Several years ago the definition of IT support was a room on the top floor, full of experts who were on-site and ready to assist in any systems emergency. Now, those days are all but over.

While some companies do, and always will, employ their own internal IT support teams, a lot of start-ups and other small enterprises are turning to third parties. One such company is Nexus Open Systems, who provide a range of different IT solutions which are capable of helping businesses from both on-site and off-site locations.

Unsurprisingly, it’s the latter which has advanced so much over the years. In fact, remote IT support is now big business and it stands to reason. Businesses rarely require experts on-hand at every hour of the day, so just having access to a team who can log-in to their systems as they please is sufficient. Of course, this has only been made possible thanks to recent technologies, which could in practice allow screen sharing across the world. In other words, IT support teams don’t even have to be based in the same country – although it is rare that this occurs.

It’s not just remote assistance that has become popular though. Retained technical services are still in-demand and again, Nexus is one company who provides such an offering. In these instances the company will sell hours to businesses, who then use up their quota as appropriate. Some will do it instantaneously, in emergency situations, while others will do it in advance to be prepared for the worst case scenarios.

The complexity of IT support can probably be summarised through all of the optional packages which are now available from companies such as Nexus though. For example, some businesses may opt to purchase a 24/7 Critical Support option – which unsurprisingly functions outside of normal business hours in those emergency situations. The optional packages don’t end there, with some companies deciding to take advantage of a day of on-site facilities management every month, just to ensure that their systems are functioning properly.

The extras which have been discussed merely highlight why the in-house IT support team is becoming much less common. While some companies, mostly on the larger scale, will always find a need for experts on-site, most businesses require IT support as and when and it’s for this reason why companies such as Nexus have become so popular.

When one also considers the fact that Nexus provide training and online solutions to businesses, the reasons become even more obvious. In terms of the former, businesses are now able to have employees who can at least have some training in the IT systems and potentially fix a minor problem if it occurs. Then, in relation to the online solutions, small businesses can now manage everything under one roof which is ultimately a much more simplistic situation.

It now remains to be seen if such solutions will only remain popular for small businesses, or if more larger enterprises will start to reap the benefits.