When You Should Be Considering an IT Service Provider

IT service providers can offer many useful solutions to your business needs. Regardless of the size and developmental state of your company there comes a time when considerations must be made to either handle all IT operations using valuable company resources, or to utilize the specialties of an IT service provider.  To make this consideration from an analytical standpoint it is important to understand the reasons and benefits behind making the decision to outsource your IT operations to a service provider.

The nature and state of the IT architectures of your business are major driving factors in making this decision. If your business is in need of a fresh perspective, innovation, and general advancement of its IT architectures then an IT service provider can be a distinguished authority of these advancements to seriously consider utilizing.  IT services providers can also be a specialized resource for the knowledge and implementation of technologies and best practices in the areas of technology usage, network infrastructure, stability, communication, and the security, backup, and storage of your company’s vital data.  We utilize the words can be because not all service providers are equal and matching an IT service provider’s philosophy to your business philosophy is important.

One of the primary factors in making this determination is to observe the interrelationship between the current state of technology use in your company, and the ways in which a service provider can shift the workload.  Prevention of downtime, security of data, and having a constant watchful eye monitoring the stability of your systems are all valuable assets of management through an IT service provider. If your employees are dedicating valuable time to troubleshooting and problem resolution and picking up the pieces after a failures or data loss, an IT service provider can assume this burden entirely as their own, leaving your workers available to pursue more productive and beneficial tasks for the company. Thusly optimizing the allocation of your resources can be an invaluable improvement.  Then of course there is the question of are your employees doing IT related functions well?  Do they know industry best practices?  Do you process credit cards or have sensitive information?  Do employees understand security parameters around those?

Here is an interesting thought.  If you asked your employees how would they say the technology you are providing is working for them?  Allowing them to get their jobs done?  Productive or time wasting?

An important distinction to make concerning this decision is the vital difference between defensive reaction and preventive action. If your company lacks the time or resources to astutely and constantly monitor the well-being of your IT environment, you may find that your company playing a constant game of catch-up as issues arise and take their toll on productivity.  If this is a problem for your business one of the purposes of an IT service provider is to oversee all areas of your network with a proactive approach.  An IT service provider is constantly aware of possible and arising issues, and serves to prevent them from ever having a negative impact on your business and productivity.  They should be tasked with having the knowledge, assets, and proactive capabilities to keep your company clear and safely ahead of any potential issues. Staying ahead of the curve keeps your business running smoothly and without downtime, whereas dealing with these problems internally and reactively can exponentially increase IT management costs and potential productivity losses for your business.

IT service providers take the guess-work out of your hands. They can eliminate the unpredictable costs of picking up the pieces after an unexpected outage or failure in any area of your data, networking, and communication infrastructures. They can steer you in a clear and effective direction when you are in need of innovation. IT service providers make the cost of your IT management fixed, stable, predictable, and can eliminate exponential loss.

Passing the management tasks of your business off to an IT service provider can ease your mind, solidify the advancement of your IT infrastructure, and optimize the productivity of your company.