Most companies who start out with an in-house “IT guy” eventually wind up with two paths in front of them: invest in the talent and infrastructure needed to build out their own IT department or outsource some of the IT services that are essential the company’s survival. To better illustrate how these paths emerge, here’s a little story:
Everyone in the office loves Eric. Sporting a different ironic t-shirt every day, Eric is the one they call when technology spits in someone’s face. Whether it’s a slow system, a bug that needs to be squashed, a website issue, or a crash that results in downtime and data loss, Eric is right there. Not only does he get to the bottom of any issue, but he also finds a way to get everything back up and running, and he never judges you for forgetting to plug something in.
But business is growing, and Eric is overworked and becoming scattered. He has certain skills that the company would love to help him develop—especially those that can drive more innovative products and revenue-generating projects—but he’s too busy running around fixing things that break. Or he’s stuck in a carousel of mundane and routine tasks just to keep things secure and running smoothly. Whatever the exact reason, Eric is becoming increasingly less engaged in his work and more short-tempered with the staff. The IT complaints are mounting as Eric scrambles to keep up with data backups, server maintenance, installing patches, and just generally keeping the company working.
Eric needs help, but the company can’t afford another full-time “Eric”. Part-time help will remove some of his tasks, but also add the burden of hands-on management.
Let’s help Eric.
- Identify Cost-Cutting & Revenue-Increasing Projects: The bottom line is that Eric can’t do everything himself, so some strategy must be applied to where his skills best used. Whether it’s in processes that help drive down costs or those that potentially raise revenue, evaluate the IT projects in the queue and rank them by what impacts the bottom line the most.
Once that’s done, look at the day-to-day processes that simply keep things running securely and efficiently. What is possible to offload from Eric? A key here is identifying repetitive tasks. Then determine which of those tasks can be automated either through the cloud or managed services.
- Take to the Cloud: Some IT people fear that the cloud movement spells the end of their job security. But actually, the cloud can actually help them take on a more contributing role in the company’s success.
In reality, the cloud is an essential tool that has the power to eliminate the mundane yet necessary daily drudgery from an IT workday. Those who work with the cloud will find that they have more available time to take on more meaningful cost cutting or revenue generating projects.
- Use a Managed Service Provider: Using outsourced managed services not only alleviates much of an IT worker’s pressure and stress, but also boosts productivity and gives the company a big boost in ROI (Return-on-Investment) on their technology investment.
While technology has certainly gotten easier for the end user, it has also become more complex on the backend with the advent of virtualization, cloud computing, and advanced infrastructure. Using a Managed Services Provider like HDCav gives any ‘IT guy’ access to a trusted advisor, a 24/7 help desk, remote monitoring and management tools, mobile device management tools, and much better disaster recovery and business continuity solutions. All without the overhead that comes with hiring more help. MSPs offer a consistency to not just your end-user but also your main IT guy who will certainly appreciate the help. Contact us today if yours could use a leg up.