Getting the right IT support for your small business is vital if you want to stay connected and keep your staff working as productively as possible. Choosing a local IT company has a number of benefits, not least the advantage of a support system that knows your area well and is in tune with what businesses like yours are looking for.

Reducing costs
All businesses want to reduce their costs and get value for money, receiving top level IT support that is both highly competent and personal. If you are a small business in the South East, employing a single onsite IT professional to look after your needs could cost as much as £35,000 a year, probably more near central London. That’s a big slice of your operating budget that could be better spent elsewhere. A local IT support service can provide everything you need, including hardware repair callouts, at a fraction of the cost of an employee. You also don’t need to worry about holiday pay and sick leave and whether your IT Manager has all the tools they need to do an effective job.

Saving time to resolve issues
Even if your onsite IT Manager has lots of experience, they probably won’t be able to answer all your questions. A local IT company will have access to a much broader range of expertise which means they can help shape your IT strategy and any issues that arise can be addressed quicker. They generally have a much bigger team than most small businesses can afford and receive all the latest software training from the large software organisations such as Microsoft.

A wider range of experience
Your local IT support company will also have experience of dealing with other similar small businesses which means they’ll understand your needs more completely and will have already implemented successful IT strategies over the years. They’ll have good solutions in place which are available immediately and they’ll be able to draw on a larger resource pool if you encounter a unique problem that requires a new solution. You can’t get that kind of expertise by employing onsite support.

Regardless of size, businesses today require technology to store data that needs to be maintained, connected and protected. With so much that needs to be covered, more companies are moving away from traditional in-house provision to outsourcing their IT support. This has a number of benefits, particularly for small business, including helping to reduce running costs and allowing a tailored approach that fits perfectly with current needs.