Does Your Business Need 24/7 IT Support?

Written by Layer One Networks Published November 28, 2022November 28, 2022

Introduction:

For a business to run smoothly and operate at its peak, IT tools such as computers and servers must run optimally. But what if something goes wrong with these tools, or your in-house IT staff is unavailable? It will likely result in an interruption to your operations, which can lead to customer dissatisfaction and financial loss.

That’s why having access to 24/7 IT support could be vital for keeping your business running smoothly and avoiding such scenarios. Yet many business owners think that IT support is just for the big guys and that their business doesn’t need it. Nothing could be further from the truth. Whether a small business or a large enterprise, managed IT services can help your business run smarter with minimal downtime and better security.

With 24/7 IT support, you can be sure your business has a reliable and dedicated IT, staff, on call whenever there is an issue, be it during the day, at night, or on weekends. Let’s look at how professionals like Layer One Networks can help you make the most of your IT investments.

Benefits of Using 24/7 IT Support

Using managed IT support services from Layer One Networks is like having a 24/7 assistant in your corner, ensuring that all systems are up and running.

Here are a few of the benefits:

Faster Response Time

Every minor operation in your business can be impaired if something goes wrong with your IT setup. That’s why for businesses, it’s important to get a faster response time when their IT infrastructure breaks down. With managed IT services, you’ll have dedicated professionals monitoring your systems at all times and ready to respond quickly when something goes wrong.

High-End Services

One of the biggest advantages of partnering with an IT support provider like Layer One Networks is getting access to the most advanced and up-to-date technologies with experienced IT experts who provide specialized IT advice and solutions. In addition, all our team members are well-trained and hold certifications and experience specific to the industry.

Working with us will save you time and money on recruiting, training, managing, and maintaining your IT staff. The tech can be easily integrated into your existing IT infrastructure without disturbing your normal work operations.

Predictable Costs

To maintain a company’s IT system and tools, you can either build an in-house IT staff or outsource it. The former requires more money and is less cost-effective. On the other hand, when you partner with an IT support provider like Layer One Networks, you can be sure of predictable costs and a fixed monthly fee for services, so whether it’s a hardware issue, repair, and maintenance, all these expenses are taken care of in the fixed fee that you’ll pay.

How Do You Know If You Need 24/7 IT Support?

Although having a 24/7 IT support system is beneficial for all businesses, not every business requires such a service. Therefore it is important to assess your business needs and decide if you need 24/7 IT support.

Below are a few scenarios where having 24/7 IT support would be a good idea for your business:

Your Customers Require 24/7 Support:

If you are in a business that supplies services or products that customers may access out of hours (for instance, a service that operates online or an app-based platform), it is important to provide support during all hours.

Out-of-hours can mean something other than having a 24/7 IT service desk. For example, if your customers are in the same time zone as your business, you could extend IT support hours to late night/early morning.

It could also be beneficial to implement a self-service solution where end-users can access the IT system on their own and get IT-related help without having to speak with the IT support team.

Your Employees Work Remotely

If your organization has employees who work remotely or are spread across different time zones, having 24/7 IT support can help keep their operations running smoothly. Employees who travel often require access to the IT system even outside office hours; hence providing them with round-the-clock support can be a great way to ensure that operations run without any hiccups.

You Operate in a Time-Sensitive Industry

For some businesses, time is of the essence. For example, a minute-long system outage in finance and healthcare can cost them hundreds of dollars or ruin lives. Professional IT support could prevent such outages even before they occur.

24/7 IT Support vs. Self-service

Having identified a need for out-of-hours support, you must decide whether to go for 24/7 IT support or provide a self-service portal. To understand this better, you need to speak to your in-house IT team and understand what issues arise out of hours and what resources are required to tackle them.

If the majority of tickets raised can be solved using a self-service portal, then opting for such an option might be more cost-effective. However, if the tickets are more complex and require IT expert assistance, then a 24/7 IT desk is needed. Although this option is expensive, you will need to weigh the cost of downtime against the cost of support and make an informed decision.

However, when you outsource your service desk, you have an option where your team can handle the tickets during office hours and outsource them to a third-party service provider for out-of-hours support.

This option is much more cost-effective than having a full-time IT team and allows you to choose between self-service or 24/7 support, depending on the type of service request.

Why Partnering With a Professional is Worth the Investment

Many businesses think that using managed IT support services increases their costs, but the truth is that it can help them save money. Professional IT support services eliminate the need for hiring an in-house team which can prove to be costly and time-consuming.

