May 17th, 2011
IT services Chicago has can provide you with much more than simple IT services such as computer repairs. They can also provide you with consulting services and review your current system. You will have to find an IT services Chicago provider that has the knowledge and the ability to provide you with comprehensive services when it comes to the management and maintenance of your system.
The care that goes into the planning of your system is very important to its overall functionality. You will need to enlist the services of an IT services Chicago provider that is well-versed in performing these essential tasks. As soon as you hire an IT provider to come and review your system their main focus should be to identifying potential problems with your current system and find opportunities to reduce costs and increase productivity.
After fully analyzing your existing system they will be able to have a better idea about how to accomplish this task. Their next step after their analysis will be to design and implement enhancements to your existing network. In some cases they may recommend that you allow them to build an entirely new network.
Once they show you’re their game plan, they will recommend the equipment that you should buy. Upon your approval they will show you how to order and pay for the equipment. Once it all arrives they will work hard to install the hardware and software in a timely manner.
Once they have your new or improved system up and running your IT tech will focus their attention towards your network’s security. They will start by analyzing your security and assessing your vulnerability to hackers. A soon as they have completed their assessments they will offer you their professional opinion on what solutions you need to protect your business.
Finally, your comprehensive service provider will determine appropriate backup and contingency strategies for your system. Whether you encounter a power failure or some as serious as a hard drive failure, they will have a backup strategy that will minimize any loss of valuable data that you may incur.
Your computer system can either help your business or hinder it. By employing the services of a comprehensive IT provider you can be assured that your system will run optimally. You will know where to turn every time that you experience a problem and you can have peace of mind that your system is secure and that all of your valuable information is adequately backed up.
Tags: chicago it service, chicago it services, chicago tech support, it service chicago, it services chicago, tech support chicago
Posted in Uncategorized | No Comments »
April 26th, 2011
Most computer support comes without any type of personal connection with the technician.
Larger firms usually send out a technician to your place of business, complete the task, and then give you a bill. There is very little interaction and odds are you will never see that technician again.
He or she will be replaced with another technician to perform your next support call. If you are looking for Chicago it support that will make an effort to be personable and assist you whenever you need their help, then look for a smaller it firm.
These firms that focus on assisting small to mid-sized businesses make a conscious effort to help your business grow. By using one of these chicago it support firms, it is possible to get a much better service.
These smaller firms usually assign one technician to help your company. As long as this technician is employed at that company, he or she will be there for all of your needs. You will be given a direct number to their cell phone for any emergency service that you may need.
If they do not answer the call, your call is automatically transferred to the company’s main office.
A receptionist will take down your information and either locate another technician, or they will locate your technician. Either way, you are not forced to leave a voicemail in order to get in touch with a technician.
This makes the client feel more important, so it is a good service that is offered. There is always the chance that a client will need assistance after normal business hours or during the weekend.
Most firms don’t have hours during those times, but there are few that do offer around the clock service. These clients can call their technician for assistance no matter what time it is.
This helps them get whatever technical issues they have completed before the next business day. This will help prevent losses for the company because of network downtime. Instead of struggling to find a quick fix for their network.
As the client and technician have more work together, the technician becomes extremely efficient with dealing with each client’s issues. This is because now the technician is familiar with their software and system set up.
Unlike other companies that simply pass around technician’s notes, smaller Chicago it support companies can offer a true relationship based experience that can help each client find success.
Tags: chicago it service, chicago it support, chicago tech support, it services chicago, it support chicago, tech support chicago
Posted in computer support | No Comments »
March 25th, 2011
Finding the best Chicago it consulting company to take care of all of your business’s IT needs can be a challenge. You will need to perform some research in finding the best service provider for your company. The best resource that you have to use for conducting your research is the internet.
By searching for Chicago it consulting businesses online you will be able to find companies in your area that perform the requested services that you need. You will also be able to compare and contrast one company from the next and get a better idea of what it is that each company has to offer to you.
