As companies globally seek to bolster their operational needs, IT spending budgets expect to hit $3.92 trillion. A big driver of this could be the rise in cybersecurity concerns.

Information technology drives business growth, as it makes growing feasible. However, what happens if your business does not have the experience or personnel to meet your needs for solid information technology practices? If you lack an IT strategy, or the resources to meet your strategy, what do you do?

Businesses are increasingly outsourcing IT efforts to protect their business infrastructure because it allows them to do so within their set budget.

Around the world, companies are reaping the rewards from outsourcing their information technology strategy, and here is why.

What Is an IT Strategy?

To meet and exceed business goals, companies need a comprehensive plan in a written document. The IT strategy will outline how the technology of the business should be leveraged. It will provide detail on a variety of factors, all of which will affect how the company spends money and uses its technology.

Why Have an IT Strategy?

It enables organizations to provide customer value, competitive differentiation, and business outcomes. Not having an IT strategy will put a business at grave risk. Without it, they cannot provide the service level they need to operate the business and fulfill objectives.

A Good IT Strategy

Unfortunately, some business leaders and their IT teams will focus solely on current problems. They do not look to the future, creating a long-term strategy.

This means designing a plan that will support daily operations beyond today. A good IT strategy will develop new systems, new architecture, and new technologies for the road ahead.

Here is how to achieve it.

Understandable

There are team members that will need to be a part of, or oversee, the IT strategy, and they may not be IT experts. This means that too much technical jargon could be confusing.

You want an IT strategy that is easy to implement and easy for anyone to understand. If you leave it open to misinterpretation, details can get lost. Management can change too, so it is best to have a strategy that anyone can understand – whether or not they are an IT expert.

Adaptable

IT strategies must be flexible. Priorities shift. Businesses, markets, and customers change, so it is important to be adaptable and adjust quickly. 

Aligned with Business

Innovation is not a race. Cramming technology needs with daily operations will not work. In fact, your staff may even walk out and quit if you do this.

You need a strategy to be able to support future needs. Write your IT strategy in a way that will give your business a boost.

Stages

Dividing implementation into piece-by-piece instructions and allowing for stages gives you control over the strategy. It also makes it easier to assess performance.

If there is a noticeable weak spot, do not leave it there to linger. Boost performance! Introduce changes as you need them.

Financial Planning

It is almost impossible to create an IT strategy when you do not consider budgets. There is an abundance of opportunity, so much so that you could find yourself lost in all of it.

Taking on all efforts will get expensive, and quick, and there is no way to know if you will receive a return on investment. Also, some of your planning will be things you cannot plan for. It is good to plan a piece of your budget for surprises that pop up.

Think About the Future

Last, there are two important elements for a good IT strategy. One is that you can support daily functions. Two is that you develop the strategy for the future of your business.

If you draft a sound IT strategy in a way that thinks in terms of customer satisfaction, it can work toward opening or recognizing new possibilities in the market.

Why Outsource IT

Today, your employees may handle your organization’s technology just fine, but what about tomorrow? Here, do some research to find out what is going on in your organization currently. Discover how much time it is taking for your current employees to resolve technical issues versus focusing on their own roles.

Technology is evolving. Each year, there are recent changes to consider. Staying on top of the latest advancements takes time, money, and effort.
Can you afford to keep up with the changes? Also, how quickly can you scale up?

How long will it take to find and hire a technology expert? Not only that, how much money will it cost you to find new IT talent? Further, what if they do not stay, and you experience turnover in a matter of months?

Or, worse yet, you scare away new hires with unexpected issues that lead to massive amounts of overtime, and they feel burnout.

The biggest reason to outsource IT is the cost. While it may seem like an added monthly expense, it is not. In the long run, you are saving a lot.

Outsourcing Your IT Strategy

You may be resistant to outsourcing IT because it feels like you will lose control of your company’s operations. This does not need to be the result, so do not let this deter you from outsourcing.

You can break down barriers by requesting a regular cadence of updates. Establish a relationship with your provider that you want to have input.

Even with outsourcing IT, you can still decide. The benefit is that while you still have control; you are freeing up time and resources for your staff. Operations can run more efficiently and increase your bottom line because technological burdens will not weigh them down.

Benefits of Outsourcing Your IT

There are many advantages to outsourcing IT. One is that it will give you a competitive advantage. You want your business to be the best brand and offer the best services in your market. Outsourcing your IT could leverage your business and ultimately, give your customers something that your competitor cannot match.

