In today's digital age, technology is the backbone of both our personal lives and our business operations. The moment we experience an "Internet blackout," it's as if time freezes – businesses are halted, leading to significant financial losses due to decreased productivity and sales. Take, for instance, the recent AT&T outage that left approximately 1.7 million customers in the lurch, affecting countless small businesses with no access to phone or internet services. Can you imagine your business being incapacitated for an extended period, be it minutes, hours, or days? For most, the mere thought is unsustainable.

Downtime is one way bad IT support can disrupt your business, but it’s not the ONLY issue. Big problems like recovering deleted files, removing malware, and constantly monitoring and patching your network, and minor irritations like getting file access, resetting forgotten passwords and repairing broken printers, can stack up over time and affect productivity.

That is why you must have a way to get back up and running quickly should something happen – or even a way to ELIMINATE tech problems before they start.

Regrettably, shelling out hefty sums for IT support that seems incapable of solving even the simplest problems is all too frequent. The "IT experts" who assured you of unparalleled service at rock-bottom prices often appear more interested in using their supposed magic wands for personal comfort than in proactively managing your systems. This reactive approach to IT management is unsustainable. To address this, we've compiled a list of essential criteria that anyone responsible for your network must fulfill.

Check off all that apply:

  • Does your IT company answer their phone LIVE and respond to emergencies promptly (within minutes)?
  • Is your IT company easy to reach and highly responsive (responding within 2 hours) when you need them for non-emergencies?
  • Do you know if your IT company proactively monitors, patches and updates your computer network’s critical security settings daily? Weekly? At all? How do you know for sure? Hint: Most don’t!
  • Does your IT company offer proof that they are backing up ALL your data, laptops and devices?
  • Does your IT company meet with you regularly to report on what they’ve been doing, review projects and offer new ways to improve your network’s performance instead of waiting until you have a problem to make recommendations?
  • Does your IT company provide detailed invoices that clearly explain what you are paying for?
  • Does your IT company explain what they are doing and answer your questions in terms you can understand, NOT in “geek-speak,” and routinely ask if there’s anything else they can help with, no matter how small?
  • Does your IT company proactively discuss cybersecurity with you, make recommendations for protecting your network from ransomware, and offer training videos so your employees don’t fall victim to scams?
  • Do techs arrive on time and dress professionally, and do you look forward to working with them, or do you cringe every time you have to make that call?

If your current IT company, technician or “IT guy” does NOT check the boxes on every point, you could be – and most likely are – paying for substandard support.

Neglecting this aspect can not only put your data and network security at risk but may also lead to significant financial losses due to decreased productivity. It’s unsustainable because you and your team are forced to allocate valuable time addressing issues that ideally should not occur. Moreover, in the event of a mishap, responsibility and blame will inevitably fall on your shoulders.

If that’s the case, then it’s time you see what else is out there and make sure you’re getting what you pay for. Anything less is a liability to your business.

To schedule a free 10-minute discovery call to see how we can get rid of your tech issues, go to https://www.10dtech.com/discoverycall/ or call us at(541) 250-3492 or (971) 915-9103