computer support · Page 9 of 17

IT Support Solutions That Increase Efficiency

Increasing efficiency is a common goal for many small businesses. Streamlining your operations leads to increased productivity and revenues. One of the most effective ways to increase efficiency is by improving your IT infrastructure. The following are several ways you can use IT support solutions to help increase efficiency in your business.

Upgrade Your System

Relying on old equipment is risky. If your workstations are extremely outdated, you will run into software issues, computer crashes, and more that could slow down productivity. Upgrading your equipment is always optional. However, new hardware can greatly enhance user workflow.

Outsource Your Technical Support

Dealing with IT security and network problems takes up a lot of productivity hours. Hundreds and even thousands of dollars are lost due to network downtime. Outsourcing your IT support to experienced IT technicians can alleviate a lot of the hassle of common IT issues. You and your employees will have immediate access to tech support when you need it.

Data Backup

A major disaster could occur at any time. Is your data safe? Without a data backup and recovery plan, your business will have a difficult time recovering and becoming operational again. A managed services provider can create a continuity and contingency plan for your business to help ensure your data is safe and secure.

These are only a few of the ways in which you can use IT to help improve the efficiency of your business.

Contact us today and learn how you can prevent hundreds of lost hours due to inefficient hardware and software. We provide preventative, proactive, and reactive IT support solutions for any IT infrastructure.

3 Signs Your Small Business Needs a Managed Service Provider

Are you currently researching about managed IT services for your small business? It is a common dilemma for many small business owners. You may wonder what exactly managed IT services is and if your business really needs it.

As this article states, an MSP is essentially your IT department. If something technology-related breaks, they help fix it. If you need an app devised or want to upgrade hardware and software, or take a look into virtualization, they can often help in these complex areas too.

Managed services is the outsourcing of daily IT administrative tasks in order to improve business operations. You can help determine if your business can benefit from managed services by comparing your current IT maintenance costs with an estimate from a reputable managed service provider.

Below are a few signs that may help you decide if managed services is right for your business.

There is No IT Professional On Staff

Many small businesses do not have an IT professional on staff. Often times, IT administrative duties fall into the lap of an employee who is tech-savvy enough to keep things working but not operating smoothly. Business owners then find themselves balancing technology issues while running their business. The employee who is managing IT tasks becomes unproductive in terms of their regular duties and does not have the knowledge or experience to prepare your IT infrastructure for future growth.

Your IT Person is Overwhelmed

Whether you do have an IT professional on staff or you have delegated the work to another employee, this person is probably overwhelmed with work. IT management requires various tasks on a regular basis such as software and security updates, hardware upgrades, and more. Not to mention the everyday management and monitoring tasks that need completion, even the most experienced IT professional can find this type of workload overwhelming. If your IT person is overrun with work, managed services can serve as a great resource for additional support.

You’re Being Reactive Rather Than Proactive

Many small business owners respond to IT issues from a reactive approach rather than a proactive approach. Meaning, when an issue arises, you call an IT company to send someone over to fix the broken issue. The problem with this approach is that these broken issues continually need fixing because they were not detected earlier nor fixed at the root level.

You can avoid these types of hassles by outsourcing your IT management to a managed services provider. They can continuously monitor and detect problems 24 hours a day. When issues occur, IT professionals receive notifications and they are able to troubleshoot and resolve issues before they become major problems.

Do you experience any of the above? If so, managed IT services is an ideal solution for your business. Contact us today to learn more about our pro-active IT support services.

computer support it solutions managed service provider msp network support

Why You Should Choose an IT Company that Offers On-Site Customer Support

Choosing an outsourced IT provider is an excellent decision for any small business. Not only will it save your company money on staffing, training and future technical issues, but you know that you will be receiving support from some of the best trained IT support specialists in the industry.

Like this article notes, many small businesses fail to realize just how important good customer is for the overall health of your business. This can be a huge mistake, since good customer service isn’t just important… it’s absolutely vital.

However, when you choose an IT company, your company may prefer to work with a local IT company. They are able to provide on-site customer support, in addition to online support services.

