You Need A Local IT Service Provider for Your Business and Here’s Why
Your business cannot afford to have technology disruptions. And the only way you can ensure it stays online is by hiring technical support. But do you need local IT guys or will a remote tech team work just fine? Hiring a remote team may have some “obvious” benefits. But before you go and choose them over your local tech guys, know that this may not be the best idea.
Trust is an important factor when it comes to hiring a tech team. Your IT guys may have access to precious data, your computers, and other crucial business assets. So, there is no way you can cut any corners there.
You know that. Of course, you do.
So do your research before hiring someone. But as you do your research, you have to answer some difficult questions for yourself. One such question is: do you need to hire locally or look for someone to help you remotely?
Hiring remotely may make more sense to many small business owners. It may be more affordable and you might think you are getting a more experienced staff.
It could work. Sure.
But only until those inevitable tech issues pop up and make you realize why successful small businesses almost always prefer local IT teams.
Why You Need a Local IT Service Provider
You may have heard of the popular saying “Keep your friends close but your enemies closer.” For modern businesses, you can word it a bit differently and say “Keep your competitors close but your IT guys closer.”
You need your IT team to be as close to your business as possible. Not just virtually but physically as well. And you don’t have to wait for an IT problem to disrupt your business before realizing that.
Here are a few reasons why local IT support works best for small businesses:
Security and Trust
Researching for the right IT company is simple these days. You hop onto Google and search for an IT company that can help your business and bam! You have a list of potential tech service providers who could become your next IT support team.
But, how do you know which ones are reliable? Hackers and ill-intentioned individuals are always lurking in the dark corners of the vast internet world. And having a small business does not obscure you from their sharp eyes. They always look for unaware business owners to trap them and ruin their business.
Blindly trusting someone who claims to be a remote IT service provider means handing over your computers, business data, and precious tech infrastructure to someone who could potentially be a scammer.
Is this a risk worth taking? Of course not because your business can not only end up losing precious data and hardware, but you may also lose the reputation you have worked so hard to build.
Hiring locally allows you to interact with your IT service providers in person. You can visit their company and meet with the team. This would help you judge if they can be trusted with your assets and is so much better and far safer than trusting someone you have never met in your life with your precious data and technical assets.
Better Coordination
One of the last things you want for your business is an IT team that lacks proper coordination.
Coordinating over calls and emails works. But only sometimes. Most serious issues demand better coordination which requires that you meet your team in person.
This is why businesses with remote IT teams often struggle with poorer coordination. Their tech guys are mostly only available from behind the screens, accessible through calls and emails. Being able to meet only virtually, especially for tech-related problems often introduces friction in coordination and threatens to reduce your business’s performance potential.
Hiring locally, on the other hand, allows you to work with a team that is available to meet with you in person and offer better collaboration.
A local team is usually based closer to your business. They are available to visit your location and discuss projects and troubleshoot any issues that may be disrupting its productivity.
This allows them to have a better working relationship with your colleagues and employees, which then supports collaboration and helps you get more out of your tech infrastructure.
Moreover, a local team operates in the same time zone as yours. This further eliminates coordination problems that arise when you are getting ready for work while your tech team, which is based on the other side of the world, is preparing to go to bed.
A team working in a different time zone can come in handy in some situations. Sure. However, collaborating can become less efficient when the two sides have wildly different working hours.
Working with a local team ensures that you and your IT guys have the same working hours. This allows for better synchronicity which then improves collaboration and makes it easier for you to discuss updates and work on any issues that may impact your business.
A local IT team is also available to support your employees through training sessions with a more hands-on approach. Since these guys are present in person, they can offer individual attention to all your team members who may be struggling with a particular technical aspect or update.
Familiarity with the Local Infrastructure
Who do you think would your New Jersey-based business get more benefit from, a remote team or a small business computer support firm in NJ? The IT team that’s based in NJ.
Your local amenities, utilities, and events influence the technical side of the business.
A local IT service provider is aware of all the ups and downs that may impact your technical setup due to regional issues. For example, if the internet is particularly slow in the region, a local service provider will be better aware of the issue and will be able to offer a more specific solution to help you get your business back online.
Certain cities or regions may also be prone to environmental disasters. If your IT team is based close to your business, within the same region as yours, they will be able to assess your current technical status with a more accurate understanding of the situation.
Moreover, by hiring locally, you won’t have to worry about connecting with your IT teams in case the internet is down or power is out. They will be able to come onsite and initiate the disaster recovery promptly.
Faster Response Times
Every minute of downtime could translate into lost profit.
Ideally, you want to avoid any serious technical disruptions. But if one does occur, you want your business to go back online as soon as possible. This is why you want to work with an IT team that can respond quickly and help your business get back up and running.
A local team does not depend on connectivity as much as a remote team does. They can quickly come onsite and start the recovery processes. Moreover, since they are based in the same region, they know where they can source spare parts in case of a hardware failure.
They also have a better understanding of the local technical infrastructure and are in sync with your employees.
All of these factors enable local teams to respond to all technical disruptions more promptly and resolve them quickly so your business can avoid costly downtime.
Onsite Support
Imagine going through a system failure or internet disruption with an IT team that is available only through the systems that have just stopped working. No tech-supported business ever wants to end up in a situation like that. This is the classic “You can’t get there from here” situation.
Remote teams can offer assistance, but they are usually limited online. And if you want them to come visit your business in person, that comes with associated costs. You may have to cover their travel expenses, pay for their accommodation, and also wait for a relatively long time before they can get to your business.
That’s something you don’t have to worry about when working with a local team.
Your local IT guys can come on-site as soon as a technical issue pops up, address it, and help your business get back up and running soon.
Their ability to visit onsite more easily helps you bring down the cost of IT support and also allows you to have better response times when something comes up and threatens to disrupt your business processes.
This eventually reduces downtime, improves efficiency, and helps your business be more productive.
Compliance with Local Regulations
When it comes to customer privacy, different states have different laws. Besides customer privacy, there may be many more instances where the laws and regulations impacting your IT operations may vary depending on where you are based.
A local IT service provider will have a better understanding of the laws that apply to the technical side of your business and will be better able to guide how you can thrive with a powerful technical setup while staying compliant with local regulations.
They may also have experience working with other, similar businesses and helping them build a tech infrastructure that’s compliant with local laws. This experience may come in handy as you build and maintain an IT unit that allows your business to thrive without getting caught up in legal issues.
Work with a Reliable Local IT Service Provider
Working with a local service provider does not eliminate the risk of handing your business over to an incompetent IT staff. You have to do your due diligence and find a reliable, experienced, and well-resourced team before you can enjoy all the benefits listed above.
Landau Consulting offers small business computer support in NJ. Led by an IT professional with 35+ years of experience in the field, they offer end-to-end IT services, disaster recovery, and onsite support. Landau Consulting has helped numerous businesses in New Jersey and surrounding areas build efficient technical setups and thrive with IT that supports the business instead of disrupting it.
Do you want your start-up to be the next small business that thrives with Landau Consulting’s tech support?
Learn more about their service at https://landauconsulting.com/it-services/ or contact them directly at https://landauconsulting.com/contact. For more fun and informative blogs, visit https://landauconsulting.com/blog.