There is no doubt that, in the modern world, digital technology is more important than ever. It is a central part of the lives of billions of people. This is even more true for businesses in the modern world. After all, businesses that don’t embrace digital technology are likely to find themselves left behind by the competition very quickly. 

Of course, most business owners discover before too long that the IT in the business can present a lot of challenges. The reality is that, for all of the amazing benefits that IT in your business can provide, there are always risks involved. 

This is particularly true when it comes to cybersecurity breaches and attacks. These kinds of attacks on many businesses have been on the rise in recent years which means that protecting against them has become even more important. Being able to structure the budget in your business in order to best defend against cyberattacks and other IT issues is absolutely essential. 

With that in mind, here are three red flags that your business needs better IT resources:

1. You experience frequent IT issues and downtime.

IT issues are almost guaranteed to happen from time to time. However, depending on the severity of these issues, they can cause extended periods of downtime, which can be not only frustrating but also  incredibly costly to your business. 

Frequent IT issues and downtime are often a result of a lack of proper maintenance and management of your business’s IT. Working alongside a professional IT services company helps you avoid these issues. 

An IT services company can perform risk assessments to analyze where you may be experiencing issues, whether or not certain pieces of hardware or software are being inefficiently used, and root out the potential causes of downtime. This allows you to reduce the amount of IT caused downtime in your business, making it more efficient and saving you a great deal of money.

2. You’re not prepared to defend against sophisticated cybersecurity attacks.

Cyberattacks need to be at the forefront at all times when dealing with technology. The reality is that data can be very costly to recover if lost or stolen, and that’s if you’re able to recover your data at all. 

Attackers behind ransomware, for example, will demand large ransoms in order for you to regain access to your data, and many phishing attempts are successfully breaching data and leveraging it against companies to make money. 

If you’re not prepared with the proper defenses to combat these attacks—such as, your staff has not been trained in cybersecurity—you need increased IT resources. Tech experts can help to shore up the defenses in your business by offering cybersecurity awareness training to your staff so they know exactly how to deal with these issues. 

A professional MSP can also help to improve the security in your business through password protections, file encryptions, data backup and recovery plans, and more to ensure that your business is always fully protected and prepared in the event that the worst does happen.

3. Your systems aren’t being properly monitored

Monitoring your IT systems continually can seem like a near impossible task. However, if your systems aren’t being monitored 24/7, security holes are left open that cybercriminals are more than willing to exploit if given the chance. 

Working alongside a managed IT service company means that they can monitor your systems 24 hours a day, 7 days a week. This allows for any vulnerabilities or potential causes of downtimes can be identified and dealt with immediately, ensuring that your systems are always fully secure and functioning as intended at all times.

You might assume that you can deal with all of these problems with in-house IT support. That might be true for huge corporations with the resources to essentially create entire departments dedicated to IT support. But that simply is not the case for that vast majority of businesses. 

Break/fix and in-house IT support are often very limited in what they can do simply because you likely do not have the resources to put the time, effort, or expertise into making sure that your IT always runs as smoothly as possible. Managed IT services are a far better option because they allow for a far greater level of care and attention to be given to your IT resources than you could possibly manage alone.

As you work with a professional to get the IT resources you need, you can better combat cyberattacks and keep your business safe from data theft or system failure.