6 Things Your IT Department Wishes You Knew TODAY to be Efficient Tomorrow!
In this article, we review six things your IT Department wishes you knew about their work.
Mainly, it's a BIG job!
There are numerous behind the scenes battles that they fight on a daily basis.
Over the last 18 years of offering Outsourced Managed IT Services, we have seen the good, bad, and the ugly. We created this list to provide insight into what your IT Department wishes you knew. Knowing these tips and outsourcing solutions have boosted many organizations’ progress and output.
1. It's hard making remote work possible—overnight
Organizations nationwide are working hard to transition to online/work from home (WFH) structures practically overnight--our IT teams have worked miracles behind the scenes to set users up for remote work in a matter of days.
On a COVID-19 support Facebook group, a Managed Services Provider (MSP) discussed the extraordinary task of getting a local school system ready for online learning:
“I had to run 1600+ kids through the computer room this week to make sure they all had working emails so they could receive homework when the schools shut down. Then they decided to shut them down a day early. Got the last kids through at 15 minutes past the end of the school day.”
This may sound exhausting, but getting users set up for remote work is just the beginning…
2. It’s never as simple as you think
Building and maintaining a tech product takes time, energy, research, and coordination. The use of the word “just” oversimplifies these processes (“Why can’t you just...” or “Isn’t it just…”). More often than not, these “simple” tasks require complex planning and execution.
3. They’re constantly mitigating risks.
Every deployment requires a wealth of experience from team members using infrastructure that doesn’t always work well and is subject to failure from countless points. To develop and maintain working systems takes advanced knowledge of how to mitigate risks and discover users' needs.
4. It takes a lot of people to run a tech department.
Oftentimes, non-tech departments lack an understanding of the job complexity and variety of people needed to build and maintain an IT product. Typically, having one or two people on a team is insufficient and can leave you open to risks simply because of work overload. It takes an entire group of highly-skilled IT professionals, often working around the clock, to keep things running both smoothly and optimally.
5. Your problem isn’t always the first priority.
Instant fixing is a general sentiment of many non-technical people when approaching their tech team. Your team likely already has a backlog of issues they are working in addition to mitigating live, immediate issues on a daily basis. This makes it difficult to move a planned task to the top of the list as they have to prioritize based on established processes and their view of the bigger picture.
6. The unknowns of COVID-19
In addition to an influx of new tasks related to security and transitioning to online working, IT teams are at the center of it figuring out how to survive the pandemic. Staff look to them for guidance and to solve problems as they arise. CIOs are now becoming crisis leaders, as CIO Dive reports, “CIOs today are crisis management leaders.” Executives are depending on them to help the business respond to the rapidly evolving situation. In-house IT managers are now taking a leadership role in helping their business navigate the challenges of COVID-19.
Meanwhile, Reddit MSPs discussed ways to enable video conferencing given the current shortage of webcams. One commenter said: “I just loaned my personal webcam to a really good client today who needed one for Zoom meetings.”
In an ever-changing, high-stress environment, IT teams have essentially been stretched to their limit, presented with unprecedented challenges and risks. Having a robust team and strategy are more important than ever. Instead of leaving the security and maintenance of an IT infrastructure to chance, many have turned to outsourcing managed IT services as a solution.
By outsourcing your company’s IT tasks, you can cut operating costs, minimize risk, and allocate time and resources to more productive in-house matters. Companies outsource IT to have vital computing tasks performed by the most skilled, qualified hands. AITHERAS [uh-THEAR-us] brings a comprehensive array of expertise along with innovative approaches to the world of Managed Services with focused support to small and midsize firms. We provide you with:
Massive Savings – IT personnel command high pay due to the intricacy and rarity of their skill set. The cost of retaining an IT staff can be prohibitive. With outsourced IT, you can avoid the expense of retaining an in-house IT staff and allocate more money toward expanding the business.
Predictable Budgeting – Likewise, the amount of money that could be swallowed up in unforeseen computing problems is a troubling concern. Once you decide to outsource your company’s IT , you’ll always know what you will be paying month-to-month for maximum IT functionality and security.
Fewer Disruptions – disruptions can happen at any time. This can be especially draining if IT staff come and go, and the skills of those who do apply run the gamut. We provide high-quality services and most can be done remotely or overnight
Less Downtime – your systems are monitored 24/7 and we identify and fix issues before they cause problems.When you have AITHERAS working behind the scenes on your side, you virtually eliminate the possibility of downtime or cyber attacks. The problems that could set a company back and damage its reputation, such as long periods of website inoperability or breaches of credit card information, are taken off the table.
Maximum Productivity - when IT responsibilities are outsourced, your in-house staff can focus on the more pressing day-to-day concerns of business. In-house productivity becomes far more efficient and streamlined. Your team can focus on their core strengths and leave IT tasks to qualified, off-site personnel whose own core strengths cover the full range of IT-related issues.
Now it's your turn! Where do you think your IT department could use some relief? Send us a note and let us know.