Changing IT firms is rarely at the top of any leader’s to-do list. However, when you’re faced with unexpected costs, mounting complaints from your team, or even new technology deployed without your knowledge, it’s time to consider alternatives. A strategic IT firm could be the answer.
Reasons to Change IT Firms
There are any number of reasons to change IT firms. Here are a few that prospective clients have described to us:
- Unexpected Costs: Being informed unexpectedly that the ONLY option to address key issues was a new, $30k on-premise server.
- Staff Frustration: Technicians didn’t respond quickly and couldn’t solve basic issues in a reasonable amount of time. This is a common complaint and negatively affects staff morale and productivity.
- Disruptive Technology Deployed Without Warning: An IT provider blocked all email access to certain geographic locations for all users without advance notification or approval, causing confusion and customer service issues.
Broader concerns about IT include:
- Cybersecurity Risks: No business is immune. Comprehensive, layered cybersecurity services, including reliable backup, help keep your organization safer.
- Technical Debt: Technical debt can accumulate by delaying IT upgrades or choosing solutions that are quicker or cheaper, but ineffective. Over time, technical debt results in increased cybersecurity risks and significant, unplanned expenses to replace unsupported or obsolete software and hardware. A strategic IT firm helps you plan, budget, and create smooth migration plans to implement evolving technology.
- Compliance, Regulatory, or Cyber Liability Insurance Requirements: These are becoming more stringent with each passing year. Some demand specific services and reporting that a strategic IT firm can help you navigate.
Business Benefits of Working with a Strategic IT Firm
Partnering with a strategic IT firm can help create:
Strategic Alignment with Business Objectives
IT experts leverage their deep technology knowledge to align your tech solutions with your strategic objectives, offering a competitive advantage.
Paced Innovation
A strategic IT firm understands your business objectives and approach. They’ll adapt to where you want to be on the IT innovation curve, whether you thrive on cutting-edge, are more comfortable with tried and true, or prefer somewhere in between.
Scalability and Flexibility
Flexibility and seamless scalability of your IT infrastructure is key to accommodating growth or contraction.
Flexibility also applies to your relationship with your IT firm. Make sure you’re not so “sticky” with services that you have limited options if the relationship turns sour. A combination of earned trust and shorter contract terms makes this possible.
Enhanced Security and Risk Management
Cyberthreats are increasingly sophisticated. Strategic IT firms deploy and support a layered approach to help identify and mitigate a myriad of potential vulnerabilities, helping to protect your business against security threats.
Budget Optimization
Strategic IT firms can identify the most cost-effective solutions for your business, eliminating wasteful expenditures on unnecessary or inefficient technology. This approach not only saves money but also ensures that every dollar spent supports longer-term IT goals.
More Satisfied and Productive Staff
No one wants to deal with frustrating technology. Ultimately, working with a strategic IT firm will help your staff have confidence they can get help when they need it and keep moving forward.
CRU Solutions has been helping small businesses throughout Northeast Ohio for over 40 years. Contact us to learn more.