The first step in finding the right Chicago it consulting company to do business with is to think about your specific company’s needs. How many computers do you have? What type of hardware/software do you have/need? How often do you think you will need to have a technician come out to perform maintenance and to trouble shoot your computers?
All of these factors will have an influence upon the type of services that you need and what you can expect to pay for them. There are also a number of special services that you may need for your system that extend beyond typical maintenance. Prices for these services can vary significantly from one provider to the next.
Once you find a service provider that you are interested in using, make sure that they can provide you with the specific services that you need and take a look at the prices that they charge. Compare one provider to the next to get a feel for a reasonable price range and focus your attention on these service providers.
Once you have established that the provider can give you the services that you need for a reasonable price now it is time for you to take a look at some other important factors such as: security, satisfaction guarantees, availability, and customer service. These factors are also very important in choosing the right service provider for your business.
If you can not decide between a few different service providers, call them out for a free consultation and meet with them in person to better gauge what type of service they can provide you with. After meeting with you and discussing your needs the service provider should be able to assess the specific services that you require and they also should be able to explain to you what they would do to your system to maximize its efficiency.
Tags: chicago it service, chicago it services, chicago tech support, it service chicago, it services chicago, tech support chicago
Posted in Uncategorized | No Comments »
March 15th, 2011
Most computer support comes without any type of personal connection with the technician.When it comes to IT support, Chicago businesses require a personal approach. That’s because every business is unique with specific functions, needs and streamlines.You need a tech support that personally familiarizes itself with your business so that they know you inside and out, up and down.That’s why businesses need uniformity when it comes to IT outsourcing. Chicago small companies need the same tech person performing their services, not a stream of people who have new faces with each visit.
Like too many cooks, too many people on the tech support end only results in confusion. Not only do they tend to step on each other’s toes and create contradicting strategies, but they’re also never on the same page. With a single person to manage your entire system, he or she can design a system that’s uniquely customized to the specific functions of your business.They can help streamline the processes of the office for more efficiency. They can customizea system that’s align to your people and what they do.
Some companies have a new person each time there’s a service appointment. Worse, others hire contractors, so you never know who’s sniffing around your system, which is not only cumbersome, but a bona fide security risk as well.Who knows who’s walking your hallways and going through your files when they aren’t even paid employees of the company you hired?
You should be able to get to know your IT specialist. It should become a familiar working relationship, almost like someone in the family. They should get to know your employees through one-on-one interactions.This way they can know your specific needs and design unique solutions that best meet your problems and challenges.With a single person, they can become intimately familiar with your system to scan it for potential problems.
Often, meltdowns are the result of small problems left to themselves. If you can fix these small errors in the beginning, you can stop catastrophe in the making with personal IT support. Chicago businesses that have continuity in computer support will receive more attention to detail, catching small dilemmas when they are fixable to avoid future catastrophe.
Tags: computer services chicago, computer support chicago, it outsourcing chicago, it services chicago, it support chicago
Posted in computer support | No Comments »
September 2nd, 2010
Businesses comprised of fewer than 50 employees form the core of Chicagoland’s economy. And while many are finding their head count shrinking these days, they still depend on technology to keep operations running smoothly, lines of communications open, and employee productivity high. But during this tough economic cycle, the cost of employing a full time IT staff or IT specialist can be the difference between black and red ink — not to mention a hassle that distracts decision-makers from their fiduciary responsibility to focus on growing businesses and not managing technology.
Now more than ever it makes sense for businesses to consider contracting outside computer services. Chicago is full of IT consultants that can scale down the cost of setting up and managing a network, hardware, and software by charging only for the time that they are needed — usually far less than the 40 hours per week companies have to pay for a dedicated IT specialist. What’s more, because a company devoted to computer services focuses on recruiting and training top talent as its core competency, customers are generally guaranteed a higher level of service and are spared the headache of trying vet a specialist in an area that the hiring decision-maker knows little or nothing about.
