Most companies traditionally think of IT as being in-house. You hire IT professionals and put them to work developing and maintaining your systems. However, this approach creates several problems for businesses, especially those looking to scale up. The alternative is to bring in third-party IT services, also known as managed IT. With this method, another company handles most of your IT needs. How do you know if this IT strategy is right for your business?
5 Signs Your Business Needs IT Services
1. You’re Bogged Down With Support Tickets
If your IT team is running back and forth resolving minor tech issues all day, then you’re in dire need of some assistance. Ideally, your IT staff shouldn’t need to spend more than a couple of hours a day handling routine support requests. If they’re spending the whole day fixing things, it means your systems likely need a full upgrade. However, when will they have time to plan a deployment if they’re busy with mundane tasks?
You want your IT professionals to have time to put their most valuable skills to use for your company. That’s only possible when they can alleviate the busy work that ties up their day. IT services can help by tackling support tickets for you. Through remote desktop capabilities, it’s easy for a remote IT professional to intervene in your issues. Managed IT can even identify some of the root problems causing repeated support requests.
2. You Can’t Attract New IT Talent
You might think that to alleviate the burden on your IT department, the best approach is just to hire more IT professionals. While this is often a good strategy for other departments in your business, it may not be the best way to tackle your long IT to-do list. IT salaries are some of the highest on the market. You may not have it in your budget to make your offer more attractive. Your location could also limit your options.
Managed IT providers, in contrast, are attractive places for IT professionals to work. Rather than being one of the few IT experts on an entire payroll, they’re surrounded by other experts with unique specializations. That kind of environment is what IT workers love. When you work with an IT service provider, you get the best talent without having to hire them yourself.
3. Your IT Projects Are Behind Schedule
Do you have IT projects that are running far behind schedule or projects that have gone over budget due to delays? If so, it could be because your IT team lacks the support they need. They may be too busy with other tasks to focus on implementation and deployment properly. They may lack the skills needed to integrate your systems with new software or hardware quickly. As IT has evolved very quickly, it can be difficult for staff to keep up.
Bringing in third-party support can help you get your projects back on track. Experts can evaluate projects and make recommendations to speed up deployment. IT service providers can also take over many of the day-to-day IT tasks that keep your team from focusing on important projects. Visit this page to learn more about a leading Minnesota IT Solutions provider and how they have helped companies deploy new systems like ServiceNow and Microsoft 365.
4. You Lack Modern Cybersecurity Systems
Cybersecurity should be on top of your priority list. Cyberattacks have increased in recent years since more companies have shifted to hybrid or remote work methods. Instead of being securely protected behind company networks, employees are exposed as they use their own devices at home. However, it’s possible to protect everyone by using modern cybersecurity software.
Failure to do so could be costly. IBM notes that the longer it takes for you to detect and stop a breach, the greater the damage. Despite the best cybersecurity software, you could still fall victim to a breach, but you’ll catch it much faster and be able to stop the breach from turning into a newsworthy scandal.
5. You Haven’t Migrated to the Cloud
Cloud adoption is soaring, with big companies projecting to have the majority of their work in the cloud within the next two years. While many businesses have already transitioned to using the cloud for everything, many smaller companies use it in a limited capacity. However, there’s still time to get your company completely into the cloud to take advantage.
By moving into the cloud, you’ll be able to scale up storage and computing power as needed. You’ll pay less than you would for your own hardware. Integrations between cloud programs also make it easier for you to capture data for business intelligence. The possibilities in the cloud truly are endless. Aim to have your whole workflow happen in the cloud. IT services can help you accomplish that and much more.