Troubleshooting Your Business IT – Identifying the Source Problem

Your first reaction to a server issue might be to blame the vendor, but most business IT problems are caused by the ‘moving parts,’ not the hardware. When something goes wrong, you can fix it. The first step is to take a closer look at the various components of your system and ascertain what might be the source of the problem.

• Outdated piece of software – many pieces of software on your workstations will be updated regularly. Improved versions of the software fix bugs, and they are often designed to eliminate potential threats from hackers. Many updates must be conducted manually, such as Adobe, Flash and Skype, so check for updates if a program is not working properly.
• Virus – Run your antivirus scan regularly to ensure you have not been infected. You can set up regular security checks with your software.
• Mail Server Malfunction – If you have a problem with email, check the server.
• Diminishing Hard Drive Space – Disk space should be checked regularly to ensure optimal performance.
• Patches – Some patches can throw your software or network off balance. Keep a record of the most recent patches so you can identify the problematic patch.
• Performance Slowdown – Try defragging the drive, cleaning up the disk and rebooting your servers.

A managed IT service provider will automatically perform regular checks in all of the areas that might threaten your system. We install a small software agent on your workstations that monitors your systems and sends the information to our IT management dashboard. The dashboard gives us an easy way to troubleshoot and solve any problems before they damage your productivity.

Avoid Downtime with Proactive Monitoring

Here is a great example of why proactive monitoring is necessary to insure your IT functionality:

One of our check-ups showed an aberration in a client’s hard disk. The data had changed by 80% in a single day. Using the extensive record of all the changes to the system, we were able to quickly eliminate all the possible causes until we found a suspicious Google Earth update. The new version was erroneously downloading every image on Google to the server cache. Without the daily updates and the flawless record-keeping of our managed IT service agent, the business’ server would have crashed, and the bug would have taken them out of the game.
We can take a look at your network status and troubleshoot at a moment’s notice, and our advanced warning system saves you valuable work-time and profitability.