Having the ability to bring an IT professional on-site will ensure that all issues are fixed in a timely fashion. Also, without any additional expenditures for your company.

Not All Issues Can Be Fixed Remotely

Although most software issues can be fixed remotely, hardware issues typically need a trained IT professional to fix them. Companies that rely only on remote IT support will have to turn to another provider for hardware failures.

Develop Face-to-Face Relationships

It’s nice to get to know the companies that you are working with. Developing a face-to-face relationship with your IT provider will help you to establish a more personal connection. Although receiving IT support remotely is almost always convenient when it is possible, you’ll want to know that you are working with a capable team that can help your business to solve any of its IT related problems. Using on site computer support service providers will help you to establish a relationship with your IT provider.

Help with Installation and Implementation of Technology

As businesses grow, the systems that they use grow with them. This means that you can expect your business to require new hardware and software to be installed with some regularity. An on-site support team can help you to seamlessly install new pieces of hardware and software, allowing your business to run smoothly with minimal downtime.

If you are interested in working with an IT company that provides on-site customer support, reach out and contact us today. We’ll get to know your company and let you know how we can help your business with IT problems today.

business technology computer support it solutions network support

The Cost of On-Site IT Support in Miami and Fort Lauderdale

If you want your booming online business to expand, the next step is to hire employees. You want to focus more on the operations and customer service, so hiring on-site IT support staff seems sensible.

Here’s what they currently earn in Miami and Fort Lauderdale, according to the U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics:

Computer User Support Specialists are your best bet for generalists who can handle many common IT problems. They average $47,760 annually. Inexperienced workers make under $27,050 annually but may require a lot of training. Those who are highly experienced command $76,240 per year or more.
Computer Network Specialists make more sense if you have an extensive network for an online business. They make a mean $55,870 per year with an annual range of $33,500 to $89,360.
Systems Administrators can take care of an entire IT department, right down to hiring additional employees, setting up your network and hardware, and training. All this expertise averages $79,660 annually with a yearly range of $46,360 to $117,170.

Keep in mind that these amounts represents base salaries. They don’t include the taxes, insurance, and benefits you need to pay for any worker. These additional amounts easily increase basic pay by 1.25 to 1.4 according to the Boston Business Journal. Then there’s the cost of providing desks, computers, supplies, and workspace for your employees. To figure this out, multiply your individual business expenses by the number of people you intend to hire.

An on-site IT support department can cost far more than you realize, once you total all the expenses. It also requires time and effort to manage.

Fortunately, you can get the benefits of computer expertise without all the headache and cost. For a negotiated fee, we can provide all the hardware, network, and software support you require, including on-site visits for serious issues.

Contact us now to see how we can help you.

computer support support

How to Disable and Delete Startup Programs in Windows

how to delete startup programs

Congratulations! You’ve bought a brand-new Windows computer. There’s just one problem: you have a bevy of annoying startup programs that you have no use for. You want to delete them without causing a problem. Did you know, all of these automatically opening programs consume system memory, and can drag down performance.

Here’s our step-by-step guide on how to delete startup programs in Windows:

The more software you install on your computer, the longer it takes for your computer to load up. This is true no matter how small the program is (in terms of kilo/megabytes), or how little space it takes up on your hard drive.

It’s presumed, that you’re using Windows 8, Windows 8.1, or Windows 10 (the most updated version of Windows). The beauty part of these updated platforms is, they’ve made it VERY easy to disable, and delete, startup programs that you don’t need.

Presuming you have this updated platform, all you have to do to disable, and delete, unnecessary startup programs is to open up the TASK MANAGER. You can do this by either right-clicking on the task bar, or by pressing CTL + ESC + SHIFT keys. This will bring up a dialogue box called TASK MANAGER. Once inside the TASK MANAGER, click on the tab marked STARTUP, then disable the unnecessary programs. To delete the program altogether, go to the CONTROL PANEL, click on ADD/REMOVE PROGRAMS, and remove the unnecessary programs.

At 4 Corner, IT managed services is our core business, and we offer IT Support & Management to small and large businesses alike.

computer support it solutions technology