A wonderful problem to have as a small business is growth. However, growth — particularly rapid growth — can result in outgrowing your current information technology resource. As your company grows, your IT resource needs to grow with you.
Outgrowing doesn’t limit itself to small companies or single resources but can occur even with large IT teams or companies. Not upgrading your IT support can lead to decreased efficiency and productivity and can negatively impact your bottom line. Whether your current IT solution is an in-house team, an outsourced partner or the tech-savvy neighborhood kid, here are seven signs you may have outgrown your IT resource:
1. You’ve exceeded their knowledge. When your company is growing, your needs may develop into new areas that exceed the capabilities of the current resource. Increasing in size can require additional training for employees, implementation of various tech policies, increased network security measures and a variety of other areas. Growth may also incorporate new programs and tools that require a greater level of experience than your current resource may possess. With the complexity and number of items to tackle during a growth phase, sometimes IT upgrades (of your provider or your hardware) are not viewed as critical. However, waiting until the problem is even more evident will likely only cost more time and money.
2. You’ve exceeded their bandwidth. While this can be seen with smaller IT companies, this is a very common trend with larger companies dedicating one or a smaller number of resources to your company. Simply put, no matter how intelligent or nice the resource is, as you grow their time does not expand as well and if you are limited to a finite number of individuals, you very likely will find yourself frustrated with response times. In IT, no matter the issue, in the moment, a user is likely to feel it is the most important issue in the tech universe. Slow or unreliable responses can result in significant hits to employee productivity. Waiting for hours for your resource to finish working with another individual, company or to finish school or their other job, is down time that a growing company should not tolerate.
3. Your IT solution only fixes problems. Your IT resource should be a true partner, not simply the person you call once something has gone wrong. This means they should be available in a variety of proactive ways. Your resource should provide valid, appropriate recommendations; suggestions on better ways to solve problems; connect you to helpful third parties; proactively monitor your network; manage patch and upgrade installations; monitor your anti-virus and countless other proactive measures. Simply being available once something goes wrong is not a healthy partnership and is more likely to result in a variety of time- and money-wasting efforts to properly realign your IT needs.
4. Your technology doesn’t fit your needs. This can be either too much or not enough technology. Not enough technology can be a result of the IT provider not giving enough time or attention to determine what is needed — or keeping on top of what is currently being used. On the other hand, you must be cautious of internal or external IT solutions providers who are not always looking out for your best business interest and who may use the opportunity to require or push technology beyond any reasonable requirements. The IT resource should be there to help guide and advise. A wide variety of ranges should be suggested to allow for your broad decision making; however it is important to ensure you are not simply funding a hobby of a tech resource. Your resource should properly recommend but not use this opportunity to play with the latest tech trends your company does not need.
5. They don’t keep up with tech trends. When you are focusing on growing your own business, you should not also be required to learn, train and educate your IT resource on the latest IT trends or threats. With technology constantly changing, it is important that your resource is keeping active on acquiring additional certifications and training skills and this continued education should not be the requirement of your non-tech company.
6. Rigid contracts. If you’re working with an outsourced IT resource, your contract needs to be able to scale with you and your company. As you grow, it should be incredibly easy to add new users, machines, servers, etc. to your overall service agreement. Conversely, if you cut back, you should not be required to continue to pay the higher amount. Contract retention by fear is never a good option. If a provider in any area isn’t holding up their end of the bargain, the agreement should be terminated. Being treated well only upon renewal or when you try to cancel is not a sign of a positive relationship as it likely will return to the previous cycle until the next breaking or renewing point.
7. It’s not a partnership. Your IT resource should be a partner through your growth. It should assist in providing recommendations with you through your growth. A healthy IT relationship involves a proactive, communication-heavy approach just as any other relationship. You should also not feel that your IT resource is a stranger. Even if things are going well, they should be a regular participant in your business lives in one way or another. From regular reviews, suggestions and proactive and reactive efforts, the collective view of the team should be that the IT resource is present and available as appropriate.
In the end, your IT resource should be a positive relationship similar to any other relationship in your life. If you do not put the effort and time into making sure this is a healthy relationship, it will most likely come to a point where significant time and money will be required to resolve the issues. Early recognition of having outgrown your IT resource will allow you to more quickly find a better fit and continue to move forward with the right partnerships for your continued growth.
Bahar Ferguson is president of Wasatch I.T., a Utah provider of outsourced IT services for small and medium-sized businesses.