There isn’t a way around it anymore. Small businesses need to keep up with technology.
IT consulting has become a giant industry in the United States. In 2018 the consulting industry saw revenue of $426 billion. It’s no surprise, hiring an independent IT consultant can help your business grow.
You are probably wondering if bringing in outside help can help your business. This post was made to answer those questions and give you what to know to help you make your decision to bring in help.
Keep reading to learn how a consultant can add value.
1. YOU CAN FOCUS ON YOUR CORE BUSINESS
Let’s face it. You know what you do best. Everything else should be there to allow you and your team to work your best.
Outsourcing your IT needs means you and your team aren’t trying to fill a role that you don’t need to be doing. They will be able to put together a plan of action that gives you what you need to work productively and reduces your risk of doing business.
2. GET RESOURCES ON DEMAND
Do you have times when you have more going on that usual? At times like that, you may need more help than usual.
It takes time to bring people onto a team and train them. An IT support team will be able to provide as many or as few resources as you need, whenever you need it. This allows you to scale up and down as needed and never worry about having the resources required to run your business.
3. SAVE MONEY ON IN-HOUSE STAFF
Most small businesses don’t need someone to manage their IT needs full time. This wastes money for you and gives you an unproductive staff member that may not need to do much once you have an infrastructure in place.
A staff salary isn’t the only cost savings here. If you want to keep your IT staff knowledgeable, you also need to invest in training. This means more of your budget keeping your IT department up to date on what is happening with new technology. With an IT provider, this is all handled for you.
4. GET 24/7 SUPPORT FOR YOUR BUSINESS
Do you want to get a call in the middle of the night when a server goes down, or you’re facing a cyber-attack? An IT consulting firm will handle that burden for you.
An IT consultant provides constant monitoring of your systems which will keep watch over your business every hour of the day. These monitoring solutions can will help catch issues before they happen, and if one slips through it can sometimes find it before anyone is even aware of the problem.
5. YOU GET A SINGLE POINT OF CONTACT
Business today relies on a lot of software. Do you know who to contact whenever something isn’t working right? It can be confusing navigating all of the different departments for every company you deal with.
Having one point of contact means you make one call to have any issue resolved. Regular support isn’t always the best unless you pay extra for the privilege. Your provider will have built relationships with these vendors and be able to access this support.
There won’t be any more hours spent department hopping for you and your staff.
6. IMPROVE YOUR PRODUCTIVITY
A good technology framework will give you a way to streamline your work.
Technology better allows you to collaborate, communicate, and share knowledge. Here are a few of the things you can look forward to when getting upgrading your tech:
- File sharing to make sure everyone has access to the essential files
- Backup protection to restore lost data without having to hunt down old copies
- Project collaboration tools to streamline your projects and make them easier to manage
- Online support portals where you can easily log in to report problems without needing to spend time on the phone
7. GET ACCESS TO SPECIALIZED TALENT
Do you know how much an expert’s time is worth? Chances are, it will hurt your budget.
When you purchase a contract with IT consultants, you are also buying access to all of the specialists that are on their payroll. That means you are getting the best people for the job at hand.
There is new technology being released regularly. Here are a few things that a specialist could help you with:
- Big data warehousing
- Cloud-based file storage
- Cloud-based email
- Data protection for sensitive data
You will never be behind the curve again when an IT firm has your back and keeps up to date for you.
8. REDUCE DOWNTIME
A well-designed system can reduce the total amount of downtime you experience when you have problems.
There isn’t any guarantee that problems won’t come up, but having an expert on call to fix issues as they appear means you spend less time twiddling your thumbs trying to find a solution.
9. INCREASE YOUR SECURITY
Small businesses are under attack now more than ever. With everything connected it has become easier for attackers to gain access to your systems and compromise your data.
Just in 2016 Symantec release a report saying that 43% of cyber-attacks are now targeting small business. This number is unlikely to go down in the future as more companies get connected.
A consultant will be able to come up with a plan for you to secure your business to thwart off threats that come from being online.