worse yet, it will work on your computer to print test pages, but will not work with your older accounting program. So, do you upgrade the accounting program or try another printer? Most people in this case try to contact the software maker to get their advice on what to do. After an hour of navigating their phone system and waiting on hold, you get your answer from the software maker, you need an upgrade. Many older accounting packages do have upgrade options, but they vary in price, starting out in the $500 ~ $1000 rage. Not feeling like you need a $1000 upgrade (after all the old version was working just fine, it’s the printer that’s broke), you opt to try another printer. Fortunately the office supply store does allow you to return the printer (not all do), and so you pack up the printer and drive back to the office supply store and roll the dice again in finding a printer that works.
After it’s all said and done, even if you do find a printer that works, you’ve wasted half or more of your day fixing a problem when you needed to be doing bookkeeping, which after all is not what you for a living anyway, it’s just a necessary evil you must do to get paid.
By using Tabor Consulting Group as your outsourced IT managers this is how this same problem would unfold.
After discovering that your printer has died, you call us. We will ask you a few triage questions about what happened to the printer. After all if could be something simple like a loose power cord. We’ll then spend a moment to talk about fixing this printer or getting a new one, the pros and cons, and the costs. We’ll also ask about software you use and go over all of the options. If you decide to get a new printer we’ll bring it out and set it up and make sure that it’s going to work with your computer and software.
One simple call, we fix the problem, and you can spend that half day working.
We try to mirror as much as possible the experience of having a full time IT manager in your business, without the creepy guy in the basement who is always eating Fritos and hitting on the secretaries. For a typical small business with an onsite server, 7 or 8 computers, and a few printers we will often implement, free of charge, a monitoring system. This will allow us to keep tabs on the health of your network as well as respond in real time if we discover a problem.
We also can put into place anti-virus and anti-spyware programs to make sure that your computers stay healthy. We also understand that failures are sometimes inevitable, so we administer backup procedures so that when something fails you can be back up and running as quickly as possible.
We can also structure an orderly upgrade and maintenance schedule based on your needs and budget. New equipment can be moved in to replace older systems before they fail, saving you money, stress, and keeping you current.
