Regardless of the industry, in 2021, the majority of industries are highly digitalized. This means that internal IT processes represent a major bottleneck for your day-to-day operations. Like with any other bottleneck, your best course of action is to prepare for trouble before there is one. Still, just how big of a priority is this exactly, and what would be the consequences of failing to act in a timely manner? Here are some things you need to consider before finally setting an opinion for this matter.?
Security
Keeping your hardware malware-free, and keeping all the data on your disposal safe is a top priority. A security leak could result in a major hit to your reputation or even a potential lawsuit. In other words, it?s always more cost-effective to have specialists take care of the issue. While protection against cyber attacks and security threats are always a priority, it?s also important to think about data loss due to a simple system crash. This alone can cause a loss of hundreds of work hours. It is the job of your IT support to prepare backups and handle post-crash data recovery.
Staying up to date
The biggest problem with your IT services is in the fluidity of the process itself. In this field, there are always new updates, and keeping track of them is a full-time job, on its own. This is also why finding managed IT solutions for your enterprise might be the most elegant way to solve this issue for good. Other than getting all the tools you need; you also get someone to operate these tools. It?s like hiring a piece of equipment and getting a specialist trained to operate it, as well. Remember that every new update serves as another potential risk and that you need to handle this as quickly and efficiently as possible.
Better internal management
Various IT solutions are often responsible for the communication and collaboration between various departments. For instance, your customer service wants to find out the location of a late shipment, how do they do it? They check your fleet management system, which usually goes through your IT. Even your HR has to dip into internal employee databases in order to find answers to various solutions. In other words, all the data goes to the same place and people in charge of its availability and security are those behind your IT department, it?s really that simple.
Decision-making and problem-solving
Another important issue to focus on is the role of your IT services in problem-solving. Via smart applications, combinations of AI-based analytic tools, and big data, you can get a much better (and timelier) response to any newly-arisen situation. The accuracy of analysis and your ability to get the information you need on-demand is usually achieved through a sophisticated intelligent information management (IIM) system. A content management system of this magnitude requires special attention from your IT support team.
BYOD assistance
Just because a lot of your employees choose to bring their own devices to work, this doesn?t mean that they won?t require occasional assistance, as well. You don?t know if these devices have preinstalled malware or which networks they will connect to. For starters, you need a good BYOD policy and a great IT team will help you make one in no time. For instance, they could teach your employees about passwords and what it takes to make a strong password for your enterprise, how to recognize phishing, and more. Then, there?s the issue of backing up these devices and their data, as well as restricting access to company resources.
More cost-effective
Outsourcing your IT is a far more cost-effective alternative than starting your own in-house IT department. This means that for the same investment, you get far more. The recruitment process, the time it would take to train and onboard these IT experts, hardware, and software licenses would cost quite a bit. It is also questionable how long it would take for your in-house IT department to reach the level of this outsourced team or agency. All in all, if you want high-level IT support right away, outsourcing seems to be the right course of action.
Branding and digital marketing
Having great IT support helps you lead a more effective digital marketing campaign (with fewer hiccups). Modern technology makes present-day marketing campaigns much more personalized than ever before. Still, in order to get there, you need a proper IT infrastructure. Some of the tools enabled through your IT support can also be included in your own unique selling proposition. Branding happens in various stages (item, label, brand, lifestyle). Various technical means allow you to create a far higher level of immersion, which allows your customers to transition between these stages far quicker.
In conclusion
As we said in the beginning, your IT support is a bottleneck and, as such, it is directly responsible for your workflow. Disregarding it or downplaying its significance may result in downtime, potentially even a complete halt of your operations for the time being. The key thing you need to bear in mind is that handling your IT support in-house is not the only course of action. Sometimes, by outsourcing, you can gain far more value and redistribute your own resources far more evenly. All in all, this is a major decision for your business model and needs to be made carefully.
