Ever wondered if your small business needed an IT Company’s services? While they all have access to the same information, not all IT companies are equal. Knowledge coupled with lots of experience make the difference. A difference you will find with Efficient Computer Service. With more than 25 years of accumulated knowledge and experience, we thought it would be a great time to ask John Potts, owner of ECS some important questions that we knew any business owner looking for an IT service, or just wondering if they need one, would ask. Here’s how it went… What do you believe makes ECS unique to other IT companies? We pride ourselves on personalized prompt service, and we are always concise of costs when providing valued services needed. If I call with a problem, what are your typical response times? Usually we will respond within 1 hour or less to every support request. Can you explain the cloud? What is it, where is it, and how do we access it? The “Cloud” is a generic term, referring to any service that is hosted on the internet as opposed to onsite. Our Virtual Cloud Servers and Desktops are physically hosted on multiple enterprise class servers in a Tier III Secure Data Center in Boston. The Virtual Cloud Desktops are accessed using a Secure internet connection managed by a Citrix software application on a local PC or laptop. What’s the difference, other than the obvious, between cloud-based solutions versus on-site? An on-site, sometimes referred to as on-premises entails a costly capitol expenditure for Server(s), battery backup devices, software licensing, data backup and regular maintenance. Many companies also pay for a server monitoring service. For Cloud based solutions, there is a huge savings because there is no hardware to purchase, maintain, backup and replace. There are no software licenses to purchase. Everything needed is included on a flat rate cost. Also, with the Cloud Servers and desktops enhanced security is and reliability is unmatched. Finally, it is easy to support a remote work force and multiple office locations. If a business asks you which solutions would be the best fit for them, how do you come to your decision or recommendation? Great question. We do an extensive evaluation of all hardware, software, and business practices to learn the state of the current IT platform and the IT needs for each company. We learn what works well and what areas need to be improved. The we make our recommendations based on the findings and the deployment plan of needed changes based on budgets and availability to ensure the least impact to downtime if any. Our goals for every business customer are to ensure their data is secure and their systems are efficient, reliable & affordable, and finally that they are a good fit to meet the individual company technology needs. Can I just train one of my employees to be our IT person? ECS has many decades of technology knowledge & experience we offer. This level of knowledge & experience takes years to learn. However, we can train an employee to do some tasks and to leverage our experience as needed. How often should my employees really be changing their passwords? In today’s world of threats, we recommend passwords be changed at least every 90 days as a general rule. I work from my phone a lot. If I answer emails from my phone’s email app, will they be as safe as using my desktop or laptop? A phone app is just as secure a desktop or laptop. However, this depends on the type of email being used. For example, if a company uses GMAIL or HOTMAIL or any free email service, the mail is not secure on any device. If they use a hosted MS Exchange email the connection to the mail server is always secure. What is a realistic budget a small business should have per year for IT Services? This varies greatly and is driven by business industry that has compliance requirements (i.e.: Medical or Financial) and the complexity of the technology needed. Some small businesses require larger IT budgets than their larger counterparts. Our experience in general industry shows a company with 10 computers would require an annual budget of at least $7,000 to $10,000. And there we have it. Small businesses should have, at the very minimum, a designated person to learn and be trained in IT related components to the business, but that will not guarantee the safety and longevity of your investments and data. Doing nothing is much more costly than the above-mentioned budget. Repairing, replacing, and then adding IT Services and security will run your business twice those numbers, easily. In this case, it is definitely better safe than sorry. With the costs of literally everything continuing to climb, you can’t afford NOT to protect your business. We understand the expense is not cheap, and there are ways to spread things out. ECS is experienced and personable and would love to help you figure out the best route for your small business. Give us a call and let’s create a gameplan.