North east businesses make substantial investments in IT solutions – and rightly so. There is no doubt that IT is as critical to a business as electricity! The technology now in place really supports business, enabling increased productivity, money savings, better and faster communications and differentiates the business from it’s competitors. However, businesses need to look after their investments and provide the support required to ensure that all IT systems are being used to their full potential.
Our business culture has now become reliant on IT. Can you remember the last time that you sent a letter rather then an email, used reference books rather than Google or filed away a paper document rather than saving a file on your network? So what happens when IT systems fail?
Most businesses do experience IT problems which is frustrating, unproductive and costly. IT failure can have devastating consequences for any business and it isn’t just serious problems which can cause disruption - networks can run slow, applications can crash and errors can slowly build up behind the scenes, leading to more serious problems in the long term.
A recent study revealed the full scale of the issue. According to a study by Warwick Business School and Network First Limited, downtime is losing businesses 37.1 hours per year and costing an average of £7122.94. That is the equivalent of someone sat at their desk, doing nothing for an entire week.
Croft specialises in IT support and has recently launched ProCare, a new service which keeps your IT systems running reliably, leaving you free to run your business. ProCare monitors servers and PCs to ensure they are working to full capacity and that there are no problems on the network. In most instances any problems are picked up and resolved before anyone within the business is even aware of them. It also includes features such as; personal support, remote monitoring, daily health checks, reporting, security, data back-up, on-site engineers, replacement parts and loan equipment.
Gary Smith, Customer Services Director at Croft, explained: “We all know how frustrating it is when IT systems fail – even if it’s just for a short period of time. With no emails, no access to the server or data banks and no connection to the internet, a relatively small period of time can represent a substantial loss to a business.
“Downtime can also have a detrimental effect on clients - and it can even impact upon customer retention. During downtime the amount of work produced declines – it is difficult for this not to affect clients in some form. Initially clients will be understanding – IT failures do happen. However, if this is a reoccurring issue, or there are set deadlines which cannot be met, clients will become frustrated. It could have an impact on your working relationships and business loyalties may be lost.
“Think about your IT investments like you would a new car. Would you invest in a brand new, high specification car and then neglect it – not having it serviced, not having it checked at the garage when you think something is wrong or even still, trying to drive it without topping up your petrol? Well why do essentially the same with your IT system. “Managing your IT systems can be a complex and demanding job so there are now a range of services available to ensure that your IT systems work efficiently and effectively. There really is no excuse for downtime. “It is more important than ever to understand the real impact of downtime and businesses need to ensure they can support the IT systems they invest in.”