Moreover, when you partner with a professional like Layer One Networks, you will get access to their resources and complete visibility into your entire IT infrastructure. Plus, you can be sure of an experienced team who can provide quick and effective solutions anytime.

From ensuring that your systems are running smoothly to providing proactive maintenance and management, the specialized managed IT services from Layer One Networks will help businesses achieve their desired goals quickly and with minimal effort. So if you want to ensure that your business runs without any glitches, particularly during out-of-hours, then having 24/7 IT support is undoubtedly worth the investment.

Managed IT Services

Save Money by Outsourcing 3 Major Business Services to Managed IT

Written by Layer One Networks Published October 7, 2022October 7, 2022

Introduction:

Whether you’re running a thriving business or a small startup, you always get bogged down by various tasks that are not your core competency. And with technical stuff popping up daily, you may find yourself involved more with devices and software than with your customers.

But not to worry; to help you streamline your processes and get your business back on track, we have compiled a list of 3 business services you can outsource to Layer One Networks, the best managed IT services providers around.

Data Back-up in the Cloud and Locally:

Your day-to-day business function relies on the smooth data flow to and from your devices. But what happens when that smooth data stops circulating? You run into BIG trouble!

Losing data means you cannot get work done effectively, have to start from scratch or even lose out on important clientele. Downtime for even a couple of hours can not only cost you dearly in today’s fast-paced business world, but it also showcases your company in a negative light.

If your business depends more on local servers for data storage, you might consider backing up your data in the cloud. Generally, businesses that invest in both are more prepared and protected against data loss. How – local backup keeps you more agile in case of accidental data deletion. Although slow, the cloud backup is more secure and offsite protects your data from physical damage.

But why is outsourcing this critical service to managed IT services like ours the best idea?

For starters, we will be able to suggest the best possible data backup solutions for your business. And in case of any data loss, our disaster recovery services will have you back up and running in no time!

Broadly when you outsource your backup management to a professional that knows how to do it best, you are cutting the risk of data loss to a bare minimum. Although outsourcing may cost you some money upfront, it is a small price to pay when you compare it with the cost of losing important data.

IT Security that Provides you Round the Clock Protection from Online Threats:

The internet is a blessing and a curse. It has given us the platform to reach out to new customers and help our businesses grow. But it’s also susceptible to various online threats like malware, viruses, phishing attacks, etc., which can infect our systems and leak important company data.

It generally takes six months on average for a company to detect a data breach. Now imagine for six months, your customer’s data was with some outsider without you knowing it. SCARY right?

Not just that, data breaches can cost you money in two ways. Firstly, if your breach results in your customers losing faith in your company, you are bound to see a drop in sales and customers. Secondly, you may also attract hefty fines from not-so-friendly government agencies. Penalties usually depend on the nature and size of the data that was compromised, so you cannot predict how big of a hit you will have to take.

Partnering with Layer One Networks, a reliable IT consulting firm well versed in the latest IT security threats and solutions, can help you get around these problems.

Our team of IT experts will install the best possible security solutions for your business and keep track of any online activity on your systems 24/7. So in the event of a security breach, the damage is mitigated before it gets too out of hand.

Outsourcing IT security to managed IT services in Corpus Christi will also help you stay updated with the latest security trends and solutions without breaking your bank!

IT Support That Saves You Time and Money:

You are in serious trouble if your business lacks any IT support, be it in-house or managed IT services.

Although small to medium size businesses see technology as a big priority, they usually lack the budget and expertise to invest in an in-house IT team. So what do they do? They try to manage everything independently or hire some random “computer guy” from the neighborhood to help them with their IT problems.

Managing your business’s IT needs on your own or hiring someone with no expertise in the field can cost you time and money, which you cannot afford to lose.

So what is the best way forward? The answer is simple – OUTSOURCE your IT support needs a reliable and reputable IT consulting firm like Layer One Networks.

Our team of IT experts will not only help you with your day-to-day IT problems but will also proactively work towards improving your overall IT infrastructure, which includes a bit of everything such as:

Data backups
Disaster Recovery
IT security
Networking
Cloud computing
Help Desk support
IT Consultation
Systems Integration
and much more!

Outsourcing your business services to a professional IT consulting firm is a win-win for both parties. While you save money by not hiring a team that you won’t need full-time, we get to serve more happy customers and grow our business.

So why not reach out to Layer One Networks today to see if we can be of any assistance to you and your business?

Even if nothing else works, you will at least get a free IT consultation from us!

