How Does IT Services Fit into Your Business Planning
January 11, 2022
Running a successful business can be a challenge. There are many different things that need to be handled, many of which are not directly related to the main product or service that you offer.
This can be an obstacle because business owners want to focus on their core business activities and not distracted by trying to manage their own IT services.
One of the biggest examples of something that is not related to your main product or service offering is the IT services that your company needs. You likely do not want to have to personally handle the many technical requirements your company has, but you know that they have to be addressed. This is why IT services needs to be an important part of your business planning. By thinking about and planning for your technology needs in advance, you can make sure everything is in place and able to grow naturally alongside the rest of your company. Partnering with the right managed IT services provider will also ensure you get all the advantages of good, reliable computer systems without having to directly hire a large team of IT employees.
Promoting Productivity
Improving productivity is one of the most important goals of many of the actions that you take on as a business. The more efficiently that you can produce your products or services, the more profitable your business can be. Learning how you can use IT solutions to improve the productivity of your company will help you obtain the results you need today, and for many years to come. Making sure your computer systems keep up with the performance demands of your software and business, moving your systems and data backups to the cloud, automating certain routine processes, and going paperless are just some of the ways technology can improve your company’s productivity. Most require advance planning and budgeting, which is why they need to be part of your business planning.
Maintaining and Enhancing Security
Digital security is more important than ever. Not a year goes by that you do not hear about a major organization falling victim to some type of data breach, which costs them millions to fix. What you don't hear about is the thousands of small and medium-sized businesses that experience these issues. Unfortunately, the reality is that smaller companies are often unable to survive such an event.
If actively maintaining and even enhancing your cybersecurity is not a part of your business plan, you are putting your company at risk. The different types of threats are constantly changing and increasing in sophistication. You need to make sure that you can keep up with them by keeping up with the latest data security best practices and using the best data security solutions available. Doing this requires you to either add personnel with data security expertise to your workforce or work with qualified IT service providers. Either way, this needs to be part of your business planning.
Reduced Downtime
When a company does not include IT services in their business planning efforts, they are likely to experience far more outages than would otherwise be necessary. Unplanned downtime can be a major problem that's very costly to your company.
Taking the time to make sure that your computer systems and network is working properly, your software is always upgraded correctly, and new services are added as needed will help to ensure your systems are up and working when you need them. For many companies, this means working with an experienced IT services company that can manage IT needs effectively, and incorporating this into the business plan.
Planning for Special Situations
When you do your business planning, you will also want to think about special, “one-off” situations that you know will be coming up during the year–ones that may require special handling from an IT standpoint.
Relocating an Office
An example of a special situation would be relocating or expanding your office. To ensure the move or expansion goes smoothly, you should plan on consulting with an IT services provider well in advance of the move. Get their guidance on what preparations you need to make in to ensure things go smoothly from an IT perspective, and to plan and budget for that.
Mergers and Acquisitions
Another special situation would be having to manage a merger or acquisition. In this case, you should do a security audit to identify weaknesses in both the company being acquired or which you are merging with, as well as your own, to plug any holes. Vulnerabilities on the other company’s end could put your own data at risk.
Partner with a Trusted Managed IT Services Provider
No matter what type of IT services you need, it's important to partner with the right people. For many small to mid-sized businesses, working with an experienced team of managed IT services professionals makes more sense than trying to hire a full team of employees. GSDSolutions provides you with the guidance and direct technical expertise that you need. We offer managed IT services in Palo Alto, the greater Bay Area and the Central Valley, so please don't hesitate to get in touch with us to learn more about what we can do for you!
Related GSDSolutions blog articles:
Productivity
- How an IT service Provider can help Make Your Business More Productive
- Why Your Business Should Go Paperless
Data Security
Special Situations
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