An IT Support Blog from London

Read the latest IT news, tips and insights from IT Support pros at HTL Support

Understanding the Key Players and Their Roles in an IT Support Ecosystem

IT Support Ecosystem

Technology is the backbone of your business – but it’s also increasingly complex. From cloud vendors through to AI tools, many businesses lack the knowledge to fully support their internal IT systems, and to manage vendor relations.

That’s why companies turn to a group of internal and external experts to help them keep their IT in tip top shape.

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649 Hits

Proactive IT Support: 7 Ways to Do It

Proactive IT Support

No matter the size or industry, every organisation today should offer IT support services. These services could be for internal customers—employees, or external customers—clients, subscribers, and business partners. With the myriad of software solutions and devices being utilised in the modern work environment, IT support has unquestionably become a vital part of business enterprises.

The fact is, the absence of an IT helpdesk or even just subpar tech support can have far-reaching implications that will eventually outweigh any cost savings a company may enjoy in the interim. For instance, an hour of IT downtime could lead to substantial revenue loss and decreased employee productivity, among other consequences. Now having IT support is one thing. But offering proactive IT support is completely another thing because it elevates your IT services and ensures smoother, more efficient operations.

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1219 Hits

Optimising IT Service Desk for Efficient IT Support Delivery

Optimising IT Service Desk

In today's fast-paced business environment, the IT service desk could be the determining factor that can elevate good service to great. Acting as the main interface between the IT organisation and employees and/or users, the service desk or IT helpdesk handles everything—from incident management to service requests and change coordination.

Merely having an IT service desk is not enough, however. Your organisation also needs to optimise service operations to ensure seamless IT support. This blog post aims to illustrate how enterprises can transform their IT help desks into effective centres of support and innovation. We explore various strategies that can aid in streamlining processes, boosting response times, and improving general IT service quality.

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745 Hits

Managed IT Services vs. Break-Fix Solutions: What's Best for Your Business?

Managed IT Services VS Breakfix

Technology is the lifeblood of your businesses. Today, technology powers everything from every business communication right through to the core of your marketing, sales and operations.

Ensuring the smooth functioning of your IT infrastructure? It’s critical, but fraught with choices. One of these is choosing between managed IT services or the traditional break-fix approach.

Understanding the nuances of these two options is important: both models have characteristics that are essential to grasp if you want to make an informed decision that aligns with your business goals, budget, and risk tolerance.

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870 Hits

Importance of Regular IT Maintenance: Protect Your Business and Boost Productivity

Regular IT Maintenance

From customer communication to internal operations, IT systems are the backbone of business success. But like any essential tool, your IT infrastructure requires regular maintenance to avoid costly malfunctions. Neglecting IT maintenance is like ignoring the oil change in your car – you’ll get away with it for a while, but disaster looms.

Today, the average cost of a single data breach can easily be into the millions (USD 4.45mn on average, according to IBM) – and unplanned downtime can set businesses back thousands of pounds per hour. These are the risks companies face when they ignore the importance of regular IT maintenance.

IT maintenance is just like preventative healthcare for your technology: regular checkups and upkeep help you stay ahead of major breakdowns and ensure smooth operations. Let’s take a look at why regular IT maintenance matters for your business.

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1493 Hits

In-House vs Outsourced IT Support: A Detailed Analysis for SMEs

Inhouse vs outsource

Technology is rapidly evolving and getting more intertwined with business processes. This development has made effective IT support an indispensable component of every modern organisation. When it comes to managing IT support functions, small and medium-sized enterprises (SMEs) face a pivotal choice — maintain an in-house team or outsource these services to an IT support company?

The best approach can vary significantly depending on the organisation’s size, budget, specific requirements, and overall strategic direction. This blog post looks into the nuances of the two models and explores the benefits and drawbacks of both. The aim is to provide information that can help your enterprise make an informed decision on managing your business support functions.

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1720 Hits

8 Types of IT Support Services that Your Business Can Outsource

IT Support Services

Given the fast pace with which the digital world is evolving coupled with the constant pressure to improve efficiency, productivity, revenue, and data security, it’s no surprise that many organisations struggle with IT-related functions. IT environments are increasingly becoming more sophisticated, but not all companies have the necessary IT talent to manage and maintain these environments. Fortunately, enterprises are increasingly recognising the importance of outsourcing business IT support functions. It's the only logical solution to tame the proverbial “IT beast”.

This article highlights eight essential IT services that external providers can effectively handle. From the intricacies of cybersecurity and cloud management to the essentials of help desk support and disaster recovery preparation, a deeper understanding of these services enables organisations to make strategic planning in resource allocation.

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2377 Hits

Exploring Real-World Applications and Success Stories with AI in IT Support

AI in IT Support

Technology is propelling business innovation forward in ways never seen before. For instance,  enterprises are experiencing firsthand the many uses of artificial intelligence. AI today is no longer a futuristic concept but a practical solution that is proving to be valuable in many aspects of corporate operations, particularly in the area of IT support.

Given the huge strides AI has taken in recent years, it’s no surprise that its tangible benefits are felt across IT support in various industries. Artificial intelligence applications are gradually reinventing the way support services are delivered. They automate routine tasks, provide predictive insights, streamline help desk processes, tailor fit user engagements based on past interactions, and more.

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2106 Hits

7 Ways to Optimise Your IT Service Desk

Optimise IT Helpdesk

It's widely acknowledged that today's business environment is predominantly driven by technology. Remote work setups and digital solutions have become major components of every organisation. This makes the IT service desk an essential element that helps ensure seamless operations and user satisfaction.

The modern IT service desk should be designed to promote a culture of continuous improvement. This encourages the IT team to evolve and meet the needs of the digital workplace, empowering enterprises to boost support capabilities and elevate the customer experience. If you’re looking to do this in your organisation, it’s important to make your IT service desk suitable and effective for your business.

This blog post explores seven impactful strategies for optimising the IT service desk. The aim is to provide useful insights that will lead to actionable guidance for IT leaders and service desk managers.

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1482 Hits

6 Automation Tools for Efficient IT Support Delivery

Automation Tools

IT support is a fundamental service every organisation should provide regardless of size or industry. Reliable tech support creates a lasting positive impact for both external and internal customers. For end-users, a successfully-resolved tech issue with the company’s software product leaves them with a pleasant customer experience — one that they are likely to share with others. At the same time, IT support services that can promptly troubleshoot employees’ technical issues promotes productivity and general operational efficiency.

Larger enterprises may opt to have two separate support teams responsible for troubleshooting internal network problems and for dealing with customer concerns respectively. Smaller businesses, on the other hand, often maintain just one IT team to handle both external and internal tech support. Regardless of the logistics, one thing has become clear as people and organisations rely more on technology: IT solutions and automation tools are a great help in streamlining processes and improving service quality.

In this post, we highlight 6 help desk automation tools that can boost your business’ IT support desk.

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2158 Hits
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