Close to 1500 companies were hit by a ransomware attack during the long 4th of July weekend. This is one of the biggest ransomware attacks of all time.
Companies are under threat every single day by hackers. That makes IT management a critical function of every business, whether you’re a sole proprietor or have hundreds of employees.
What is IT management? Keep reading to discover what IT management is and how your business benefits from it.
What Is IT Management?
Your business uses a network to connect to the internet. The more employees you have, the more devices are connected to the network. Plus, you need to have a centralized location for important documents.
The devices and servers need to be maintained, updated, and secured. You need to train your employees about cybersecurity threats.
Your IT infrastructure has to function in a way that serves the business. Too often, IT is an afterthought for businesses. They institute quick fixes that eventually slow down the network.
IT management helps businesses get ahead of the technology. It involves the oversight of the entire network, cloud management, voice-over IP systems, and internal support.
Your business functions more efficiently, and your employees are more productive. You end up with a stronger business.
Outsource or In-House IT Management
The big debate within many organizations is whether or not to outsource IT management or handle it in-house.
Working with an in-house staff is expensive, but you have complete control over your IT systems. In-house employees can also work on innovations when they’re not working on IT management.
In-house staff is aware of the internal environment. That makes it easier for them to recommend improvements to the systems.
Don’t count out the benefits of outsourcing to IT managed services. You have the benefit of an outside perspective, which is valuable to make improvements to your business.
IT managed services usually cost much less than hiring employees and most service providers make it easy to predict costs.
You don’t have to spend much time managing staff or keeping employees occupied. If your business has to comply with privacy and data regulations, you can hire a service provider that specializes in your industry.
The most important function that an IT service provider has is to limit downtime. Downtime costs your business thousands of dollars.
Types of IT Management Services
Are you interested in outsourcing IT management services? There’s a lot to learn about IT management and outsourcing.
As you already learned, IT management encompasses a broad range of tasks. IT management providers go out of their way to provide unique solutions for customers.
You can expect to see several different types of IT management services.
A fully managed IT services provider is your IT department. You outsource all of your IT needs to them. They may host your servers and provide the infrastructure.
That can save your business untold thousands of dollars in server costs. You also save the costs of a server room, which has to be kept cool to prevent the machines from overheating.
IT services can be outsourced on an ala carte basis. Your business might have IT employees that are overworked as you scale your business. You can hire IT services to take care of security or maintenance while your employees handle everything else.
You can hire IT management on a consulting basis. They can help you align your IT infrastructure with your strategic vision for the business. They can help you plan and develop policies for your growing business.
Cost of IT Management Services
How much do IT management services cost? It depends on your business and the services you need. IT providers generally use a few pricing models to serve your business.
A flat-rate pricing structure gives you a certain set of services for one single price. A service provider has two or three different packages available.
You have to be clear with the service company as to what the service provider does and what you are still responsible for. You may still be able to customize a program by adding a couple of ala carte services on top of the packages. Usually, these packages are offered as what you see is what you get service.
IT services are priced on a per-user basis or per-device basis. This means that you’ll pay more if you have a lot of employees or a lot of devices on your network. Per-user pricing lets you manage your IT budget and make hiring decisions accordingly.
Discover more about IT management pricing to find a solution that meets your unique business needs.
Quick Tips for Effective IT Management
Take an audit of your IT networks. You should be able to uncover what your IT needs are. As you look for service providers, take a look at the types of services they offer and read reviews from other customers.
You should have a budget in mind as you work with service providers. Make sure that everyone has a list of defined responsibilities and roles within the organization and with the outsourcing company. This helps you and your team stay organized as you hand off responsibilities to the service provider.
Take Control of Your IT
Businesses either run ahead of the technology curve or behind it. Those that run behind the curve have a greater risk of security issues, downtime, and inefficient business. They have to chase their competition.
Effective IT management helps you avoid that. What is IT management? It’s a way to take control of your infrastructure so you save money and give your business a chance to increase revenue.
You can either outsource IT or keep it in-house. You’ll want to weigh the costs and benefits of both options before deciding.
Be sure to check out the other helpful business tips on this site today!
