The Benefits of Managed IT Services

 

Managed IT services allow businesses to delegate their IT responsibilities to an external provider through contractual or subscription-based arrangements. These services help reduce the burden on internal IT teams, supplement their efforts if they are overwhelmed, or even serve as a complete replacement. Managed service providers (MSPs) usually offer 24/7 IT support and bring specialized skills and expertise that might not be available in-house.

There are numerous benefits to Managed IT services; we list the most significant advantages below:

24/7 Monitoring: With continuous monitoring of networks and systems, MSPs can detect and prevent issues before they escalate, ensuring uptime and reliability. Providers ensure that security measures are up to date, reducing the risk of cyber threats with regular audits, patch management, and updated security protocols to safeguard business data. Also, by outsourcing IT tasks, businesses can focus on their core skills and strategic objectives rather than getting bogged down by computer issues.

Cost-Efficiency: Outsourcing IT operations can reduce the need to hire in-house staff, leading to lower labor costs and overhead, yet are just as reliable. As businesses grow, their IT needs change. Managed IT services can quickly scale to meet these growing demands without the challenges of hiring and training additional personnel. Additionally, a fixed monthly fee covers most services, allowing businesses to avoid unexpected expenses. With proactive system monitoring and maintenance, MSPs help you remain compliant while reducing downtime and outages and making your business efficient.

Expertise and Experience: Managed IT service providers typically have a wide range of knowledge that may be hard to replicate with an in-house team. This ensures that businesses have access to specialists when needed. Also, MSPs often have established relationships with technology vendors, which can lead to faster resolution times and potential discounts. Managed IT services often include backup solutions and disaster recovery plans, ensuring business continuity in the face of unforeseen incidents. With expert advice and guidance, you can gain peace of mind knowing that your MSP has your data backups and security handled.

By leveraging managed IT services, businesses can enjoy these benefits and more, often leading to enhanced productivity and reduced risks while saving significant costs. You don’t have to be tech-savvy or know all the ins/outs of the IT world; MRPs do it for you! 

CPS has almost 30 years of experience in the industry, so you know we’ve got your back! We get to know your business like our own so we can run your IT properly. Contact us for a free consultation and see how we can help you. 

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Founded in 1994, Creative Programs and Systems delivers professional results for all your computer needs. We design, create, and code various custom software programs and websites. Additionally, we offer superior digital marketing services, including enhanced Search Engine Optimization (SEO) and paid advertising. We also repair and support commercial computer infrastructure, build custom systems and servers, and provide secure data backups. Need assistance or want to learn more? Call (810)224-5252 or email info@cpsmi.com us!

Written by the digital marketing team at Creative Programs & Systems: www.cpsmi.com

Redefining Efficiency: The Benefits of a Custom Database System

 

Businesses and organizations often find themselves relying heavily on spreadsheets for their data management needs. Google Sheets and Microsoft Excel have served as staples in data storage, analysis, and reporting. But is it time to break free from these traditional methods and move towards programming a custom database system? The answer might be a resounding "yes," and here’s why.

Scalability

As your business grows, so does the data you need to manage. Spreadsheets like Google Sheets and Excel are not built to handle massive datasets. With a custom database, you can plan your architecture according to your growth rate, ensuring that your system is equipped to handle future needs efficiently.

Data Integrity

Spreadsheets are prone to errors. One wrong formula or accidental keystroke can result in inaccurate data, with the error propagating across multiple sheets or even files. Databases, especially those that are ACID-compliant (Atomicity, Consistency, Isolation, Durability), ensure that your data stays reliable and accurate.

Security

Excel and Google Sheets offer basic security features, such as password protection and restricted sharing. However, these are no match for the robust security measures that can be implemented in a custom database, including data encryption, strict user roles, and advanced authentication methods.

Flexibility and Customization

A spreadsheet has a one-size-fits-all approach, which might not cater to your unique business requirements. A custom database system can be designed with your specific needs in mind, offering the flexibility that off-the-shelf software often can’t.

Complex Queries and Reports

If your data analysis requires more than basic filtering and sorting, spreadsheets will soon become a bottleneck. Custom databases enable you to perform complex queries with multiple joins, aggregations, and conditions. This feature is critical for producing comprehensive reports that can help in strategic decision-making.