As you continue reading this article, you’ll find that outsourcing may lead to an unprecedented transformation. Mainly, your organization will drive growth, manage costs better, be flexible, and edge out the competition.

Outsourcing allows you to gain essential functions like security monitoring or data storage. If you need virtualized software, but you cannot afford it in the budget right now, outsourcing will provide this as part of your package.

Here are a few ways your business infrastructure could benefit from outsourcing your IT.

Scaling Staff

Time and cost can be challenging when you quickly need to bring aboard new staff. Integrating staff from outsourcing IT experts is a way to get the help you need immediately. They will get your crucial tasks done and get involved with projects, and without delay.

It is easy to bring on as many, or as few, IT experts as you need. If you just need extra help for a short-term project, you can do that without worrying about terminating an employee. This type of arrangement gives your organization more control when managing your information technology projects.

Level the Playing Field

If you have a small business, wouldn’t you love the opportunity to act “big?” Outsourcing IT gives you access to the same tools that larger companies have, along with the same experienced professionals they have too. This is another way to get a competitive advantage, as previously mentioned.

You can have immediate access to vital resources that will protect your business, including data monitoring and backup.

Better Security

According to Cybercrime Magazine, in 2021, the worldwide cybercrime damage was $16.4 billion per day or $684.9 million per hour. The perpetrators of cyberattacks are as sly as a fox. In the US, the chances that you can detect and prosecute the individual or individuals responsible is very unlikely, at 0.05%, according to the World Economic Forum.

Not all businesses have the funds in their budget to invest in proper cybersecurity infrastructure. This is very dangerous, indeed. Gaps in coverage for your cybersecurity can leave you susceptible to intrusions, which leads to downtime.

In the year 2020, ransomware attacks grew by 150%. Around the world, 30,000 websites will be hacked each day. With these staggering statistics, do not be bashful about reaching out for help.

If there is unusual network activity, your outsourcing IT partner will flag it. Essential software will be up to date, including anti-virus software.

Compliance

Your company is responsible for auditing workstations and servers, but are you behind? Implementing PCI security standards can be a colossal task.

PCI stands for the “Payment Card Industry” or PCI DSS. These are requirements for processing, storing, and transmitting a customer’s credit card information. You must keep a secure environment.  

Outsourcing IT gives you the chance to minimize risk. Credit card numbers, client data, and other kinds of sensitive information are important to keep safe from hackers and bad actors.

Brand Reputation

If you incur a security breach, and your customers find out, they could lose trust in you. They may no longer do business with you, or could even go to your competitor. Further, they could tell family or friends, and you will lose out on referrals.

Outsourcing IT, especially with cybersecurity, will not only keep your data safe but will keep your brand reputation intact. In fact, your marketing department would be happy to hear about the cybersecurity measures you are taking so they can tell the world you are a safe vendor.

Around the Clock Monitoring

You may require an in-house IT team to support your business, but if they are full-time employees, they could get sick or take a vacation. Plus, you give them certain business hours to work, and they may not respond to after-hours calls. Further, they can only maintain a certain level of workload.

Cybercriminals will not wait for your full-time staff to begin work before they strike. They will not wait until things are less busy and your staff has time to kill. Things happen all the time, with no regard to business hours, sick days, and workloads.

Sometimes you need 24/7 monitoring and crisis support. Outsourcing IT will give you as little downtime as it is possible.

Cost Reduction

This point is common among the outsourcing IT benefits, as there is less capital needed. Companies do not have to keep staff long-term or train them.

Improved Focus

Outsourcing IT does not mean that you do not currently have an IT department in place. Your IT team may be overwhelmed with their workload, there could be areas of weaknesses that need attention or much larger projects that need to be completed. 

Your onsite staff has specialties and if they have competing priorities, it may be hard for them to focus on certain goals. Outsourcing areas of your IT could help your team give their complete focus to the business aspects that need it. 

Supplementing Your Existing IT Team

It could be that your internal staff is helping employees with inquiries. They could have a ticketing system to get to everyone’s requests in a timely, organized manner. This means that when it comes to network improvement, cybersecurity monitoring, and implementation of new infrastructure, outsourcing is available to pick up these critical projects and allow internal staff to focus their time better.

Helping employees with copiers, password resets, software updates, and more can bog down your IT team. These are important tasks to help the company operate efficiently. As these minor fixes pile up, it is okay to get additional help.

Outsourcing Services

If you wish to boost your IT strategy, Techromatic can help. Outsourcing your IT is simple as we manage, conceive, and deploy information technology and automation. We will deliver consistent results and protect you from threats.

Call 866-380-2375 or complete our contact form for more details.