9 Best Benefits of On-Site IT Support

The modern workplace requires a robust IT infrastructure that can support in-office, remote and contract workers. Without competent IT staff, businesses can leave many of their systems vulnerable as they scale. Although IT personnel are extremely necessary, many businesses cannot afford them.

Managed service providers and similar companies offer IT services to companies that include on-site IT support. This is a great cost-effective alternative to recruiting and hiring your own IT staff. In this post, we will explore the best benefits of having on-site IT support to power your business. Some of the best benefits include:

1. Addressing technical issues faster

The single best benefit of having on-site IT support is being able to address technical issues in your business faster. When technical problems are being handled on-site, businesses don’t have to worry about the time that would otherwise be lost waiting on a technician. This ultimately helps accelerate the time it takes problem to be solved and normal business operations can be resumed.

This alone can help save businesses dozens of hours per week that would’ve been spent waiting on technicians to arrive and diagnose issues. On-site IT staff can detect, address and solve any technical issue your business has immediately.

2. Immediate access to IT experts

Unless you have full-time skilled IT personnel, it can be very difficult to access IT professionals. Many of them will charge for consultations and bill high rates per hour and this can be very costly for your business. Additionally, you will need to set up an appointment and your operations will be halted until then.

On-site IT support allows you to have immediate access to IT experts and this is extremely cost-effective for your business. You can easily consult IT experts on-site regarding any technical issue related to your business and avoid spending thousands of dollars on consultants.

3. Staffing cost savings

One of the most immediate benefits you will realize from using on-site IT support is that amount of money you save on IT staff. IT personnel are very expensive to recruit, hire, train and retain. The average IT staff salary is just under $100,000 annually. This doesn’t include the cost to recruit and onboard the new staff member.

The vast majority of small businesses cannot afford to onboard a skilled IT staff member. On-site IT staff that are contracted to your business are much more affordable and you can get all the services at a flat monthly rate. This ultimately leads to tens of thousands of dollars in IT staffing savings.

4. Remote/travel work

Many businesses have periods of time where they need to travel to help meet client demands and projects. In most large businesses, IT staff accompany other company members to ensure the client’s IT infrastructure is managed and maintained. Getting an in-house IT staff member to travel with you is extremely expensive. You will need to pay for travel and accommodations.

Working with on-site IT staff allows you to avoid those travel expenses. On-site IT staff will travel with your business and come with all the supplies needed along with figuring out their own logistics. This enables you to focus on finishing the client’s project instead of figuring out your IT team’s logistics.

5. Increased productivity

Your on-site IT team can also help increase productivity in your business. On-site IT staff can help upgrade your computer systems to ensure they stay on the cutting edge. They also can install the latest software to ensure you automate any repetitive tasks and this will enable you to focus on your high-leverage activities.

The on-site IT team can also help audit your current systems and detect any bottlenecks you are having in terms of productivity. By doing this, you can systematically eliminate all of the bottlenecks in your business’ processes and improve your productivity significantly.

6. Preventing downtime

One of the primary focuses of on-site IT support is to prevent downtime. Downtime in your business’ systems or operations can cost you thousands of dollars in addition to unhappy customers. When a business system fails, businesses typically wait for IT staff to come in. Depending on the size of your business, this can cost you hundreds if not thousands of dollars per hour.

On-site technology support helps address any system failure immediately and this can prevent a lot of issues related to IT downtime. Your on-site IT team can also help upgrade your systems and software on a regular basis to ensure that you prevent any system failure and this will help you proactively avoid future downtime.

7. Scaling operations

With on-site IT support, you can truly scale your business’ operations. Oftentimes, businesses hesitate with taking on too work due to their poor or nonexistent IT infrastructure. On-site IT support allows you to upgrade or scale your operations on-demand. You are no longer held back by any technological considerations and you can truly maximize on business opportunities.

Your on-site IT support team can help you create an IT strategy to scale your operations. This will include what systems you’ll have to overhaul/upgrade in addition to figuring out the amount of staff you will need to do so.

8. Increased cybersecurity

Having on-site IT support can improve your cybersecurity tremendously. These on-site IT staff members will enable you to deal with any cybersecurity issues on-demand. This avoids going weeks or months without knowing about a security incident in your business.

Whether it’s encrypting your data, installing antiviruses or firewalls, on-site IT staff members can help you stay on top of your cybersecurity and avoid breaches. On-site IT support staff will also help secure any endpoints in your business. This will ensure that all of the devices used to power your business are secured.

9. Avoiding compliance issues

IT teams play a crucial role in maintaining the compliance programs of businesses. Since many compliance programs like HIPAA, CCPA, GDPR, etc. have stringent guidelines on using data and businesses don’t have good protocols on showing their compliance. On-site IT staff can help businesses create the procedures needed to comply with different regulations and ensure the business is adhering to all compliance requirements.