When a piece of office technology stops working the way it’s supposed to, you might be tempted to forgo a call to your IT team and let an employee handle things… especially if they assure you they are “good with computers.” After all, isn’t it nice to save a little bit of time and money if you have someone with the necessary expertise in your office already?
That’s an understandable line of thought, but one that’s probably not going to do you much good. Unless the solution is as simple as turning a piece of equipment on and off, you generally don’t want non-IT employees “fixing” computers, networks, mobile devices, or hard drives. Here are just a few of the biggest reasons why…
They Might Make Your Problems Worse
This might seem obvious, but we see malfunctioning computers and devices that have been rendered nearly useless by meddling employees almost every week. They mean well, but they don’t have skills, equipment, or experience to properly diagnose a technology problem, much less fix it. And so, more often than not, they end up making things worse than they already were.
This is particularly important when you’re dealing with issues concerning software and data storage, as problems with one drive or device can be spread to others if you aren’t careful.
Most Things Are Easier to Fix Than to Replace
Usually, when business people try to fix things on their own, it’s because they’re looking to save money on an IT service call. However, simple repairs – and even most complicated ones – are much, much less expensive than replacing a piece of technology would be. That’s important because there is always the risk that someone without the right skills might do enough harm that something can’t be fixed.
Frustration and a lack of knowledge can be a dangerous combination, and one that usually leads to a more expensive issue than the one you started with.
Even Successful Employee IT Repairs Will Cost You Too Much
But what about the times when an employee can fix a technology problem? Aren’t businesses saving money then? Not necessarily. Depending on the time and attention it took to get to that solution, you might still be at a net negative when you consider the lost productivity of your employee (or group of employees) who should have been doing their jobs while they were looking up solutions.
That might not be money that’s coming out of your pocket right away, but it could do more damage to your balance sheet in the long run.
Good IT Care Costs Less Than You Think
The final reason to leave IT repairs and installations the professionals is that you aren’t really saving all that much money by cutting the experts out of the picture. Good IT help doesn’t cost a lot, especially if you work with the right company.
And, all the hidden costs and expenses we’ve already mentioned can add up quickly over time if you have recurring technology problems. A good IT vendor, on the other hand, is going to perform a bit of preventative maintenance to ensure all your hardware and software are running smoothly.
Need a technology team you can trust to help you keep your business moving forward? Call or email our team today and let us put our expertise to work for you.