If the pandemic has taught us anything, it is how quickly waves can sweep in and upend daily life. Whether it is a wave caused by rising Covid infections forcing businesses to suddenly shutter their doors and staff to work remotely or a wave of cyber strikes targeting particular businesses, SMEs of all shapes and sizes have been impacted by rising and waning disruption and variations in day-to-day operations.
Maintaining Stability Through Technology Waves
Impactful waves that cause temporary or permanent change aren’t anything new, especially in the technology sector. However, the rapid pace of change has been intense and furious when it comes to the evolution of business technology.
Attilio Commisso, the co-founder and president of CG Technologies, a leading managed IT solutions company serving the greater Toronto area, has made riding the waves of technological changes his business. He started CG Technologies in 1996, back when business technology such as the corporate network was just beginning to hit the mainstream, the computer server was a new concept, and the sneakernet was being consigned to the dustbin of history. There were no viruses, no concerns about malware. The biggest challenge for SMEs was maintaining the stability of the local area network and the connections from the PCs to the server.
However, over the last 30 years, multiple technology advancements brought a new set of challenges to his business and every other SME. Still, the seasoned professional in IT solutions believes today’s technology wave isn’t any worse than the past.
“We are in the middle of one of those waves of change as we move from company-centric networks to cloud-centric networks, but the pace of this wave compared to any other previous wave is about the same,” said Commisso.
Instead, he sees stability as the biggest challenge for today’s businesses, particularly in maintaining mission-critical IT infrastructure and services. “The connection with the company server is now dependent on, for the most part, low-cost Internet connections and the uptime of a group of cloud-based partners which combine to make up the modern corporate network,” Commisso explains.
Operational stability has never been more evident than when the pandemic hit Toronto businesses in full force in March 2020. Even if businesses were lucky enough to already have a remote desktop environment, peripheral devices such as printers and scanners needed to be provisioned for the remote worker. Companies without managed IT services didn’t have it so easy, scrambling to get equipment for staff, implementing a remote work model, and training staff while still getting the job done.
Companies with a trusted IT service provider like CG Technologies could maintain mission-critical stability and avoid severe disruption through the pandemic. CG Technologies’ clients, including manufacturers, health care providers, non-profits, financial services firms, accounting firms, law firms, and cannabis retailers, realized the power of investment in a managed IT partner who maintained operational stability and provided 24-hour support during those critical times.
Maintaining Stability Through Cyber Threats
In addition to providing mission-critical stability because of a rising wave of infection, CG Technologies has expertly supported businesses through potentially devastating cyber attacks.
“We had a client that was transitioning to us from their previous IT service provider when the business was hit with an encryption virus just as we were starting to take over their service during the middle of the pandemic. Our solutions design specialists, customer liaisons, and remote support people worked together to move the business to a work-from-home model because of the lockdown, unlocked their data after the cyber attack, and then redesigned their IT systems to minimize the impact of future cyber threats. It was a very stressful time for them, but we helped get them through it, and they’re now back to humming along just fine,” recalled Commisso.
With a wave of cyber threats on the rise, having a skilled managed IT service partner to maintain the business’s tech environment can help evolve the business security posture and reduce the risk profile. It can be the difference between operational stability and failure.
Finding a Managed IT Service Provider That’s Right for You
Maintaining operational stability for your business-critical technology is possible if you have an IT service partner who can advise you on the best solutions, implement them correctly, help support you, and work with the various providers when the inevitable challenges arise. Rather than simply going with a provider that offers break-and-fix services, today’s businesses need more sophisticated IT-managed solutions that empower staff to be as productive as possible and protect and enable a competitive advantage. “If your IT partner approaches their managed services offerings properly, then it’s in their best interests to see you have the fewest problems possible, so your interests are now aligned with theirs,” added Commisso.
The new normal in a post-pandemic may be here, but change will only continue to disrupt business operations. Whether it be future lockdowns caused by a virus, technological advancements, or cyber threats, SMEs need a Managed IT Service partner like CG technologies to help them ride any wave successfully and maintain the stability of business-critical technology.
