If you own or manage a small or medium-sized business (SMB), you know how important IT infrastructure is to your success. Effective, black-out-free IT systems enable your employees to stay productive, your margins to stay healthy, and your customers to stay satisfied.
One of the key services you can access with a managed IT partner is server support services.
What is a Server?
Before we get too into the details of how an IT company can support your small business, let's talk about the hardware itself. A server is a high-powered computer designed to store, process, and manage network data, devices, and systems.
Your server is the engine that powers your organization by providing network devices and systems with sufficient resources.
Since this is your IT network's data center, your server must be fast, dependable, and fault-tolerant. The right IT partner will help ensure your server has support for virtualization, special technological properties, RAID controllers, and more.
Additionally, you'll also need to consider the operating system your server uses. A windows server, such as the SQL server, will require different input and management than a competitor, for instance. This factor will impact things such as network services, virtualization, and terminal access.
Why Are Server Support Services Important for your Small Business?
Small business server support services are the ultimate safeguard against network outages.
Think of it this way - your server is the heart of your office's information system. It pools together your company's data, stores, and processes data safely, and provides your computers with access. When you partner with a managed IT professional like KCMIT, you're bringing in a team that will keep the server healthy. And by keeping your server healthy, you'll be keeping your data and resources healthy, too.
Ideally, your server should always be up and running smoothly. Keeping it live and managing unexpected disruptions is best left to the IT professionals.
5 Ways Ongoing Server Support Helps Your Bottom Line
1) Initial Server Setup
Installing your server is the first and most essential service you can get from a managed IT partner.
If you are in need of a fresh system that solves your business needs, it is important you set up an IT consultation and partner with a professional company. The right company will help you set up database services, firewalls, e-mail services, server virtualization, and more.
By looping in a professional, you'll save thousands of dollars and painstaking hours of labor that you can spend on other pressing matters.
2) 24/7 Professional Monitoring
As a small business owner or manager, you can only spend so much time monitoring your server and ensuring everything is working smoothly. By outsourcing the server support to a managed IT partner, you gain 24/7 monitoring.
Your partner will be on call to provide hands-on support, which is invaluable when unexpected disruptions arise. You can also count on status monitoring programs to ensure everything continues running smoothly outside normal business hours.
3) Frequent Software and Security Updates
Server management is a recurring task that requires frequent checkups and updates in order to function properly.
Server support services include routine maintenance for exactly that. Your IT partner will often check in on your physical servers, as well as implement windows server updates so your business continues evolving with the tech landscape.
It really cannot be over-emphasized how important this is for your security. The best way to stop breaches from happening in the first place is to keep up-to-date security patches that actively negate malicious attacks on your business.
4) Regularly Backing-Up Your Data Center
Few things are as disheartening as losing months or years' worth of valuable information due to an extraneous issue. Remove any anxiety around this through small business server support services.
When you enroll in these services with KCMIT, you can ease your mind knowing your data is always backed for security breaches. We will set up an automated backup schedule and periodically check in to ensure data is being correctly backed.
5) Routine Server Audits
While many automated systems can be put in place to keep your server running smoothly year-round, a great IT partner will routinely audit your server.
Additionally, experienced technicians stay up-to-date on technical support best practices. They will work with 3rd parties as well, including Microsoft support, to keep everything on your server stays updated.
Contact KCMIT for a Free Managed IT Consultation
Your server is the heart of your IT infrastructure, and a healthy heart can be a great thing for your business.
At KCMIT, we will collaborate with you and your team to develop a comprehensive IT infrastructure package that works for you. In the end, you'll receive custom server capabilities and award-winning customer service to back it up.
For all of your small business support services, contact us today!