When it comes to the fast-paced technological world that we're currently living in, one of the most important things to understand is that any device connected to the Internet is a potential vulnerability just waiting to be exploited by someone who knows what they're doing.
Now, when you consider just how many devices are connected to the internet inside your own office, you begin to get a sense of why 24/7/365 IT support is so essential - if not for securing business continuity, but for cybersecurity alone.
According to one recent study, about 46% of all cyber attacks target businesses with fewer than 1,000 employees.
Not only that, but research indicates that even as we move into 2025 and beyond, only about 14% of small businesses are actually prepared to face those attacks.
If a smaller organization does, unfortunately, fall victim to a rogue cyber actor with malicious intentions?
They'll spend, on average, between $826 and $653,000 to try to make things right - and that's before you get to the type of long-term reputational damage they might not be able to recover from.
Also keep in mind that according to the experts at the World Economic Forum, 95% of all cybersecurity breaches are attributed to the exact same cause: good, old-fashioned human error.
All this is to say that from a security perspective alone, 24/7 IT support is absolutely a good idea.
This is especially true if yours is an organization operating in an industry that handles a lot of sensitive data, like healthcare or finance.
But even going beyond the potential short-term impact of a data breach, this is true for a wide range of different reasons, all of which are worth a closer look.
When the people at the heart of a business are connected to the Internet (or at least to technology) at all times, your "normal business hours" become irrelevant.
Murphy's Law can and often does apply - if something CAN go wrong, it WILL go wrong, and it will likely happen at the worst possible time.
Critical issues, such as system failures or security breaches, can occur at any time, including outside of standard business hours.
Without immediate assistance, these problems can escalate, leading to prolonged downtime, data loss, or financial damage.
Not only that, but in today’s globalized, fast-paced environment, even a few hours of downtime can harm a company's reputation and customer trust, potentially driving customers to competitors.
According to one recent study, in some industries the average cost of IT downtime is literally $5,000 per minute once things like productivity are taken into consideration.
Is that the type of expense that your organization can afford to deal with?
Naturally, one of the biggest examples of a critical incident that would require immediate attention would be a cybersecurity incident.
Not only can a cyber attack happen at any time, but when you consider that the person doing the hacking may be located halfway around the world, it's likely that something would occur during the middle of the night due to time zone considerations alone.
Responding to a data breach or even a "simple" malware attack in the wrong way or too slowly can lead to incredibly sensitive data being stolen.
If you don't get hit with a fine, you'll have gone a long way towards eroding the delicate trust you've worked hard to build with your customers and clients in a way that you might not ever recover from.
Of course, there are other reasons why 24/7 IT support would be necessary that go beyond something as specific as a cyber attack.
A server going down can halt business operations, affecting everything from internal communications to e-commerce platforms.
Immediate IT support can quickly restore systems, minimizing the impact on productivity.
Indeed, that's largely what business continuity is all about.
Unexpected software errors or application crashes during critical operations can cripple workflows.
Quick fixes are essential to maintaining business continuity.
A network failure can bring communication, file-sharing, and cloud services to a halt.
This type of incident requires fast action to restore connectivity and avoid disruptions in day-to-day activities.
And again - there is a very real financial impact associated with this level of IT downtime, even if you're not talking about a data breach. If your employees can't work, you're paying them to essentially do nothing.
Work isn't getting done so schedules are getting delayed regarding client deliverables.
Time is money.
All these things add up and if you have absolutely no idea when the problem is going to be fixed, there is essentially no cap on how much you can lose.
Things are especially tricky in heavily regulated industries like healthcare or financial services.
Here, organizations can see severe losses in revenue, operational costs, and penalties due to regulatory non-compliance if systems are down for extended periods.
One of the biggest ways in which this level of 24/7 IT support helps enormously, especially for smaller organizations, comes by way of practice monitoring and the rapid response to incidents it enables.
Without 24/7 IT support, when something does invariably occur outside of normal business hours, you're essentially left reacting to it.
You're cleaning up the damage instead of doing whatever you can to prevent the damage from happening in the first place.
