4 (Surprisingly) Common Misconceptions About IT Support

Introduction 

What’s the first thing you think of when you hear the phrase “IT support”? 

For many, it conjures images of either a single person or a small team on-hand in an office reacting to IT problems. It may also, on the other hand, invoke images of a remote team sitting in a call centre in some far-flung place.  

The truth, of course, is quite different. Whether outsourced or in-house, IT support is how an essential business function, but – as we’ve just shown — it’s not always well understood.  

That’s why we’ve compiled the 5 most common misconceptions our team encounters about the job we do every day.  

#1: “IT support isn’t a priority for my business”  

This is a common point-of-view that we hear as an IT support provider, and it’s actually quite understandable.  

After all, you never really think about IT support as a business owner until something goes wrong or something needs installing, upgrading, configuring, or securing.  

Of course, in actuality these are practically everyday things for almost all businesses. So while it might not seem like a priority when you first think about it, if any of the following are important to you, IT support should be too: 

• Ensuring emails are sent and received successfully  
• Adding new users to the organisation, including email setup, laptop or desktop provisioning, and user permissions.  
• Preventing damaging cyber security breaches or attacks on your business.  
• Monitoring for any type of hardware failure or incident, including the more mundane stuff like keeping software updated.  

• Managing device fleets for your business: workstations, laptops, mobile phones, and more.  

Naturally there are plenty more individual responsibilities for an IT support team, but hopefully this gives a glimpse into just some of the ways that IT has become an essential aspect of any business.  

#2: “Even with an IT support service, technology still breaks down“

We’ll be honest here: our team is good, but they’re not miracle workers.  

It should go without saying that there’s no IT support team on the planet that will be able to prevent all of your IT infrastructure from suffering the occasional problem. (If you find one, grab them with both hands!) 

The truth is that preventing IT problems isn’t the primary remit of an IT support provider, but instead it’s about dealing with them as and when they occur. There are plenty of ways that an IT team can put measures in place to mitigate potential tech problems — anti-virus and EDR platforms, for example — but it’s simply impossible to totally prevent them.  

One thing that’s worth mentioning here is that, in our experience, a reliable IT partner is just one piece of the puzzle. Many of the everyday IT problems that our technicians deal with are due to human error, so we always recommend (and help deliver) user awareness training to your workforce to further reinforce your IT defences.  

#3: “Remote IT support will never be as good as in-person assistance“

Here’s a misconception which we’ve found can differ greatly from business to business – though it also depends on that company’s previous approach to IT.  

For some companies, which may have multiple remote team members or a hybrid working policy in place, remote IT support is often looked at as an essential service. For smaller, more common IT problems, a phone call or remote desktop session is usually all that’s needed to implement a fix from afar. For other companies which have traditionally been based in a specific premises, the idea of in-person IT support is the only way they’ve known – even if outsourced IT can be more affordable and less time-consuming.  

The reality here is that, especially following the global pandemic and the advances in remote working, the tools we have to hand to help clients from afar are just as good as being there in person. The added benefit, of course, is that there’s no travel to consider, meaning solutions can be deployed in minutes rather than hours.  

Still not convinced remote IT support is right for you? As an MSP, the Get Support team is proud to offer a combined in-person and remote IT support agreements depending on the circumstances. We assess every situation to ensure we’re delivering the absolute best solution for our clients, whether that means dispatching a technician to their premises or deploying a rapid remote solution.  

#4: “It’s cheaper to fix issues as-they-happen, rather than partnering with an MSP” 

If you’ve ever considered IT support services before, you may already be aware of the differences between an MSP (like Get Support) and so-called ‘break-fix’ providers.  

A quick if imperfect analogy for these two service methods would be a monthly contract vs. pay-as-you-go for your mobile phone. An MSP is a subscription-based service whereby you’ll receive the support and troubleshooting support you need as soon as you need it with no individual payment. A break-fix provider, by contrast, delivers these services on an ad hoc basis with the client expected to pay for each individual service rendered.  

You can learn more about the difference between the MSP and break-fix IT support models in our dedicated article, but the short version is that an MSP is always the smarter decision for businesses. IT can be a tricky beast, with issues often more complex than they first appear, so we’ve found that clients relying on break-fix IT support can end up spending far more than they would have done with an MSP when the cost is broken down.  

Looking for IT support you can believe in?  

We hope the topics we’ve covered above have demystified the often misunderstood world of IT support.  

As a Managed Service Provider, the team at Get Support knows better than most just how essential reliable IT support really is. So, whether you’re already working with an MSP, you’re looking to move from a break/fix provider, or this is your first foray into IT business services, we can help.  

To learn more about our IT support agreements, just call our friendly team now on 01865 594 000 — or just drop your details into the form below.