
Good Enough
Years ago I remember impatiently waiting for the latest upgrade. Computers were slow, and there never seemed to be enough speed or storage. Screens were giant things weighing dozens of pounds, and laptops were lucky to last a couple of hours on their battery. Oh yeah, and the Internet had to be connected to through your phone line. And don’t even think about viewing a good quality picture in anything under several seconds.
But that isn’t reality anymore. The computer I carry in my pocket, my iPhone, is many times faster than those old computers I used and repaired. I have a high speed Internet connection wherever I go with this “pocket computer,” as well. Oh, and its meager storage is still about 10 times what I had back then too.
It’s amazing that it has been nearly two decades since I started working on computers. What’s even more amazing is how reliable they are, (I’m excluding the demon spawn known as printers as they continue to malfunction in new ways). In my job, I deal with computer, network, and server problems every day. The technology landscape is more complicated than it was two decades ago. And yet, things work more reliably. Computer systems don’t crash as often, servers are much more reliable, and most of us rarely need to worry about our Internet connection going down.
The challenge today isn’t what it was twenty years ago. During that time, everything you did on a computer needed more resources. Every upgrade brought you closer to being able to do a job well, but software was hungry for more. And computer networking was still in its early stages for many small businesses. Most data lived on local desktop computers, which made a crash that much worse. And exchanging much of anything, besides text, over the Internet was a lengthy ordeal.
But now, we have the resources we need to do our jobs. Even smartphones and tablets are reaching this stage, and in a much shorter period than desktop computers. So now for my bold prediction. I think that IT support, the basis for my business and that of many of my friends, has reached that point, as well. With computers being almost disposable, much of the data small businesses use either in the cloud or rapidly moving that way, and a vast decrease in problems, it’s time we shift our focus.
Don’t misunderstand me. The value of IT support is still there, but it isn’t what it was. Basic IT support is good enough. The challenge is in getting small businesses to enjoy the full benefits of everything modern technology has to offer their business. This means that installing a new desktop computer and providing repair when that computer breaks needs to be an increasingly small part of what the modern “IT service provider” does. That stuff is easy. Heck, even migrating most small businesses to the cloud is super easy.
The challenge is in helping a business take full advantage of their Office 365 subscription, beyond the email and calendar. The challenge is in training employees in how to use their iPhone to upload pictures to the company Dropbox. The challenge is in helping a small business craft and implement a new marketing strategy that ties in a social media marketing campaign with their website, CRM, and a YouTube video series.
Consulting should be a large part of IT Service 2.0. But I don’t mean consulting in the sense of recommending a software package or providing a network redesign quote. This consulting is in tackling larger business challenges and working with a variety of vendors to solve these challenges. As an example, maybe a VoIP system is needed (*shudders*), but it is just a small part of helping a law firm improve its communication with prospects and clients to increase its revenue.