When Did You Decide to Get Into the IT Business? Would You Like to Get Out?
If someone asked you what business your company is in, you would probably respond with something like Manufacturing, Distribution, Consulting Services, or another line of business.
But how often would you respond with, “My company is in the Information Technology (IT) business”?
Believe it or not, you’re in IT if you have at least one person with a computer in your company!
How did your company get into IT in the first place?
If you’re like most small to mid-sized companies, you started with a handful of partners, and your company grew. Now, you have 40, 60, 100, or maybe more people on staff, everyone has a computer, and you have servers, network connections, databases, and file storage to manage.
Someone, maybe you or one of your founding partners, has been managing the network, user provisioning, and OS updates and—to a greater or lesser extent—trying to keep up with their other job responsibilities.
So, now you’re in the IT business, whether you want to be or not.
What is required if you manage your own IT?
There are many facets to managing your company’s IT, such as:
- Hardware and OS – As computer systems mature, new hardware and supporting technologies are developed, from faster CPUs to updated data storage devices and connectors. Some of the new software updates will not work on older computers, so keeping your hardware and operating systems updated is important.
- User licensing and provisioning—Companies must purchase user licenses for all versions of software in use and provide software users with the appropriate rights and capabilities to access the software.
- Internal networking – You must set up and configure an internal network to enable collaboration between employees and connectivity to shared resources within your organization.
- External networking—Yet another task is providing employees with email capabilities and remote access to computers and servers, as well as Internet access.
- Software updates – The company’s software and operating systems will provide updates that include new features, bug fixes, and security updates that fix known vulnerabilities. Maintaining software updates is important for the security of company assets and resources.
- Protection from internal and external threats—Exposure to the internet carries significant threats, including phishing scams, ransomware, and other cyber-attacks. Internal threats include corporate espionage, occupational fraud, and inadvertent errors that occur without proper oversight (like misapplying a payment to the wrong account).
- Data security – Your data is one of your most valuable assets. Keeping your data (from payroll to intellectual property) secure from prying eyes inside and outside your organization is essential. User logins and passwords must be configured and enforced to safeguard all your sensitive data and computer systems.
- Backup and recovery – Your data should be backed up periodically, ideally daily. However, backups are only good if you can restore your data from them. Backups should be performed on all devices and stored in a safe place offsite in the event of a disaster. Plus, backups should be tested regularly to ensure that system data can be restored at any time. Backups should also be kept for several months – many cyber criminals and ransomware attackers wait weeks from installing their malicious software to activating it.
These are just some of the critical areas that impact your company’s computer IT infrastructure. As you can see, these tasks alone will keep a person busy for even a small company of 5-10 people. As you add staff and computer systems, managing your company’s IT needs grows exponentially.
What are your alternatives for IT management?
Many companies consider their IT costs an expense and try to manage everything themselves. However, unless you know what you are doing, there are bound to be mistakes. Something can be easily overlooked or misconfigured. These mistakes can be costly: A successful ransomware attack can bring the company to a standstill for days or weeks.
At ArcherPoint, we view IT as an investment. Having the proper IT standards and protocols in place acts as an insurance policy to secure your systems and data, and it also helps you operate more efficiently, close more sales, and be more successful.
Look at it this way: You insure your building and lock your doors at night to mitigate your losses in case of a robbery or fire. Doesn’t it make sense to insure your revenue stream in case a natural disaster or cyber attack brings your business to a halt? Why risk losing your email and all your data (including your Business Central data – clients, invoices, suppliers) to a ransomware attack? Even after being down for days and paying the ransom, we have clients who have never fully restored their data after a ransomware attack.
It comes down to thinking about your core business and whether you have the budget and technical expertise in-house to manage some or all of your IT requirements.
As a general rule, companies should allocate 3% of their topline revenue towards IT every month. That means that for every $1 million in revenue, about $30,000 should go to supporting your IT. That money can be spent on staff or outsourced to a managed services company – or a combination of the two, where you perform some of the duties in-house and outsource the rest to a company that specializes in managed IT services for you.
ArcherPoint can help you manage your IT costs
ArcherPoint offers new and existing clients a cloud-ready assessment to help you understand your strengths and vulnerabilities. We will review your current Business Central environment, whether on-premises or in the cloud, as well as your security practices and procedures for backups, security, and user provisioning. We will then provide recommendations for improving your network and system security in addition to recommendations on monitoring user activity.
ArcherPoint also provides managed IT services for our clients. We cover infrastructure, disaster recovery, security, user licensing, and more.
You don’t have to be in the IT business anymore.
ArcherPoint’s managed IT services lets you focus on your business, not your IT.