Real-time Data Access

Modern database systems can support real-time data access and manipulation by multiple users. With spreadsheets, there’s often a need to lock files for editing, or risk running into version conflicts. Databases are designed for simultaneous use, making real-time collaboration easier and more effective.

Integration Capabilities

Custom databases can be integrated with other business systems like CRM, ERP, or custom APIs. This is something spreadsheets struggle with. Seamless integration means less manual data entry, thereby reducing errors and saving time.

Cost-Effectiveness

While the initial investment in creating a custom database might seem steep, it will save you precious time and money in the long run. Maintaining spreadsheets, managing errors, and dealing with data loss or corruption can be more costly than the initial investment in a robust, custom database.

Spreadsheets are great tools, but they have their limitations when managing large datasets, ensuring data integrity, and facilitating complex queries and reports. A custom database system addresses these challenges and offers benefits that can boost your business. While some may face sticker shock from the up-front cost, the long-term returns in terms of efficiency, reliability, and scalability make it a worthy consideration.

Is your organization at a stage where you're starting to feel the limitations of spreadsheet software? It might be time to make a leap to a custom database system. Contact Creative Programs and Systems to schedule a consultation.

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Founded in 1994, Creative Programs and Systems provides professional results for all computer needs. We design, create, and code an array of custom software programs and websites; offer top-notch digital marketing services including enhanced Search Engine Optimization (SEO) and paid advertising; repair and provide support for computers of both residential and professional nature; build custom systems and servers, and offer secure data backups. Need assistance or want to learn more? Call us at 810-224-5252 or e-mail info@cpsmi.com.

Written by the digital marketing team at Creative Programs & Systems: https://www.cpsmi.com/

Enhance Your Business with Digital Marketing

 

Digital marketing is essential to boost your brand and increase leads and sales. Online marketing consists of Pay-Per-Click (PPC) ads, social media posting, email marketing, and organic Search Engine Optimization (SEO). Embedded in all this includes optimized code with rich keywords and content for search engines to find the data they’re looking for, along with engaging design work.

The umbrella of services that fall under digital marketing is overwhelming for most businesses to do on their own properly. That’s why you’ll find so many companies specializing in the field. The problem is some often forget about reviewing, scrutinizing, tweaking, and making the necessary adjustments to optimize your online presence. This is done through a process called web analysis; without it, you may just be throwing your money out the window. 

Digital Marketing Strategies

Email Advertising

One of the best ways to market your business is by emailing customers and subscribers about your latest happenings. This low-cost, high-return-on-investment advertising method informs viewers about upcoming sales, promotions, and more. Also, it’s easy to determine who clicked to open the email, what links they searched, and if a purchase resulted. Setting up automatic emails welcoming new customers and announcing quarterly discounts or reminders for an abandoned cart are good ideas too!    

Paid Online Advertising

To boost your online presence and get on top of search results, paid ads are the fastest way to make that happen. When you advertise on either Google or Microsoft Bing, you pay when someone clicks on your ad, or you can pay per impression of your ad. Pricing is based on budgets, competition, and how well your webpage relates to the advertisement and keywords. It’s ideal for strategizing and using search terms and key phrases with high search volume and a low cost per click. Keep in mind, if you’re in a saturated market, such as the mortgage industry, you’ll have to spend more money to keep up with the other top competitors’ listings.

Social Media Marketing

Regularly posting to your social media platforms, such as Facebook, Instagram, Twitter (recently rebranded as “X”), LinkedIn, etc., are easy ways to stay “alive” virtually. You can target specific groups and locations with paid ads or post for free and enhance with paid boosts. A big factor in social media is to get more followers, fans, and likes to expand your reach. The greater your following, the greater your potential to generate more leads, thus sales. 

Search Engine Optimization

Content is king, along with proper coding and utilizing best practices to maximize your digital presence organically. Search Engine Optimization (SEO) is an evolving strategy that requires some knowledge, dedication, and patience. Aged and secured websites will gain authority in organic rankings, and more so with strong, relevant descriptive content. It’s important to accurately use and assign keywords within titles and descriptions for Google and Microsoft Bing searches to scan and find your related content for viewers to read.

