Are there nagging tech problems in your small business that you keep meaning to deal with at some point in the future, but never seem to get around to? Do you have printers that go off-line, networks that drop calls, or error messages that seem to pop up at random?
These are just a few examples of nagging IT issues, of course, but we hear about hundreds of them every week. What they all have in common is that they seem minor when they occur – they aren’t serious enough to cause big concerns or warrant an emergency IT call. And yet, you shouldn’t put off dealing with them, even though that’s exactly what a lot of business owners and executives will do.
Naturally, as a leading Southern California IT firm, you could say we want businesses to deal with tech problems because it benefits us. That’s partly true, of course, but the bigger reasons have nothing to do with our business and everything to do with yours. Let’s look at a few reasons you should stop putting off nagging IT issues today…
You Aren’t Actually Saving Money
Let’s face it: when business owners and executives put off IT repairs it isn’t because they like dealing with the problem. Instead, it’s because they worry that calling a vendor is going to cost more than they want to pay.
The problem with that line of thinking is that you aren’t actually saving any money by putting off necessary IT work. You might avoid a small invoice in the short run, but in the long term you’re hurting your own productivity. And, you could be risking a bigger expense down the road (more on this in a moment).
Bad Tech Can Embarrass You When it Matters
It isn’t unusual for companies to ignore small but persistent IT issues for months or even years. What ultimately motivates them to reach out to us is when a known issue embarrasses them in front of a client, customer, or colleague.
When your credibility is on the line, the last thing you need is a videoconference that won’t work, or a missing document that can’t be accessed. Why not solve your problem now instead of letting it embarrass you during a big moment later?
The Problems Won’t Go Away on Their Own
Nagging IT issues don’t solve themselves. It would be nice if they would, but that isn’t how life works. If you keep putting off things like maintenance and upgrades you’ll simply prolong the inevitable.
You might be able to ignore some minor issues, but you’ll soon discover they have larger root causes. And when those aren’t addressed, the symptoms began to pile up on top of one another. Then you’re dealing with crashing networks, missing communications, and (ultimately) lost revenue or expensive IT service calls. In the world of technology, a little bit of preventative care and maintenance can save you a big bag of trouble later.