Precision Business Solutions describe IT Support vs. IT Management as Reactive vs. ProActive.  Many people or companies providing IT Support are simply there to provide support in a time of need. IT Support is great but that’s not what organizations need. Someone providing IT Management knows you’ll need support but also is working in the background to mitigate that need by proactively maintaining, monitoring, and documenting your IT Systems.

Maintenance is something in which we’ve always believed in.  Back in the day IT maintenance consisted of disk defrags and the occasional service pack. Today, we’ve added a number of proactive measures, such as ensuring systems are patched to protect against the latest vulnerabilities, systems’ anti-virus and spyware protection is current, and the most optimized configuration is in place. This isn’t something that’s done once, but repetitively.  Just like a regular oil change, if you maintain your systems they will last longer and perform better.

Monitoring is another key component in IT Management.

If a tree falls in the woods but no one is around to hear it does it make a sound?

If your IT System fails but is detected and fixed before it caused any downtime did it actually fail?  The answer is yes, but the more important question is whether it caused a loss in revenue.  Monitoring is a proactive measure in which downtime is prevented; incidents are responded to quicker and therefore resolved faster, saving your revenue.

A perfect example of documentation was mentioned above when Backup and Disaster Recovery was discussed and the word “written” was used a number of times.  A written plan means that the plan has had thought, understanding, and consideration, as opposed to the lack of a plan and an always reactionary response. When your IT System is down, we’d prefer to have a tested and tried solution to the problem as opposed to throwing noodles at the wall until something sticks.

IT Management should include a number of items, but most importantly IT Management should be working with you, the business owner or manager, to budget, improve, and plan your IT expenditure.  Whomever you have in this position should be able to discuss IT with you in English.  You shouldn’t have to ask the same question three times to get the proper response. After all, how can you make the best business decision for your organization if you don’t understand the information being provided to you?

For more information, please read Brian Shrift’s article on Auditing Your IT Support.

 

 

Harold Shepley & Associates
“Harold Shepley and Associates has been with Precision Business Solutions (PBS) for about six months.  The transition into PBS was very smooth; we didn’t miss a beat.  The staff at PBS is always friendly and courteous.  We have received nothing but excellent service. We are most impressed with the response time; we never have to wait long for issues to be resolved.  We are extremely happy with PBS and are glad we made the transition.”
Joyce Smith
www.shepleylaw.com

Keystone Drill Services
“The transition was smooth and much quicker than anticipated based on previous service providers.  We are satisfied with the service provided by Precision Business Solutions and their response time is also an improvement from previous providers.  I am most impressed with Precision Business Solutions care to ensure that there are no trickle down system errors when they correct one problem and that they remedy system security errors with their reviews.”
Michelle Adomnik
www.keystonedrill.com

Ebensburg Borough
“We recently transitioned our IT Support to Precision Business Solutions’ IT Management and Support program.  We were looking for a cost effective solution to centralize all of our IT needs, including Computer, Network, and Phone Support and Website Management.  

I had thought our IT systems were in good shape, but after their assessment, a number of deficiencies were found, which Precision Business Solutions technicians immediately started to address.  I don’t believe either of us knew the amount of work that was needed to stabilize our network, but they completed it in a timely and efficient manner, and as part of our monthly support fee.

I would recommend Precision Business Solutions to any organization who is looking for IT Management and Support, or centralization, as they take care of everything for us.”
Daniel Penatzer
www.ebensburgpa.com

Leventry, Haschak, & Rodkey, LLC
“IT is something many businesses don’t set as a high priority, until something goes wrong. Years ago, when we needed a new server installed, we called another company for their help. After that company was unable to complete the installation after two weeks, I was referred to Precision Business Solutions. Brian Shrift worked for about a half a day, and had us back up and running. That was over 10 years ago, and Precision Business Solutions still manages our IT.

The team at Precision Business Solutions understands the complexity of some of the major issues with our software and they continue to develop new services, which shows me that they are continually working to make our lives easier and system more efficient. Plus, the annual review PrecisionBS provides allows our office to plan for future upgrades and keeps our system up to date. That is very important when you have a large office like ours that is very dependent upon having an efficiently operating computer system.”
Timothy Leventry, LL.M.
www.lhrklaw.com

Delisi, Keenan & Associates, P.C.
“Heading into tax season, our busiest time of year and recently going through a server replacement, I was not comfortable that our current IT environment was where it needed to be.  Being familiar with PBS from a data backup and restoration standpoint, I reached out to them in mid-December to see if they could bring us up to speed before the end of the year.  Brian and his team quickly accepted the challenge and began working with us to address our long laundry list of IT issues.  As promised, they were able to get us ready for tax season and proved to be a huge reason why we had a smooth tax season from an IT perspective.  Thanks PBS!”
Michael Keenan, CPA, MBA
www.delisiassociates.com