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Benefits of Remote IT Support for London Business

The tailspin called Covid-19 continues to stretch beyond all expected timelines for the world to return to normalcy.

To be honest, it’s impossible to predict what the future holds. But if there’s one thing that businesses around the world have learnt from this unprecedented event, it is that remote workplaces are here to stay.

Benefits of remote IT support

60% of UK’s workforce currently works from home. The question is, how equipped is your London Business to deal with this massive shift in operations?

Does your workforce have unabridged remote access to corporate networks? Are their systems updated for patches and configuration changes?

How secure is your sensitive data that probably, for the first time leaving the secure confines of an intranet and is hopping on the Wild West that’s the internet?

The big boys are already reviewing their existing infrastructure and support systems to adapt to their scattered workforce, a majority of which now operates from home offices.

If you still haven’t considered it, there’s no better time to consider engaging a remote IT support provider in London who can dot the i’s and cross the t’s, ensuring a seamless transition from office to home.

Sphere IT has been offering remote IT support in London for Businesses since 2010.

How does remote IT support work?

Remote tech support is a catchall phrase used to describe a support model that’s offered over the internet or telephone or both. It’s a cost effective alternative to having an in-house IT team to overlook your IT infrastructure 24/7 and maintain your operation.

Instead, skilled IT engineers will constantly monitor your IT system using preventive maintenance to spot potential problems. In case of an unexpected glitch, technicians can guide your workforce to troubleshoot the problems over email, chat or voice calls.

Alternatively, IT engineers can visit your London premises within business hours to manually troubleshoot the problem. This is a rare occurrence though, given that preventive proactive IT support maintenance is a very efficient way to detect problems, big and small.

Remote IT support is flexible. It can be all-inclusive, taking care of everything from hardware maintenance to Network security. Or, it can be bespoke depending on the needs of your London business operation.

What are the advantages of Remote IT support?

The pandemic has put remote IT support under the spotlight.

But the fact is that is that it offers a plethora of advantages even in a conventional business environment. In other words, remote IT support will be a much better option even when the world returns to normalcy.

Its cost-effective

Almost 1.3 billion small businesses in London operate with limited capitals. In such a scenario, decision makers have to try every trick in the book to keep a check on their ever escalating costs. But trying to cut costs with computer support generally backfires. You are either left reeling with problems that your staff cannot handle, or forced to hire emergency support which is typically more expensive. Remote IT support huge offers cost savings as compared to hiring an in-house IT team. Most teams will have flexible packages that are SME-friendly. That’s not all though. The cost benefits extend to improved productivity, reduced downtime and potential savings from a data breach or a malware attack. Each one of these factors will positively influence your bottom line.

Its hassle-free

Your London small business will no longer have to deal with annoying pop-ups or warnings on the computer. Routine maintenance tasks such as software patches, updates and hardware configurations will be scheduled during afterhours to minimize downtime. Any EOL software or redundant hardware will be identified during scheduled audits and communicated to you, allowing you to plan in advance. You can shift focus towards your core competencies without constantly worrying about computer glitches.

It’s flexible

Most London companies today function in the global marketplace. This means that you will be dealing with remote clients and customers in diverse geographical regions and time zones. You can either hire a full-time in-house team that works in shifts to provide support to your workforce during these time zones. Alternatively, you can contact a remote tech support team that offers 24/7 virtual support and solves the issues quickly.

It’s efficient

Cyber-crime continues to proliferate at an alarming rate. You are no longer threatened by the hacker who tries to spoof an email to gain access to your system. There are large organized teams working incessantly. Attacks are getting more sophisticated and with it, more difficult to detect. There are 65000 attempts to hack small businesses every day in UK. 4500 of these are successful. The odds that your limited in-house IT support staff may be unable to prevent a sophisticated attack are very real. When you engage a remote IT support team, you are hiring a team of specialists who are updated with the most recent security threats. It’s their job to stay vigilant about cyber-attacks and they are very good at it. In a nutshell, a remote support team can add an impenetrable security layer to your operation. They will constantly evaluate components for potential vulnerabilities that can be exploited by hackers, and offer remedial solutions. Your antivirus, malware scanner and firewall will be maintained up to date 24/7.

It’s convenient

The biggest advantages of remote IT support, especially in the current circumstances is that it’s accessible from anywhere in the world. All you need is internet or telephone connectivity and a support engineer can help your workforce deal with most software (and even some hardware) problems. If you have a large percentage of your workforce operating from home, remote support can ensure that each one of them has secure access to your network. Their systems can be patched, updated and maintained remotely. In case of a problem that takes a more comprehensive solution, a technical support engineer can connect remotely to their workstations and troubleshoot the problem.

Factors to consider while hiring a Remote IT support team for your London Business

All said and done, here’s a brief checklist that will help you select the best remote IT support team for your business.

Speak to the Remote Support Team

As is the case with any service promoted on the internet, you should be wary of scammers. So speak to the IT support team. Verify their business website, listed address, contact information, and social media profiles. Hop on a call and put a face to the name.

Verify the credentials of the team

Don’t get swayed by a fancy website and aggressive marketing strategies. Ask the company about their technical support team. After all, these are the guys that you and your business will be interacting the most with. Verify their credentials. Do their support engineers have the skills and expertise to offer the kind of support services that you are looking for? Don’t be shy of asking questions.

Analyse the SLA

A lot of IT companies do not like to speak about the SLA up front. But it’s a critical part of the service and you must analyse it closely to know more about the level of service quality they offer. If there’s even a shred of ambiguity, don’t be afraid to ask for clarity.

Speak to Sphere IT to know more about our Remote IT support services. We offer flexible support packages for your London small business.