Business IT support immediately evokes images of computers needing maintenance, and indeed a good proportion of business IT support does conform to this ‘norm’. However the phrase ‘IT’ – the abbreviation of information technology – actually encompasses any device that is designed to store, retrieve, transmit and work with data of any description, and so restricting it to purely computer related usage is therefore mistaken. Businesses themselves are also hugely diverse, so that in itself also brings about variant systems. Here are some of the packages that might come under the umbrella of business IT support:

‘Traditional’ IT Support

The obvious and aforementioned arrangement is what we specialise in offering here at Tristar IT Support, but even so it is far more wide-ranging than you might think. We supply IT support in Bedford and the surrounding areas, but that being said this support might come in the form of scheduled visits to maintain your machines, supplying you with necessary hardware or software, providing you with a secure network for an online backup, serving as an email-host or even attending you for IT disposal or disaster recovery eventualities. Even when you talk about ‘IT support’ in the context of computers, there is far more to consider than may meet the eye.

Other ‘Computers’

Sticking to the broad area of computers, many businesses – especially retail related ones – make use of other types of computers entirely; for example, handheld computers and similar systems. When you think about it, ‘conventional’ IT support may be far less useful to a retail chain owner than it would be to an office, but that doesn’t mean that a store wouldn’t depend on different, yet equivalent, systems like handheld scanners or wearable computers. In fact, a specialist supplier like Barcode Superstore also stocks printers and software packages to further augment these handheld retail IT systems, so they are not so far removed from your office-suite setups as you may have thought. All of these products need a level of support, even if it is only training, so IT support is far from obsolete even when true ‘computers’ are thin on the ground.

Software

Following on from the previous point, if ‘IT’ essentially revolves around the manipulation of data, then anything that uses a software package is naturally going to qualify. However, such operating systems are not restricted to Windows and the like, as many common solutions in retail or restaurant chains – like electronic point of sale systems – use tailored software that is very specifically designed to meet a variety of distinct needs. These systems are created to be convenient, but still need training to be implemented, as well as ongoing support and updates from the supplier should any errors occur, and all of these actions would certainly qualify as business IT support.

When you stop and think, a whole range of applications require IT support in some way, shape or form, and we hope that we’ve opened your eyes regarding some of the different forms that these services can take. Most businesses depend upon the storage and use of data in some capacity, and so it would be a mistake to confine IT support to computer-heavy offices. We’ve only scratched the surface within this post as well, so the next time you think about the oft-used abbreviation of ‘IT’, be sure to remember just how varied it can be!