My partner and I have been in the IT field for over 20 years. In those 20 plus years, we have seen many WTF moments. We have walked into servers set up outside the firewall and directly connected to the internet for all the world to see because the person could not connect the server to a remote office. On a scale of 1 to 10 of dangerous cybersecurity configurations, this would be a 500. Networks with no firewall at all. The workstations were connected directly to the internet with a static IP. This configuration would also be a 500 on a scale of 1 to 10. Less scary situations would be wires causing loopbacks. Which causes performs issue and intermittent connect problems throughout the network or no connect to anything at all in the network.
What causes these types of issues? The reason is very simple. There are three types of IT providers Professional, Trunk Slammer, or Worst. Professionals will have first in class products and services with the knowledge to set up and support those products and services. They will have a ticketing system to track and monitor issues. Professional IT providers will be at the forefront of cybersecurity and technology trends, not reacting to them. Another good sign of a quality IT provider is a proactive approach to network security and growth. Work tends to be scheduled and is typically low priority issues. Trunk Slammers tend to have more of a firefighter approach, constantly putting out fires and never really getting things up to standard or monitor the health of the network. They only fix what is broken. They are somewhat knowledgeable and don’t do any damage. They do not have the resources to be proactive or forwarded thinking. Then there is the worst. When I hear this sentence, I know things are going to be bad. I have my (fill in the blank) nephew, kids, employees boyfriend, or girlfriend, etc. who is a whiz with computers. “They love gaming and computers and set up my network.” This situation translates to they have bypass network securities and download freeware and sub-standard AV products. These things occur because they think they are doing the owner a favor. Free or sub-standard security products and a tech who does not understand network security or best practices is a recipe for disaster.
Having a Professional IT provider may seem more expensive on the surface, but security, efficiency, and reduction or elimination of downtime it is money well spent. If your company is dealing with ongoing issues that never seem to get resolved or have multiple vendors from phones, email, backup, and support, it may be time to look for a Professional IT Provider.