These days, even the smallest business requires an IT system of some kind as the modern world demands web access and the usage of the internet for many reasons, including communication, collaboration, and even e-signatures, which have seen a sharp increase since the beginning of the Covid-19 pandemic.

However, IT infrastructure can quickly become a large expense for any type of business at any size and the management of these systems adds even more expense as it requires expert knowledge. Because of this, it is a good idea to outsource your IT management as it not only helps with costs but grants access to efficient and professional services, such as:

• Cybersecurity
• Data backup and management
• Infrastructure maintenance

Cybersecurity is one of the major concerns of the 21st century and needs to be handled appropriately while data backup and management are essential should the worst happen and physical maintenance of IT hardware requires highly skilled staff to be deployed on a regular basis.

Cybersecurity

For any business, online security and protection from unwanted intrusion is a major concern. There are many vicious hackers that make it their priority to target companies of all sizes with small and medium-sized businesses being targeted the most. Recent data shows that 18.5% of small businesses experience cyber-attacks while 60% of these didn’t think that they were a target. 

The truth is that a cyber attacker will target anyone, from a private individual all the way to the most major of corporations but employing a full-time security consultant is an expense that most businesses cannot afford while off-the-shelf antivirus programs aren’t enough these days. Cybersecurity can be handled by a dedicated Managed IT Company that employs highly trained and talented professionals who can ensure that your business receives the very best security measures.

These services work by constantly monitoring your traffic, engaging in anti-hacking activities, and providing network protection at a relatively low monthly cost when compared with hiring a full-time member of staff that could undertake these specialized tasks. Other cybersecurity services usually include software and hardware updates, cloud services, and hardware-as-a-service.

Data Backup and Management

Data breaching is on the rise all over the world and as of 2019 statistics, nearly 60% of companies surveyed stated that they had suffered a breach of some kind. Data loss can be devastating to a business, not only in terms of loss of trust by customers but can also lead to lawsuits, legal action, and fines depending on the data type such as confidential or classified information.

Managed IT Services can perform regular backup and data management systems as part of their comprehensive packages that ensure any loss of data can be recovered quickly and efficiently so that there is minimal disruption to your business. This is usually done by storing data offsite and can be backed up in a number of ways including cloud upload and physical media copy.

The benefits of outsourcing this type of service is that chain of custody can be imparted to the Managed IT Service where they can become liable for data loss rather than your company as well as ensuring that all data is being kept safe offsite by highly skilled and trained professionals. Many managed IT companies also offer very quick recovery methods and multiple backup options depending on your business needs.  

Infrastructure Maintenance

One of the most costly things a business can suffer is the maintenance of a physical network and IT infrastructure. Individual workstations must be purchased, software licenses need to be obtained and servers must be monitored. On top of this, IT professionals need to be hired to manage the systems on a daily basis and to deal with such things as user administration, PC issues, and data recovery.

The physical infrastructure of an IT system and its network can be managed by an IT service as part of their package, whereby they will install all necessary machines and operate operating systems with enterprise licenses over network access. This negates the need to hire an onsite engineer to deal with such issues and any problems can be resolved by IT support staff over the phone, by email, or with a site visit if necessary.

As well as managing the infrastructure of the physical network, cloud services can also be utilized where necessary. Cloud services aren’t only useful for data backup but managed cloud services can be optimized to run as efficiently as possible, facilitate migration, and are completely scalable with your business. However, cloud management is usually offered as a part of higher-tier packages.