Texas is often referred to as the Silicon Valley of the central United States. While its IT heart may be in Austin, the number of businesses needing IT support in Houston is constantly growing. The stunning economic growth of Houston over the last thirty years has meant that the market for IT professionals has grown exponentially. 

Something else that has grown exponentially is the difficulty and stress of finding qualified IT talent and retaining it. Ask any IT professional who has a LinkedIn profile, and they’ll tell you they get calls multiple times a week from recruiters looking to offer them far more money than any small business could hope to afford. 

This leads to a revolving door of IT professionals who often need to clean up the mess left by the last guy. Because of the immense costs involved in IT, many small and medium-sized businesses are opting to hire IT companies in Houston to handle their needs. These companies are also known as managed IT service providers. The benefits of these organizations are many, and the savings can be substantial. 

IT Support in a Typical Small Business

For many small businesses, their idea of IT support is hiring one of their employee’s friends who is ‘good with computers.’ While this may have cut it when all you needed was Microsoft Word and a printer, in today’s digital environment, you need someone hyper-vigilant and extremely well-educated. 

This means that a small business with a single jack-of-all-trades IT specialist is a disaster waiting to happen. Either they get a better job offer, leaving you in the lurch, or their skills don’t extend into areas that are critical to your needs. 

Their networking skills may be top-notch, but if their cybersecurity credentials aren’t also up to par with the latest developments, they could find themselves woefully unprepared for cyberattacks. So, what is a small business supposed to do?

Efficiency and Cost Savings 

Let’s start with the costs of IT support and managed services. The savings can be immense, as managed IT services are built on a subscription model. For one low monthly fee that is often less than the salary of a single, well-paid IT professional, you get access to a whole team of IT experts, from cybersecurity professionals to network administrators. 

The reason the cost is so low is that, though the IT professionals are available to you 24/7, you don’t need their help every minute of every day. This way, the IT company can assist others when they aren’t busy saving the day for your business. The IT service provider is also able to spread the costs of their IT professionals across all of their clients. This means that each of their clients gains 24/7 coverage for a nine-to-five fee. 

Final Thoughts

Of course, that's not everything an IT company does. An IT services firm can act as your guide, helping you discover new types of software that are better suited to your business needs. This leads to a more efficient business, which means savings in both time and money. IT service providers like Xvand are standing by to help take the stress out of your IT needs, so you can focus on your business.