Many business owners, especially in the small to midsize range, will try to save money wherever they can. This can be especially true with IT infrastructure and security where business owners will often say, “it’s working fine, we’re good, we have what we need.” While this approach may work for a while, it is likely to come back to bite the business and its owner(s).
Reactive IT vs Proactive IT
Reactive IT is when you call an IT professional or service when something is down or broken. Failures or problems can occur at any time to any business. It can be hardware that has failed, viruses that have infected your network or any number of problems. Each minute of down time is costing your business time and money, and with businesses so reliant on computers and technology today, downtime can have a huge negative impact.
Proactive IT is conducting regular monitoring and maintenance of your hardware, network, security and overall IT. The idea is to be ahead of the curve to minimize risks and keep your business running efficiently and effectively.
Think of your vehicle. It starts and runs without any problems, but you still get regular maintenance done such as oil changes and tire rotations. At each oil change a mechanic is also monitoring items like your break pads, battery performance and tire treads. You want to take this same proactive approach with your businesses IT.
Costs of Reactive IT
The average financial cost of cyber attacks to US small businesses is $25,612 (The Hiscox Cyber Readiness Report 2021). With more remote work and attacks on the rise, you need to make sure your business has taken the proper steps to monitor and secure your networks. One attack and it may be too late. A proactive IT approach will create a security plan with the proper measures in place to best protect the business.
If a business has $15 million in annual revenue and is open 40 hours per week year round, the average hourly revenue is $7,212. Thus, one hour of downtime is going to cost this business $7,212, not to mention potential damages to reputation and possible customer departure. Proactive IT will help keep systems running, or in the event of a failure or security breach, will get your business running quickly again.
Be proactive with your businesses IT
A managed IT services provider, such as Insight BTR, offers a team of IT experts with diverse skill sets and experiences to help plan, monitor and execute your IT. Solutions are customized to your business and its unique needs so you can be confident your IT is performing efficiently and effectively.
Insight BTR provides IT services and IT consulting in Madison, WI and throughout southern Wisconsin. Schedule a consultation, visit https://www.insightbtr.com, email info@insightbtr.com or call 608-661-0750.
