Your IT support pro has everything working right. Right?

If you’re here, you are probably incurring some pain. Your network is slow. Servers and workstations are unstable. You don’t know how secure you and your  secrets are. This is usually the condition of networks we inherit. We make network systems work for you. We’ve been in the IT support business since 1992 and Microsoft certified since 1997.

You can do a network self-assessment. Ask your staff, “How are things working for you today?” Watch their responses. You have a problem if:

1. They hesitate for more than five seconds before responding.
2. Their responses include some profanity.
3. They recite a list of network problems that never get solved.

You’re running a business. Make sure your IT support keeps your systems working right. This can make or break your business. Having your systems work right helps you serve your clients, grow your business and ease the pain. Life becomes easier, when your IT support is doing their job. You already know this is true. Your IT support should deliver successes like these:

Multiple buildings on one Internet connection.

A Folsom client has three buildings and two Internet connections. We reviewed the bills and suggested he run cabling between all three buildings. He could then discontinue one of the connections. All three buildings can share the same upstream connection to his Internet provider. He would end up reducing costs and have a network that was easier to manage. Is your IT support provider looking for ways to help you save money and run your business more efficiently? He should. We do.

Troubleshoot sporadic connectivity.

At that same site, a contractor accidentally snapped the cable that connected the third building to the other two, and of course, the Internet. A random employee decided he could patch the network cables together like they were speaker wire and then get the third building back online. It worked for a few days. The General Manager reported sporadic connectivity to the third building. Sometimes it worked and sometimes it didn’t. He called his IT support and asked for some help. We went in and discovered the connection was done wrong.

Ethernet connections in the US follow one pattern, whereas connections in Japan follow another. The random employee decided to connect based on the Japanese pattern. He then covered the connection with electrical tape. Never mind this was an outdoor environment.

We reviewed this connection and determined it was done wrong. The connection should follow the US pattern and also reside in a plastic box suitable for GFCI outlets. We removed the connection and recreated it according to the US pattern. We then wall-mounted a plastic box that shields its contents from rain, sleet and snow. We mounted the cable in that box, closed the cover and started testing.

Everything works. That is what you should expect from your IT support professional.

Make sure IT support can prove backups are working.

Your IT support pro should set up and verify your data backups are working. The service we recommend backs up data nightly to secure locations near Dallas and Chicago. We receive notifications every morning showing the successful backups and of course, those that had errors. We review those reports and then troubleshoot the errors. Sometimes this means the server lost power. Sometimes it means the Internet connection went down. Sometimes it creates more troubleshooting for your IT support pro. Not all issues can be solved in two minutes. Regardless, your backups have to work. Let me ask you…can you prove yesterday’s backups were successful?

Let’s go one step further. Here’s a simple test you should expect your IT support should pass. Can you restore data from last night’s backups? Follow this test.

• Identify an important file. This could be your QuickBooks data file, a valuable MS Excel spreadsheet or an important MS Word contract.
• Move it (them) to C:\Temp. Create C:\Temp if necessary.
• Call your IT support pro and tell him the file(s) you need are gone. How do you restore them from backups?
• See how he does.

If your data comes back, you had a successful test. If your IT support pro spends longer than an hour restoring this data, or worse, cannot restore it, you have a problem. We routinely test backups and also have had successful real-world restores. You’re running a business. You should expect this.

Troubleshoot slowness.

This client also reported a slow and unreliable connection. Never mind they pay a pretty penny for their Internet service…they just felt the connection was slow. They also ran a simple testing tool, ping, that helps diagnose connectivity issues. We went onsite and monitored Internet traffic. This happened when employees were in a staff meeting or at lunch. We launched a network monitoring tool and discovered most Internet traffic going to websites with the .RU domain suffix. That’s right…Russia. This client does not transact business with Russia. Why all the traffic there?

We blocked traffic to Russia. In technical terms, we created a DNS loopback for the .RU domain suffix. Traffic no longer goes there. the Internet connection appears faster. Actually, it just isn’t sending data to the .RU websites. We also identified and removed malware that was sending information back to its Russian publishers.

This is not easy. This is something you probably don’t want to figure out because you have other things on your mind. This is, however, something you should expect your IT support pro to identify and solve. That’s why you hire an IT support professional.