Stopping the IT pain before it starts

IT Support: Gary Rayner, AnyIT

But that’s where the problem lies.

Seeking I.T. help when the pain has already started leaves a business on the back foot, frantically searching around for a quick-fix remedy to dull the ache and make the issue go away. Until the next time.

It’s a situation we see frequently. Our first communication with a new client is often in times of trouble. If a business only seeks an IT provider when there’s a problem, or to save money, it needs to review this relationship. Open two-way communication, transparency, mutual trust and leaving the experts to implement best practices are crucial to a business’s tech security and stability.

If you’re not asking for meetings with your I.T. provider on a bi-yearly basis to assess forthcoming challenges, budget, etc you’re not getting the most from their expertise. Yes this might cost a few pounds extra, but the best relationships are with those that involve us in their business before they make decisions or changes – we’re an extension of their team.

Case in point

I’ll take as an example, structural engineering and design company, Superstructures. We were recommended to MD, James Potter, through a client. He needed us because he was experiencing the ‘pain’ of data loss and was unable to access files as a result of a failure.

What had worked for him when setting up his business now wasn’t, with possibly catastrophic consequences. By putting into place some best practices and a lot of time, we left James feeling able to go through with a rare two week holiday starting the next day, while we got to work on resolving a problem that was severely impacting the business. Of course we were able to jump to the rescue, but not before the customer was at their wit’s end. He has discovered the importance of maintaining a good relationship with an IT provider for all times – good and bad.

This is what James had to say: “Up to the point of this nightmare, we had been confident in managing our IT in-house. With everything backed up in the Cloud, we felt safe – until the system failed overnight and we were left unable to operate. Luckily we had a backup of our backup, and the AnyIT team quickly came to our rescue, not only rebuilding, but restructuring our data storage, so it didn’t happen again. I now wouldn’t be without AnyIT, and they continue to support us with everything IT-related”.

Be aware and prepared

Everyone knows about cybercrime but it’s important to recognise that much like the situation seen by Superstructures, the risks do not just come from cyber threats. What’s more likely to break your window at home – a thief trying to gain access to your home or someone mowing the lawn and flicking that one stone smashing it? In both cases, you need to be aware and prepared. As your business grows, the tech issues grow exponentially. The larger your business, the bigger the consequences.

18 years on from establishing AnyIT, we’re nurturing our team to have open and frank conversations with clients, enabling best practices that allow us to get on with preventing issues before they happen. To provide a clean bill of health, not just a sticky plaster.