Managed IT Services

What is Fully Managed Service and Why is it Important?

Written by Layer One Networks Published May 26, 2022May 26, 2022

A fully managed IT service can be a great option for companies that don’t have the time or resources to manage their servers or are looking for experts to manage and maintain the infrastructure without any hiccups.

A fully managed service can provide everything from proactive IT operations and streamlined ticketing for all IT issues to remote monitoring and management software for key IT infrastructure. It frees up your time from managing the IT-related tasks so that you can focus on your core business.

In this blog, let’s look at how managed IT services can help you and everything that’s included in it.

How Can a Managed IT Service Provider Help?

Streamlined, Efficient Support

We can help you with everything from setting up your new computer, to upgrading your software and hardware, to fixing issues (if they do occur) daily. We’ll take care of all the technical support tasks, so you don’t have to.

One person will be assigned as your primary contact for all IT needs — from troubleshooting an issue in the office or fixing your home network connection at night when you get home from work. This means no more getting passed around between different teams and departments!

Proactive Reporting and Analysis

Fully Managed Service also includes proactive reporting and analysis. This is regularly monitoring your business to ensure that everything is running smoothly and efficiently and identifying any problems before they become more severe. In addition to checking key metrics, our team will conduct in-depth reviews of your business to make sure everything’s on track—or if there are any changes, we can optimize performance.

Vendor Coordination and Management

Vendor coordination is one of the critical foundations of IT managed services. This function ensures that your vendor partners work together to deliver consistent service quality across different areas, such as network operations, customer support, and billing. Your IT consulting firm offering managed IT services will operate as a central point of contact for all issues related to service delivery, including:

Vendor selection: Work with an expert in managing vendors to find the right partner for each component of your cloud infrastructure or application stack. This may include setting up contracts with third-party vendors like power companies or Internet service providers (ISPs).
Vendor evaluation: Get help from experts who can review your current vendors’ offerings against industry benchmarks and standards. They’ll identify opportunities where you might get better value by switching suppliers or renegotiating contracts on price or other terms of service.

High Availability

As a managed service provider, our goal is to deliver high availability, high security, and high performance.

High availability refers to the ability of a system to be available for use during a specific time period. In other words, it’s the amount of time your service will remain accessible before you have to start worrying about it being down.

We don’t want anything less than 100% uptime for all of our clients so we work hard every day towards making sure that their websites are live and serving customers around the clock without any interruptions whatsoever.

What is Included in a Fully Managed IT Service?

There are several functions included in fully managed IT services, but here are a top few:

Network security & risk mitigation: This service ensures that your network is safe from any kind of attack or intrusion. It also helps you to manage risks by identifying potential vulnerabilities in your network.

Endpoint detection & response (EDR): EDR helps you to detect malware on all of your devices so that you can remove it before it causes any damage or infection to your system.

Desktop virtualization: Desktop virtualization allows you to access your desktop remotely so that you can work from anywhere and everywhere. This also helps to improve productivity by reducing travel time and costs associated with having multiple locations for businesses.

Data backup & recovery: Data backup & recovery ensures that all of your important data is safe, even if something happens to the device on which it was stored or if someone accidentally deleted it accidentally or maliciously deletes it intentionally!

What are the Different Types of Fully Managed IT Services?

Managed Cloud Services: Some businesses prefer to outsource their IT support while others choose to manage it independently. With managed cloud services, your company gets full-service IT support with the flexibility of using a public cloud to have security and cost-effectiveness. You can consult with the provider to find the best plans.
Managed Hosting: A managed hosting solution combines web hosting, server management, and disaster recovery into one package. It provides all the necessary hardware and software to run your website or application in an environment where someone else monitors its performance, maintains backups, and patches any vulnerabilities as needed — all at a low cost per month compared to other options like hiring in-house personnel or purchasing expensive dedicated servers yourself.
Managed Security: We conduct regular security checks on your system and protect against malware, virus, and other online threats. Each device always has up-to-date protection against viruses, worms, and spyware—no matter where those threats originate.

Hire a Trusted Fully Managed IT Service Provider

As your needs grow, you will look for a reliable and trusted provider. You want to know your provider is dependable. You want a provider with the experience needed to take your business to the next level. An ideal IT service provider can help you through challenges and make sure everything runs smoothly in the background.

This is where our IT consultant service shines. We provide managed IT services for our clients in Corpus Christi, helping them maintain their IT infrastructure so that it doesn’t get in the way of their everyday operations.

Want to know more about how we can help you? Reach out to us now to discuss your need for IT services.