2 Reasons SMBs Need Your Managed Services And Security Help Now

By The Business Solutions Network

If you’re not currently selling network security and managed services to SMBs, consider this: According to the latest U.S. Census Bureau statistics, there are more than 2 million firms with 5 to 99 employees. A recent independent study commissioned by web and email security vendor GFI Software revealed the following statistics about these businesses:

• Nearly half of IT admins reported they don’t have the capability to see which PCs or servers on their network are about to fail. For organizations with fewer than 25 employees, this number goes up to 55 percent.
• 50 percent of IT admins reported spending the equivalent of three weeks or more per year manually updating antivirus software or removing malware on users’ PCs.
• 78 percent of respondents said they would be interested in a Web-based service that enables them to manage antivirus protection on company PCs.

What all this adds up to is IT administrators that have no visibility into what’s going on with their IT infrastructure and are vulnerable to various threats, ranging from malware to human error and equipment failure. All of these pain points are exactly what a basic managed services and network security offering is designed to address: remote monitoring and management of IT resources as well as preventative and proactive IT protection and support.

Even though some organizations may pretend that everything is okay with their current IT situation, the facts tell a different story. Keep these points in mind the next time you speak to an SMB business owner and feel empowered to ask a few probing questions to help you and your prospect get to the truth of the matter. And, when that happens, you can help them self-discover that the cost of an “IT insurance policy” is but a small fraction of the cost of addressing an IT disaster after the fact.