It is an extremely rare business that doesn’t need some type of technology to operate – perhaps a retiree who does handyman jobs around the neighborhood for some extra cash. The focus of today’s companies is not just on selling their own goods and services. In order to do business, they must also master various types of digital tools – and have top-notch IT Support to keep it all running.
These include software, payment systems, computers, Wi-Fi networks, mobile devices, VoIP phone systems, and more. Companies also need to protect their devices and network. If that technology isn’t working, it can impact a business significantly.
As calculated by Pingdom, the cost of one hour of IT downtime varies by industry, with small businesses averaging between a low of $8,220/hour to a high of $25,620/hour. Large companies pay much more: generally, more than $1,000,000/hour. Pingdom cites these well-known cases:
In March 2015, Apple lost approximately $25 million over an outage lasting 12 hours.
In August 2016, Delta lost almost $150 million during five hours of downtime.
In March 2019, Facebook had a 14-hour downtime costing them nearly $90 million.
This reliance on technology means that out of sheer necessity every company is now a technology company. It doesn’t matter what products you sell or services you provide. This is the case in today’s world.
Why Technology is the Backbone of Any Business
When it comes to THE backbone of a business, many would argue for other factors: customers, sales, customer service, etc., but if your tech fails, you cannot take good care of any of them.
- Technology Is a Critical Part of Business
Even ranchers and farmers use tech to check commodity prices, sell livestock, and keep their books. Most companies couldn’t operate without their software or without databases filled with vital information.
IT downtime is devastating for this very reason. Remember the breaches that impacted global meat producer JBS and the Colonial pipeline? Those companies had to halt operations because of ransomware attacks, and in the case of Colonial, the stoppage made finding open gas stations on the East Coast difficult, which was disruptive for business there.
They both paid the ransom to their attackers so they could begin operating again. If the technology that’s become a normal part of our day went down, a lot of companies would close.
- Customers Expect an Excellent Digital Experience
Customer experience ranked first in a survey of top business priorities for the next 5 years. Nearly 46% of respondents said it was at the top of their list.
Just one bad experience with your company can cause a customer to go elsewhere. Two bad experiences and they are extremely likely to drop you. In our digital world, those experiences are often:
Navigating your website
Checkout experience
Appointment scheduling ease
Shipping notifications
Helpfulness of online chat
Response time from customer support
Ability to contact your company via social media
You need to use technology if you want to keep up with consumer expectations in 2023 and beyond. From your website to your payment experience, people expect a smooth digital flow.
Take a personal story about Uber. About 18 months ago, the app would not let me book a ride – it kept circling around and repeatedly asking for credit/debit card info (which it already had). After putting in my payment info a few times, I switched to Lyft and never went back.
- Devices Drive Employee Productivity
Employees cannot work productively without the use of a computer, tablet, or mobile device. These devices keep staff connected to each other and your customer data. Devices enable communication and are how much of the work in offices gets done. If they don’t run well, business productivity suffers. This is a job for your internal IT support or outsourced Managed Services Provider (MSP).
- Smart Companies Use AI & Automation to Stay Competitive
Organizations move much faster with AI and automation. AI can perform rote tasks and personalize a consumer shopping experience. Automation can help sales teams close 30% more deals and improve conversions by over 200%.
Companies must integrate technology tools with AI and automation capabilities just to stay competitive in an unforgiving marketplace, so this means they need to know the best ways to use these tools and integrate them well with existing solutions.
- Data Is Being Generated at a Rapid Pace
Companies generate data of all kinds at a dizzying pace. This pace would be untenable if we were back in the days of paper files. You would need a separate building just for all the filing cabinets.
In this day and age, data of all types - files, documents, and customer records - are primarily digital. Keeping track of all that information and making it easily searchable requires technology skills.
- Business Contacts are Foregoing Legacy Systems
Consider the vendors you use for your business. Could you interact with any of them offline only? No email, no digital documents? Everything by phone with a pad and pen for notes? In most cases, the answer is ‘No’ – and the same goes for your clients.
These businesses are now technology companies in the same way yours is. Most will be leaving behind the inconvenience and slowness of legacy systems like fax machines and paper documents. Thus, you need to use digital means to interact with them – and to be effective, you have to be good at it.
- No Tech Innovation = No (or slow) Growth
People have limitations in terms of how much they can mentally and physically do in a day. Computers and technology have exponentially improved that by doing a lot of the processing and manual work. This leaves you time for higher effectiveness in the most important components of your work.
