Small Business IT Network Monitoring - 4 Reasons to Do it Remotely?

Small Business IT network monitoring is a core activity needed to ensure uptime and productivity.  What follows is 4 reasons to do it remotely? 

Mental Health Association of Greater Lowell indicated that they get piece of mind knowing that someone is on top of their operations, and do not have to worry or take time from other critical tasks.

An external provider monitoring servers, back office applications and network devices 24/7 allows for real-time notifications of abnormalities, frequently preventing costly failures and shutdowns.

The other important point is the focus on core competency.  Remote network monitoring is one of those activities that is best done by a specialized provider in order to free existing resources to focus on those activities core to the business rather than on IT plumbing, so to speak.  This allows for focus on strategic activities such as growth and new initiatives and day to day issues.

Second Start described how remote network monitoring complements their use of managed services because if network issues arise between visits of external technicians, they are covered.

Here are some of the key benefits to expect from a remote small business IT network monitoring service:

1. Productivity
   • Free up technical staff
   • Expand built-in monitoring capabilities
2. Financial
   • More proactive technicians
   • Reduce unplanned downtime
   • Augment staff for less than hiring
3. Reporting
   • Standard and customized reports
   • Trend analysis
   • Custom alerts (including e-mail and text)
   • Fault review and recommendations
4. Security
   • Compliance tracking
   • Notice of vulnerabilities and missing patches
   • Firewall and Windows system monitoring
   • Notification of intrusion attempts
   • Internal security changes

Most businesses we encounter value a wide variety of benefits that they achieve from remote network monitoring.  Some activities should be performed in-house, but this is one of those that is a great candidate to outsource and a wonderful complement to other outsourced managed services.

How do you monitor your network?

Key Takeaways:

• Remote network monitoring both reduces risk and frees internal staff to focus on strategic issues.
• Small business IT network monitoring complements other managed services by filling in between human interactions.
• Real-time notifications of abnormalities frequently prevent costly failures and shutdowns.

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