As as business owner, your focus should be on your clients and future growth. The two things that hinder the success of any business are the lack of time and energy. What takes up too much time and energy from a business owner? Dealing with IT related issues that could have otherwise been averted through preventative IT maintenance.
The Cost of Downtime Due to Lack of Preventative IT Maintenance
The cost of downtime is more than you think – find out just how much by downloading our free white paper The True Cost of Downtime. Downtime could cost your business a major loss in operational expenses, overall productivity, and employee salaries just to name a few. One important reason why downtime costs so much? Simply put, downtime due to IT related issues could have been avoided and the emotional expense that comes with major IT disasters. Every time you miss a software update, or ignore that clicking noise inside your computer you’re putting your business at an unnecessary risk hedging your bets against system and network disaster.
How to Maintain the IT of Your Business
First of all you need to be organized. A company’s organizational data like a user matrix, IT equipment inventory specification sheet, and network map can go a long way in the continued effort to maintain all IT systems and network within a company.
Tip: If you have an IT provider, they should have this information already set aside for you. Also, they should probably be maintaining your systems and network too with weekly reporting – check in with them just to be sure.
Maintaining your IT systems and network should be done monthly, if not quarterly at the very least. Another IT preventative maintenance tip is visual inspection. Often times just putting eyes on a network component can help identify near-future issues that can prevent downtime within any company. One example I can think of is a busy service company that had issues with the internet to a single computer every now and then. A quick inspection of the network devices and cables discovered a cable being pinched between a sliding drawer that would cause periodic and annoying downtime.
Tip: A visual inspection of your computers, network components, and peripherals can help you spot red flags and prevent downtime by taking care of problems before they become costly downtime.
Keep your computer and network components well ventilated. It’s best practice to blow out any dust and obstructions from the ventilation on a quarterly basis. A good investment every business owner should make is in a Data Vac. This device is a clean and Eco-friendly way to blowing out dust and dirt from electronic components. With a Data Vac, you’ll never have to buy compressed air again.
Tip: Keep your computers and network devices off the floor. Dust and dirt are all over our floors and can easily be sucked right into the case of a desktop computer. If at possible, put the computer on top of your desk – this will improve ventilation substantially.
Last but not least is software preventative maintenance. Keep your Windows and program files always updated from the latest in software updates. Microsoft and big name software providers are pretty good at keeping their consumers informed with the latest in patch and software update releases. Also, it’s best practice to have an Anti-Virus software program on your system at all times and have it scan regularly. This alone can help ensure up time within your business so your team can keep their focus on business.
Why Preventative IT Maintenance Shouldn’t Be Ignored
Preventative IT maintenance should be important to every small business owner, and manager. Keep in mind, the biggest contributor to system and network downtime could have been avoided had preventative IT maintenance been performed regularly. When you skip an important Microsoft update, ignore fuzz balls accumulating around your desktop computer, or find that ticking noise from inside your computer soothing you’re putting your business at an unnecessary risk that could cost you more than you think – with preventable downtime!
At ITC, a disciplined and very detailed preventative IT maintenance plan is implemented for all of our managed IT service clients. We perform automated tasks based on your computer and network needs, environment, and several other device factors. We also include detailed weekly and monthly reporting letting you know exactly what’s done and what may be acted on. Last but most importantly, we perform quarterly onsite preventative IT maintenance to ensure everything IT related is running smoothly and efficiently for our clients.
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