If you think your IT professional is thinking about how technology can advance your business objectives while he’s rebooting computers, think again. More likely, his mind is focused on checking off the next chore on his to-do list.
“I forgot my password.” “My screen is frozen again.” “How do I connect to Wi-Fi?” “How do I install a new program?” “Can you help me get email on my phone?”
For your IT person, every day is an endless source of help-me-fix-me-save-me chores. All critically important to keeping your employees productive and your company operating, but here’s the question: Are you getting the most value out of your IT professional?
While technology is helping increase productivity across nearly every industry and every job function, one position may be the exception: the IT professional. The endless chore of keeping everyone else productive leaves little or no time to apply their expertise to core business initiatives.
This short-term, chore-driven IT service model creates a long-term strategic challenge for your company. The person with the greatest technology experience and know-how can’t get beyond the day’s urgent tasks to think about tomorrow. These help-me-fix-me-save-me chores are costing you—at the expense of advancing your company’s core business initiatives.
Clearly someone needs to do those everyday chores so important to business productivity, but don’t waste your IT professional’s time and talent. Outsource those daily IT chores to a technology services firm much like you outsource your janitorial chores to a cleaning service.
Think of it this way: If you wouldn’t ask your operations manager to vacuum the carpets, don’t ask your IT manager to reset a password. Use the talents of your staff where you can get the greatest long-term value—driving your business forward. And use your IT services firm to keep everyone productive and contributing to more profits and growth.