Outsourced IT Administrator In Nashville

A Guide for Getting an Outsourced IT Administrator In Nashville

There are numerous reasons for outsourcing your IT services, one of them being to ensure that your existing IT staff has sufficient support. Kraft Technology Group, one of the outsourced IT administrators in Nashville, frequently interacts with companies whose IT administrators and network administrators require various levels of assistance.

Signs that your IT staff or IT administrator need help from outsourced IT Administrators in Nashville

Having IT staff or an IT administrator who cannot function at their best will cost your business. The following are some of the signs that they might need some extra help from outsourced IT Administrators in Nashville to do their work effectively:

• Frequent shutdowns. This could be caused by numerous things. For instance, your virtual machines could be running on snapshots. Snapshots are useful because they help to restore your data when something goes wrong. However, they can eventually affect the performance of your virtual machines if they are too frequent or used for a prolonged period. This is why most IT administrators use them for testing and development purposes only. In fact, VMware recommends using just two to three snapshots per chain and using them for no more than 72 hours to retain optimal performance.
• Similar passwords on administrative and networking accounts. Systems are the frontline protection for your business networks and systems. Any minor breach could result in a widespread attack that could leave your company on its knees. This is why one of the major roles of IT staff and IT administrators is to ensure a strong password policy. Similar passwords on several accounts increase the risk of data breaches and, as such, should never be used. The passwords should also be changed after 90 days and stored using encrypted means to ensure that your administrative and networking accounts remain highly secure.
• Local administrator privilege. Attackers thrive on the misuse of local administrator privileges and use the opportunity to creep into your company’s system. The Center for Internet Security (CIS) considers it such a big issue that it ranks it as the 5th priority that organizations should check. Local administrators can download and install programs without prior vetting or permission. This increases the chances of users downloading malicious apps without their knowledge.
• Failing backups. Backups fail for a number of reasons, including hardware failure, human error, and media failure. For example, Veeam, a leading backup software, could fail to work correctly if it keeps trying to back itself up and end up corrupting the database. Outsourced IT Administrators in Nashville have the expertise to help and conduct backups properly.

What to do when your IT staff or IT administrator cannot admit that they need help

Sometimes your in-house IT administrator or IT staff may be unsure of how to go about various tasks, but fail to acknowledge that they need assistance. This will end up costing your company when system shutdowns affect productivity, data breaches expose privileged business or customer information or lead to other forms of theft and loss, and or you suffer permanent data loss because backups never succeeded. This means that you have to intervene whenever you notice the signs of inadequacy in their work, such as the ones highlighted above.

The following are some appropriate actions to take when you have an IT administrator or staff who is way in over their head and requires help from outsourced IT Administrators in Nashville:

• Learn their strengths. The first thing you want to do when you notice that one of your IT staff members or the administrator is either deflecting their responsibilities or not handling them well is to find out whether they are fit for the role. Find out whether their strengths connect with their current responsibilities.
• Identify the problem. Avoid making assumptions and try to establish why your underperforming IT staff member or network administrator acts the way they do at work. Sometimes, it could be because they do not fit your organizational culture and at other times they could be dealing with some problems back at home. In any case, seek to know the problem before you can fire, demote, or retain them.   
• Communicate clearly. It is important for your staff to understand what is expected of them. Clarifying this and outlining what could happen if they do not meet your expectations will help to establish more understanding. You can also be more detail-oriented as you assign them tasks to ensure that they are aware of all that they have to do to keep your networks and systems safe and functioning effectively. 
• Plan ahead. Planning ahead can involve screening your IT recruits early on to know what to expect of them and soliciting help when it is necessary. For instance, you might have to use your authoritative position and get outsourced IT Administrators in Nashville to fill in the skills gap left by your IT staff or IT administrator. Ensure that you are clear about what you need help with and hire an outsourced administrator who can handle the work effectively. 

Benefits of outsourced IT Administrators in Nashville

Depending on the IT workload at your organization, you may always want to have some in-house IT staff or a full-time IT administrator. However, your business could realize the following benefits by contracting outsourced IT Administrators in Nashville:

1. Lower costs. Outsourcing IT administrators will save you money because you do not have to offer them benefits and will only pay them for the work they do.
2. Professional expertise. Outsourced IT administrators in Nashville know their work well and are vastly experienced. This allows them to easily help to train and guide your current IT team.   
3. More time. When you get outsourced IT help, they can focus on specific issues and leave your current IT team to handle those duties they can accomplish effectively or work that cannot be done by outsiders. 
4. Service contracts. Outsourced IT Administrators in Nashville normally offer service level agreement (SLA) packages when you start working with them. Such packages guarantee that your hardware will be replaced should it start malfunctioning or get damaged.  
5. Programming essentials. When you outsource IT services, you leave the choice of the programming language to the entity you partner with. They then use their knowledge and expertise to determine a language that is compatible with each particular task.

How to choose outsourced IT Administrators in Nashville

Before deciding on which outsourced IT Administrators in Nashville to hire, you should consider that they meet the following criteria:

• Prioritization of cybersecurity to ensure that you have minimized exposure to cyber attacks
• Reliable support with open communication channels to ensure that you can reach them whenever you need their help
• Tangible results, which they can prove by providing a measurable return on investment (ROI) and data to demonstrate the kind of value that their services add to your company
• A firm focus on the details of the contract to make them more liable
• A disaster preparedness plan to mitigate losses when unforeseen issues arise
•  A viable development projection to show that they can support your growing business

Your company risks a lot when it does not offer the IT staff or IT administrator the help they need to do their work appropriately. You can remedy this by contracting reliable outsourced IT Administrators in Nashville such as Kraft Technology Group. Our solutions are focused on ensuring that small and medium businesses in the area meet their goals and achieve continual growth. We can work exclusively or with your existing IT team to fulfill all your company’s IT needs. Reach out to us today and get to know more about the wide range of IT services we offer.