Small businesses today have their hands full, and it takes an incredible amount of multitasking to succeed. Where these tasks fall on multiple shoulders in larger businesses, there’s often only a select few that hold the responsibility in smaller operations, and how these tasks are handled can determine whether or not a small business survives.

While many small businesses can manage all of this beautifully, it only takes one IT issue to throw a wrench into your operations and turn everything upside down. As a small business, you’re looking to succeed in a highly digitalized world – and this means being prepared to handle any IT problem that come your way. Managed IT services could be the solution you’re looking for.

Have you been considering managed IT services for your small business, but aren’t sure of the benefits are worth the cost? Here’s some insight into the unique challenges that SMBs face and how outsourced IT support can help.

Security

There’s an unfortunate misconception that cyber-crimes are only a threat to larger businesses. From the perspective of the unsavory individual that’s looking to steal data, smaller businesses are often less protected, making them more vulnerable to digital crimes.

There’s data to back up this theory, like the fact that 58% of malware attacks victims fall into the small business category. Unfortunately, this is a number that’s on the rise. SMBs can hold a wealth of sensitive information, and it can spell certain death if that data falls into the wrong hands. Professional IT services can spot data threats before they occur and mitigate the damage before it hurts your business.

Downtime

An IT issue can send any business into a tailspin, but when it keeps you offline and unable to connect with and help your customers, it can cause a major ding to your reputation. Handling IT issues in house can be time consuming, and that alone can cost you in terms of respect and revenue.

Working with an agency that provides managed IT services takes the weight off your shoulders. Not only will they be able to easily identify the source of the problem, they’ll also significantly shorten your downtime, so you can get back to focusing on what really matters.

Productivity

While small businesses actually have some advantages over the big guys, the size of their staff is not one of them. The very nature of an SMB means that there’s not a lot of extra manpower to go around, so when one person gets pulled away to handle an IT problem, it causes a domino effect of loss of productivity as resources start getting stretch in more directions.

Working with a dedicated IT service means that your team can stay focused on the task at hand, doing what they know how to do best – support and grow your amazing small business.

Are you a small business that could benefit from working with a managed IT professional? We offer a range of services from IT consulting, data recovery and more. Contact Proactive IT today to learn how our team of professionals can help protect your small business.