“I’m a car guy,” Brian said. “Anything that happens underneath the hood, I can take care of it. That’s why I jumped at the chance to purchase this garage. Lenny’s retiring, so he just wanted to get rid of everything. That means I got the shop, the tools, his established customers – and his computer system.”
The garage’s computer system was a mess. “A lot of people don’t realize how much a repair shop needs reliable computers,” Brian said. “Ordering parts and maintaining inventory alone is a huge job. There’s the accounting end of the business – billing, paying my my guys, insurance. Emissions testing is computerized. I need everything to work quickly and reliably. What I had here did neither. And I don’t even begin to know how to fix that.”
Almost every business needs IT support, but not every business needs to keep an IT professional on staff. For this type of business, managed monthly IT support can be the perfect solution. The very first step is identifying and assessing all of the tech your business currently has, including servers, workstations, printers and other networked equipment.
“What we had in place was sub-par. I needed to replace and upgrade my tech, but I didn’t want to spend a ton of money I didn’t need to,” Brian explained. An IT consultant can help you create a system based on your business’ unique needs that meets your budget. Many times businesses can save money and improve overall data security by taking advantage of cloud-based systems for basic business operations, including inventory, accounting, payroll, HR and more.
Once an appropriate system has been designed and installed, managed monthly IT support is available to keep everything working properly. Regular network scans and data backup eliminate a lot of the stress and worry associated with maintaining a business network. It’s smart, strategic, and allows the business owner to concentrate on what they do best.
