Network Solutions Unlimited Blog

The late American author Kurt Vonnegut once wrote, “New knowledge is the most valuable commodity on earth. The more truth we have to work with, the richer we become.” Written in the 20th century, it has been put in practice by 21st century businesses. As the Internet has grown, the amount of companies expanded, and the amount of data that those companies collect has grown exponentially, especially now that there is a market for such data.

There is no question that a small business can benefit from technology, as has been proven time and time again. However, an issue can arise if a business bites off more than it can chew, so to speak, and ultimately creates a spike in costs. A responsible business owner will resist this temptation and prioritize the solutions they need over the ones they want - building profitability and generating capital needed to make other improvements.

In this blog, we’ll examine some of the implementations that can deliver a good return on investment to a small business.

There is no question that a small business can benefit from technology, as has been proven time and time again. However, an issue can arise if a business bites off more than it can chew, so to speak, and ultimately creates a spike in costs. A responsible business owner will resist this temptation and prioritize the solutions they need over the ones they want - building profitability and generating capital needed to make other improvements.

Businesses of all sizes use varying degrees of technology to improve organizational productivity, efficiency, and security. The more a business depends on its data, the more crucial it is for them to manage and maintain the systems in which this data is dependent. For organizations that have a lack of financial resources to support these systems, it is often left to unqualified employees, putting your business at risk. What do you do when you need expertise that you lack and can’t afford to hire in-house staff?

Running a business is challenging, especially when it comes to juggling your assets and your IT budget. That’s not even mentioning managing your workforce, or delegating tasks out to those who are qualified to perform them. While you’re busy with all of these responsibilities, chances are that there will always be one task within your organization that’s better handled by a professional: your IT management.

Some businesses have a hard time admitting that they don’t have someone skilled enough to perform certain tasks. Plus, IT management and maintenance isn’t something that you want an inexperienced worker handling. The truth about situations like this is that outsourcing is, in fact, a valid option, and one that shouldn’t be dismissed - especially for small businesses. Sometimes small organizations don’t have the time to deal with routine maintenance, while others have trouble attracting top talent. Both scenarios inevitably lead to technology that isn’t cared for properly, and will eventually break down.

For this specific reason, outsourcing IT management and maintenance is one of the most valuable outsourced services that your business can implement. After all, you started your business for the purpose of providing a service you love, not to manage your technology solutions. If you want to focus on maximizing the quality of your services, you need someone watching your technology that can keep an eye on it 24/7. You just might find that your goals are all within arm’s reach at long lost.

One of the major benefits of managed IT services is the fact that your technology will be handled by a professional technician, rather than untrained employees. You don’t want just anyone performing maintenance on your business’s IT solutions. Imagine what would happen if the person in charge of your IT were to mishandle or mismanage your technology - expensive downtime could ensue, and your budget could be burdened with frustrating repair costs and replacement fees. Of course, one of the most crippling parts of a hardware failure or downtime event is the data that’s lost when a server goes down. Unless you have support ready and on-hand to help you get through the incident as quickly as possible, an unexpected data loss incident could break your business badly enough that it can’t recover.

When you outsource your IT to Network Solutions Unlimited, you can eliminate this uncertainty and ensure maximum uptime. Network Solutions Unlimited is ready to assist you with your technology at any time, and we make it our goal to minimize downtime and prevent technology difficulties altogether. Our managed IT services can be helpful even if you have an in-house IT department. Chances are that they’re bogged down with IT work, be it upgrading to better technology or applying routine maintenance. Our technicians can assist them and provide a second opinion when it’s needed, as well as free up time by eliminating issues altogether.

Our technicians want to see you make the most of your business, and we’ll use our expertise to limit the IT roadblocks you encounter so that you can focus on your goals. To learn more, give us a call at (217) 428-6449.

If you’re like every other business in the world, you rely on a set of software solutions that you use to ensure that all work gets done properly in your office. In order to effectively use this software, though, users have to purchase a software license, an agreement with the developers pertaining to the use of the software. Without having the proper licensing, your business can no longer access mission-critical applications, which could result in downtime and other risks to your infrastructure.

