Lets have a look to see whats happening
The computer generation has taken a huge leap forward from the beginning about 30 years ago – a very small start 2,000 units shipped in 1960 to 900,000 in 1980 to 7 million in 1990 to over 15 million per year by 2003 to over 65 million per quarter in 2015. With such a growth it was an inevitable growth of the computer repair industry.
Any downtime for a computer network of any business can be a huge devastating blow for any business or organization - To keep systems operating without down time is something that is sought after and most mission critical. The computer repair franchise industry is a very specialized field split into 4 categories: computer and smart device repair, computer network and it support, Managed business it support and help desk services.
Computer Maintenance and Repair
As late as 2010 there were over 550,000 people working in the computer repair industry in the United States, these numbers were expected to grow through 2020. The majority of this workforce exists within the small business sector of businesses of less than 5 people, and less than 20% work for companies of over 20 people. The industry has gone through various changes away from just repair and upgrades, to more advanced maintenance services as well as smart device solutions. Over the past decades the industry has evolved from just repairing systems which were often parts and component repairs oriented to more replace as computer systems have gone down in price significantly, as a shift occurred to more disaster recovery and security protection as the focus of the computer repair industry.
Original equipment manufactures have really focused on replacing equipment instead of repairs, as it is much more lucrative for these companies. In recent years big chain electronics stores have partnered with OEM manufacturers to really focus on replacing the computers and electronics instead of repairing them as a way to generate overall revenue in sales. As a result of the dropping costs of electronics and computers people are really following this trend of replacing instead of repairing. This has many negative impacts on the environment and also the industry as a whole.
Two computer repair franchises are Computer Answers and Easy geeks.
Computer Network Support
In today's day n age computers only have any use or value wen they are able to communicate over a network. Computers communicate with one another over various networking equipment, such as switches, firewalls and routers.Often times with different complexities of organizations these require maintenance and updates to operate effectively and there fore there is a need for maintenance and repair services.
Network support services became a real need when the internet began to explode in the 1990's and the computer network support industry was born. As it is much less expensive to outsource these network support specialists then hire them in house most companies would go that route.
After end of the decade of internet inception, internet security became a huge factor.This spawned WiFi technology services and voice over IP services to become the main stream features of the 21 century technology and as all technology it needs ongoing maintenance and support. Network security is the greatest need nowadays, and with the prevalence of identity theft and phishing, and other security threats all over the internet, data security and protection are the driving force of the future of the network support industry.
Mobile technology is a whole other driving factor or our industry that captures all of the same demands in security and constant upgrades and expand-ability of capabilities and support needs.
Information Technology Services
This complex set of services includes everything that the industry offers, from equipment support and maintenance, to complex networking configurations, to software development, website and application development, and software as a service management platforms are a more in demand service kind in today's complex IT environment. As with any high end service which is beyond the capacity of any small or medium business to know the ins and outs of, this complex landscape of services requires companies to outsource real industry veterans and professionals who generally belong to larger outfits and have years of industry experience and knowledge under their belt. Its the same concept you are not going to pull your teeth out when you get a cavity, you are going to go to a professional, and as likely you wont be doing your own heart surgery, as this might cause a problem, the same goes for IT support services you need professionals who know this work like the back of their hand.
The IT service spectrum having become so complex and saturated it often times makes it impossible for one IT outfit to offer all of the services a company may need. The services may range from web development, application development, to network it support, end user help desk support, outsourcing of computer equipment or mobile devices, this space is dominated by manufacturer's, small it solutions providers to everyone in between, the fact of the matter is that the industry is truly evolving every single day. In order to stay relevant you must evolve and find your niche as fast as the industry is evolving and even stay ahead of the curve, otherwise you and your company of it solutions will become obsolete.
The other portion of this industry which is something which can not be left out is the fact that we are dealing with a global economy, the outsourcing of labor is simply unavoidable, from Ukrainian software developers, to Indian help desk support. The it support industry has gone global, and if you don't get on board you might just get left behind.
Who's serving your web?
So the companies that provide the internet access are the backbone of our industry this cant be argued. There are many wide ranging questions that can be asked how do these companies play a role. well all things considered as any industry they want to take advantage of the opportunity which falls into their lap as the provider of the backbone on which everyone plays, aka the internet. If you are serving the internet then you can literally position yourself to try to capture all of the above needs and services to all of the potential users, as you already have them on the hook to use you for access. So what will happen in the future remains to be unknown, what we know for sure is that the computer repair industry is not going away, but it has certainly changed from the pre 1990'1 500 pound gorilla in the room computer repair rooms service, to now the nano changing technology which fits on your fingertip and how ti connects and keeps your information safe and who will provide all of the know how to fulfill your wishes dreams and needs of tomorrow.
Pavel Zaichenko is a writer and researcher, and CEO at Computer Answers of NY INC.
