Choosing the right IT support can be difficult for business owners, often because they are unsure which options offer the best value for money, the fastest response times, and the proactive monitoring and maintenance that will protect their systems and networks from outages.
Ingenio Technologies, a leading UK provider of comprehensive managed and outsourced IT support, explains in straightforward terms how remote support works and the important areas to consider when deciding on the most suitable IT support company for your business.
Types of UK Business IT Support
There are three primary ways to tackle IT support. A lot depends on the nature of your business, the types of systems, connectivity and digital assets that are essential to keeping things moving, and how often you find yourself encountering glitches, faults and network errors that pose a threat to productivity.
1. In-House IT Support
In-house IT support is often suited to larger organisations with the budget to employ at least two full-time team members to cover each other for absences and remain available throughout the working day.
The positive is having an employee on-site ready to respond to downtime – although recruiters must hire multi-skilled personnel with the appropriate skills and knowledge to address all the possible errors that could emerge.
However, the cost of employing permanent IT support staff is prohibitive for many businesses and also less cost-effective if outages are rare, or you don't require continual assistance.
2. Ad Hoc or Break-Fix Assistance
Another way to approach IT support is to rely on ad hoc services when needed. This service is called 'break-fix' because you only contact an IT provider when something that requires fixing is broken.
While the pay-as-you-go model can seem sufficient from a budgetary perspective, it is more often a false economy. If you are calling on an IT provider – a local company or a remote service – and have no ongoing relationship, you will normally need to wait a considerable time for your ticket or request to get to the top of the queue.
It is also possible to spend far more than you might have otherwise in addressing IT issues since a break-fix provider can charge at their discretion.
3. Managed or Outsourced IT
Ingenio Tech believes that the third solution – managed or outsourced IT – is ideal in every sector, providing flexibility for companies that don’t wish to spend sizable amounts on IT support they are unlikely to need but without the risk that they encounter a business-critical problem, without a speedy fix in sight.
Competitive pricing packages, based on the size of the workforce and systems complexity, means organisations benefit from an always-on partner with expertise across their IT resources, monitoring traffic, identifying potential cybersecurity threats and system overloads, and dealing with any concerns quickly and efficiently.
How Does Outsourced IT Support Work in Practice?
Outsourcing IT support means just that – you contract a third-party provider to take over responsibility for all the aspects of your business IT that matter most. In most cases, the support on offer can be customised rather than paying for blanket cover that may not be relevant.
Examples of the most common outsourced IT support services include:
- Help desk assistance, with ticketing systems to allow staff to raise a support request on demand – whether they have a sudden system crash or need help working out how to integrate a new app.
- Remote monitoring, where your IT provider keeps a watch over your traffic and systems to pre-empt possible issues, flag areas where your software or hardware requires updating, and patch security against new threats.
- Advising on all aspects of your IT infrastructure, from selecting devices and software to implementing faster connectivity and telecoms or replacing legacy systems with the latest alternatives.
Preferably, outsourced IT should be fully managed – rather than emergency assistance only. Managed IT, while also outsourced, provides the assurance of out-of-hours maintenance, regular system updates, preventative repairs, and discounted hardware procurement.
It is possible to pay for pared-back outsourced IT, which works more similarly to the break-fix model we explained above. Hence, it is crucial to understand what you are paying for, what is included, and whether it is right for your business.
The Advantages of Outsourced Business IT Support
The biggest benefit to businesses working with an outsourced IT service provider is cost efficiency, having professional IT advisers at the end of a support ticket whenever they need assistance, at a fraction of the expense of hiring an in-house IT specialist.
Implementing an IT support contract, usually through a service level agreement (SLA), assures that the IT provider is contracted to deliver the agreed services, and the complexity of training new IT advisors or remaining up to speed with the latest software releases isn't something the business needs to worry about.
Outsourcing is increasingly recognised as a positive way to increase productivity, where your workforce doesn't need to invest time and energy dealing with sluggish connections or slow systems but can focus on those tasks that add to your revenue and profitability.
A final benefit is that an outsourced IT support provider isn’t limited to your normal working hours and can often provide out-of-hours assistance, updates and maintenance, with the flexibility to work around your schedule so that when you log on in the morning, your updated systems are ready to go.
Ingenio Tech Outsourced IT Support Services
Ingenio Technologies doesn't offer fixed-rate pricing since the priorities and needs of every business are unique. Instead, with nationwide coverage, the outsourced IT support provider offers bespoke quotes based on an overview of the organisation.
The business IT expert advocates for transparent pricing, with a simple online form that businesses can complete to receive back detailed quotations, ensuring the support they purchase is properly aligned with their objectives.
Among the many benefits, companies have a 100-day guarantee and can opt out at any point beforehand, while unlikely, if they decide that a different approach to IT support is preferable.
IT support clients receive a 15-minute response to all support tickets, a wide range of advice, and quarterly IT audits to ensure any gaps in their security, technological agility or system operations are addressed, with all IT support dealt with in one place, with one provider, and without unexpected additional costs.
Read more about Ingenio Technologies - Ingenio Technologies Reports 99% Response Rate Within 15-Minutes to Business IT Support Clients
About Ingenio Technologies
Ingenio Technologies is a business IT support company based in Brighton that has grown to become a recognised leader in business IT support throughout Sussex, including IT Support Crawley. They are known for being proactive in everything they do, organic growth is based purely on referrals from happy customers.
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Source Company: https://ingeniotech.co.uk/
