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Category Archives: Manage Service

IT Monthly Management Reports: Leading Your Department

October 22, 2020Manage Service#ImproveBusiness, #InformedDecisions, #ITReportsSystemsNet Administrator

Call center worker accompanied by her team. Smiling customer support operator at work. Young employee working with a headset.

When you’re in charge of your IT department, monthly management reports are essential.

As in nearly every industry, the Information Technology industry continues to face the hurdle of creating timely and thorough reports. In the Information Technology industry, IT reports can be used to improve the overall success of a business or organization. How? An IT report can help extend your value from an influx of digital data.

IT reports are extremely vital to a business or organization’s development and success. However, if you create reports that do not offer any value or insight to your needs, the work that was put into creating the reports will be wasted.

If you are responsible for leading the IT department, you have probably been asked a variety of questions in regard to the number of help desk tickets and the amount of time it took to resolve those tickets. If you do not have the information you need to thoroughly answer those questions, how will you be able to fully support the IT department?

Making Informed Decisions

Today, there are numerous tools and resources that can be used to create reports that will help you answer the simple and tough questions. There will always be a long list of questions coming in, and it is crucial to the success of the business or organization that you are able to answer those questions. IT monthly management reports will allow you to make informed decisions. When you are able to make decisions that are informed and well-thought-out, you will be able to lead the way and create strategies and solutions that can improve your business.

Why Do We Need IT Reports?

When creating a new business strategy or when revising a current business strategy for the IT department, it is important to have clear missions and goals. When you have visions and goals that are clear to you and everyone in the workplace, you will be able to use IT monthly management reports to determine where you stand. The IT monthly management reports can also be used to determine how effective or ineffective you have been on the progress you have made so far.

It is important to create reports that are correct because you need to know if you are meeting your business objectives. If the information on your reports do not meet the goals that have been aligned, you may be placing a wedge between the IT department and the other departments in the business or organization. If you create reports that are not correct or reports that are lacking key information, you can also negatively impact the budget that was set ahead of time.

Improve Your Business With IT Reports

If you have created IT reports in the past, you are aware of how many benefits it has. IT reports can do more than provide you with an assessment of your current needs and activities. When you have all of your data in one place, you will be able to fully analyze everything at one time. When you are able to analyze everything in front of you, you will be able to create IT dashboards.

When your IT dashboards provide you with information in real-time, you will not have to worry about constantly refreshing or searching for the data you need because everything will always be current. IT reports can lead to better decisions, greater flexibility, better agility, and an increased confidence throughout the department.

Are you ready to deliver valuable and thorough reports for your IT department? Are you ready to accelerate your business or organization? Please do not hesitate to contact us today for more information on the importance of IT monthly management reports.

When Should Remote Workers Call their IT Help Desk

October 19, 2020Manage Service#BrokenAPI, #IncorrectData, #Login, #Phishing, #TechStack, malwareSystemsNet Administrator

Back view of male employee speaking on video call with diverse colleagues on online briefing with laptop at home.

Working from home doesn’t mean working without the resources of an office. Here’s when your IT department can help.

Working remotely can make anyone feel disconnected from their business support system. In the office, everyone you need is right down the hall, from the snack machines to the IT department. Many businesses manage or outsource an IT help desk to assist employees with day-to-day technical concerns. This help desk service is even more important when you are working remotely or your employer has initiated a work-at-home policy.

But something about being at home often makes professionals shy about calling for IT support when it’s needed. As IT professionals, let us tell you that we’re here for a reason. Your IT help desk team is there to help you through both setup and tech challenges in the course of your job. Today, we’re here to highlight when remote employees can and should call their IT help desk support.

To Set Up Your Tech Stack

Transitioning to remote, you need to set up your home computer to do the job. Whether you’re using a personal computer or using a provided laptop, it’s important to set up your tech-stack for both remote performance and remote security. Installing your software, it’s often a good idea to get on the phone with IT support. Make sure you’re installing everything in the right order and taking the right customization steps so that your whole stack works correctly. An apt installation with IT assistance can mean easy error-free work in the future.

