Is your IT "consultant" the neighbor's 14-year-old?

The truth is, many small business owners have turned the responsibility of their computers and networks over to the kid next door or their cousin's uncle, or a "professional" IT consultant who isn't very professional. Others live with the quirks of their system because they fear the costs associated with repairs. As a result, many small business owners spend their budgets fixing problems instead of being proactive about maintenance, support and growth.

Does any of this sound familiar?

• The invoice from your IT consultant varies widely from month to month making it virtually impossible to plan or budget for the costs of keeping your network operating.
• You find yourself impatiently watching the amount of time your IT consultant is on site, because you know the longer he is there, the larger the bill you will receive.
• You don’t have confidence that the problem is “really fixed” when your IT consultant leaves.
• You wonder “what else did he/she break” in the process of fixing something else.
• You wonder if your backup really works, and in the event of a disk failure, if you have all the necessary files backed up to restore your system to functionality.
• You live with quirks and network performance issues because you are reluctant to call someone to assess them due to the unknown costs.
• Most of your IT budget is spent on “fixing” things and reacting to problems, rather than improving them and being proactive about your network maintenance, support, and growth.
• You don’t know if you are up to date with current security patches and software fixes from your software vendors.
• Your network is undocumented and critical information such as access ID’s and passwords are in the hands of your IT consultant forcing dependency on them.
• You are unsure of warranty or maintenance agreement expiration dates on hardware, software, and anti-virus subscriptions leaving you vulnerable and exposed.
• You are unsure if your network is safe from intrusion.
• You have little or no confidence that the advice being given to you by your IT consultant is in your best interest.
• Is your entire network support in the hands of one individual giving you concerns about your business continuity in the event that one individual could no longer provide support?

See how our Managed Service Plan can change all that for you.