August 8, 2022
It’s very easy to take your organization’s tools, data, and critical infrastructure for granted, especially when everything is working as it should. However, should any of your tools or systems fail, or if your organization is ever targeted by a cybercriminal, your business could face severe disruption.
In addition to providing user support and maintaining your equipment, your IT department is tasked with preventing the unthinkable from happening, so your organization can maintain daily operations. It’s a much more demanding job than some people think.Before we go any further, these managed IT statistics may be helpful to paint a picture of exactly what managed IT can provide an organization, and what it can prevent. However, if your boss is like many, they’ll need a deeper understanding of the very real problem you’re trying to solve.
Explain That Your Current IT Staff Is Insufficient
For some smaller organizations, their entire IT department may only consist of one staff member with a few technical skills. However, as cybercriminals target smaller organizations more frequently than larger ones, it’s more important than ever that even smaller organizations access the enterprise-scale cybersecurity tools they need to prevent a cyberattack.
That said, even mid-sized and enterprise-scale companies have struggled to maintain a fully-staffed IT department. Recruiting remains a challenge, yet the demands on most IT departments have only increased. In fact, most IT departments are completely overwhelmed by the growing risk of cybercrime.
IT burnout is real; unless your staff gets additional help, they may leave your organization, making any short-staffing problems worse.
Tell Them About Poor Network Management and Other Signs of an Understaffed IT Department
Does your network or systems experience frequent disruptions? Is your IT department slow to respond to user needs? Do they put off important upgrades and patches to software and systems? Are they too busy to help your organization plan for future growth?
These are all tell-tale signs that your department is understaffed and overwhelmed. You probably already know this, but if your boss doesn’t, explain that your department could actually be doing far more to prevent disruption and boost productivity if they could only get out of a break/fix approach with the help of managed IT services.
Additionally, you can use this tool to illustrate where your IT department’s time is currently being spent.
Explain What Happens If Your Company Lacks IT Services
Not only will your organization experience more frequent disruptions when your IT staff is stuck in a break/fix model, but your entire organization is at greater risk of a cybersecurity incident. Unpatched software is the reason for approximately 60% of data breaches, so it’s imperative that your software and systems are upgraded and patched in a timely manner. Unfortunately, overwhelmed IT departments delay this critical task to respond to other, seemingly more urgent needs.
Show Them What a Managed Service Provider Can Offer
A managed service provider (MSP) is a third-party vendor that can provide all or a portion of your organization’s IT services. A great provider will also recommend better technology solutions to improve productivity and drive growth.
Smaller organizations often benefit from outsourcing all of their IT needs, which is why many choose fully-managed IT. Other organizations that already have an internal IT department may get the best of both worlds with co-managed IT, where an MSP can partner with an organization’s internal staff.
Some MSPs will also take on large projects like cloud migrations so that an organization can add tremendous capabilities while their IT personnel remain focused on what they do best.
Tell Them a Managed IT Services Company Can Do Much More
A great MSP can do more than simply relieve an overburdened IT department and reduce disruptions. They can help you plan for important upgrades, streamline your workflows and add enterprise-scale capabilities without adding permanent staff, all while offering tremendous financial benefits. Best of all, as your business changes, you can scale your services up or down as needed, which is especially helpful if your organization has recently experienced rapid growth.
You should certainly tell your boss that, and it would all be true. But if you also tell them they’ll get much more while probably paying significantly less, it’s probably a no-brainer. In fact, they’d be in good company, as more organizations are using MSPs than ever before.
But if your boss is still hesitant, it’s always okay to bring in reinforcements. Our IT experts have worked with organizations of every size and can provide more real-life examples of how our fully-managed, co-managed, and project-based solutions can help organizations like yours thrive.
