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Small Business IT Solutions: The Fundamental Flaw of an SLA

Posted by Sean Kline on Tue, Sep 18, 2012 @ 07:49 AM

Leading IT managed service providers are proactive solutions providers who partner with your business to implement IT best practices as a function of meeting your business goals. What sets leading IT managed service providers apart is their ability to be more than ingredient providers. Ingredient providers offer a specific component to meet a particular need often in a reactive manner. They may focus on fixing problems as they arise, akin to functioning as a fire fighter armed with nothing more than a fire extinguisher. Leading IT managed service providers operate under the assumption that IT is a tool leveraged by the business to meet its goals. Rather than waiting for a fire, they install a sprinkler system overhead to minimize any potential issues in the form of IT best practices.

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Topics: Small Business IT Resources, small business it support, IT Managed Services, small business IT infrastructure

Exceed Customer Expectations with Small Business IT Infrastructure

Posted by Sean Kline on Fri, Sep 07, 2012 @ 06:20 PM

Whether your small business serves retail customers or other businesses, you are only successful in the eyes of your customers if you can meet their expectations of success - not your parameters. As a small business, it is critical, then, to understand what it is your customers expect as an outcome and then have a plan in place for ensuring you can deliver to their expectations. Because technology is one of the primary tools small businesses leverage in order to achieve the results their customers expect, having a comprehensive IT plan and proactive IT infrastructure is crucial to the success of your business.

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Topics: Small Business IT Resources, small business IT infrastructure, IT best practices, IT infrastructure investment

It’s Not about IT Management but about Implementing Best Practices

Posted by Sean Kline on Fri, Aug 17, 2012 @ 11:21 AM

There are a number of IT services that offer to audit your business and identify your IT issues. You should be careful about jumping in to do an IT audit without understanding its purpose. The issues an audit identifies  – antivirus issues, spam issues, server issues, security risks – are symptoms of an IT infrastructure that is out of alignment. The natural reaction for any business owner will be to fix those issues. However, implementing an IT process that aligns IT to the business at the lowest overall cost solves not only the symptoms but the underlying cause: taking a reactive vs. proactive approach to IT management.

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Topics: small business it support, Managed IT Services, IT best practices, IT infrastructure investment

Bringing Efficient IT to Small Business through Managed IT Services

Posted by Sean Kline on Thu, Aug 09, 2012 @ 03:14 PM

Technology in the 21st Century changes more rapidly than ever, and if small-business owners aren’t careful, they can end up spending all of their time putting out fires, updating equipment and worrying about security threats. Small businesses may find it difficult to support the cost of a full IT department to handle their IT management.

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Topics: Managed IT Services, IT Management, IT best practices, IT infrastructure investment

IT Infrastructure Investment: Why Things Don’t Work Out of the Box

Posted by Sean Kline on Fri, Jul 27, 2012 @ 04:38 PM

“Assembly required” is always a nerve wracking statement when we are making a purchase. Exactly how much assembly are we talking about here? It is hard to tell whether there are two pieces or 200 pieces to assemble, until the package is home and fully unwrapped. Even in circumstances in which an item comes fully intact, it is rare when anything is fully functional straight out of the box. As much as we would like to believe that commodity items should simply work, they don’t. It is a difference in expectations, which can be frustrating to say the least. When considering ways to improve IT infrastructure, any "assembly required" can be costly.

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Topics: small business IT infrastructure, IT Management, IT best practices, IT infrastructure investment

Better IT Management with Capital Management of IT Resources

Posted by Sean Kline on Fri, Jul 13, 2012 @ 02:55 PM

You’ve heard the cliché: “The greater the risk, the greater the reward.” While that is a popular creed among venture capitalists and entrepreneurial businesses, most presidents and CEOs of small businesses prefer a sound program for managing capital expenditures, one that balances the fiscal risk of investment in business technology with a safe ROI.

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Topics: Small Business IT Resources, small business IT infrastructure, IT Management, Capital managemet

Improve Small Business IT Infrastructure to Reduce Downtime

Posted by Sean Kline on Sat, Jun 23, 2012 @ 03:26 PM

How many business owners are familiar with the intricacies of small business IT infrastructure? Many business owners understand the results they want, but they don't have the time to properly analyze their IT infrastructure. They set their focus on business growth and relationship development, often ignoring the risks associated with having poor IT services.

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Topics: Small Business IT Resources, small business it support, IT Managed Services, small business IT infrastructure

The Benefits of IT Managed Services

Posted by Sean Kline on Fri, Jun 08, 2012 @ 12:44 PM

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Topics: small business it support, Managed IT Services, IT Managed Services, IT best practices

Small Business IT Support – Solving the Root Cause of an IT Problem

Posted by Sean Kline on Mon, May 14, 2012 @ 05:01 PM

There is a common misconception among small business IT support professionals about solving IT problems. Many believe that they can fix any issue by identifying which hardware or software is out of date and then update it, or if they’re not virtualized, they just go to the cloud. The reality is that these quick fixes only address the symptoms of a problem, not the root cause. To truly solve an IT problem, it’s important to put proactive planning methods into action.

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Topics: Small Business IT Resources, small business it support, IT best practices, IT Strategy

Don't Settle for IT Management Status Quo

Posted by Sean Kline on Wed, Apr 25, 2012 @ 10:44 AM

Poor IT management can cost a company far more than the physical cost of maintaining IT services. It can impact and affect several areas of the company from payroll to human resources.  I have been working in IT for many years and have seen the IT business structure become reliant on reactive, instead of proactive, solutions. These are certainly not my ideas alone, but I have seen enough to believe that the problem is wide spread throughout many businesses.

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Topics: Small Business IT Resources, IT Managed Services, virtual CIO, IT Management

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