Eliminate the frustration of managing computers - Part 1

As a small business owner, it is difficult to get the expertise necessary to manage computers well. The cost of an experienced technician is too high and even if you could afford to hire him or her, you couldn't keep them happy or satisfied.

Hiring a computer support company is a better and cheaper solution. They have the expertise and can solve problems much faster than a less experienced person. The good news is that this improves your productivity, because your computers are down less time.

As small business owners, we are often concerned that we can afford the downtime while we wait for a technician to get on site. The problems can be solved by the time that the technician arrives. If you are having this problem, then you have the wrong supplier. A good support company manages your computers for you and prevents these problems from occuring. This means that you have fewer incidents and therefore you don't need immediate response.

Most suppliers today also have remote management tools. They can diagnose and resolve problems without coming on site. With the preventative maintenance and remote support, you get more reliable service and faster response at a cheaper rate.

Why would anyone not want to have this? There is only one issue here. And that is the relationship with your supplier. Unfortunately many suppliers see themselves as technicians and not as partners in your business. You get the most value if they treat your business issues as their issues and help you to solve them, without costing you a fortune. This is an area where an employee may have a different attitude, or at least you might help them to learn to have a different attitude.

Having a supplier that you can trust and cares about your business is a great solution. But there is another question. Why do you need so much support and preventative maintenance? Why can't those computers just run.

To quote Jef Raskin, a human/computer interface expert:
"Imagine if every Thursday your shoes exploded if you tied them the usual way. This happens to us all the time with computers, and nobody thinks of complaining."

There are a lot of reasons why we have these problems. But this is another topic and I'll describe them in a future entry.


the problems of PC based applications.