Saving time is one of the reasons used to justify introducing more technology, but when not deployed effectively, IT can actually waste more time than it saves, especially when employees have to cope with and try to resolve ongoing IT issues.
According to a 2017 YouGov survey, private sector employees in the UK can spend up to an entire working day each month battling against a common set of IT-related problems. These include outdated hardware and software, internet connection failures and slow-running systems. 5.59% of an employee’s productive time can be diverted into dealing with these repetitive problems, equal to 27 minutes a day, two-and-a-half hours a week or 10 hours a month.
Instead of concentrating on delivering high-quality goods and services to customers, staff are scribbling down crucial info on scraps of paper, thumbing through computer manuals, searching online help forums, and interrupting their colleagues to talk about IT issues or even commandeering their PC to complete tasks.
In terms of reputation, this can prevent businesses from delivering services to new or existing customers, which can damage brand perception. When computer glitches reduced the Greater Manchester Police to working with pen and paper in 2019, the national media were quick to pick up on this.
Many of these problems can be eliminated by ongoing professional IT support. Often you won’t even know there was or could have been a problem when they monitor your systems remotely 24/7 to prevent issues from developing or fixing them before they impact your business operations. When bigger problems occur, they can resolve them in minutes or hours, instead of days, weeks or months.
Poor performance can be avoided from the start by tapping into the advice of professional IT experts for recommendations on the right level of equipment for your business needs and their capability to purchase and install systems so that they work efficiently.
Dedicated IT support covers all functions from keeping your company email operating smoothly to managing upgrade and compatibility issues, ensuring that your hardware can handle new software versions. Managed security and backup services also protect your business data.
Knowing that your IT systems are in safe hands frees up all available time for you and your employees to drive your business forward.
