Coleman Technologies Blog

Think about running a small or medium-sized business. It's like trying to juggle a million things at once. You're super focused on keeping your customers happy, making sure your team is doing well, and, of course, making money. Among all of that, there is something that often gets overlooked: the technology that makes all of your efforts possible.

It's easy to forget about it, but your IT setup is way more than just the computers you see on desks. It's this whole complicated network of stuff. This includes all of the networking equipment, the software you pay for (even subscriptions), other cloud services, and even those smartphones and tablets that employees use for work. For many smaller businesses, keeping all of this running smoothly and, more importantly, securely, is a huge headache.

Why Ignoring IT is a Bad Idea

It might seem like you're saving time or money by not constantly worrying about IT maintenance, but that is definitely short-sighted. If you let your systems get old and don't manage your devices properly, you're basically handing an open invitation to hackers and scammers; groups that are consistently targeting smaller businesses. This puts all your important business data and your customers' information at serious risk. What’s more, if your hardware fails or your software crashes, you could be looking at a total standstill. That means losing a ton of money and productivity for every hour you're down.

On top of that, if your technology is slow, unreliable, or outdated, it's going to be way harder to operate efficiently, keep your customers happy, and compete with other businesses that are using the latest and greatest tools.

The Solution is to Be Proactive!

The good news is that there's a much smarter way to handle IT: be proactive.

Instead of just waiting for things to break and then scrambling to fix them, a proactive approach is all about preventing problems in the first place. This means beefing up your cybersecurity to protect your valuable data, minimizing downtime so your business runs smoothly, and having a controllable and predictable IT budget so you don't get hit with unexpected repair bills.

The best part is that it frees you and your team to concentrate on growing your business, instead of constantly putting out IT fires.

We've Got Your Back

Want to have peace of mind and turn your IT into a real advantage? Coleman Technologies is your local IT expert right here in British Columbia. We specialize in managing all the IT stuff for small and medium-sized businesses. That includes everything from keeping an eye on your network and maintaining it, to providing strong cybersecurity, managing your cloud services, and offering fast and helpful support when you need it. We totally get the challenges that local businesses face, and we provide the professional and reliable support you need.

Stop stressing about IT, give us a call today at (604) 513-9428 for a consultation.

We hate to be the bad guy, but we’re certain that you cannot multitask nearly as well as you think you can. Multitasking is just not how the human brain works, and whether or not you believe in the psychology of it, we think you stand to benefit by outsourcing some of the tasks on your plate to a managed service provider.

Managed services are effective to help you spend less time on your IT and more time on your actual job duties and responsibilities.

The Proof is in the Proverbial Pudding

To put things in perspective, only about 2.5% of people can effectively multitask, so it’s highly unlikely that you are in the minority who can do so without compromising the quality of your work.

What you think is multitasking is really just your brain switching gears over and over, and the more complicated these tasks are, the less effective it is at switching between them. Your performance is sure to suffer if you can’t keep up.

How This Shows Up in the Workplace

It’s difficult at best to do multiple tasks at the same time, so let’s take a look at some of the tasks that might be pulling you away from your important work:

• Managing employees to ensure they are reaching your organizational and operational goals.
• Managing the public face of the company, including how you appear to the community, clients, and vendors.
• Ensuring compliance with laws and regulations.
• Managing the sales and marketing efforts of your organization.

Notice how we haven’t even mentioned IT on that list yet; it’s a whole other beast to tackle.

Managed IT Removes Some of the Burden on Your Business

Really, you shouldn’t be managing your technology anyway—you should be relying on a professional like Coleman Technologies. Give us a call today and we can discuss how it’s beneficial for you to work with us.

Breaking Down Managed Service Providers (Also Known As MSPs)
First, our title throws a lot of people. What are managed services, and why do you need a provider at all?

In a lot of ways, we’re just like the internal IT team that you may or may not have. We look over and manage your technology solutions as a part of the service we provide.

Again, just a part.

Yes, part of our role is that of a remote monitoring service, but we can provide much more than that. We can advise you on your technology solutions, assist you in procuring and maintaining them, help you implement technologies like cloud computing, help keep your data secure and your solutions compliant to industry requirements, and a lot more than just that.

We Won’t Replace In-House Staff (Or Vice Versa)
When they learn the extent of what we do, many business owners (and eventually, their staff) may start to wonder if they can outsource all of their IT responsibilities to us, essentially eliminating the need for an internal IT resource. While we appreciate the confidence, we wouldn’t recommend that, unless you don’t currently have an IT resource.

The truth is, we work as well in tandem with an organization’s IT staff as we do as a standalone management solution.

Most internal teams or resources face the same problem: an overwhelming workload. Between day-to-day problem mitigation, managing your current technology, and planning for your business’ future strategy, there isn’t enough time for them to do everything that they have to… and that’s where we come in. Our job is to pick up the slack, wherever it may be, so that all responsibilities are attended to.

However, if you don’t currently have an in-house resource and have been entirely relying on the services of break/fix by-the-incident providers, we can replace those, adding much more value than you could expect otherwise.

We Can Handle Most Anything You Throw At Us
Finally, you might be hesitant to reach out to us because you’re anticipating that your particular industry has needs that we just couldn’t keep up with. Compliances and minutely specialized solutions may be a key factor to your success, and you don’t want to risk it all on the expertise of an outside source.

We have one thing to say to that:

Try us.

It is our job to assist businesses with their solutions. This means that, as these solutions evolve and develop, we have to continually educate ourselves. How does this problem need to be handled? Is there a better option that we should learn more about?

As a result, we’re pretty up-to-date on most things IT.

To discuss your particular needs further, reach out to us at (604) 513-9428, or read some of our other blogs to learn more about how we can help you.