Even though there are a number of firms that offer to businesses IT service, Chicago is full of businesses that are less committed to their customers and more committed to themselves. Small and mid-sized businesses should see to it their the IT partner is not a fly-by-night company offering the lowest rates on service or remanufactured hardware. The most financially sound IT decision a company can make is to choose a partner for the long-run who is committed to customer satisfaction.
Because of the initial investment of time in mapping out, upgrading, and managing a network is substantial for a Chicago computer services company, getting the choice right the first time is a sure way for businesses not only to save money in the long-run, but to have peace of mind that they have a partner that is committed to profiting from a long-term relationship and not from hardware, peripherals, or implementation of unnecessary hardware or software.
Employing the help of an outside computer servicing firm makes a lot of sense for most small and mid-sized Chicago companies. But sacrificing service for price is a mistake that will cost more in the long run.
Tags: it service chicago, it services chicago
Posted in it services | 24 Comments »
August 24th, 2010
When you need immediate IT support, Chicago service providers have an obligation to meet your needs. How does your current IT outsourcing company respond to your calls for an emergency? If they can’t respond to your emergency immediately during business hours and within sixty minutes during non business hours then it is time to find an IT support Chicago provider that can guarantee you that high level of service.
Are you surprised that there are IT support Chicago providers that can make that type of commitment to their customers? You shouldn’t be. Your business deserves to have the very best computer services that you can get. Outsourcing companies need to meet their customer’s needs, especially when an emergency situation arises.
When your network goes down, you could be losing out on valuable business and the productivity of your workers will plummet. This could be a very costly problem. Even if your system goes down in the middle of the night you could be losing out on valuable web traffic and any orders or questions that potential customers may be trying to contact you with. System problems can end up costing you hundreds or even thousands of dollars.
If your business’ computers experience emergency problems during business hours, you can expect the fastest relief. Your service provider needs to recognize how important that it is for you to maximize your office’s productivity during business hours. Every minute that your workers sit idle is costing you money. You are a phone call away from your technician in an emergency situation.
And if your tech is unable to get your system back up and running remotely, they’ll be on their way down to your location to fix it in person. When you select the right IT support service provider, you can rest assured that your problem will get fixed in as short amount of time as possible.
Even if your network goes down in the middle of the night you can expect immediate help. With one phone call you can get in touch with in house service managers that monitor emergency calls outside of business hours. These service managers will contact your tech immediately. Within sixty minutes or less your tech will be on the line ready to get your system back up and running.
If your IT services provider can not offer you emergency responses that fast then it is time for you to switch service providers to one that can.
Tags: chicago it support, it support chicago
Posted in it support | 74 Comments »
May 6th, 2010
In my travels around Chicago visiting prospective clients frustrated with their IT support, Chicago small businesses usually don’t have a full-time IT support person in-house. So, when I do come across such a prospect the situation is usually the same: the in-house person is taking advantage of the situation, frustrating staff, disappearing at times and nobody knows where they are. The network isn’t stable, the data is not secure, and the company is overpaying for bad IT service. Often this person is the ONLY IT staff member, which means that when this person goes on vacation, the company is left to fend for itself with non-IT folks handling support each other. When I sit down with such a prospect who has become frustrated enough to call my company, I can quickly show them that by outsourcing they can take what could be costing them $5,000 – $7,000/month with poor service and reduce that down to $2,000/month and have a much higher quality service, a team of backup techs, and immediate access to their dedicated tech who will make weekly routine onsite visits to their office. There have been plenty instances where we have gone in, and cut a client’s IT support overhead by 30-50%, fixed all the outstanding issues, got backups working properly, and settled the nerves of the staff that could then focus on their work for the company instead of complaining about how the computer network isn’t running properly. Until a company has 50-60 computers, outsourcing its IT support is the smartest, most cost effective way to run the business.
