Sometimes, your in-house IT department won’t be enough to handle all of your company’s IT needs. You may even face certain problems that will be too difficult for your own staff to solve. Does this mean that you should hire more people or replace your current IT staff? Not necessarily. When your company faces problems that are too great for your own IT department to handle, it may be high time to hire a reliable team of IT consultants such as Xact IT Solutions.
But how do you know if you really IT consulting services? Here are some warning signs to look out for:
1. Your company is growing
With business growth comes the need for better IT infrastructure as well as tighter cybersecurity measures. If your company is experiencing exponential growth, an IT consultant can help you improve your processes to catch up with your business’ increasing demands. More importantly, they can guide you in creating a more secure network to mitigate your risk against cybersecurity attacks, which can open up a Pandora’s box of problems for your company (e.g. major data loss, lawsuits, tarnished brand reputation, etc.).
2. Efficiency and productivity are suffering
Persistent IT issues can serve as bottlenecks in your company’s processes if they are not solved immediately, and they may be causing your people to spend more time dealing with them instead of focusing on their main tasks. Both scenarios can eventually lead to reduced efficiency and productivity in the workplace, which, in turn, can result in loss of revenue–not to mention employee burnout.
If your people are spending more time than necessary dealing with IT problems, it’s a clear sign that your company needs an IT consultant stat.
3. You need the help of experts
IT consultants are experts in their field, allowing them to provide valuable advice when it comes to streamlining IT processes, optimizing the utilization of resources, mitigating cybersecurity risks, and pinpointing areas of improvement to prevent problems before occur, among many others. Not all IT professionals can be considered “experts”, so if you want someone who truly has the skills and experience to improve your IT infrastructure, hiring an IT consultant definitely makes sense.
4. You’re spending too much money
Failure to efficiently distribute resources on IT-related infrastructure and services is a common problem among many companies; one that often goes unnoticed until the waste becomes significant.
If you use outdated technology, pay too much for services that you barely use, and have an IT department that is broken into groups and doesn’t collaborate with each other, you are probably spending too much on IT and need a consultant to help you allocate your budget more efficiently.
5. You can’t afford another in-house employee
Hiring a third-party IT consulting service may be more cost-effective for your company than hiring a full-time, in-house employee to perform the same tasks. In this way, you’re only paying for services that you really need, whenever you need it, much like an on-call service. In fact, having an expert IT consultant that can resolve issues quickly and help you plan for a better infrastructure can minimize the need to hire the same services in the future, helping you save money in the long-run.
6. You have no back-up in a crisis
When a virus infiltrates your network, a hacker steals your company data, or when your employees’ e-mail log-ins suddenly stop working, you need to have someone familiar with your infrastructure and capable of getting operations back on track in the most efficient way possible. Don’t have someone like that in your in-house IT department? If not, it makes sense to hire a third-party IT consultant who can serve as a reliable back-up during a crisis.
7. You need help with keeping up with technology
In this modern age, technology develops at a breakneck speed. Staying on top of the latest trends and advancements in tech is imperative to keeping up with competitors and maintaining optimal business efficiency. However, not all companies what technologies are really necessary and how to choose the best solutions. This is where IT consultants come in; they can help you choose the best type of tech for your company, sift through new developments to determine which are really necessary, and keep watch for areas of improvement while you’re busy running the business.
All of these signs point to a need for IT consulting services. And the longer the time since you’ve started noticing them within your company, the more dire your need is for a consultant. Don’t let your IT infrastructure suffer the consequences–once you start noticing one or more of these signs, hire a reliable IT consultant right away.