Importance of Regular IT Maintenance

Why Regular IT Maintenance?

Regular maintenance of your IT systems helps your systems to run more smoothly as well as reduce the risk of down time. A well maintained IT environment should ensure your staff and business has no technology roadblocks that hamper productivity and will also lead to a reduction in support costs up to 50%.

How you might ask, does IT maintenance do these things…

Let’s start with, basic IT maintenance: this involves the archiving of old files, deleting duplicate files, freeing up space, updating and patching your systems, antivirus, hardware evaluations and testing as well as backup checks. These items don’t seem all that bad to leave for some time without being completed…but if left unchecked they can lead to small issues with a big costly impact.

Computers work well when they are taken care of, you could have the best computer network money can buy, but without regular IT maintenance and servicing you may not get the best bang for your buck.

Here are 5 good reasons why it’s a good idea to maintain your IT network:

1. Detect issues early, before they become problems

You’ve just gone out and bought a new machine, it should give you a couple of years of no IT hassles, right? Maybe. Whether your computer is new or old problems can pop up at any time. By using regular IT servicing you can get a jump on problems and make arrangements so that your business isn’t impacted. Using regular IT servicing you can also help reduce your IT support costs by fixing during scheduled maintenance windows where other work is scheduled.

2. Prevent against viruses and malware

Viruses and malware are a pain to any business, virus seek to disrupt your business and access files on your network. When your computer is infected a number of symptoms may be felt, from annoying slowdowns to popup messages or contacts emailing you about a strange email you apparently sent them. If your IT system is compromised your business could be used as a launching pad to infect other businesses, which can have consequences as companies start black listing your email address.

If Microsoft Windows and your antivirus software is kept up to date then it greatly reduces your chance of a virus infection as commonly known IT loopholes are closed to hackers and virus writers.

If you do receive a suspicious email or come across something you’re not sure about online, be careful with it, in a moments haste you could cost a lot of productivity and money to be wasted.

Remember antivirus is not foolproof, always exercise caution and if in doubt contact your IT service provider

3. Speed up Your Computer

Over time, files that are stored on your computer can become disorganized and fragmented, this results in slow loading times and delayed access to programs and files. By regularly running speed checks and smart optimization, we can speed up your computers loading times and take care of those annoying pauses when you are busy and need quick and efficient access to your files and software.

4. Keep Antivirus Software Up-to-date

Antivirus software is vital and every PC should be protected but having antivirus software installed isn’t the end of your IT security – it needs to be up-to-date and working as intended. Some office staff can ignore important warnings from antivirus programs, mistakenly thinking that the system is just doing its job. It is important to check out these issues and make sure you are running the latest version of your antivirus software, as an infection could cost hundreds or even thousands of dollars to fix - and can have a devastating effect on productivity.

5. Maximize Software Efficiency

Computers age and over time they start to slow down – software packages that performed quickly and efficiently to begin with, can become sluggish and have a negative impact on productivity. Because this slowdown has occurred over many years, the computer user may have grown used to the issue and may think that it is normal. It's not normal, and at Miller Technologies we do regular checks to ensure your software is running to its maximum efficiency – often the answer is just a slight hardware modification or a quick clean out of programs that are no longer needed; if the issue is more complicated however, we can investigate and advise on a range of suitable options.

Nothing is more frustrating than a computer IT network that is slow and full of glitches – at Miller Technologies we'll make sure that your IT network is regularly serviced and maintenance checks are carried out to keep your IT support costs at a minimum, so that it's always safe, efficient and delivering the right information to the right people at the right time.

It is also important to know that IT maintenance is not just the regular tasks performed on PC or servers, it also involves your IT documentation. All too often this is overlooked and when something goes wrong with your system…where do you go to gain knowledge of the systems and how they were setup?

Regular basic maintenance will help prolong the life of your servers and workstations and reduce the likelihood of downtime or performance issues being experienced.

Are you secure in the knowledge that your IT systems are being maintained and your site documentation is up to date? If you have answered No to this question, please Contact Us for a free no obligation consultation.

Let us work with you on ensuring your systems are running as they should be and you can rest safe with the knowledge that your IT is working for you and not against you.

Call us today 503-474-4724 for more information on our maintenance plans.