Advertise via Blogging

Blogging for your business functions like social media marketing; instead of posting graphics and reels, you publish articles with descriptive content such as this. It’s another method to keep your online presence active while sharing tips, resources, and such with viewers. When properly listed, using meta descriptions, titles, etc., blogging can help improve your rankings on search platforms. It’s another avenue to generate good content about your business or industry – and attract more followers and potential customers. 

Using Web Analytics to Measure Online Marketing Success 

Digital marketing is incredibly beneficial for small and medium-sized companies that wish to engage with their audience, reduce costs, and build consumer trust. With online marketing, businesses can suggest users to “shop,” “learn more,” “call now,” and more. Digital campaigns are more thorough than traditional marketing, thanks to modern technology.

By examining your analytical web data, we can learn how visitors behave while viewing your ads, newsletter, and website - something you can’t really gauge from television or radio ads. With proper tracking established within the code, online advertising gives us measurable information to determine the success of the particular strategy used. We can discover where your viewers are located, the device they visited your website from, how long they spent on it, how visitors found it, and the keywords they used to get there. Additionally, we know how many people see your ad, how many times it was displayed, and how many conversions it made.

Continuous monitoring of your website traffic and online advertisements allows us to make calculated decisions to manage and improve your rankings, user site sessions, and ROI (return on investment.) Digital marketing is an evolving practice that takes skill, organization, and time. What works for one business probably won’t work for another. Each company deserves its own unique marketing plan, and they should all start with an audit to learn the ins and outs of the current strategy and what’s been attempted before.

If you want to grow your online presence and increase sales, contact the Creative Programs and Systems experts today! We offer free, no-obligation consultations. 

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Founded in 1994, Creative Programs and Systems provides professional results for all computer needs. We design, create, and code an array of custom software programs and websites; offer top-notch digital marketing services including enhanced Search Engine Optimization (SEO) and paid advertising; repair and provide support for computers of both residential and professional nature; build custom systems and servers, and offer secure data backups. Need assistance or want to learn more? Call us at 810-224-5252 or e-mail info@cpsmi.com.

Written by the digital marketing team at Creative Programs & Systems: https://www.cpsmi.com/ 

IT Health Directly Linked to Long-Term Business Success

 

Technological challenges can be hefty in terms of cost and business impact. Information Technology (IT) concerns can affect security, continuity, and overall productivity despite the overall company size. Businesses must consider IT an essential aspect of their overall health.

Especially in today’s age, where the United States government is warning businesses to prepare themselves against hackers amid spyware, ransomware, viruses, etc., it is crucial to ensure companies have strong IT resources for use. IT challenges can impact business success and should be considered an indispensable part of their sustainability. 

Downtime
Network downtime costs American businesses roughly $26.5 billion in lost revenue, with small- to medium-sized companies losing an average of $42,000 per hour. Some studies estimate that lost revenue was closer to $5,600 per minute. The average business downtime is roughly 87 hours a year in total. 

Equipment
Aging equipment and unpatched devices are especially susceptible to crashes, cyberattacks, and much more. Hackers focus on finding value (financial information) rather than targeting specific corporations.  

Education
Teaching employees about cybersecurity and their role in establishing a safe, secure IT environment is crucial for success. If employees are serious about private information and securely use technology, the chances of breaches are drastically minimized. 

Proactivity
Ideally, rather than being proactive, businesses should focus on continuity planning, which ensures critical business functions are prepared to recover from potential down time. Roughly 40- to 60 percent of businesses that were unprepared for disasters never reopen. 

Solutions
To form a solid IT plan, focus on resources available. If your team is unable to handle the load in-house, outsource the networking, anti-virus, troubleshooting, password management, server setup, backups, etc., with a reliable vendor such as Creative Programs and Systems!

Creative Programs and Systems (CPS) provides IT services for small and large businesses in all industries. We specialize in boosting productivity, streamlining business practices, and much more. Contact us today to set up a consultation with our IT specialists. 

Founded in 1994, Creative Programs and Systems provides professional results for all computer needs. We design, create, and code an array of custom software programs and websites; offer top-notch digital marketing services including enhanced Search Engine Optimization (SEO) and paid advertising; repair and provide support for computers of both residential and professional nature; build custom systems and servers, and offer secure data backups. Need assistance or want to learn more? Call us at 810-224-5252 or e-mail info@cpsmi.com.

Written by the digital marketing team at Creative Programs & Systems: https://www.cpsmi.com/