Merced College

VNS™ – NetCare™ Managed IT Computer Support Services (MSP) – Valley Network Solutions™, Fresno/Clovis, CA.   by VNS Webmaster

If you run a business with two or more interconnected computers, you have a network, as well as the inherent expenses and responsibilities that come with managing a network. Networks are complex, living systems, with many moving parts, that require someone to maintain them. Industry experts, countless studies and common sense tells us that failure to do so proactively, rather than reactively will always cost us more than it would to take a proactive approach to things. Being proactive yields less downtime, more predictability, flatter spending patterns, better ability to plan and budget for IT needs, and allows you to focus on your business, not your network.

But providing this level of support requires capable, experienced talent. Hiring even one capable, entry-level network support tech will cost most companies at least $30K annually. And most entry-level network technicians lack the depth and breadth of real-world experience and training to properly administer a computer network, and they lack the support of a team of experts. A simple analogy is a “guy who’s good with cars” versus a professional mechanic, working at a dealership or large shop. Do you really want a friend of the family, college kid or a “guy you know who’s good with computers” (who may be operating without a business license, insurance, etc.) managing the network that you depend on to run your business? Cheapest usually isn’t best, but with the cost of a more experienced, talented and professionally certified network engineer running $45-80K annually (and then add 15-25% more for benefits), it’s no wonder that many companies cannot afford a dedicated IT staff, or can only hire folks with limited skill sets, experience and support. And even if you can, that person becomes a single point of failure, what do you do when they’re on vacation, or if they leave unexpectedly, or worse, if they don’t’ work out, become disgruntled and damage your network? But you must have a network to run your business, and someone you can call when the pain gets bad enough, data is lost, or things break, but that is reactive and not an ideal scenario. So what do you do?

Instead of paying premium rates to fight fires reactively, after something goes wrong, consider the VNS alternative to paying by the hour or taking on the burden of a salaried employee. The NetCareâ