As Thanksgiving approaches on November 27, many U.S. companies are heading into an extended four-day holiday weekend.
If you're an executive or CIO ask yourself the following question: If your web servers, databases or network infrastructure failed over the holiday weekend who would you call for help?
Despite the proliferation of smart phones and ubiquitous network services, many IT staff members are impossible to reach over holiday weekends.
And commuting into the office for an IT or network emergency is the last thing most employees have in mind when they sit down for Thanksgiving turkey.
Secure, Safe and Sound
On the other hand, I will rest easy this holiday weekend because our company depends on multiple managed service providers (MSPs) -- a group of companies that remotely monitor, manage and troubleshoot our Web servers, databases and network systems.
In most scenarios, our MSPs mitigate an IT or network issue before it becomes a major problem. We pay a flat monthly fee to our Web host and MSPs for those proactive services.
As a result, my business partner and I will relax with our respective families this holiday weekend -- even as thousands of readers across the world continue to visit our corporate and media Web sites.
Through our MSP relationships we've purchased peace of mind -- which is actually priceless.