IT solutions should solve your problems but picking the wrong one can cause even more headaches. But how do you know which IT solution is the right fit for your business? Is there even a difference? The answer is yes; IT services and IT support each have a different approach to optimizing your business’s technology. Continue reading to learn how IT services and IT support differ and when each one is needed to help your business thrive.
What Are IT Services?
Optimizing your IT systems starts with ensuring all your technology is properly installed, managed, and secure. This is where IT services come in. By utilizing reliable experts and equipment to create your ideal IT setup. But IT services don’t just set up your systems and leave you hanging out to dry, they also utilize long-term planning to keep your systems running smoothly into the future. This is accomplished by performing the following services:
Expert Hardware Installation
At the core of every IT system is its hardware. All your business’ computers, network devices, mobile devices, and more keep your operations performing efficiently. They can’t do this if they aren’t installed properly though. In fact, improper hardware installation can create serious risks in your business. For example, inexperienced handling could damage the physical hardware as well as corrupt any data stored inside. Similarly, incorrectly installing hardware can cause overheating, power supply issues, short circuits, and even electrical fires.
IT services ensure all your hardware is set up quickly and correctly, reducing the risk of issues later on. This process begins with IT professionals finding the right equipment to fit your needs. Then they install your new devices and the necessary network infrastructure. By ensuring all your hardware is professionally deployed and maintained, you can rest easy knowing that your equipment is reliable and able to handle your entire workload.
Network Setup and Management
Setting up your network involves more than just plugging in the necessary equipment and turning everything on. To ensure that your network runs smoothly no matter what, your business needs professional network configuration. These IT services include setting up your physical equipment, making sure connections are secure, installing network security devices, and creating rules for how the network should be routed and controlled. This may seem like a lot, but every step is necessary to protect your network from inefficiencies and security threats. Both can severely harm your network and business’ performance or even force you into unplanned downtime. But with proper network configuration and monitoring, you can prevent issues from disrupting your business at all.
Cybersecurity Measures
IT services aren’t just about setting up equipment, it’s also about keeping that equipment safe. This is where cybersecurity solutions come in. Firewalls, antivirus software, data encryption, and access controls act as the first line of defense against cyberattacks. Therefore, implementing them is vital to protect your business from a cybersecurity breach. Without these IT services, your business is left wide open to cyberattacks. Not only could a successful data breach cost your business millions of dollars, but it could also ruin your reputation and put you out of work. Installing cybersecurity software along with human oversight and regular maintenance will help prevent this from happening.
Data Backup and Recovery
Data loss, whether through accidental deletion, a dying computer, or a cyberattack, can be stressful and affect your entire business. However, this doesn’t have to mean the data is lost forever. To prepare for the worst-case scenario, your business needs to use preventive IT services to automate backups of all your data. Ideally, you should back up your data every day so that no matter when a disaster strikes, your sensitive information is secure. It’s also good practice to follow the 3-2-1 rule, and create three copies of your data, storing them on two different types of media, and storing at least one offsite. This way you increase the chances of always having a data backup when a disaster occurs so operations can resume faster. Instead of prolonged downtime, having multiple data backups ensures your business can continue running even after a disaster has occurred.
What is IT Support?
IT support focuses on solving problems as they happen. When something breaks, stalls, or is just isn’t working like it’s supposed to, it’s time to call IT support for reactive, hands-on assistance. How do you know if it’s time to send in an IT support ticket? Here are some of the most common tasks IT support performs:
Password and Account Problems
Forgetting a password or getting locked out of an account is one of the most common and frustrating tech problems in the workplace. Fortunately, IT support has a secure way to verify a user’s identity, reset credentials, and unlock accounts without compromising sensitive information. IT support won’t stop there though; they’ll also ensure your business is using the best password practices. For example, IT support may set up a password manager like LastPass to keep all your unique passwords safe in a vault away from cybercriminals. They should also implement multi-factor authentication to always verify if users trying to access secure data are really who they say they are. And if suspicious activity does arise, IT teams will be alerted immediately so they can act.
Troubleshoot Tech Issues
When devices don’t work properly, it can become difficult to perform daily operations. This leaves your employees frustrated and your customers dissatisfied with your service. Not to mention, without IT support, team leaders usually have to try and solve the issue themselves. This can waste an immense amount of time as a non-expert tries to fix the problem instead of getting their own work down. Professional IT support ensures that technical issues like computers not turning on, dropping Wi-Fi connections, and more are fixed as quickly as possible. So instead of wondering who to call or waiting on a solution, you can contact your IT support team who can deliver remote and on-site assistance.
Handle Software Updates and Vendors
Just like how hardware issues can wreak havoc on your business, so too can outdated software. IT support ensures that all your business’ necessary programs are performing perfectly by keeping them up to date. Every update provides the latest security measures to keep your software safe from cyber threats that could steal your data, drain your wallet, and ruin your reputation.
You have a business to run, so the more time you spend trying to manage your software, the less time you have to focus on your actual work. IT support does more than protect all your software, it also manages program vendors and licenses. This way, if something breaks or needs upgrading, you don’t have to deal with software vendors, IT support will do that for you. They’ll also ensure your business has the appropriate licenses required by law. In fact, copying, modifying, or any other misusing of software will result in costly fines and loss of access to any files on the program. To ensure your software licenses are always in compliance, expert IT support is needed to set up, monitor, and perform maintenance on these programs. This way you can focus on your business while knowing you have the software you need to run it.
Virus and Malware Removal
According to the ITRC Annual Data Breach Report, 1.7 billion people fell victim to cyberattacks in 2024. With cyber threats only increasing, it’s important to have IT support in place for when a disaster strikes. No business is safe from cyber threats, but if you have the proper measures in place, you can avoid or handle a data breach.
When a device is compromised, IT support identifies, isolates, and removes the threat as quickly as possible. Without this expert help, cyberattacks can quickly spread across your network, corrupt files, and steal sensitive data. However, IT support doesn’t just react to cyberattacks, it can help prevent them too. By proactively installing and managing antivirus software, configuring firewalls, and educating your employees on cybersecurity practices, IT support ensures your business is prepared for anything.
Is Your IT System Ready for Anything?
The best way to improve the efficiency and security of your business is by using both IT services and IT support. Together, they create a complete IT solution that keeps your business running smoothly no matter what. A large part of what makes this a successful strategy is ensuring that cybersecurity is an integral component. This doesn’t just mean having the right protective measures in place or having a team who can respond to threats right away though. Your entire business needs to know how to prevent and respond to cyberattacks to keep your data safe. Sign up for our free e-course to get weekly tips on how you can improve your business’ cybersecurity.
