Your IT should be speeding you up, not slowing you down.

Often when we get enquiries or referrals to new customers it’s because they have a problem or a pain. But that’s not the way your IT function should be. As a small company, outsourcing an IT department should be a cost effective and more efficient solution than trying to manage it in-house, but often it isn’t- why?

Strategy and Pro-activity

First off can you honestly say that your IT company knows your company function inside out? Do they know your current position and your plans for growth? Do you have a clear set out strategy for your IT function that fits in line with your overall business objectives? A strategy will also compliment and enable pro-activity.

It’s not you it’s me…

Sometimes though it’s about the users themselves. An outsourced company could be doing the best job on the earth on the face of it but in reality when you ask the users it’s a different case.

Users tend to ‘make do’ with minor problems too to save time or prevent hassle. Yes, it can avoid time wasting in the short term but this isn’t a very logical long term strategy. If you think about the time one small problem can affect you on more than one occasion. Multiply this across your workforce-  no thanks!

Here are some of our top tips to make your IT function more efficient:

• Motivate/encourage your employees. Engagement is necessary. Whether implementing a new system or strategy, everyone needs to be on-board. Remember sometimes this requires patience from those that may be more tech savvy.

• Keep an IT policy within your company to encourage users and management to stay in the loop and keep a promise to maximise on use of IT for productivity.

• Keep up to date with your IT team/supplier, if they aren’t keeping you up to date, ask why!

What can I do in the Long Term?

If you feel you aren’t getting the most out of your current provider, we offer a solution that could test this theory of yours. We offer a full IT Security Audit that can be done in secret of your current supplier or IT manager, if necessary. The Audit enables you to find out exactly what areas you can improve on- either to pull up your existing supplier or to help with your overall IT strategy. You would be surprised about the amount of companies that have out of date software licences or inadequately update to date versions of systems that put them at security risks.

Strategy is a massively important part of your business when it comes to IT, a quick fix, or fudge here or there isn’t sufficient. Yes, often this has to be a temporary solution. But working alongside your IT partner or manager means you can work on this strategy together.

At Q2Q we provide IT strategy as part of our IT support service, alongside 3, 6 or 12-month tech reviews so we can get to grips with the direction we are going to take your business.

Give us a bell on 01524 581 690 or email [email protected] to find out more about our IT Support contracts or IT Security Audit.

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    Lancaster: 01524 581690 (Head Office)

    Preston: 01772 395693

    Technical IT Support illustration at Q2Q HQ Lancaster, Lancashire and the North West