What Does "IT Support" Mean to Your Company?

Our names are Tom Mitt, founder, and Jake Polzin, president of TBG Technologies, an IT support company since 2004.

When we’re out and about talking to people about what we do here at TBG Technologies, some say “We just purchased a new computer and it’s working great, so we don’t need any support right now.” This is not an unusual view of computer support. It’s our own fault, those of us in this business. It is an easy feature to mention and one that everyone understands. Who doesn’t want their broken computer fixed?

But fixing a broken or misbehaving computer is easy. Anyone who has some computer skills can do it. Real IT support is much more than just repairing things. Real IT support will make you and your business more profitable. “Break-fix” firms just end up costing you money.

IT Support starts with getting to know your business – what you do, how you do it and what your goals are. It’s critical to know this because it guides all systems design and implementation.

If your business is selling widgets online, and you have a staff of telephone order takers, you are not going to need to spend the extra money buying laptops. You might need a digital phone system and a backup system that gets you back in business fast in case your computers or server fails.

If your business is selling services to people in their homes, you are going to want to use laptops or even tablets for your sales staff. Do they use the internet when they are on the road? They’ll need a good, inexpensive wireless data connection. And since they are on the road, you must consider special security in case their laptop is lost or stolen – you don’t want someone else getting access to confidential data.

Do you print a lot? Are you still using faxes to communicate? Do you have a stable staff, or do you have a rapid turnover? Is your business seasonal and you need to ramp up during tax season?

Are you a non-profit organization? You can take advantage of some terrific special offers by hardware and software manufacturers.

Are you on a tight budget? You might be able to use less expensive, refurbished equipment.

How long can you survive if your computers or server fail? A day, a week, an hour? Your backup system must be able to support this.

A really good IT support firm will ask these questions and get to know your business well. Even to the point of understanding some of the quirks of individual employees. Is someone on your team terrified of computers? They may need special training.

If your IT support solution just shows up when something goes wrong, you are not being well served.

In the coming weeks, we’ll be posting educational information so you’re able to become the best business owner you can be. We’ll touch on backups, anti-virus, internet safety, cyber-attacks, ransomware, the cloud, email safety, VOIP phone systems, and others.

Tom Mitt is the founder and Jake Polzin is the president of TBG Technologies, located at 11300 W. Greenfield Avenue, West Allis, Wis. 53214. Tom can be reached at toomas@tbgtechnologies.com and Jake can be reached at jake@tbgtechnologies.com. www.tbgtechnologies.com We Make Technology Behave.