We have taken the top 10 issues Life Science & Healthcare companies have highlighted to us over two decades as reasons to why they have switched from their previous IT partner to Greenlight Computers.

Our business is like any other IT service company, it depends on the quality, skills and attitude of the people in the team. Here at Greenlight Computers, we have built in processes to resolve many of the challenges highlighted and describe those briefly below.

For more in-depth information please feel free to contact us for an informal chat via Teams or in Person.

What are the most common issues companies have with their IT support?

Companies often face several common issues with their IT support, which can impact productivity, security, and overall business operations. Here are some of the most frequent problems companies experience with their IT support:

1. Slow Response Time

• Problem: One of the top complaints is that IT support teams take too long to respond to issues, leading to prolonged downtime or delays in resolving critical problems. It is often a challenge to get the IT partner to come to site.
• Impact: Slow response times can cause operational disruptions, missed deadlines, and frustrated employees, which ultimately affect productivity.
• Greenlight Computers Solution: Greenlight has a strong team of 1^st line, 2^nd line and 3^rd line technical staff typically operating to SLA’s of 1hr on P1 (Server or network down) 4hr on P2 (Users can’t work). With many of our clients being based on science parks we also have onsite technical staff who can nip down the corridor, we see this as a major advantage to clients with critical lab work dependent on IT. Similarly, our 2^nd line technicians are mobile and make regular site visits where required.

2. Lack of Proactive Support

• Problem: Many IT support services focus on reacting to problems rather than preventing them. This lack of proactive monitoring and maintenance leads to recurring issues.
• Impact: Recurring technical problems can increase downtime, frustrate employees, and waste company resources.
• Greenlight Computers Solution: Greenlight Computers has adopted a policy of employing scientists as account managers and upskilling them in IT. This policy means they have a much better understanding of the importance and issues associated to IT in the sector. Our account management team review the support tickets regularly to look for patterns of concern with their clients and cover those at regular account reviews. We encourage clients to share with us their business strategy to allow Greenlight Computers to identify and present our recommendations for IT upgrades changes they need to enable that strategy.

3. Limited Scientific Sector Expertise

• Problem: IT support providers that do not fully understand the business’s goals, operations, or life science can recommend solutions that don’t align with business needs.
• Impact: This can result in ineffective solutions, wasted resources, and missed opportunities to leverage IT strategically for business growth.
• Greenlight Computers Solution: In 2019 Greenlight Computers started the transition to becoming a Life Science & Healthcare specialist IT partner. Our technical staff are trained regularly to GxP standards to enable us to work in the Lab environment. We have selected vendor partners who also have a strong sector focus who assist us in delivering both generic and sector specific IT solutions e.g. raw data backup and 25 year data retention requirements of MHRA regulation.

4. High-Cost Surprises

• Problem: IT support can become expensive, especially when it’s outsourced on a pay-as-you-go basis or when businesses are frequently presented with unplanned upgrades.
• Impact: Unpredictable and escalating IT costs can strain budgets, especially for small and medium-sized businesses.
• Greenlight Computers Solution: Within the first 3 months of working with a new client the Greenlight Computers account manager will produce a draft 24-month IT budget. This document acts as a shared IT plan and minimises any chance of financial surprises for either party and is reviewed regularly along with the IT risk register and any business

5. Lack of Scalability

• Problem: As companies grow, their IT needs change. Smaller IT support providers struggle to keep up with the increased demand or lack the flexibility to scale services accordingly. Working with micro-IT partners presents risk that can block future business opportunities.
• Impact: Without scalable IT support, companies may face performance bottlenecks, security vulnerabilities, and inefficiencies as they grow.
• Greenlight Computers Solution: We work with clients to ensure their IT solutions are fully scalable as the Life Science sector often sees bursts of growth associated to funding rounds. We use global vendors to ensure the scalability of hardware, software and cyber security never become a bottleneck. As we continue to grow our ability to offer a UK wide service strengthens and in 2024 we have established a partnership in New Zealand to cover the Asian time zones for some of our expanding clients. Greenlight also maintains a strong set of accreditations (including ISO27001, ISO9001 & Cyber Essentials Plus), often required by our clients and their clients in turn.

