South Florida Technology Today

Enterprise Class IT Monitoring Services for Florida SMBs – 5 Questions to Ask

One minute of downtime causes businesses $5,600 on average*. In order for your company to maintain efficiency and profitability you need to have a reliable network and infrastructure. Everything from your website to your communications systems to your business-critical software relies on the stability of your systems.  Information security is another important aspect of this stability that can’t be overlooked.

IT costs can be unpredictable. Is your organization taking a proactive approach to data center and network health? This an enormous responsibility, but many companies are only performing fixes when something finally breaks.

Your South Florida business can avoid unexpected costs without putting more work on your IT team. If you have an IT team, then their time is probably already stretched thin. The key is picking the right service that fits your needs. Use these 5 questions to ask when you’re looking for Server Health Monitoring services:

• Does the service provide the level of customization your company needs? Your organization is unique and the level of help you need for network monitoring and maintenance is going to be unique as well. If your service provider isn’t interested in learning about your company you’re your business goals before they offer you a plan and pricing then they’re doing you a disservice. Your Service provider should be interested in learning about your company before offering any pricing.
• Does the provider provide the flexibility you need? – What aspects of your network do you need help with and which can you cover yourself? If you’re only being offered all-or-nothing options then you should walk away.
• How knowledgeable is the service provider on different parts of the network? – Networks are complex, from switching and routing to backup, virus protection and security there are a bevy of skills required to provide world class service. Make sure the provider has the knowledge and proper certifications to make sure that your system will be covered by someone who know networks A-Z.
• Are Health Checks and Annual Reviews Included? – As your network and your company changes through time, you’ll need a service provider who is checking in from time-to-time. Environmental elements, like temperature and humidity should be part of any good check-up., Battery health, service logs, virus and spam filters, backup systems, and disk space and memory usage should also be looked it. Because your business needs may shift from year-to-year, your service provider should be working with you to build a proactive IT strategy that can shift as your business and budgetary needs shift.
• Are you getting a paper trail record of what the provider is providing you? Find out what level of reporting you’ll be provided by you network provider. They should be able to produce information that dives into your network performance. If you have specific requirements for the reporting they should be able to customize this to your needs. Find out if they can provide weekly/monthly/quarterly/yearly or even on-demand reports that meet your specifications.

Comprehensive Business Systems offers plans that can be customized to meet your company’s requirements and budget. Reach out to us today for a conversation on how we can help support your IT needs. From basic network monitoring to network assistance to full network support we can provide a level of service that meets your needs

Contact our experts today and request 3 months of free Server Health Monitoring services or to learn more tips download our whitepaper Top 10 Money Saving Secrets Your IT person Won’t Tell You.

 

*Ponemon Institute