The Risks Involved
Since renewing software licensing is so crucial to the continued success of your business, you should be aware of the risks of not renewing your software licenses promptly. Here are three of the biggest problems that can come from not keeping track of your business’s software licenses.

• Downtime: The first thing you’ll notice about failing to renew your software licensing is that the applications will be available one moment, and then unavailable the next. This can be troublesome if your business is on a strict deadline for a project. If the software required to complete the project is suddenly unavailable, how can you keep operations moving forward? Waiting for this problem to be solved can kill your business’s momentum and grind progress to a halt.
• Shadow IT: If your team is getting frustrated from a discontinued access to certain software solutions, it’s likely that they will try to find a solution to the problem themselves by searching for free software online. The problem here is that this software isn’t approved by IT, and this lack of oversight can have dire consequences. Some free online software will come with malware or adware attached, which could lead to a potential data breach if left unchecked.
• Legal repercussions: If your team does find a cheap version of the software they need, chances are that a “discounted” or “free” version of any major brand software, like Microsoft, probably isn’t legitimate. Risking your company’s future by giving your team a reason to find workarounds for software licenses isn’t the right way to do things. You shouldn’t have to rely on potentially illegal ways of acquiring software to get around software licensing. If your team is found to be using a version of a particular software without a software license agreement, you could be subject to nasty fines and audits that could break your budget.

If your business is having trouble managing its software licenses, we would be more than happy to help. With our remote management and maintenance solutions, we can keep track of updates to your business’s crucial systems, and we can keep an eye on your software license renewal process to ensure that it happens without a hitch. To learn more, give us a call at (217) 428-6449.

Not too long ago, businesses would seek out technology professionals for help in resolving difficulties. Nowadays, the way companies go about IT maintenance has been turned on its head. Instead of reacting to major hardware failure, businesses are finding it more economical to proactively maintain their technology, preventing major issues from happening in the first place.

The traditional break-fix IT model, where businesses would wait until their technology was legitimately broken before seeking professional assistance, has been forsaken for the more convenient and less-expensive managed IT service model. In part, this is because companies now leverage technology in unprecedented bulk, relying heavily on the continued functionality of their technology solutions in order to maintain operations. In other words, it becomes extremely expensive to replace hardware whenever something breaks down. Therefore, it’s more effective if your business takes a more conscientious approach to prevent issues from evolving into major problems.

Managed IT services were created specifically for businesses that want to take a proactive approach to technology maintenance. In comparison, break-fix IT takes a reactive approach, only fixing problems that make their way to the surface, and only when they directly affect your business’s operations. Obviously, managed IT is the more desirable of the two, and it can save your business money by preventing small issues from blossoming into expensive problems that could lead to downtime.

Here are some of the major reasons why choosing a managed service approach to IT is superior to the traditional break-fix repair strategy.

• Fewer capital costs: Technology is expensive. There’s no getting around this fact. Naturally, you want to replace your technology as little as possible due to the immense up-front costs of doing so. This means that you need to take exceptionally good care of your technology if you want to limit your expenses in the long run. Plus, the amount of money that you invest in your managed services agreement can now be recorded as an operating expense, further mitigating your capital expenses.
• Reduced management responsibility: One of the key benefits of the managed IT service model is that your business doesn’t need to spend as much time dealing with technology repair problems, and can instead focus on improving business operations. In other words, the responsibility of handling your technology is taken care of for you, so you can concentrate on what matters most: running your business.
• Quality technology maintenance: If your team doesn’t regularly handle IT maintenance, and you don’t have an internal IT department, chances are that your technology isn’t getting the attention it needs in order to stay up to date. By outsourcing this responsibility to a managed service provider, you can rest easy knowing that your IT is being handled by trained professionals.

The fact that IT plays such an important role in your business's success shouldn’t be undermined by going with traditional break-fix IT support. We guarantee that no break-fix IT support company can provide your business with the same care and attention that Network Solutions Unlimited can. We understand the importance of technology to the workplace environment, and we’ll do everything that we can to keep your systems in working order. For more information, reach out to us at (217) 428-6449.