6. Security Vulnerabilities

• Problem: IT support teams that don’t prioritise or stay up-to-date with security best practices can expose companies to cyberattacks, data breaches, and compliance violations.
• Impact: Security lapses can result in financial losses, legal issues, reputational damage, and loss of customer trust.
• Greenlight Computers Solution: Working in Life Science and Healthcare our clients are often working for big pharma clients and regularly audited for cyber security. The Greenlight team are always involved in responding to the audits and this helps us build a picture of the tools needed to pass the audits and keep our client’s data safe and their client’s supply chain protected. Greenlight maintains a recommended cyber security stack that keeps ahead of the audits from big pharma and offers excellent protection against the latest attack vectors. This includes the use of the latest AI anti-virus technologies that self-develop daily to protect against an increasing threat landscape.

7. Inadequate Backup and Disaster Recovery

• Problem: Many companies lack comprehensive backup and disaster recovery plans. If their IT support doesn’t implement and test these systems, they risk data loss in the event of system failures or cyberattacks.
• Impact: Losing critical data or suffering from long recovery times can cause major operational disruptions and damage the business long-term.
• Greenlight Computers Solution: Greenlight Computers partners with Acronis for data backup using their ransomware protect backup tools and cloud storage. Each client data set is mapped, and we will recommend a local backup for rapid recovery and a cloud backup for disaster recovery both updated daily using Acronis tools. Backups do fail occasionally, often due to weak internet, so Greenlight operate a daily backup check and rerun. The typical policy is to alert the client if the backup fails two consecutive days and discuss mitigation options, communication is key to avoid risk.

8. Poor Documentation

• Problem: Many IT support teams fail to properly document processes, issues, and solutions, leaving businesses in the dark about the state of their systems.
• Impact: Lack of documentation makes it difficult to troubleshoot recurring issues, onboard new IT staff, or transition between service providers.
• Greenlight Computers Solution: As part of onboarding a new client the Greenlight Computers team build a comprehensive set of technical documentation to describe the clients IT set up. These documents are held on a central repository accessible by the technical staff to enable IT support. Using our centralised ERP system Autotask, we can associate this information to support tickets and also update the documentation when the setup changes. When the account managers meet our clients for a review they will have the latest documentation to hand. We also like to maintain a record of all the 3^rd parties involved in the clients IT infrastructure to enable us to manage any escalations needed e.g. broadband provider or print services provider.

9. Outdated Technology and Tools

• Problem: Companies relying on IT support that doesn’t upgrade or recommend updated tools and systems may find themselves using outdated software and hardware that is inefficient, unsupported and a security risk.
• Impact: Outdated technology can slow down business processes, reduce productivity, and increase the risk of security vulnerabilities.
• Greenlight Computers Solution: The Greenlight technical team are given significant study time to keep their skills up to date and understand the latest technologies. We also deploy software tools e.g. cybersmart that will monitor all the software on a user’s computer to identify any vulnerabilities and automatically recommend solutions. Working with our clients we help them budget for hardware upgrade based on device life cycles and technology breakthroughs, but we look to extend the life of any capex investment to help the client achieve the maximum return and reduce the amount of technology going to land fill.

10. Vendor Management Issues

• Problem: Companies may rely on multiple third-party vendors for their IT infrastructure (e.g., software, hardware, cloud services). Poor IT support can result in inefficient vendor management, with delays in resolving compatibility issues or obtaining timely assistance from vendors.
• Impact: Without proper vendor management, companies can face compatibility problems, project delays, and higher costs due to inefficiencies.
• Greenlight Computers Solution: We pride ourselves in our “single point of service” delivery model, allowing clients to raise support requests on IT support by Greenlight Computers but also those of 3^rd parties. Greenlight Computers will then liaise with the 3^rd parties, often in technical negotiations, on behalf of our clients. As our relationship matures, we also regularly sit client side in negotiations for major capex transactions on new lab equipment or application procurements, acting as advisors to ensure new solutions are fit for purpose in the client’s overall IT infrastructure.

Conclusion

To avoid these common IT support issues, Greenlight Computers endeavours to be pro-active in our goal to become “the best IT partner for companies in the Life Science & Healthcare sector:

• Responsive, proactive support
• Strong communication skills
• Industry-specific expertise
• Security-focused solutions
• Scalable, customized services

A strong IT support partner can significantly improve business efficiency, security, and growth while minimising costs and downtime.

Are we the next step for you?

Contact us to have that conversation.