Common IT problems for small businesses

If you manage one of the 5.4 million SMEs in the UK – that’s Small to Medium Enterprises – you are more likely to suffer basic IT problems than larger businesses. Issues can arise from a lack of personnel, resources or awareness, and any of these can result in sub-optimal IT systems affecting business operation. This article will address the problem of awareness, because the sooner you identify issues in your system, the sooner you can fix them. Let’s start with the most common IT problem for small to medium businesses.

Backup Services

In today’s industries all business information: correspondence, customer details, invoices and bank logins, are stored digitally. If you do not maintain hard copies of important data (fewer and fewer businesses do) you need a backup and recovery plan for lost, stolen or corrupted data.

If, for example, your business suffered burglary, powersurge, water damage or hardware failure, could you restore all your important files and access them? If not, in the worst case scenario your business would come to a grinding halt.

The answer is a three stage backup and recovery plan, which goes like this:

• You have an original file stored on your computer; this is the primary access to that file for all users on the computer/network

• You have a local backup file that is created automatically by a software programme; this is stored on either an external or internal hard drive

• You have a copy of all files stored securely offsite; this can be another external hard drive that is periodically updated, or it can be a cloud based storage system

Of course, the most efficient and reliable backup systems are set up by dedicated IT support services. They are able to create local backups, to securely store offsite backups and provide over the phone assistance if you have any queries.

Email Support

Students as young as ten create email accounts as part of the national curriculum, but not all email tools are child’s play. Small businesses often struggle to take advantage of the full capabilities of email, and this is where tailored email support could speed up your business and improve services.

A number of email tools can be introduced to your company with a little help, including:

• Email analytics; to provide data on email impact, response speed, subscriber geolocations, and more

• Email templates; to improve communications

• Extra cloud storage; to guarantee all correspondence is saved and stored

• IMAP support; to enable you to monitor your inbox without internet connection

• Rule implementation; to organise email effectively and reduce repetitive tasks

• Secure password and login sharing; to increase password protection

Cyber Security

It is imperative that every small and medium size business invest in cyber security. In 2014, 74% of SMEs experienced a cyber security breach and this number has increased year on year. Hackers have been known to hold files and company information to ransom for thousands of pounds, and small business are targeted because they are often unprepared for cyber attacks. Security software will provide malware blockers and deep system scanning applications that detect and remove viruses. This is the frontline of cyber security, as viruses are the most common infiltration method.

Solving problems

There are many ways to solve the problems on this list, but a guaranteed way to have complete control of data, email systems and cyber security is with the help of experienced IT professionals. No matter how small your company, taking care of these three problems and having the assistance of experts is a foolproof route to no nonsense IT. Whatever you do, don’t let these common problems stop your business from excelling.

Indos Computer Services have over 25 years of experience providing IT support services to small and medium size businesses. We offer comprehensive email support, backups procedure setup and cyber security protection, all with 24 hour round the clock support. Our remote IT support services are second to none, and we also carry out IT support on site whenever required. If you need an IT support team with experience, expertise and a proud history of jargon-busting service, come to Indos, we will be happy to help. Contact one of our advisors today, or request a call back at a time to suit you.