What Is Proactive IT Support And Why Is It Important?

Proactive IT support will optimize your business performance, fuel growth, improve customer experience, and help you outperform your competition. In order to increase productivity and decrease downtime, it is vital to have a proactive IT support partner.

What is proactive IT support?

Proactive IT support consists of two primary areas of expertise: effective system monitoring and strategic technology consulting.

Proactive IT will prevent problems in the first place by consistently monitoring and checking servers and networks to clarify and solve potential issues before they arise. This will reduce the time spent rectifying IT issues and give your team more time to work on important tasks.

Furthermore, a proactive IT support provider will invest in helping you succeed and providing insightful, tailored technical advice.

At TechVertu, we take the time to get to know your business and its goals. Therefore, we can draw up a coherent IT roadmap that outlines all goals, budgets and time frames related to your IT strategy. This is then reviewed often and adapted to the current needs of your business to ensure that the service we offer is tailored to what you need.

What is the importance of proactive and reliable IT infrastructure?

To ensure that your systems function effectively, your employees can work productively, and your customers receive the best possible service, it is crucial that you have reliable, effective IT support around the clock to solve daily problems, as well as proactive technology consulting services.

What are the benefits of proactive IT support?

There are many widespread benefits of proactive IT support. Here are some of the key benefits:

Reduced IT costs: In proactive IT support strategies, costly downtime and repairs are avoided hence saving your business the long-term costs.
Improved productivity: With proactive IT support, employees do not have to worry about constant distractions by issues related to the utilization of information technology in their everyday work and consequently can concentrate on vital tasks, thereby increasing productivity and general efficiency.
Enhanced security: Proactive monitoring and maintenance help protect sensitive information by identifying weaknesses before they can be exploited, preventing cybercrime.
Enhanced customer satisfaction: Constant accessibility and timely responses to user queries guarantee uninterrupted performance of services for the customers, resulting in better loyalty as well as retention.

What are the challenges of implementing proactive IT support?

To be clear, proactive IT support can turn out to be a good investment for organizations of any size but switching from reactive in nature into critical customer service infrastructure is not an easy task. Here are some of the key challenges to consider:

Resistance to change: Some employees may be reluctant to change their IT systems and processes, even with the current reactive paradigm. It is necessary to communicate the advantages of proactive IT assistance and engage employees in the transition process.
Investment costs: Reverting to proactive IT services may require advanced investments in modern technologies, tools or even personnel. This may be a discouragement to some businesses, but the long-term profitability and efficiency are worth it.
Measuring ROI: ROI measurement of proactive IT support can be challenging because many benefits are intangible. Proactive support must be measured through the right metrics including uptime, productivity, and cost savings to demonstrate its value.
Integrating with existing processes: It is also imperative to merge proactive IT support with existing processes and workflows to ensure smooth operation. This may involve making some adjustments to current practices.
Communicating with stakeholders: It is necessary to make all stakeholders, including senior management, IT professionals and end-users aware of the benefits associated with reactive support. This will promote ownership and buy-in of the initiative.

However, proactive IT support can be a tremendous investment for such organizations as they strive to update their information technology infrastructure in order not only to minimize downtime having, but also to increase productivity levels. With a little bit of planning, companies can enjoy the advantages of proactive IT support and accomplish their heights in terms of that area.

What industries can benefit from proactive IT support?

All businesses can benefit from the provision of proactive IT support. But some industries rely more on technology than others and therefore could benefit much from proactive IT strategies. These industries include:

Healthcare

With such a complex IT infrastructure, various healthcare organizations have to process patient records as well as EMRs. With proactive IT support, hospitals can avoid data breaches, ensure system uptime, and protect patient privacy. The current practice of proactive IT support allows healthcare organizations to:

Carry out periodic security fixes to defend against cyberattacks
Monitor IT systems for malware or intrusion
Data loss can be prevented by creating a backup for patient data regularly.
Train employees in cybersecurity best practices

Financial Services

Financial institutions process and store sensitive financial data, which is why they are prime targets for cybercriminals. Early IT support can prevent such security risks and protect the accounts’ integrity & confidentiality by saving customers from fraud. Proactive IT support can benefit financial institutions in the following ways:

Carry out regular security reviews to identify and mitigate threats.
Use multi-factor authentication to improve user access controls
Test the disaster recovery plans to ensure that they work in case of a cyberattack
To train them in fraud prevention measures.

Retail

The IT systems used by retail businesses include inventory management, POS transactions and CRM. Active IT support allows these systems to be optimized, customer service improved, and sales accelerated. Retail business benefits from proactive IT support by:

Supervising POS systems to prevent mistakes and fraud.
Optimizing inventory management systems to minimize stockouts.
Optimizing website performance and users’ experience.
Customer data analysis to enable targeted marketing campaigns.

Manufacturing

IT is used to control the processes of production by manufacturing companies, as well they collect data regarding quality management and logistics to manage supply chains. Active IT support can decrease downtime, increase efficiency, and maintain quality products. The proactive IT support can assist the manufacturing companies in:

Track the production lines for real-time data on performance
Automate tasks to improve efficiency
Collect predictive maintenance data to avoid equipment breakdowns
Cybersecurity measures should be put in place to safeguard intellectual property.

Education

IT infrastructure is used by schools and universities for e-learning, student records management, as well as various business processes. Proactive IT support also helps in making sure that resources are available and securing student data. Proactive IT support can help schools and universities to:

Make sure that students have access to the necessary technology for them to learn.
Safeguarding student data from unauthorized access
Install web filtering to prevent unwanted content from being accessed.
Train the employees on how to safely use technology.

Any IT-oriented business or one that stores sensitive data can benefit from proactive support. This can keep businesses from costly downtime, boost efficiency, and shield their data from cyber criminals’ breaches.

Proactive IT support from professionals

We believe no two businesses have the same IT needs and challenges, which is why, at TechVertu, we specialize in providing unique business solutions for each client. As such, we practice tailored IT support services that align with your business targets and goals.

Our comprehensive proactive IT support plan includes:

Regular monitoring and maintenance: We make sure to observe your IT infrastructure at all times to detect potential pitfalls before things get out of hand. Regular monitoring and maintenance in the background, including monitoring all server event logs, ensuring correct antivirus updates and activities, monitoring backup status, firewall activity and hack/spam attacks, and application services (Exchange, ISA, IIS, etc.)
Regular device health reporting: We offer comprehensive reports on the status and efficiency of your devices, thus offering you accurate data about whether upgrading or replacing is prudent.
Strategic technology consulting: Take the time to learn about your business, industry, goals, and challenges, so that we can make accurate recommendations for technology that solves problems and boosts performance.
IT roadmap development: Provide regular technology consulting services and draw up an IT roadmap that outlines the objectives, budgets, ROI, and timeframes for your IT projects. This is then reviewed and updated quarterly to ensure it is always in line with business objectives.
Continuous performance improvement: We regularly review our services to ensure that they are in line with your changing needs and that you receive the best support possible.

Is your IT support provider not proactive enough?

If you have realised you do not receive the level of service your business needs to optimise growth, outperform competitors, and improve the customer experience, it is time to switch to a more proactive IT partner. At TechVertu, we pride ourselves on providing proactive, long-term technological solutions that bring genuine value to our customers. Contact TechVertu today!