Are you reading the warning signs? An IT disaster could be headed straight for your business! And no, we’re not joking. Whether you have an in-house IT department, outsourced IT staff, or no IT person at all, you can guarantee 100% of the time that before an IT disaster strikes, there are warning signs blazing in the shadows. And, more often than not, they go unnoticed by your staff.
Because zbrella is experienced in cleaning up IT disasters at businesses both small and large, we’re sharing out our top 3 warning signs that your business is headed for an IT disaster. What are the signs? How can you spot them? And, what should you do? Read on.
You Constantly Fix the Same Issues
How many times have your tech people needed to fix the same technical issue over and over again? Fixing the same issues on repeat is a sure fire warning sign your business is headed for an IT disaster. Know this, usually, IT destruction does not happen in one single event. IT disasters are caused by a build up of mistakes and poor technology choices over a long period of time.
So, when you find your techs fixing the same issues continually, you can be sure that instead of finding the root cause of the issue, they are just patching up a deeper problem. They are not asking the important questions. Why does the hardware/software/infrastructure/etc. keep failing? Is the process broken? Do we need to redesign? How is this disrupting business and workflow? How can we make this better? The more systems that keep breaking and re-breaking, the more frustrated techs will become, and often, it can lead to them leaving your organization. And what’s worse, the recurring technical issues have only become worse over time, meaning it will cost significantly more money and more time to fix.
How can you avoid this IT disaster pitfall? If something keeps breaking constantly, rebuild the system. If it can’t be fixed with a simple solution, it is better to start from the ground up and rebuild it. It will make the systems better, it will mean less downtime, and it will mean more workflow for your employees. The sooner recurring technical issues are fixed, the better off your business will be.
Your Employees Stop Complaining About Tech Problems
No complaints are a good thing, right? Not necessarily, and in the IT world, no complaints can be a warning sign your business is headed for an IT disaster. When the number of complaints decrease significantly to your IT department, it probably means one thing: your users think your IT people are incapable and they’ve stopped bothering to complain because issues don’t get fixed.
That is a major problem. When your IT people aren’t being made aware, and your users have lost all faith, you can be sure that your IT problems will stack up—and quick! When users are actively complaining about issues, it means they are relying on your IT team to fix them. But when they’re not, they are using alternative means that can be harmful to the business.
What can you do? Your IT people should be monitoring active tickets that come in every day. They should be asking: What is the normal amount of tickets we see daily? If there is a spike, what is the reason for the spike? If there is a drop, what is the reason? Request fluctuations can reveal vital data about how your users view your IT team, and having your IT people watch for dramatic flares in requests is an important daily activity that must be executed. They must be able to explain the reasons for the rise or falls in requests. Was there a new process implemented that improved workflow? Was there a new software installed and users are having trouble with it? If they do not have an answer to the question, you should be concerned.
You’re Not Monitoring These Cybersecurity Risk Areas
Cybersecurity is a rising concern for every single business and every single IT person in America. Many firms have strong cyber plans in place, while others do not. One of the biggest problems are companies who do have some type of cybersecurity plan (or none at all), but fail to monitor the right things that are warning signs of an IT disaster.
Again, as mentioned above in the other warning signs, IT disasters don’t always strike in one big epic collapse. They build up over time. The same goes for cybersecurity. Often, there are small warning signs that pop up and go unnoticed, which results in your business’ sensitive data being breached, stolen, and sometimes, held at ransom.
So what can you do to prevent IT disaster from cybersecurity? Have your techs protect your endpoints and monitor security day-to-day to watch out for anything unusual. Is there a high number of login attempts into your systems from random locations? Unexplainable technical issues that recur? Large outflows of data leaving the companies systems? Although these things are small, they could be big indicators that your business’ security is about to be breached. Having the right techs in place to look for the right warning signs is vital to your business operations.
zbrella Technology Consulting is an IT Support and Technology Consulting Firm that is responsible for helping hundreds of businesses out of IT disasters. With expert experience in IT disaster, a team of certified-engineers, and leading industry consultants, our team produces extremely fast recovery time in any type of disaster, and can rebuild and support new systems put into place. On the verge of an IT disaster? Want to test your current IT team? Call us at 800-750-4296 or contact us here.
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