By Mark Shaw
The economy is bumpy, but technology and outsourcing can make it smoother.
The first thing we all do during uncertain economic times is look for ways to save money and get the most bang for our buck. Just like with anything else, we can seek savings and efficiencies with technology.
All business owners have grown dramatically more dependent on technology to run their businesses, manage their information, and support their remote and onsite workforces. When considering your in-house IT staff, or in many cases what we often call the one-man band, you uncover lack of skills in one area or another. One small team does not possess the knowledge and skills about every aspect of the vastly rapid changing IT world.
Think about the laundry list of items that your in-house IT staff needs to be familiar with to provide daily support for your business. Your IT, telecommunications and security needs go on and on, but below are a few of the items needed to have expertise in:
• Computers and laptops
• Networks
• Security
• Access control (physical doors)
• Cameras
• Phone systems
• Software and applications
• Microsoft or Google email platforms
• Firewalls
• VPNs and remote access
• Cloud based solutions
This list doesn’t even begin to account for the daily support needed to help the end user who forgot a password or gets an error on a website. These issues need immediate attention for smooth daily operations.
Most small businesses think that one IT person can manage all of their needs. While your existing team might be capable to cover most topics, it will most likely be for a brief period of time. In the consulting world, we see this all the time. One person ends up having ten years of IT background, but not ten years of education, experience, and growth. It is rather one year, replicated ten times over.
We recently sat with a business owner and his top internal IT guy who had an array of problems. The IT guy was screaming at the top of his lungs to anyone who would listen, “I have 27 years’ experience in IT.” He was not wrong; he has been doing the same thing for 27 years. Which is why the server he was building looked directly out of the 1990s.
Internal IT teams and solo IT staff tend to spend so much time in the business, they don’t see future technology trends or major flaws in the systems they are building. They are moving so fast to just keep it all working. They are unable to take the time to continue their education or obtain certifications.
This often means that your business is getting left behind. It may not feel like it as everything seems to be working well, however, what advancements are you missing? What security flaws are you creating? How can you define the BEST of the BEST in your industry?
Most likely if you ask your internal IT staff any of these questions, they will answer: “It’s covered, I have 10 years of IT experience” or, if they are being more honest: “I don’t really know, I work so hard to keep everything moving, I have no time for anything other than my day to day.”
This is costing you money. It might not be direct but indirectly you are losing out.
If you are a business owner, there is tremendous value in looking at someone else from the outside who can review, support, and offload some of your IT team’s workload. Those in the IT consulting space can often provide you experience and expertise that you otherwise may not be able to afford by adding more staff.
Technology consultants can also help you set a baseline for what you are doing and what your competitors are doing. Using industry standards and years of in-depth knowledge in other firms, they can empower yours.
Cutting costs in a down market is always a quick fix. Investing in the right experience and outside support can not only make sure your business survives a downturn but can ensure you can thrive.
As a fellow business owner, I want to see all our businesses grow and thrive and be as recession proof as possible. Partnering with a provider who is a good fit for your business can help you weather any storm. Technology consultants are here to help modern day businesses and avoid brand-new servers from the 1990s.