In the midst of a global pandemic, many businesses have unfortunately found themselves woefully unprepared, especially in the area of IT. While some businesses had continuity plans that somewhat prepared them for remote working, others found that their IT providers didn’t have the resources necessary to continue supporting them during the changes caused by COVID-19.
If you are finding that your IT team did not sufficiently prepare your business to operate remotely during the COVID-19 pandemic, you’re likely feeling frustrated and wondering what the next step is. For businesses lacking IT service continuity at the moment, here’s how finding an IT provider with more comprehensive support agreements can help your business thrive:
Why Service Continuity is Critical
The bottom line is that your IT provider should not only be providing your company with a comprehensive business continuity plan, but they should also provide service continuity to protect you at this time. Service continuity ensures that your IT provider can service your business even during times of disaster, such as the rapid transition to full-time remote work and the consequences that followed.
If your IT provider hasn’t been able to offer service continuity, it’s a clear sign that you’re in need of more robust IT support. If your own provider can’t operate efficiently enough during the pandemic to offer you full service to meet their SLAs, how can you expect them to help your business continue to operate efficiently?
Here are some of the main benefits of working with an IT professional who offers full service continuity at all times:
Reduced Downtime and Outages
Recently, The 20 stated that “98% of organizations say a single hour of downtime costs over $100,000.” The larger the organization, the more costly downtime becomes, with some 81% of all organizations stating that one hour of outage resulted in a cost of approximately $300,000.
With businesses already struggling during the COVID-19 pandemic, there’s no excuse for outages. Maintaining productivity is essential, with revenue entirely dependent on it. If an outage does occur, an IT provider who offers a robust service continuity plan is a key partner.
Providers who can offer you the same level of service during the pandemic as they did before can operate efficient help desk and ticketing services to manage your IT requests. By continuing their immediate support service level agreements, they can help you manage IT needs quickly when you need it.
Enhanced Cybersecurity
If your IT provider hasn’t been able to provide full service continuity during the pandemic, there may be large holes in your security that go unaccounted for.
During the COVID-19 pandemic, there has been an increase in hackers exploiting businesses that are weakened with the recent migration to full remote. From outdated software to not using secure VPNs, hackers are taking full advantage of the recent changes. Currently, state-sponsored hackers have ramped up attacks during the coronavirus for a myriad of reasons, with certain groups going so far as to target public health institutions.
From phishing campaigns to scams, hackers are taking advantage of the scenarios that the pandemic has caused. On top of this, remote working has led to a lack of security in these new setups when not implemented properly. Everyone was pushed to begin working from home so abruptly that many security aspects of their remote network were neglected.
But as the pandemic continues to wreak havoc on the revenue of businesses and create substantial changes, businesses are finding themselves in desperate need of ongoing cybersecurity services to patch the gaps left in their remote networks. Service continuity from your IT provider can ensure that 24/7 network monitoring still takes place, preventing any new vulnerabilities from being exploited by patching them on the spot.
Improved Long-Term Strategies
To prepare for the likelihood that remote working becomes a permanent workforce trend, your IT provider should be constantly strategizing your IT for both now and the future. They should be consulting you on how to implement up-to-date tools, integrate remote video conferencing software, properly configure email automation, and more.
Strategizing now will allow you to streamline processes, establish useful tools, and gain a competitive advantage in your industry. Not using this time to strategize for the long term can lead to bigger losses down the road, while being proactive can help solidify the foundation of remote work and plan for the future.
Getting Help from a Managed Service Provider
A Managed Service Provider who offers service continuity can help you solve the problems presented by remote working. At Novustek, we work directly with you to help you reestablish your workforce needs and create a strategy to meet them, as well as ensure that future IT disruptions do not negatively impact your business.
The right MSP will not only implement smart tactics immediately but can help your business thrive and flourish long term. When a Managed Service Provider offers both business and service continuity, they can better evaluate your current IT infrastructure and determine new ways, tools, and applications that would benefit your security while reducing any potential outages.