The retail industry is becoming increasingly fast-paced and from a technological perspective, even more complex. Retailers are not only tasked with managing day-to-day operations in their retail business but also have to ensure that they are able to keep up with the constantly changing and evolving landscape of the latest technologies that they rely on to power their business and keep everything running smoothly. As a result, overheads and ongoing costs of managing IT infrastructure, hardware and software maintenance, and IT security can become costly and overwhelming, on top of everything else that is required to keep the business afloat. Add that to the stresses of ensuring your business remains GDPR compliant and compliant when it comes to securing customer card data, and it’s easy to see the potential that this situation has for spiralling out of control if it is not properly maintained and managed.
So, how do you ensure that your retail business stays ahead of the ever-changing technological curve? For many, the most ideal option is to lessen the burden of managing their own IT by turning to experienced outside solutions providers that specialise in managed IT services. Retailers simply can’t afford to be cheap when it comes to reliability, security and scalability, and working with an experienced outside IT support company in London will ensure that you can do this while protecting some of your most valuable assets. Outsourcing retail IT management to an experienced London IT support company can provide the following benefits:
Better Overall Security
Retail businesses can often be targeted by cybercriminals and hackers looking to steal data, and when your network, servers and point of sale endpoints are regularly maintained and expertly managed, your exposure to security threats is limited by limiting your vulnerabilities. Third-party software, firmware, operating systems and all other aspects of your network will be expertly managed and kept updated at all times by an experienced managed services provider like Totality Services. Providing IT support in London, Totality Services are one of the best IT companies in London for retail businesses with hundreds of satisfied clients and years of experience. They offer IT support for London businesses that you can rely on as they are a Microsoft Partner with several other industry certifications.
Proactive Approach to IT Issues
As a retail business owner, you are probably aware that the cost of simply reacting to IT issues and problems usually adds up to be a lot more than the cost of preventing them before they can occur. However, many retail businesses simply do not have the resources available to ensure prevention of common IT issues and therefore their only option is to wait until something goes wrong before dealing with it. On the other hand, working with a managed IT services provider will ensure that you can take a proactive approach to your IT management, with continuous monitoring of your IT infrastructure to spot and prevent potential problems before they begin to have an impact on your business.
Boost Employee Productivity
In small retail businesses, IT tasks often fall on the person who knows the most about computers – regardless of whether or not IT is actually what they were hired for. But this does not always result in things going smoothly, particularly in cases where the employees tasked with IT have not received any formal training and have a limited knowledge that may be useful day-to-day, but falls short when things go seriously wrong. In addition, placing the responsibility of IT tasks onto employees who were hired for something else means that their productivity will be limited when it comes to their actual job. Working with an experienced managed IT services provider means that you can provide your business and employees with a more stable, reliable environment that increases uptime and allows employees to focus their time on the tasks that they were hired to do. You and your employees will have easy access to experts who can help you out quickly at any time.
Ensure Data Protection Compliance
Retail businesses, in particular, need to be very stringent about protecting customer data, especially when customers are making payments to the business via credit or debit cards. A managed serviced provider that is experienced in retail businesses fully understands the importance of being compliant with all laws and regulations when it comes to protecting your customers’ financial data. They will have access to a range of processes and tools that you can take advantage of in your business to keep customer data safe and ensure that trust is not broken.
More Predictable Ongoing Costs
Running your IT in-house means piecing together all necessary software, hardware, management and maintenance – which can be both costly and unpredictable. Rather than having to deal with fluctuating costs and unexpected IT expenses, working with a managed service provider allows you to keep your IT management expenses down to one fixed monthly payment, which allows you a greater degree of predictability and security when planning your business budget.
Quicker Disaster Recovery
While working with a managed IT services provider can certainly reduce your risk of a disaster happening to your retail business, it is not always guaranteed. However, working with a managed services provider that offers backup solutions and data disaster recovery services means that if the worst were to happen, you can be sure that your business can get back to normal and bounce back a lot faster compared to dealing with this on your own. After all, time is money in business and downtime can lead to a serious loss of revenue, particularly if you are selling products online.
Future-Proof Your Business
Working with a managed IT services provider will ensure that your company has access to newer technologies at a faster rate, allowing you to stay ahead of the curve when it comes to updates and upgrades for your hardware and software. You will be able to gain access to emerging and state of the art technologies that allow your business to ensure that it remains competitive in the market and avoids being left behind the curve.
Cost Effectivity
You might be wondering whether or not outsourcing to managed IT services is going to be worth the expense for your company. The answer is a resounding yes; paying a fixed monthly cost to an IT company rather than the variable costs of getting everything set up in-house means that you can budget better and enjoy an expert, professional service at the fraction of the price that you would expect to pay if hiring IT employees of your own. Partnering with a managed services provider gives you the option to focus more attention on growing your business revenue rather than wasting time on ongoing management and maintenance of your IT infrastructure and network.
Managing retail IT support, networks and services in-house can be an extremely costly endeavour that may even increase your risk of data security breaches and cyber-attacks. Not every small business has the resources available to ensure a strong IT security network, which is where outsourcing to a professional company will come in handy. The main benefits include increased productivity, less risk, lower expenses and more reliability.
