When it comes to owning and operating a business in today’s world, your IT functions and efficiency with regard to the same are a major determining factor by way of productivity. Problems with company and business related applications, network connectivity, access and data management can well slow down or cripple your respective organizational functions.
Due to this, it stands to reason that adequate management of IT related resources is imperative.
The Old IT DIY Model
In the last five years, numerous organizations and companies have made a shift from the old DIY IT model to outsourcing IT related tasks. The old DIY model comprised of in-house IT departments, which in most cases were understaffed and sometimes under equipped to manage what was expected.
This may have worked up until a few years ago; however, things have changed with regard to IT of late and here is how.
The Growing Role of IT
In the past, it may not have been a core function of a lot of business. Today however, we’re moving away from physical record keeping and analogous day to day function so to speak. What we’re saying here is that large or small and regardless of industry, IT is becoming one of the bare necessities when it comes to any and all businesses.
As one article published by the Forbes magazine suggests, IT is moving from being a secondary aspect of organizational function to the very thing that carries and supports the same.
Digital Presence becomes Essential
Back in the day, a need for digitization of businesses was not a necessity. Today, everyone from multinational organizations to small as well as medium enterprises feel the same is essential. When it comes to SMEs in the U.S. alone, statistics show an excess of 70 % of them feel a digital presence is key to outreach and other company tasks.
Dangers of the DIY Approach to IT
Bearing in mind that efficient and consistent IT function is imperative not just for running internal organizational day to day tasks. It is also crucial for customer outreach and depending on the business essential to render the services you have promised in a problem free manner.
Given how the scope of IT management has changed in the past few years, here is where DIY falls short!
Lacking Qualifications
The best and most skilled IT professionals do not aim to work at organizational IT departments. By way of the hire pool, what you do have access to is mid tear IT professionals. The problem here is when it comes to training, skill sets and qualifications, such professionals are rarely up to par. The services and contributions they offer by way of IT functionality optimization, bug fixing and solutions are generic and mediocre at best.
The first danger here is that you never really reach your company’s optimal productivity as your IT department will consistently be slowing you down. Secondly, in a situation where you suffer some kind of IT related glitch, you risk losing large amounts of time troubleshooting and searching for fixes. This is because the professionals meant to work on it aren’t savvy enough to provide prompt solutions.
Resource Drain
Even if you’re hiring an in-house IT team that is not so great, you will have to pay a fair amount of money as well as allocate other company resources towards the same. When it comes to IT, though the need for management is consistent, the degree of this may fluctuate.
Your department; however, remains functional at all times whether or not needed and drains on company resources that could be allocated elsewhere as it does!
Increased Chances of Human Error
On the flipside, there may be times when your IT related needs and requirements skyrocket. When this happens, internal DIY departments tend to be immensely understaffed and under equipped to deal with the same.
This results in shoddy management, unreliable quick fixes and the risk of losing data and other important information. Even if you do have a fairly adept IT department, chances are they will be spread too thin to adequately manage company IT requirements in a way to benefit you. Further, the more errors, the more it costs you!
Outdated Tech
Let’s face it. If IT is not your specialty, chances are the technology your DIY department is using may not be as great either. At the same time, your competitors may already be making the move to updated and more efficient technology options by outsourcing services.
In other words; you fall behind.
Turnover and Discretion
As we said, most adept IT professionals look to work for specialized IT companies. This means that even the good ones you have in house will leave sooner or later. This leaves you the task of searching for replacements, hiring and maybe even training as functioning with support of the same would be near impossible.
Further, if an IT professional you hire in a rush is dubious or unreliable, you risk losing confidential company data and information which could do anything from hurt to bring down your business.
What this all Does
If you put the points above together, a few things become clear. Going DIY or in-house when it comes to your company’s IT management immensely hampers your overall efficiency. Apart from this, it puts you at the risk of losing data, it gets in the way of your day to day and causes you immense financial losses in the long run. You just can’t take chances with IT when there is so much resting on it.
So What Does One Do?
Specialized managed IT service providers are not just generic IT professionals. Teams in such companies comprise of specialists, experts and highly qualified professionals who know exactly what they need to do. Even at times where requirements are high, specialized managed IT service providers are well staffed and have more than the adequate manpower to see to it that your needs are met.
If you work with a reliable managed IT service provider, you can rest assured that company data will be in good hands, as such, companies take stringent steps to protect client interests.
Possessing both specialist skills as well as unique technology, managed IT services guarantee efficient and effective IT solutions and management. Our own managed IT service providing company based in Hollywood FL offers network security, virtualization, cloud services and other related IT services. Feel free to connect with us for more information!