Zinc Blog

Managed IT services are a great way for your business to save money, but what specifically do these types of services do to have such a profound impact on your budget? The impact stems from three primary causes: a reliable level of service, a proactive stance on maintenance and management, and access to professional technicians with decades of expertise.

The decision to outsource your company’s IT decisions to a managed service provider is significant, and the importance is not lost on us. After all, you're essentially handing over the keys to your company's assets and resources, and it's crucial to ensure you make the right choice for the future of your business. Fortunately, gauging the suitability of a managed service provider can be made much easier by asking three key questions.

When a business goes into action to improve itself, it typically goes into the process thinking that whatever changes it makes can significantly affect how it functions. Unfortunately, this isn’t always the case. Today, we’ll discuss how professional consultants provide a perspective that can revolutionize how your business operates.

Technology can empower your business to accomplish great things, ranging from making better decisions to increasing productivity. However, your business could potentially be overwhelmed by the opportunities it presents. How do you navigate the confusing landscape of business technology? It all starts with having a clear understanding of what works for your particular business, starting by working with technology professionals.

Your business relies on its IT, but if you don’t have the experience managing these systems they can do more harm than good. Managing and troubleshooting problems can be difficult for those who aren’t trained and certified, so having access to professionals that are can make a significant difference for your business. In this week’s blog we will discuss the value that having certified IT technicians at your organization’s disposal can have a significant effect on your business. 

Businesses make money by providing services to their customers that bring them value. This business model is at the core of managed IT services, where the offerings are widely considered to pay for themselves, so to speak. Individually, the services might not seem like they would impact your bottom line that much, but when combined, they are a force to be reckoned with.

The average IT infrastructure is made up of dozens of technology solutions that all work in tandem to ensure your business’ success… at least, that’s how it’s supposed to work. Oftentimes, you’ll need to contact your technology vendors to either procure new solutions or get your existing ones to work with theirs. How do vendor relations figure into your company’s prolonged success?

Innovation is something that stems from creative thought, and it’s something that is generally not associated with your average business’ IT department. IT tends to be practical and logical, not necessarily creative. All that said, there is immense value in going against the grain and solving problems in a creative way. Today, we want to focus on how you can encourage your IT department to think creatively about their responsibilities so they can innovate and do amazing things for your business.

When you consider technology management for your business, what comes to mind? Do you replace technology as it breaks, or do you take steps to prevent it from breaking in the first place? The traditional model of break-fix IT could be costing your organization an arm and a leg. We want you to know that there are better solutions out there than break-fix IT.

We talk a lot about the individual ways that managed IT services can help your organization save time and money, but today we thought we’d take a look at some of the baseline numbers associated with partnering with a capable managed IT service provider.

Sometimes a business model or way of managing something complex comes along that changes the game for countless businesses, industries, and organizations. One such model is managed IT services, and it can effectively replace the way you used to manage your technology with a better, more efficient method. It can impact your budget, increase your bottom line, and save you countless hours throughout the workday.

Look, we get it; technology management is not easy, especially for small business owners who already wear a lot of hats. The last thing you want to do is add even more to your plate when you already have so much going on. That’s why we offer managed IT services to SMBs in the area. But what if we told you that managed IT services aren’t just for small businesses, but for all types of companies and organizations? Let’s discuss why this is the case.

When it comes to your business technology, you shouldn’t settle for anything less than the best. Unfortunately, technology is one facet of running a company where many business owners feel they have the least amount of control, perhaps due to its many moving parts and overwhelming complexity. The question becomes one of how you want to approach managing your business’ technology and finding the right skill sets to do so.

No one likes to imagine the worst-case scenario, but as a responsible business owner, you have no choice but to see the bad before the good. After all, the investments that you make in the future of your organization mean nothing if you have no power to preserve it in the event of unfortunate circumstances. Due to the nature of technology, it is an ideal place to start thinking about preventative and proactive measures to keep your future secure.

Small businesses are often in a precarious position with technology management, struggling with budgeting and acquisition of new technology as well as the difficulties that come with hiring top talent. Thankfully, they have an ace up their sleeves that allows them to stay competitive: managed IT services. With a great managed service provider helming their technology strategies, small business owners have a lot less to worry about than they might otherwise… at least in terms of their technology, anyway.

Your software is an important, even crucial, part of your business’ security considerations. After all, a software title with security issues could be the access point that hackers and scammers need. This is precisely why software updates and security patches are so important to keep up on. Let’s consider this in a little more detail.

So far, 2020 has been a bust, especially for businesses. The challenges that business owners have seen this year have been considerable to say the least: not only have there been economic and political tensions creating roadblocks, we’re now all dealing with the ramifications of an actual pandemic event. If any business is going to make it through all this, there needs to be a few shifts in how business technology is handled from this point on.

As a general rule, necessity dictates when a business upgrades the technology, they use each day. Sometimes it is because the tech they have been using can no longer support their needs, and sometimes, the solutions that are utilized simply aren’t efficient enough to keep up with operations any longer. New technologies may be adopted as a means to increase productivity, while others may actually be required by government-mandated regulations.

As a managed service provider, we realize that it may not be totally clear what it is that we do, exactly. To resolve this, we wanted to devote a blog to review what we provide to businesses like yours, and how our services can benefit you.

While most businesses need the same basic technology to support their operations, some industries have additional, more specific needs that require a more specialized tool to accomplish. As we leave this series behind, let’s briefly consider how a managed service provider can be a valuable resource for a business operating in one of these industries.