When You Can’t Log In

Login troubles are always within the top three reasons why professionals contact IT support. If you can’t log in or something is wrong with your login, the IT help desk is often your first and best solution. Login troubles often mean that you are unable to access your work or the data necessary to do your work. Whether your account has lost authorization or your password isn’t how you left it, the iT help desk team can get you back on track quickly.

When Your Video Meetings Have Troubles

Video meetings are a unique challenge of post-COVID remote working. Where once, only a few thousand employers around the globe conducted regular video meetings, now it’s the best and only way to have a long conversation between team members. So if you have technical troubles like camera issues, screen sharing complications, or security concerns, don’t hesistate to call IT. It’s far better to spend some time with the help desk than spend your next five meetings battling performance bugs.

When You Suspect Malware or Phishing

Hackers are everywhere. That hasn’t changed between the office and remote work. In fact, professionals working from home are at even more risk than those in the office because they must enact their own local network security. But you don’t have to do it alone. If you are worried about security or if you suspect that you are being targeted or infected by hackers, contact your IT help desk. Describe the situation and they will guide you through what you need to do to stay safe and secure your data.

When The Data Looks Wrong

Likewise, keep an eye out for any apparent errors in your company’s shared software and data. Data entry and processing errors happen, and your eyes might be the first or clearest to see the problem. Send a polite message to your IT help desk any time the data in your remote work software letting them know. This is a great way to keep everything in-line and safe, even if you’re not the right person to make the fix you could be essential to preventing future problems.

When an API is Broken

Finally, watch for broken APIs. With everyone suddenly working remotely, businesses have thrown together remote tech stacks, including handmade and recently installed APIs to make it all work. If two pieces of software are not working together the way they should, call your IT help desk. Get assistance either working around the problem, fixing the problem, or letting the right people know that a fix is needed for the sake of everyone who relies on your shared software stack.

As a remote working professional, when is the right time to call your IT help desk? If you have a question or concern, we encourage you to call. That’s what we’re here for.

Does Your IT Help Desk Suffer From Ongoing Problems?

October 1, 2020Manage Service#EmployeesNotHappy, #ITProblemsNotDisappearing, #LongResolutionTime, #NotReceivingHelpSystemsNet Administrator

IT, information technology, help desk, IT services

An effective IT help desk will set your company up for success.

If your business or organization is suffering from multiple pain points due to IT help desk problems, it is time to thoroughly review your IT help desk practices, service levels, customer satisfaction, and more. These problems are more than pain points; these problems can seriously threaten the quality of service you offer to your customers. Within your business, no one can afford the risks that come with having a poor IT help desk support.

Users should always be given outstanding service provided by a top-notch IT help desk. Unfortunately, many businesses have their IT help desk department services spread so thin that the quality of service suffers. In your industry, your service is everything. It does not matter what type of products and services you are providing to your customers, you should always ensure your level of service is of the highest quality.

If your IT help desk is experiencing the symptoms of a poor IT help desk, it is time to make changes to your IT help desk system.

There Is A Long Resolution Time

If your help desk team is spending too much time resolving the issues that the callers have, it is not only costly, but it is taking precious time away from the resolution of other problems. Your help desk team should be able to handle a high number of requests in a day. However, if your help desk team is spending too much time on one call, other callers will not be able to receive the level of support they need.

Your IT Problems Are Not Disappearing

If you have IT problems that do not seem to ever go away, your quality of support will never reach the level it needs to be. This is not an uncommon situation. Unfortunately, not every business is able to capture the greater picture. There are many calls that come into the help desk that represent large and major issues. However, the major help desk problems you are having can lead to poorly handled calls.

Your Employees Are Not Happy With Your Systems

New technologies and systems will often result in complaints from those within the workplace. Sometimes there are difficulties with accessing a system or because there are problems with system issues that are ongoing. Your IT team should be prepared for an influx of help desk calls whenever new systems, technologies, equipment are implemented.