At IT Support LA, we use AI and automation to perform a host of menial tasks for our clients, freeing up our IT HelpDesk crew to handle more sophisticated issues.
As a useful tool, the cloud goes far to create a level playing field for small businesses. It allows smaller companies to affordably leverage technology to do things faster and more effectively.
It’s difficult to continue growing your business without the smart use of digital tools. This includes reviewing your technology infrastructure and looking at innovations on the horizon. The rule of thumb for business is: ‘Modernize or Die.’
Think of it this way: When was the last time you saw a horse and buggy on the freeway?
- Effective Business Continuity Depends on Technology
Business continuity is about keeping your company running despite any crisis, whether natural or man-made. One natural disaster could severely impact a building and everything in it. But, if you are storing your data in the cloud and using cloud software, your business can still operate.
Businesses without a comprehensive Backup & Disaster Recovery Plan are at significant risk. Tech solutions create the ability to continue operating from anywhere, increasing business resiliency.
Frequently Asked Questions
Q: How do you calculate downtime cost per hour?
A: The simple method is to add labor costs per hour to the revenue lost per hour, according to Rand Group. Labor costs are fairly easy; for revenue lost, for revenue lost, figure out the company’s average revenue generated per day and the percentage you would lose depending on the duration of the outage.
Q: What are the 5 ways technology has improved the modern work environment?
A: Specific benefits depend on the industry, but in a general way, the top 5 tend to be:
Enhanced Productivity (including improved communications)
Time management
Cooperative Collaboration
Better Security
Improved cost management
Q: What is the difference between backup and business continuity?
A: Backups – more precisely a Backup & Disaster Recovery Plan (DRP) is part of the Larger Business Continuity Plan (BCP). DRP is essential for all things network and IT, but BCP is truly the ‘big picture’.
Q: What is the best way to backup your data?
A: These are the three essential backups:
Local Backup: Located in the office, but not connected to the main network.
Cloud Backup: Use a reliable service, but the security is for you to ensure.
Cloud to Cloud Backup: Even clouds get hacked – add this extra protection.
How secure is your network?
As a reputable member of the IT Support Los Angeles community since 2002, IT Support LA offers a FREE, no-risk network and security assessment. It is a non-intrusive scan that allows us to deliver a comprehensive report that is yours to keep. No strings, and no obligation to ever use our Managed IT Services.
The best defense is the best Cybersecurity to protect your data from theft, and a top-notch Managed Services Provider (MSP) to ensure continued reliability and defenses against newly emerging threats.
With our 100% Money Back Guarantee in writing, we offer a risk-free way for prospective clients to try us out. Because we do not require a ‘hard’ contract, our clients can fire us at any time with 30 days’ notice. We have to be good.
Among the Managed IT services we provide:
IT HelpDesk Service
Onsite IT Support
Cybersecurity
Cloud migration and management
Email migration services
Backup and disaster recovery
VoIP phone systems
IT disposition and recycling
Office moves
White label services (IT to IT)
What Does Your Innovation Roadmap Look Like?
Using technology securely and to its fullest can be a full-time job and IT Support LA happily provides our clients with solution suggestions that can help their business – even in areas that have nothing to do with IT services. Give us a call today, we can help take that burden off your shoulders.
IT Support LA is an award-winning Managed Services Provider (MSP):
o 3 Years awarded Best IT by the Small Business Expo
o Awarded 2nd best company of any type in the US by the Small Business Expo SB100
o Awarded Best IT in California by Channel Futures
o Winner of Best IT Support in Los Angeles 2021 by Channel Futures
o Listed as one of the world’s Top 501 Managed Services Providers by CRN and in the top 250 in the ‘Pioneer’ listing
o 4 years listed as one of the Top 501 MSPs in the World by Channel Futures
o Globee 2021 Bronze Award winner for Chief Technology Officer of the Year
o Globee 2022 Gold Award winner for Chief Technology Officer of the Year
o Named one of 2022’s 50 ‘Best’ businesses in California by UpCity
o Named Best of IT Services winner for 2021 by UpCity
o Winner of Local Excellence Award for 2021, 2022 and 2023 by UpCity
o Named Best of Cloud Consulting winner for 2021 by UpCity
o Certified as Top MSP and Cybersecurity Pro for 2021 by UpCity
o Named Best IT Support in Los Angeles for 2021 by Expertise.com.
For more information, or to receive your FREE no-risk network and Cybersecurity assessment, just fill out the form on this page or call us at:
818-805-0909