A proactive approach allows IT teams to identify issues before they escalate into major problems, providing rapid response to prevent or mitigate the damage caused by incidents.
This reduces downtime and enhances system reliability.
Thematically, this gives way to what might be the biggest long-term advantage of 24/7 IT support through a partner like a Managed
Service Provider (or MSP for short): you get access to IT experts whenever you need without needing to hire them yourself.
According to Salary.com, the average IT support specialist in the United States makes between $110,000 and $170,000 per year.
Multiply that by the number of support staff you would need to guarantee the same level of service on your own and you begin to get a sense of how expensive it can be to try to "in-house" all of your business continuity needs.
With someone like an MSP by your side, businesses can rely on experienced professionals to resolve complex problems and keep systems running smoothly at all times.
This flexibility ensures that operations remain uninterrupted, regardless of the time zone.
All this, and you're still getting a lot of the typical maintenance-related tasks accomplished that are so crucial to daily operations.
Regular updates, backups, and security patches can be applied without disrupting daily operations.
Additionally, continuous monitoring helps detect potential threats before they become a significant problem, ensuring that sensitive data and infrastructure are protected from cyber-attacks.
Even when partnering with a team of professionals like an MSP, however, it's important to acknowledge that not all IT support providers are created equally.
You'll need to make sure you're finding a partner who can not only do what they say they can, but that has the same outlook on business continuity and IT support that you do.
That's why the number one quality to look for in a partner has to do with any and all experience in relevant technologies.
If you need an MSP to help with your healthcare organization, they should have experience in healthcare technology.
The same would be true of any other industry with specific tech needs, like financial services.
To put it another way, the provider should have experience with the specific technologies and tools that your business uses.
This includes familiarity with your operating systems, software applications, and cloud infrastructure.
You'll also want to have the MSP define what "fast response times" actually means.
Look for a partner that can guarantee support within a specific timeframe, like 16 minutes for emergency support, for example.
Any partner you choose should also be able to offer comprehensive monitoring and maintenance, which includes continuous monitoring of IT systems, regular updates, and patching to ensure your business stays protected from vulnerabilities.
You can guarantee all this by looking for a partner with a clear Service Level Agreement, otherwise known as an SLA for short.
This is a contract that outlines what the partner will do and how they're going to do it.
A provider should have clearly defined SLAs that outline their responsibilities, response times, and resolution times for various levels of incidents.
Making sure that all your bases are covered will require you to get detailed when asking questions during the evaluation process.
You'll want to inquire about topics like:
You'll also want to see if they're willing to provide any references, case studies, or similar types of supporting material to make sure they can do what they say they can.
In the end, remember that our lives are only going to (somehow) become even more connected to technology as time marches on.
This is especially true in a professional capacity.
Between the proliferation of AI and how ubiquitous things like cloud services have become, we're essentially connected all day, every day. No exceptions.
Because of that, there is no organization that is "too small" to need something like 24/7 IT support.
It's no longer a recommendation, but a requirement.
It helps to make sure that your business can always operate as smoothly as possible, which is really what business continuity is all about.
Choosing the right 24/7 IT support partner can also help in both the best of times and the worst of times, too.
In the event that you do suffer from some type of issue, it can help dramatically reduce downtime by resolving issues far faster than you might be able to on your own.
The right partner will offer enhanced security like proactive monitoring and rapid response to protect every last kilobyte of your sensitive data from cyber threats.
The right partner like an MSP will also offer a level of scalability and flexibility that might literally be impossible to achieve on your own.
As your business continues to grow, your support will do the same.
All this, and you get access to a team of IT experts who can quickly address challenges as efficiently as possible without bringing these people in as your own in-house employees.
In a world where only about 4% of their organizations say that they're confident that their current level of support can support their users of connected devices against cyber attacks, this is not a subject you want to take lightly.
Evaluating your current level of IT support will likely show that 24/7 IT support is the right solution for you.
Choosing the right MSP partner can help safeguard your operations today, and position you for long-term success tomorrow and beyond.
If you'd like to find out more information about the major benefits of 24/7 IT support services, or if you have any additional technology-related questions that you'd like to discuss with a team of experts in a bit more detail, please reach out to us today.