Callers Are Not Receiving Help

If your users are not getting the high-quality user experience they feel they deserve, they will instantly become dissatisfied with your help desk. Callers are often dissatisfied with a help desk because the call resolution is poor, and they have to wait too long to receive the service they need. When call resolution is poor and when callers have to wait too long for a help desk response, customers will become frustrated and disappointed with the level of service they are receiving.

We understand how difficult it can be to roll out a help desk system that is effective and efficient. An effective and efficient help desk system is one that will offer multiple options for users to submit tickets and receive assistance in an appropriate timeframe. Users should have the opportunity to choose the option that makes the most sense to them.

Outsourcing a help desk system has become a significant and cost-effective option for many businesses in a variety of industries. It does not matter if you are looking for someone to analyze your help desk and offer advice or if you are looking for help desk software that can improve your ongoing issues, please contact us today for information on our services.

What Can an MSP Do for Your Remote Work Team?

September 17, 2020Manage Service#AdviseRemoteTeamTechStack, #BackupRecoverySystem, #CoordinateDevicesAndDataPlans, #HomeOfficeSetups, #RemoteWorkResourcesSystemsNet Administrator

In complicated times, using a Managed Service Provider (MSP) can keep your remote team running smoothly.

Managed Service Providers, or MSPs for short, are dedicated network and computer technicians that outsource their services to many different companies. In a world where we know there are not enough tech professionals to go around, outsourcing those services is the best way to ensure every small to medium business gets the technical support they need. This remains true in the wake of current events, leaving even the most hands-on teams now working from home in home offices.

Remote work is not a new concept, but it can be logistically challenging for teams who are not prepared for the transition. That is where a skilled MSP can help you. The transition to remote work and enhancing your remote productivity is all about the tech stack. A managed service provider can provide remote support of exactly the nature your business needs to thrive on remote work.

Here’s what an MSP can do for your remote working team:

Advise the Best Remote Team Tech Stack

Your tech stack is the core of teamwork and productivity. Transitioning to remote work, you’ll need a remote-friendly stack of business software. These programs will need to mimic or even just extend your on-site workflow and connect your team members so they can work together from far-flung locations. The best tech stack will need to be fully integrated, and your MSP can make sure you make the right choices for your business.

Build and Secure Your Remote Work Resources

Secure remote resources are a must. You need cloud servers, document management, collaboration tools, plus many more. But you also need data security to ensure that customer, staff, and business information is not leaked to nosy hackers along the way. This work-at-home jag has been a holiday for hackers who like to exploit the new security gaps between team members working remotely. We can help close those security gaps and defend your remotely accessible work resources.

Provide Support for Home Office Setups

Setting up a home office is not always easy. Not everyone has the right equipment, installation, or internet plan to thrive. As an MSP, we can help walk each team member through the most important steps of setting up their home office. From there, we’ll also provide support for any specific questions or problems. From home video studios to configuring the firewall, we have each individual covered.

Coordinate Company Devices and Data Plans

Many employers are sending out company devices and offering comped or subsidized internet plans for employees working from home. Your managed service provider can make sure each of these devices has the right installation and setup, even before it is shipped to the team members. We can then walk team members through setting up their new company devices and accessing their provided internet plans.

Create a New Backup Recovery System

Last but not least is backup recovery. When your entire business infrastructure moves to the cloud and your team goes remote, there’s a good chance you will need new data backup management to ensure that the new remote infrastructure can be recovered quickly. We have this under control Once your new tech stack and workflow is established, an MSP can build you a backup recover plan to reflect your business needs and the technology in use.

Hiring an MPS is a great choice for any small to medium business adapting to the new remote workflow with work-at-home conditions. We would be proud to provide the technical guidance and support your business needs to make this transition. Contact us today to consult on managed services for your company’s IT needs and the needs of your remote team members.