As a business grows, it becomes increasingly difficult to manage. While growth is obviously welcome, it also makes it tougher to know what’s happening across an organization. Yet companies need just this kind of “big picture” understanding in order to make the right IT decisions to boost performance and profits. Fortunately, it’s not necessary to sift through every operational detail in order to discern what your business really needs from IT. In this information-rich era, successful managers are those who know how to find telltale performance clues – and then act on them.
As IT consultants, we know how to read the signs that IT managed services are needed to help keep a business humming along. Below, we list a few of these clues so you can maximize performance at your firm.
Your team’s IT gurus are too busy to innovate. You’ve assembled a top-notch IT team, but they’re always too slammed putting out fires and providing basic maintenance to fully use their talents.
Your IT costs are skyrocketing, yet performance is stagnant. You’re investing more and more just to keep IT running. You suspect you could cut costs significantly, but you don’t have the time or resources to streamline IT.
It feels like your IT systems are controlling you, rather than the other way around. You just plain don’t have enough time to manage your company’s IT systems. The whole IT arrangement feels more like a dead weight hanging around your neck than an opportunity for growth and improvement.
Your core business offering is suffering due to IT limitations. IT firestorms keep you and your staff from attending to the heart of your business. You find yourself dreaming of a time when you’ll actually be able to focus on your original business inspiration. Customers are beginning to experience slackened performance because your IT resources are unable to fully support your firm’s core offerings.
You’re unable to delegate time-consuming IT tasks. Are you tired of being the “go-to expert” for all IT tasks? Do you find yourself constantly distracted by this or that random IT question or task? If so, partnering with IT consultants for IT managed services can help free up your time while still supporting your staff. (A warning sign that you need more IT resources for delegation: You can’t take a day off because an IT emergency could come up.)
You’re not sure what’s working, and what’s not. If your IT system seems too large or complicated to analyze, it’s time to partner with an IT consultant. With just one or two visits, IT consultants can help you identify where your system needs to be buoyed.
Arranging for IT managed services, rather than trying to tackle lagging IT performance in-house, is often the best solution from an ROI perspective. To figure out whether your company would see a higher ROI by hiring outside IT managed services, take advantage of our free ROI calculator today.
[ Photo by: Presleyjesus, on Flickr, via CC License ]