One mistake that we see clients make is the use of “Average Joe IT guy” to handle their small business technology needs instead of a professional IT support service.
Average Joe may seem fine at first, when you just need a new email address set up or have a simple IT need. But as soon as anything slightly complex comes up, companies are often left on their own, because Average Joe can’t handle it.
Who is “Average Joe IT Guy?”
It’s usually a friend or family member who enjoys working with technology and may help people out on the side in his spare time, but Average Joe isn’t an IT professional with the backing of other IT pros behind him.
Business owners will usually start working with Average Joe because they already know him or her through friends or family and may think they’re keeping costs low while giving business to someone they know.
The risk comes in because today’s businesses are only as good as their technology, so when it’s down or inefficient, that’s directly reflected in a company’s bottom line. That's where you'll start to see the value in paying for truly professional IT support.
If you’ve been working with an Average Joe IT guy, you’ll want to read on to see just what you’re risking by not entrusting your technology to a professional managed services provider.
How exactly is your business at risk if you have your cousin who does IT on the side handle your technology needs?
Here are some of the risks of using an Average Joe vs a Managed IT Services Pro.
If you’re working with an Average Joe that does IT on the side along with his normal 9 to 5 job, availability when you need IT help can be a problem.
If you have an IT emergency in the morning, you may have to wait until after hours that night until they’re available. That means more costly downtime for you because instead of having a managed IT provider that has a team of professionals available when you need them, you’re having to work around Average Joe’s schedule.
Working with a single person for your IT needs, means there’s more of a chance that that individual will hit a wall when it comes to an issue beyond their skillset, leaving you to have to seek out another option.
Managed IT service providers have a team of well-trained technology professionals that all bring a unique set of skills to the table. Here at Digital Crisis, we offer professional IT support and have a combined experience of over 20 years and our staff is able to solve just about any technical problem you have at your home or business.
A data breach or malware infection can easily put a company out of business if they don’t have the capacity to address the threat right away and protect its data.
An Average Joe may be able to help you install an antivirus program, but when it comes to advanced phishing protections, firewall settings, and cloud security, they’re often out of their depth, leaving you at risk because your cybersecurity defenses aren’t what they need to be.
Managed services providers keep up with all the latest cyber threats and cybersecurity solutions, perform regular IT audits, and are well versed in the endpoint and network protections needed to keep modern businesses secure from a breach.
When companies work with Average Joe IT guy, it’s typically on a break/fix basis. Meaning, that instead of their technology being taken care of proactively, they call Average Joe when something needs to be fixed.
This is much less efficient and more costly because it results in more downtime than proactive and professional IT support. The average cost of downtime for a business is $10,000 per hour.
Managed IT service providers put monitoring and ongoing management in place on your devices, so they stay optimized and any potential issues are identified and addressed long before they result in downtime.
Another problem with a reactive Average Joe is that you can be left with big gaps in business continuity because they’re just there to fix something if it goes wrong, not provide risk mitigation consulting.
When you work with a managed IT professional, we see ourselves as an extension of your business. We take the long view, helping you prepare for the future and any unexpected events with things like disaster planning and recovery strategies.
How well your business runs and how profitable it may be is directly related to the health of your technology infrastructure. Digital Crisis can help you ensure your IT is optimized, proactively managed, and completely secure.
Contact us today to schedule a consultation. Call 713-965-7200 or reach us online.
