Imagine you and your team walking into work ready to tackle the day’s tasks when suddenly the Internet goes down, e-mails stop working and productivity grinds to a halt. What would you do? When the “Internet goes down,” most businesses’ operations come to a halt, which can cost thousands in lost productivity and sales.

When it comes to IT support, most business owners assume “good enough” is just that - good enough. But what if your IT provider is actually putting your business at risk with slow responses, poor communication or a lack of proactive solutions?

The truth is, you might not know how bad your IT support is until you see what great IT service looks like.

January isn’t just for fresh starts and ambitious resolutions - it’s the perfect time to evaluate your business’s technology needs. As we step into 2025, staying competitive means leveraging IT solutions that boost efficiency, improve security and prepare you for the demands of a rapidly changing, AI-focused digital world.

In 2024, cyberthreats are no longer just a big-business problem. In fact, large corporations with deep pockets are not the primary target for most cybercriminals. Less well-defended small and medium-sized businesses are increasingly at risk, with the average cost of a data breach now totaling over $4 million (IBM). For many smaller businesses, an incident like this could be devastating.

What sets high-quality, reliable IT support apart from mediocre or substandard support? Is it lower prices? Flat-fee service? At Aldebaran Group, we believe there are many deciding factors that separate even the good from the great providers, but when our clients switch from their old companies to us, we get the same feedback over and over.

In our technology-driven world, efficient IT support is the backbone of any successful business. From ensuring seamless operations to safeguarding sensitive data, reliable IT services are crucial for maintaining productivity and protecting your bottom line.

One of the most commons questions we get from new prospective clients calling our office is “What do you guys charge for your IT services?”

While price certainly needs to be one consideration, it’s extremely important you make an informed decision and choose the right IT services company instead of using price as the main deciding factor.

Growing your business involves learning how to make money and hang on to it responsibly. When you’re in the weeds, it’s easy to think that a fancy piece of well-marketed software could help dig your way out. That’s usually not the case, and you’ll likely end up paying for software that you dont need and barely use, and that burns through your bank account.

Training employees on anything can be an expensive process. You incur the cost of investing in necessary materials plus the time it takes away from your employees doing revenue-generating activities. But what’s worse when it comes to cyber security training is the expense you’ll incur if that training fails.

As former President Ronald Regan once said, the scariest words you’ll ever hear are “We’re from the government, and we’re here to help.”

In this case, the government is trying to help by forcing nearly all businesses to implement and maintain a strong cyber security program to protect the customer information these companies host – definitely not a bad thing, and all businesses should take this seriously without the government mandating it.