Many small business owners outsource most or all of their technology management and support. Hiring full-time internal tech support is limited by budgets; and even when the company is at a point in their life cycle where the expenditure is warranted, the high demand for IT professionals makes it difficult to attract and retain good talent. Thus, many non-technical business owners are totally reliant on the recommendations of external service providers.
One of our new clients came to us when their pay-as-you-go service provider had become unresponsive. This company was comparing providers and had already received a proposal from another provider when they got in touch with us. Their request included a new server with AV and backup (they knew nothing about the status of AV or backup on their current server). They were also interested to know if a VPN could be set up with their current firewall, as they wanted a more secure option for Remote Access that wouldn’t break the bank.
Our initial assessment uncovered that the server they had in place was severely outdated; Microsoft had stopped supporting it over four years ago, which was a huge risk. We were also surprised at the size of the server given the size of their business. A server that large and expensive wasn’t warranted given their requirements. Based on our findings, we developed a solution for technology that was the right size and fit for them.
We only recommend technology that is the right size and fit for your business and budget
Ultimately, our proposal was guided by the time we invested to understand this client’s technological and financial requirements. Our recommendation included updating their physical server, installing a new UPS device and AV software, and backing up their local images and data. Our client now has technology that is the right size and fit to help them succeed now and in the future!
We strive to give our clients options that will deliver a low total cost of ownership (TCO) and a high return on their investment (ROI). Click here to contact us to learn how our IT consulting firm can improve your ROI.
