Digital services form a crucial cog in the day-to-day operations of a business. Consider the importance of internet connectivity, cyber security and usability during the Covid crisis and it’s fundamentally obvious that digital infrastructure has been vital throughout the pandemic in ensuring business continuity. Of course, there’s also the technical support that services that infrastructure. With many people still working from home for the foreseeable future, IT support continues to be a crucial part of business operations.
Over the past year as the world was plunged into chaos, attitudes towards IT support have gradually shifted. These days businesses perceive managed IT services as digital insurance. This insurance proactively monitors networks and resolves potential issues before they escalate, essentially futureproofing your digital infrastructure and assets.
How did IT Support help businesses during the pandemic?
Poorly written software; outdated digital infrastructure. Legacy systems struggling to meet the needs of your team, and underprepared employees finding it difficult to work from home. For many businesses and organisations, multiple technical issues and challenges came to a head when news of the pandemic first hit the headlines last year.
IT support has been a crucial service during the Covid-19 pandemic. From cyber security to disaster recovery, managed IT support services worked tirelessly to secure networks and protect personal data as employees transferred their workspaces from centralised locations to their home offices. The support didn’t stop there, as a series of rolling lockdowns here in the UK kept employees out of the office.
Data access and management
Most professional IT services offer both in-house and remote support. During the Covid-19 pandemic, IT services were able to remotely connect with their clients and offer technical assistance. Data access and the management of such data was of particular importance. Employees needed to continue on with their daily tasks with minimal disruption.
IT support services were able to assist businesses and organisations with this transition, ensuring software was up to date as well as introducing employees to modern, cloud-based software that allowed teams to easily communicate. Employees also needed to create, approve and distribute tasks accordingly. IT services essentially worked to keep businesses connected and running as efficiently as possible, providing crucial technical support remotely via cloud-based software.
Disaster recovery
If your business or organisation was already employing the assistance of an IT support service before Covid-19, then you may have already heard of disaster recovery. Disaster recovery is a series of steps your business can rely upon in the event of a disruption caused by a disaster. From earthquakes to cyber attacks, a disaster recovery plan essentially works to get your digital services back up and running. A disaster can be as little as your internet dropping out, or as catastrophic as a global pandemic.
Given how reliant businesses have become upon their digital services and infrastructure in recent years, having a robust disaster recovery plan was crucial in surviving the pandemic. IT support services quickly got to work putting various recovery plans into action and providing vital technical support as lockdown restrictions were implemented. Having a disaster recovery plan during the pandemic ensured businesses and organisations could continue their day-to-day operations with minimal disruption.
Cyber security
The move from centralised locations to home offices during the pandemic drastically altered the digital landscape. The sudden, drastic move away from centralised locations left businesses and organisations unable to secure their data and information in time, giving scammers, cyber criminals and hackers plenty of opportunity to get into previously secure networks. IT support services all over the country quickly got to work securing their clients’ data and information as offices moved from centralised locations to cloud-based workspaces.
There was also a question of security as many employees began working from their personal computers and laptops. What kind of information were employees downloading, and what kind of data was already present there that could comprise security? It was up to IT support services to ensure sensitive business data and information wasn’t freely available to hackers and cyber criminals.
If your business or organisation didn’t have a sufficient disaster recovery plan in place when news of Covid-19 first hit the headlines, there’s a good chance your digital assets and infrastructure may still be scattered around the homes of your employees. With many still working from home, professional IT technicians and engineers continue to perform software audits, permission cleanses and asset checks to tidy up and secure digital assets and infrastructure. Months later, IT Support services are still providing businesses and organisations with remote support that ensure their systems and networks are up to date and secure.
How do I find IT Support?
Finding IT support is simple enough, although navigating through the numerous options you’ll have may prove a little more tricky. The kind of IT support you’ll need will be dependent on the exact specifications and needs of your business or organisation. Are you having internet connectivity issues, or do you need a fully managed IT service? Is your cyber security system protecting your network, or do you need a professional technician to evaluate it? These are all questions you need to ask yourself when seeking out the right IT support for you and your staff.
Start with a simple search on your favourite search engine. Finding a service that is relatively local to you has its benefits even if you’re looking for remote support, so try searching IT support with your location. For example, ‘IT Support Plymouth’ or ‘IT Support Glasgow’ may help you narrow down your search. From there it should be simple enough to narrow down the services available and find the perfect company.
IT Support during the pandemic
Digital services are a vital cog in the day-to-day operations of businesses and organisations all over the world. From internet connectivity to cyber security, professionally managed IT services cemented businesses continuity as employees moved from centralised workspaces to home offices. The pandemic has drastically altered the digital landscape, and with many people still working from home IT support continues to be a crucial part of business operations.
For businesses and organisations all over the UK, there’s never been a more important time to ensure business continuity through a professional IT support service.
