10 IT Support Mistakes That Cost Your Business Money

IT support companies in London play a critical role in the running of modern businesses. Many IT support companies offer round-the-clock support, which is critical for businesses that operate outside standard business hours or have a global presence.

We appreciate that maintaining an in-house IT department can be expensive. With costs related to hiring, training, salaries, benefits, and infrastructure, hiring IT specialists to oversee your business network comes with a high price. 

Whilst IT support companies in London often offer cost-effective solutions that allow businesses to pay for services on an as-needed basis, reducing fixed labour costs, they are not immune to making mistakes. And that can be a costly state of affairs as well. 

So if you’re looking for effective IT support in London, quiz managed support teams about the mistakes they have made in the past, what they did to resolve it and what they have done to make sure they don’t repeat errors. 

Moreover, it’s important to make sure the IT support company you work with is providing you with relevant services that won’t cost your business money because of an oversight. This article details 10 IT support mistakes that cost your business money. 

Inadequate Cybersecurity Awareness Training

Cybersecurity should be an essential part of your staff training. Let’s put it this way, your employees will face more phishing emails this month than a fire. So cybersecurity awareness training is more important than a fire drill and should be a priority for your IT support team to address.

Inadequate cybersecurity awareness can result in employees inadvertently clicking on malicious links or downloading infected files, leading to a variety of attacks from threat actors. Hackers have numerous strategies they use to breach business networks. 

Without proper cybersecurity training, employees may not be aware of common cyber threats like phishing emails, documents infected with malware, social engineering strategies or QR codes.

A lack of cybersecurity awareness increases the likelihood of employees falling victim to nefarious attacks, potentially leading to a data breach or cyberattack. 

Recovering from a data breach can be extremely expensive. As a matter of fact, one survey shows that 60% of small businesses do not recover from a cyber attack due to strained finances.

Data breach costs include investigating the breach, data recovery, legal fees, regulatory fines, expenses related to notifying affected individuals, offering credit monitoring services, and, most crucially, a loss of revenue due to damage to your reputation. Surveys show that more than 80% of consumers say they would not return to a brand following a data breach.

Cyberattacks will also disrupt your business operations, causing downtime and reduced productivity. The longer it takes to identify and mitigate the attack, the more money your business loses due to lost work hours and decreased customer service.

Insufficient Cybersecurity Measures

Following on from cybersecurity awareness training for your staff, today’s businesses are expected to invest in cybersecurity measures — especially if you hold customer data in digital storage facilities. 

Inadequate cybersecurity measures can lead to data breaches, where sensitive customer, employee, or business data is stolen or exposed. If your business has adopted the hybrid model you also need to secure networks for your work-from-home employees. 

It’s not unusual for IT support companies in London to provide businesses with a standard one-size-fits-all approach to cybersecurity. This solution could mean you pay for services and tools you don’t actually need, or it could mean you are not sufficiently protected. Cybersecurity solutions should be customised.

If you’re not sure how to go about implementing an effective cybersecurity strategy, check out an article titled Cybersecurity Strategies for 2023. For the most cost-effective solutions, contact our IT support in London and install customised solutions that are right for you.

Ignoring Preventative Maintenance

Regular maintenance helps identify and address potential issues with your IT infrastructure and equipment before they escalate into major failures. Ignoring maintenance increases the likelihood of unexpected breakdowns, leading to costly downtime and repair expenses.

Managed IT support companies that neglect to perform routine system updates, security patches, and equipment maintenance can lead to system failures, data breaches, and costly emergency repairs. Proper maintenance prolongs the lifespan of your hardware. 

It’s hard to say how long computer equipment will last. A laptop, for example, usually lasts three years, but it could last five. Maintenance helps you to keep a log and predict foreseeable expenses year-on-year. You can, therefore, plan for IT repairs and replacement in your annual budget.

Neglecting preventative maintenance often leads to unplanned emergency repairs, which are typically more expensive than scheduled maintenance. Emergency repairs may also require overtime pay for maintenance staff.

Lack of Documentation

When IT problems arise, technicians often need to refer to the documentation to understand the system’s configuration, history, and previous solutions. If your IT support team fails to complete documentation, there could be repercussions further down the line.

Without documentation, troubleshooting can become time-consuming and can result in longer system outages. Every minute of downtime can lead to financial losses, especially in industries where downtime directly affects revenue generation.

It’s also more challenging to determine the current software and hardware configurations when the documentation is missing or incomplete. This can delay necessary upgrades or updates, leaving systems vulnerable to security threats which could result in costly data breaches or a loss of data in a cyberattack.

In larger IT projects, documentation is essential for planning, tracking progress, and ensuring that the project stays on budget. A lack of documentation can lead to cost overruns and delays.

Keeping track of IT assets, such as hardware and software licenses, is essential for cost-effective asset management. Without proper documentation, businesses may overspend on unnecessary licenses or struggle to manage assets efficiently.

