IT has been seen as a necessary business expense for years. After all, IT is necessary these days. Even so, many companies have chosen to go with IT management services rather than having their own in-house department. While this has been a huge success for many companies, there’s still the perception that IT management services are a cost to be suffered. But what would happen if IT management services were seen, instead, as a way to maximise business? Rather than being a cost only, IT services can be a way to increase business!

So, how can you turn IT services from a cost into a business maximiser? This is the topic we’ll go through in this article. We’ve put together some tips on how to turn your IT services from an expense into a business builder!

Know Your IT Objectives & Highlight the Challenges

Before making any major changes to your IT network, it’s essential to know what you want to achieve. Keep in mind that the IT infrastructure runs and affects every department in the company. And the network affects each department in completely different ways.

For these reasons, it’s crucial to know the problems each department is facing, as well as your objectives for the network. It may even be necessary to include input from stakeholders and others to ensure your IT services are successfully redone.

When working with other departments and stakeholders, you may find that it’s necessary to change over from an older, outdated onsite networking and move to a newer system that includes the cloud or a system like SharePoint. To do this, consider the issues and problems that are currently causing frustration with your team.

It may be that everyone is feeling limited by the current network, which may not allow for efficiency and collaboration. Instead, making the transition to managed IT services can bring about huge changes for everyone. With managed IT services, the company can have access to a network that’s more reliable and flexible in the cloud.

Look at Underlying Processes

When you have the goal of changing your IT services over from a cost to a business maximiser, it’s essential to look at the underlying processes for business operations. Here, it’s crucial to ensure operational processes are aligned through technology in order to achieve your company goals. Doing so can mean quite a bit in savings.

What would happen if millions of pounds were saved by transforming core processes? It could mean improved processes and even better engagement with clients. What business wouldn’t enjoy such savings and improvements in business?

What are Your Long-Term Requirements?

Next, try to consider what your needs may be in the long term. Making massive changes to your IT infrastructure is a considerable investment, one which the company won’t be able to do every few years.

So, work to use technology that scales with your company. Consider how a new network can bring about more efficiency across the company over the next several years.

Get Used to the Idea of Leaving Legacy Systems & Processes Behind

There’s no question that moving ahead with a new network is often the right choice. Even so, it’s very challenging to leave legacy systems and processes behind. These are the systems and processes everyone’s familiar with and used to.

What’s more, your team may fear that changing over to managed IT services means long downtimes and other problems. However, these days, that’s simply not the case.

When moving systems, a managed IT service may choose to do the project in three different steps, including:

• Moving everything from the old network in the office to the cloud
• Upgrading systems as needed (for instance, with SharePoint or another solution)
• Integration of telecoms & VOIP, which ensure the system is ready to run

These tips show some of the ways changing from an in-house IT system to managed IT services can be successfully managed. What’s more, your IT network can go from being a considerable cost to an investment that turns the company around!

How to Choose the Right IT Partner

Once you’ve made the decision to go with managed IT services, it’s necessary to find the right IT partner. So, what do you look for in a managed IT services provider?

1). Availability

The right IT partner will be available 24/7, 365 days a year, in order to transform your IT infrastructure from a cost to a business builder.

2). Fast Response Times & Services

Next, you want to find an IT partner who is always available when you need them and who responds quickly when there’s a problem.

Look for a managed IT service provider who does not forward calls to a call centre. Be sure they respond in a timely manner and offer a guaranteed response time.

3). Annual IT Budget Planning

A good managed IT service provider also helps you find the right technology for your business. Their expertise and knowledge should point your company to technology that supports the business into the future. What’s more, the IT service provider should also offer guidance on annual planning and help you find ways to save money while improving efficiency.

Choose a service provider who has a future-thinking attitude and watches out for your interests at the same time.

4). Recovery Planning

Another crucial part of an IT network is recovery planning. Look for an IT service provider that helps your company prepare for the inevitable. This includes natural disasters, vandalism from hackers, and even outages.

The right IT service provider will ensure you have a plan and have data protected and backed up. In addition, they’ll have the knowledge and experience needed to help your business recover from any significant event.

5). Security Testing & Monitoring

The right managed IT service provider will also work to keep your network protected from cybercrime. They should offer plans that include regular security tests and constant monitoring for attacks of all types.

Summing It Up

Managed IT services can take your current IT network from being a huge expense to one that brings your business increased success. Nothing builds a business up faster than the right technology and IT partner.

So, consider making the change to managed IT services. With the right partner, your business is sure to be a huge success! What’s more, your IT infrastructure will stop being a cost and, instead, become a considerable investment for the company!