Partner Article

A backwards approach to IT stops businesses growing

It continually astonishes me when businesses describe themselves as being forward-thinking, dynamic and agile – but then invest in everything but their IT.
Despite being a mature business tool and critical to the successful running of a company of any size, for some reason IT never takes centre stage. Madness when you consider that the structure of a business progressing dramatically according to what provision there is in place.
What is most bizarre to me is that businesses still attempt to provide their own IT.
We don’t do this for our gas, electricity, phones or even the newest technical business tools (we buy app’s). Yet most businesses persist in hiring IT staff, designing inhouse infrastructure and attempting to build an IT strategy that supports their business needs, without being a specialist in it. It simply makes no sense. You wouldn’t use a bricklayer to design your office block, or your mechanic to design your transport fleet, so to an expect a PC support guy to design your IT strategy successfully is quite frankly, very odd.
In this way IT suppliers profit in a massive way because businesses misunderstand what they need, when and pay too much for capital items. No one can afford to throw money away, especially in this climate, especially on a computer system that is actually likely to hold you back.
So what can businesses do? Well the answer is to look to the cloud and outsource your IT provision. Let the supplier take the risk with regard to investment, after all it is their core business to understand IT, and they can advise and act as enabler to your company’s growth.
It is guaranteed you will need less hardware and what is required can usually be provided by your supplier on a lease basis, giving you the latest technology at all times, as well as 24/7 IT support. Running costs will instantly reduce if you move onto a pay-per-use package and scalability means staff can be added in or taken out depending on whether the business is growing or shrinking. That’s a real-time cost advantage.
In terms of security, cloud can be efficient, secure and robust to a degree that a business may otherwise not be able to afford. Staff get to access the info they need from the company server whether they are in the office, at home, on the road or out on site without any fear of a data breach. It’s a compelling business case, wouldn’t you agree.
Outsource your IT provision to a “smart” cloud company and they will also be able to advise on new technologies such as tablet computers (Ipads and Andriods), smart phones and mobile computing. Having a team that is expert in open source applications and knows where general IT technologies are heading, can significantly help shape your business plans and growth.
I guess what I am saying is that twenty-first century companies use an external supplier to design a bespoke IT structure that offers greater security, scalability and lower running costs, allowing them to focus on doing what they do best – running their own businesses. Why not give us a call.

This was posted in Bdaily's Members' News section by Pete Watson .