How Did On Time Tech Save A Manufacturing Firm From Data Loss?

Email Outage Recovery

A business’ email is one of their most important tools – if an unexpected server emergency results in an email outage, what would you do? When your internal IT support can’t get it fixed, who will you turn to?

Email is perhaps the most ubiquitous technology used in the business world today – possibly even more so than the phone. It’s instantaneous, can deliver important files, and doesn’t require the immediate attention that a phone call does.

It’s for all these reasons and more that email has become so vital for so many businesses. Regardless of the industry, businesses around the world rely on email to stay in touch with contacts, call up necessary info, and more.

The question is - when email suddenly crashes, what it a business supposed to do? If their IT support person on staff can’t fix a major issue, what are they supposed to do next?

Case In Point: What Does A Manufacturing Firm Do When Their Email Is Down?

The On Time Tech team recently encountered this very situation.

A manufacturing firm, that at the time was not our client, got in touch because they really needed our help.

They had experienced a catastrophic server failure, which had caused an email outage. Their first step was to get their internal IT guy to try to fix the problem.

Unfortunately, a major server failure was too much for this IT support member to handle.

That’s when they called us.

How Did On Time Tech Solve The Problem?

Fortunately for the manufacturing firm, our team has plenty of experience in preventing and responding to server failure and email outage instances like this.

In only a few hours, we had their email back up and running, with everything properly restored. If they had continued to try to solve the problem on their own, the timeline would have been much longer – possibly leaving them without email for days.

It's examples like this that show why internal IT support is often unprepared to handle the needs of a big business like those operating in the manufacturing industry.

What about you? Are you relying on just one IT person on your staff to handle potentially major issues like this?

If you’re unsure…

What Are The 3 Major Signs That You Can’t Keep Handling IT On Your Own?

1. You can’t work. Whether it's a slow server that won't let you access shared company files or a buggy email client that leaves you unsure whether your messages are actually being sent, when your computers aren’t working, you’re not working.
2. It’s affecting customer satisfaction. If you can’t work as quickly or as effectively as you should be, it’s only a matter of time before that affects your customers’ experience. And there’s nothing worse than having to face an angry customer and tell them that it’s because your computers aren’t working right.
   
3. You’re paying for short-term fixes. Poorly maintained computers will often need quick fixes, handled by local repair shops for one-time fees. The problem is that while the hardware may work for a little while, there's no guarantee it'll last for long. That means there's no way of knowing how quickly you'll have to go back to that same shop and pay for it to get fixed again.

What Should You Look For In An IT Services Company?

1. Competitive response times.  This should be relatively easy for them to answer – either they offer a guaranteed response time as detailed in a contract, or they should at least be able to provide some form of data to show how quickly they handle real-life examples of support calls.  Bonus if they have testimonials or case studies that show how they respond to their client's needs, and what the results were.
   
2. An effective support system.  As a follow up to the previous question, you should find out how they receive, track, and follow-through on support requests.  Do they have an online ticket system? A support email address? A 24/7 Help Desk, via chat or phone?  Get specific so that you can actually envision what you would go through to file a support request.
   
3. The right model of support. When determining the quality of service, the big question is whether they are "break/fix" or "managed"?  In a nutshell, when something goes wrong -- data loss, hardware failure, virus, etc. -- you then get in touch with your Break/Fix support company and have them fix it. The break-fix strategy no longer works for businesses today. Managed Services is the modern model for IT support, offering a range of vital solutions to your business all for one monthly rate.  With fully managed support, you know that you are supported and protected 24/7. From proactive maintenance and patch management to responsive on-site and Help Desk support services, fully managed support takes care of everything you need.

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