IT Troubleshooting Checklist for Small and Medium Businesses

Nothing can cripple a business quite like a problem with their IT infrastructure. IT issues can create all kinds of problems from employees not receiving emails to lost data and files to the business not being able to process payments. When issues do arise, it is important to be able to get them resolved quickly so that normal business operations can resume.

Many businesspeople are not IT experts. It can be difficult for them to diagnose technology-related issues and determine how to fix them. If you run a small or medium business, here is a checklist that you can follow to troubleshoot your IT issues.

Check the Obvious Things First

There are some things that are obvious that will cause issues. This is especially the case for a business whose IT infrastructure is on-premise, i.e. your servers, routers, and other equipment are located at the office.

Check Power Supplies

Make sure there has been no power interruption to your equipment. Check and make sure that the lights on your equipment are still on, and that you can hear things running. It is a good idea to have uninterruptible power supplies on your equipment in the event of a commercial power outage. For critical equipment, it may even be necessary to have a backup generator in case the power is out for an extended period.

Check Connectivity

Ensure that you don’t see any dangling cables that have been unplugged. It sounds simple, but if someone walks by a server and snags a cable, it can wreak havoc on your network. The fix could be as simple as plugging the cable back in. Restoring the connection will allow your IT equipment to communicate again and return to normal.

Isolate the Problem

If nothing obvious is wrong like a power outage or disconnected cable, you will need to perform some further troubleshooting. You need to attempt to isolate the issue so that you can get to the root cause of the problem. Problem isolation can help you track down specifically what is causing that problem.

For example, are only certain people having email issues or is it affecting the whole company.  Are the people who are having issues all on the same team or in the same department? Perhaps the issue is only occurring when employees attempt to access the network from a mobile device, but they have no problem accessing it from a PC. Gather as much information as possible to help narrow down potential causes.

Contact a Managed Services Provider

If you are unable to resolve the issue on your own, you will need to contact a professional for help. They can help you track down the issue and get things corrected so that your business continues running. In addition, it may be a good idea to have them handle your IT services going forward. This takes the stress of managing your IT needs off your shoulders.

A managed services provider can handle all your IT infrastructure requirements, and they will get things back up and running quickly when any problems do arise. They can handle everything from network storage to security to application development. For small and medium business, it is often more cost-effective to select a service provider than to manage their own infrastructure.

Running a small business is tough and managing your own IT infrastructure makes it even tougher. If you decide to go that route, this checklist should help you get started troubleshooting when IT issues do arise. But if you have more important things to do, which, as a business owner, we are guessing you do, you need a trusted IT partner. At 3nom, we have set up uninterrupted IT for dozens of small and medium-sized businesses in New York, New Jersey, and Florida. Let’s get your business powering forward issue-free with your personal team of IT experts a call away 24/7 365 days a year. Get in touch with your personal 3nom expert today!