Inefficient IT Support Ticket Management

When support tickets are not managed efficiently by an IT support company, it takes longer to address and resolve IT issues. This results in increased downtime for employees leading to financial losses due to reduced productivity and potential missed deadlines.

Failing to implement a structured ticketing system and workflow can lead to lost or mismanaged requests, resulting in slower response times and reduced user satisfaction. 

When IT issues are not addressed promptly, they may escalate into more significant problems that require a specialist to resolve. For example, a minor network issue left unattended could lead to a network outage that requires emergency support — which results in a higher cost to repair the issue.

Inefficient ticket systems run by outsourced IT support companies are not managed efficiently, IT staff may become overwhelmed with a backlog of requests. This can lead to overworked IT teams, potentially requiring overtime pay or additional staffing to meet demand.

Overlooking Data Backup and Recovery

Without proper data backup and recovery solutions in place, businesses are at risk of losing critical data due to hardware failures, data corruption, cyberattacks, or other unforeseen events. 

In the event of data loss or system failure, businesses may experience prolonged downtime as they attempt to recover lost data and restore systems. Downtime can lead to lost productivity, missed opportunities, and potentially dissatisfied customers, all of which can impact revenue.

When data loss occurs, IT support companies may need to employ expensive data recovery services to attempt to retrieve lost data. Data recovery services can be costly and may not guarantee a full recovery.

Before working with an IT support company in London, determine where responsibility lies for protecting your data. Data backup is the responsibility of your support team, so you want to be assured they are executing this service when they say they will.

Remote Support with Poor Communication

When IT issues arise, timely communication from your IT support team is crucial for resolving problems efficiently. Poor communication can result in delays in issue identification, escalation, and resolution, leading to extended downtime. 

can leave employees uncertain about the status of their IT issues and when they can expect resolutions. This uncertainty can lead to reduced employee productivity as they wait for information or assistance. Every minute of downtime can translate into lost productivity and potential revenue losses.

Poor communication between a remote support team and their client can lead to improper allocation of IT resources. For example, assigning the wrong technician to a particular issue or failing to prioritise critical problems can result in increased support costs.

But it’s also important to remember that communication is a two-way channel. A lack of strong communication from companies can also lead to a reactive approach whereby the IT support team has to address issues after they become critical. A reactive approach is more expensive than a proactive one, as it often requires more resources and results in increased downtime.

Failure to Monitor and Optimise Systems

When systems are not monitored and optimised regularly, issues can escalate into critical problems that require expensive emergency repairs or replacements. These costs can be significantly higher than regular maintenance. It’s also possible that unoptimised systems consume more energy leading to higher utility bills.

Unmonitored systems are more prone to unexpected failures which can slow down business operations, resulting in reduced employee productivity and frustration. This can lead to missed deadlines and decreased revenue-generating opportunities. 

Businesses that do not optimise their IT systems may lose their competitive edge in the market. Outdated or inefficient systems can make it challenging to compete effectively, potentially leading to lost market share and revenue.

IT Support Teams Ignore Scalability Needs

When an IT support team install a business network, they should consider how to scale your business. Ignoring scalability needs can result in inefficient resource utilisation, either by underutilised servers, storage, and networking equipment or by over-provisioning which results in unnecessary capital and operational expenses for hardware and software licenses that go unused.

When IT systems are not designed to scale, they may become prone to downtime and service disruptions during periods of high traffic or rapid growth. This can result in slower response times, decreased productivity, and potentially lost revenue opportunities. Downtime can lead to lost revenue, customer dissatisfaction, and reputational damage.

Failing To Customise IT Solutions

Every business has unique needs which require a customised approach from your IT support team. Yet not all remote support companies in London provide customised solutions. But customisation is important.

Customised IT solutions allow businesses to automate repetitive tasks and workflows, improving operational efficiency. Without customisation, businesses may miss out on opportunities which can lead to higher labour costs and slower response times.

Likewise, generic IT solutions may not align with a business’s unique processes and workflows. This can result in inefficiencies because employees have to work around the limitations of the off-the-shelf software or hardware. Inefficiencies can lead to wasted time and resources, reducing overall productivity and increasing labour costs.

Generic IT solutions may not capture or present data in the format needed by the business. This can lead to inaccurate reporting, decision-making, and financial planning. Inaccurate data can result in costly errors and missed opportunities. 

And these types of frustrations have a knock-on effect on end-users. We’ve had a number of clients come to us because they were not satisfied with the off-the-shelf solutions their IT support company had implemented. Not only did this lead to frustration among their workforce, it also resulted in reduced revenue and market share.

IT Support in London

Micro Pro have years of experience providing IT solutions to business in London and the southeast. Admittedly, we made mistakes in the past, but we learned from them. We’ve also learned from the mistakes other IT Support companies in London make as well. 

Our experience and expertise position us as an industry-leading IT support company in London that is focused on helping your business grow and generate revenue. Our proactive approach and all-round expertise as a reliable managed IT support partner should make you confident that you are working with an IT support company in London that you can trust to deliver the service and support you need now and in the future.