Tags: chicago it outsourcing, chicago it support, it outsourcing chicago, it support chicago
Posted in Uncategorized | 28 Comments »
May 6th, 2010
Keep it local I say. When it comes to IT support in Chicago, I say let’s do IT services Chicago style! What does this mean? It means no support from a company that couldn’t have a full-time tech employed with their company out at your office within 1 hour. There are lots of IT companies out there that have a network operations center based in another state, and dread the idea of having to support you locally onsite. Why? Because they have to locate a local IT contractor and pay them to come to your office and fix your system. This contractor may or may not consider your network a priority – they have many clients, and your vendor is just another client of theirs. Also, if you are a Chicago company, don’t you want an IT support company that is local to the area with full-time techs employed with them that are also local to the area taking care of your computer network? The companies that Xerillion supports are companies that like to build relationships with their vendors, and we are the kind of company that likes to build relationships with our clients. It is just a fun way to do business! When I call a big company like Dell or Microsoft, well…we need those companies and they are great at what they do, but there is connection to the tech I’m talking with on the phone, nor do they know anything about my business or my employees. They want to take care of this one task I called them about, and this tech I’m talking on the phone with may or may not be employed with this company in 6 months. Who wants that?? I don’t, and neither do my clients. So, when it comes to IT support in the windy city, I say let’s do IT Services Chicago style!
Tags: chicago it service, chicago it services, chicago tech support, it service chicago, it services chicago, tech support chicago
Posted in it services | 40 Comments »
April 17th, 2010
A Chicago business owner may wonder how server virtualization can provide value to their business. Disaster recovery can easily be accomplished by using a virtual server. Chicago businesses find it the the best way by allowing quick recovery during a server failure. When your server is a virtualized, it becomes a file. Then with special software you can take that file and “boot up” your virtual server on traditional server hardware. If that server hardware fails, you can simply take your virtual server file and boot it up quickly on another computer (even a desktop computer in a pinch!).
Even without lots of fancy software, the disaster recovery process can take 15-20 minutes. In the days before server virtualization, a dead server could mean running to CDW, purchasing a server off the shelf, loading the operating system, loading applications, loading backups, restoring the data and having a few days (or weeks) of tweaks and fixes to get the system somewhere near where it was before the crash. Not so with server virtulization because your whole server configuration is now a file that can be easily moved from hardware to hardware.
Tags: disaster recovery chicago, server virtualization chicago, virtual server chicago
Posted in Uncategorized | 37 Comments »
April 11th, 2010
As a business owner, you have a lot of important things to worry about. Often, it is easy to overlook certain things that you don’t deem to be a pressing matter until something goes wrong with them. For instance, your computer system. You may not worry about your computers until you have a problem with them.
Computer support Chicago technicians can not stress the importance of having regular routine maintenance performed on your systems. Routine maintenance can protect your system against online threats and also protect your valuable information and back up your files. Quite often small business owners overlook the important of setting up a regular service schedule with computer support Chicago technicians and find out first hand the mistake that they have made.
A lot of business owners completely overlook the importance of creating backup copies of important files. This can be a huge mistake if you system crashes or is attacked by a virus. You could potentially lose all of your important information. Computer support Chicago technicians can perform these essential data backups on a scheduled basis for you once you sign up for their services.
Imagine losing all of your valuable customer contacts, mailing lists, and employee records. Your small business could virtually come to a stand still with the break down of one computer. And quite often once one computer in a network is affected by a virus other computers will also become infected. This could cause a complete and total system failure if you do not protect yourself.
Your technician will also work hard to make sure that all of your computers have the latest protection against network threats. Even if you pay for virus software it may not provide you with adequate protection. Businesses are often targeted by hackers because of the valuable information that they have in their systems including financial data.
It is your responsibility as a business owner to protect your computer systems. Not only will you be protecting your own interests, but your clients will also appreciate the added security that you can provide them with in knowing that their financial information is safe with you.
With all of the computer threats that are out there right now small business owners have to go the extra mile in ensuring that they have adequate protection. By finding a reliable IT service provider they can have the peace of mind that they are doing everything in their power to protect their business.
Tags: chicago it service, chicago it services, chicago tech support, it service chicago, it services chicago, tech support chicago
Posted in computer support | 34 Comments »
