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Running a small to medium-sized business is a constant juggle between getting the work in, getting it done and getting paid for it. Even for SMEs in the thick of the digital economy, the focus is (understandably) about doing core business, not on IT.

Which means once initial IT systems are set up, they often get looked at only when soIT Managed Service Providermething goes wrong, or a new user joins the team. While this approach is fine as long as the headcount stays within the designed limits of the system, its reactive nature means that little thought is given to how IT can be used to stay competitive over time.

Whether it's competitive developments in the IT marketplace, or the growth of a business, there comes a point when an SME needs to seriously look at its IT setup and make some calls about their 'next phase'.

So the obvious questions are, how do you know when you're at that point, and what are the options available?

Knowing when it's time to change

Stepping up to the next level of IT is a performance and competitive issue as much as a headcount one. The trick is being able to see whether you are suffering while you're 'living inside' your IT ecosystem.  Simply growing out of the designed system size (either with the number of users or locations), is one obvious pointer. Here are a few others:

  • Your IT is beginning to run slower, or slower than you'd like
  • You're getting complaints from staff (or even worse, from customers!)
  • You can't do things with your IT you'd like to be able to do
  • A competitor is doing things you can't match, or better
  • Problems occur that can’t be clearly explained
  • Security and redundancy aren't sitting with best practice or compliance

As mentioned, it can be hard to tell whether you're ahead of or behind, but if you notice even one of these issues, chances are it'll need further looking at, and potentially an upgrade.

So what are the options?

Keep things just as they are

Holding out with what you've got is definitely the easiest and cheapest option. If your business runs close to the line you'll always want to consider it. Who knows? In the short term, it could be okay.

But do it for too long and those small recurring issues won't stay small. A continually patched-up IT setup will eventually hold a business back. Simply adding on users, and then more users to an already-straining system makes it slower and more failure prone for everyone. Over time, this 'technology debt' takes the business further from its goals by being more costly to fix – in terms of up-front expense and opportunity cost.

Furthermore, technology itself has become a key differentiator for many businesses. And as it's being continually improved upon, the systems and applications that once made your business competitive may be the things holding it back only a few of years down the line.

If whoever's managing your current IT is spending most of their time just keeping things running, you can be pretty sure that this reactive approach is not helping your business get ahead. The question is (and the answer's different for each business), how far is it leaving you behind?

Staffing up internally

If you already have internal IT staff, this might seem like a logical development. The advantages are that the IT function stays in-house, with someone always close by, and there's someone there with history of the current setup.

But to take the IT up to 'the next stage' may require completely re-looking at the way things are. From the systems and procedures themselves, to the approach taken toward them. Then you've got to ask yourself whether the current team are right for that, or do they need some help?

In all likelihood the latter will be the case.  New staff will need to be added, whose specialisations complement the ones you already have. Only then will you have the full suite of skills needed – from the day-to-day operations through to the strategic and pro-active thinking.

In large companies with the critical mass to justify a full team working in-house,  this is what would happen. However it’s a different question for growing SMEs – still at that awkward size where they need high-end IT in order to compete, but still find the cost (and the effort) of hiring prohibitive.

Outsourcing to an IT Managed Services provider

While staff mightn't work 'in-house', outsourcing your IT function can be the best solution for growing SMEs. It gives access to the full suite of skills that keeps a business 'IT competitive', without having to foot the bill for a full-time team.

Outsourcing also allows a business to draw on a managed service provider's experience. They should be already delivering best practice solutions to real-world challenges, so would have developed a standardised set of processes and systems that can be fine-tuned for an individual business's needs, rather than having to build them from scratch.

The right Managed Service provider should also be able to evaluate your IT needs based on your business goals, not just your current situation, so they can build a system that'll make you competitive and keep you there even as your business develops. TProviding the right IT support service 

And because they can deliver performance, security and stability to your business now and for the future, you can confidently focus on doing business.

As for cost, outsourcing companies will work around your needs – whether you'd prefer the security and stability of a fixed monthly cost, or to pay by use. Either way, the long-term costs of using an IT Managed Service provider's proactive approach will be lower than if your business had remained reactive.

Should I Outsource to a Managed Service ProviderA quick word about cloud computing

Cloud computing is spoken about so much it'd be easy to think it was the solution to everything. And it can help some issues. However, just because it’s 'new' doesn't make moving to the cloud right answer for every business (it requires your network being up to scratch for starters). Like anything else in IT, there needs to be a strong, strategic case for using it – no matter who's suggesting it. Discover your cloud computing strategy with Lanrex today.

How to use technology to grow your business? 

If you think your IT isn't doing what it should or could, speak to a managed IT service here in Sydney. As specialists in providing outsourced IT managed services for small to medium-sized businesses (generally from 20 to 150 staff), we're in a good position to help you find out where you are at, where you could be, and how much it would cost.  And finding out won't cost you a cent. 

Let's talk 

 

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