Changing role of IT Service and Support

The role of IT Service and Support is changing with the increased reliance on technology in small to medium businesses today. It has shifted from being one of repair and fix to one of being an enabler and an advisor.

A business not adopting this approach will find that in the long term that, it will be always reactive, missing opportunities and end up with an IT infrastructure, tools and processes that are out of date and costing an arm and a leg. This can be avoided where the role of IT service and support is broadened to one of prevention and strategic advice.

How to tell, how your business approaches IT service and support?

Entering an organisation and talking with the staff is a good indicator for understanding how an organisation is viewing the role of IT service and support. Frustration and low confidence in being able to rely on the IT infrastructure in performing their roles will give a good guidance on the approach being taken.

If its letting them down they will talk amongst themselves and comments like, I just cannot complete my work efficiently thanks to the speed of the internet. Or maybe something along the lines of we missed the deadline for that customer proposal the other day thanks to the slowness of my computer will be prevalent throughout the organisation.

Yes, poor morale in an organisation and frustration with IT technology being able to support staff in the performance of their day to day duties is an indicator of adopting a traditional break and fix approach.

The support and service team will be focused on fixing the network that breaks constantly, performing maintenance regularly across machines are slow, do not have the latest software patches, removing tools introduced by staff that are not part of the standard operating system.

The consequence is that the discussion on IT is always about fixing issues rather than on working out how IT can add value to your business through increases in productivity, adding to the customer experience, delivering increased profitability.

How to cope with the fast evolution of technology?

Technology continues to evolve and change at a rapid pace and with this change comes increased opportunity for small to medium businesses. Once technology was really the domain of big business that is not the case today and for many small to medium business owners the question is how to take advantage of these technologies, so they can compete more aggressively and deliver on their promises.

This changes the nature of what a small business s looking for in terms of service and support. Not only do you want the technical knowledge, but they want an IT Service provider that can be a strategic partner by adding value to the business.

Do you have control over your Data?

It does not matter what size the business is, nearly all employees are bringing their own devices to work and using these devices within the Businesses network and infrastructure. This spells danger and means that as a business it is very hard to know what devices are being used to access company data.

Without a proactive support plan where you have a provider monitoring and implementing and activating policies that protect your organisation from unauthorised access then you are increasing the risk of data loss and the associated impact.

Who maintains and controls the access to your systems when an employee leaves?

The support provided to a business today is more than just fixing computers, repairing networks, and installing software. Managing the movement of people into the business and from the business is a key activity of support today this includes enabling, maintaining and removing email accounts, monitoring and enforcing the password policy across the businesses network infrastructure. All with the aim that a business can act with confidence that their data is safe and secure.

What are the support and services solutions for a business today?

Each Business will have their own needs and views so there is no one solution that fits all businesses. In some instances, it is better for a small business to take small steps in transitioning to a more proactive approach. This enables them to gain confidence with a more proactive approach and monitor the impact on the business before fully committing to a fully-fledged managed services model.

Approach 1 – Purchase a block of Hours

This is where the customer commits to pre-purchase a block of support hours from a Computer troubleshooter and when these hours are consumed another block of hours is purchased. Because you are paying upfront the hourly rate is likely to be at a better value than if just a normal break fix hourly rate.

At Computer Troubleshooters the services provided for that block of hours will be defined for you what is not covered. You will be able to discuss add-ons for the services not covered.

Approach 2 – A subscription plan

This is where the customer decided to pay a monthly fee for a range of services provided by the IT Service Business. This in effect is a Managed Services solution.

At Computer Troubleshooters we offer a range of subscription plans covering various aspects of your situation. For instance, we have a Total Protection Plan that is focused on ensuring you have an anti-virus solution, some back up and a little bit of system maintenance. Your plan might be focused around Microsoft office 365, hosted email, password management and user access.

You may be looking for a much broader plan which covers a lot more monitoring and maintenance activities supported by IT strategy reviews which is known as our BEST managed services plan.

For further information Call 08 8387 3889 or email support@ctsjw.com.au