Business Best Practice External IT Support and Backups
August 12th, 2011 | 
Author: Deals with the issues of downtime, the demand for external IT support and backups on a business basis.
The days of the old internal IT department are going, fast. The new option, external IT management and outsourcing services, is putting an end to the days of IT staff trying to be everywhere at the same time and doing what they can with what they have. The fact is that technology has superseded this approach to IT management. The new outsourced IT services management approach is far more efficient, far cheaper, and infinitely more cost efficient at all levels.
External IT support basics
External IT management has been a game changer for a lot of businesses. In practice, it means more resources, better options for businesses, and customized IT systems adapted to real business needs.
External IT outsourcing does a lot more than the old internal IT services could ever do, while including the same basic operations as well.
These services provide:
- Direct help desk support
- Remote monitoring
- Upgrades for business systems
- Business system customization and design
- Database management
- Integration of business systems
- Hosting business applications
- Training for staff
- Offsite data backups
- Security management and upgrades
These are all major core business issues. They impact all areas of business from management down to sales, administration and operations at the coal face. The increased efficiencies possible are so far in advance of the normal standalone business IT operation it’s almost unbelievable.
External IT outsourcers also provide IT business consulting services. These services are invaluable for improving IT performance and system design. The new business management systems are far ahead of those usually accessible to businesses using standalone IT management. They can streamline IT and administration systems into best practice business management systems and drastically improve performance.
Perhaps more importantly, they can also eliminate the long administrative “tail” created by typical business systems which involves using multiple platforms and software which have to be manually integrated by admin. If you’ve ever seen the problems created trying to create reports while accessing multiple information systems and putting the information on to admin systems, you’ll appreciate the value of this approach. It saves a lot of time and money.
Critical issue- External backups and support
The main issue confronting businesses is that various parts of the IT system can crash or create problems at various levels. This is also typical of non-integrated systems where a range of runtime errors and “dubious” interoperability of systems can cause chaos. Worse, it can cause a lot of downtime, backlogs, and in some cases serious risk of data loss.
If all that sounds expensive, it can be, very, and the result is a net loss of time, money and in some cases business, particularly if sales systems are affected. This is where the external backups come into the picture, providing guaranteed support where it’s need most. Remote IT management services can also provide direct support to people on the ground, another valuable asset.
In practice, external backup and support, which was one of the original support functions of the early IT systems, has now become the mainstay of IT management. This support is invaluable. It can provide solutions instantly and effectively, around the clock. If you’re looking for better IT options, start by looking at these solutions. You won’t regret it.
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