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After a hiatus for most businesses during the pandemic, many are now showing positive growth and considering ways to expand further. It is no secret that many companies did prosper during Covid, especially those linked to ecommerce, or delivery services.
However, the majority of businesses suffered financially, and many shut down causing job losses. It was around this time that it became clear to many SMEs that businesses need digital transformation to grow in this era.
Modernization and digitization have become vital if a business wants to survive, let alone hope for increased profits, growth, and possible expansion. Although transforming a business can seem daunting, proactive technology solutions can help a business develop and see growth.
What is meant by proactive technology solutions?
The business world today is full of acronyms, lingo, and slang, and it can be confusing to understand your ERPs from your CRMs at times. So, just in case you were unsure, proactive technology solutions refer to an IT support service that will proactively engage with clients’ networks.
The difference between this and regular IT support is easily explained. Regular IT support will react to callouts for system problems and computer users who are having issues with their hardware or software for instance. But, a proactive service such as Atlanta IT support will proactively monitor networks and resolve issues before they escalate.
What are the advantages of proactive technology solutions?
You can compare reactive IT support to proactive services in the same way that car maintenance and repairs are carried out. Repairs are made to vehicles once a problem is spotted, or when there is a breakdown. But, preventative maintenance is a method to keep vehicles running with less chance of any problem striking.
Proactive technology support also seeks to keep systems, websites, and networks running at all times by constant monitoring, analysis, and maintenance.
Some of the advantages of proactive IT support are increased uptime, which leads to growth through fewer losses, and higher sales for instance. Below are a few things that proactive IT services cover that could help your business to grow.
IT Infrastructure
Proactive IT service providers will cover all aspects of your infrastructure, and help to improve network speeds and security. There are plenty of cybersecurity tips including advising employees about the importance of strong passwords. Yet, taking a proactive method toward security is much more likely to prevent data loss and breaches.
As already mentioned, IT support like this will monitor your network for security concerns, but they can do this 24/7, unlike normal IT services. They can also advise on other solutions such as password vaults.
Cybersecurity and data breaches
Indeed, cyber security is a big part of proactive technology solutions. Unfortunately, many companies underestimate the risks of hackers and viruses until it is already a problem.
One example of how easy it is for a business to suffer massive downtime came a few years back with WannaCry. This ransomware infected 230,000 computers across more than 75% of the world in a few hours. The ransom demand was initially $300, which was doubled later on. This might not sound too bad, but the total costs involved have been estimated at around $4 billion.
Even more worrying was that the industries hit the hardest involved emergency services, security, and healthcare. To twist the knife a little bit more, the hackers ignored their victims even after they paid the ransom.
Proactive IT support will install new software to counteract viruses and ransomware and take steps to stop these programs from gaining network access.
Disaster recovery
Another part of keeping a business running at maximum strength is the ability to bounce back from data loss, or some catastrophic incident. Proactive IT support will provide backup services to the cloud and on-site, and present a practical plan to return swiftly to business should some disaster strike
Consumers are relying on the net far more since Covid struck. This means businesses need to have as little downtime as possible. And technology can help us to adapt to pandemic changes and the new demands placed on businesses that operate online.
Common business problems are DDoS attacks, theft, data breaches, and more rarely, fires or server failure. A disaster recovery plan can be put into action instantly by proactive IT support, meaning that your business will suffer minimal losses.
Help with employee and customer satisfaction
Making sure the correct software is installed, and is running efficiently, will help with employee satisfaction. Slow systems, constant downtime, and software that isn’t up to the job can be major sources of frustration for employees.
If you can retain your best people you will avoid the costs of recruitment and training, and you will have experienced staff who care about the company and its customers.
Happier clients and customers
Similarly, your IT support can help you to have happier customers and clients. If you can boost customer retention by 5% you could see profits increase from 25% to 95%. This is far easier to say than to do, but better customer services and near-constant system uptime will help to grow trust and loyalty with your consumers.
Summary
Proactive is always better than reactive, just as preventative maintenance is usually more cost-effective than repairs. Of course, things will inevitably go wrong with networks at some point, but a proactive IT support service will be ready to react swiftly.
Through constant monitoring, analysis, and change, your business will begin operating more efficiently. You will have happier workers, and customers and this will lead to the growth you wish to see.
