As you explore the process of managing the IT and technology inside your business, you might wonder what IT can do for your business success. You may have other questions come up in the process.

Questions like:

1. What is my IT and technology (or lack thereof) really costing me?
2. Should my IT be a full-time investment or should it be outsourced?
3. What are the ramifications of good and bad technology decisions?
4. If some sort of technology issue arises, what could that potentially cost me?
5. Am I prepared for things like Cybersecurity attacks, data breaches, and future-proofing our hardware and software?

Let’s consider why your technology is important, and what your IT and technology vendor could be costing you.

#1. Financial loss

One of the most important aspects of the technology inside your business is the financial part of it. With poor IT and technology decisions comes the negative effects on your wallet and budget.

Using technology that doesn’t work to accomplish your objectives will be directly reflected in unnecessary expense which means zero return on your investment, which means it’s a loss. IT and technology is far from becoming an asset, but it is a resource that should generate an ROI by helping you become more efficient and grow. The goal is to leverage your IT to make gains and be profitable in the long term.

#2. Increase technical support costs

When employee’s (end users) struggle with technology, what do they do to solve these?

• Are they unproductive for a short period of time?
• Can they remain productive and continue adding value to your bottom line?
• Or when technology issues arise, do things tend to come to a standstill?
• What if your CRM is down and you can’t bill or generate sales activity?
• And if so, what are these tech support issues costing you?

Technology that isn’t aligned with your company goals could be costing you tens of thousands of dollars per hour. You’ll want to know what it’s costing you, is your internal technology team efficient, and should you outsource to decrease costs. We want you to be efficient with your IT support costs, not a bloated expense that’s only increasing.

#3. Non-compliance

Something else to consider is what being non-compliant could cost you, especially if you’re in a regulated industry like a CPA firm or healthcare, as an example.

Does your part time IT vendor ensure your compliant with your different industry standards? If you work in healthcare, are you fully HIPAA compliant? If you work in insurance or financial services, you will want to know beyond a shadow of a doubt that you’re 100% compliant with your IT and technology. Ideally, you want to avoid suffering paying a potential fine, and experiencing damage to your reputation should something bad happen. Compliance is a big deal, so make sure whoever manages this is up to date.

#4. Reputation damage

Imagine a world where your IT doesn’t function like it should and you have some sort of data breach or loss in customer information, which in turn impacts your brand and reputation.

If this happens, do you have a backup plan or Business Disaster Recovery plan to ensure your business is safe and can recover? If your IT vendor isn’t talking with you about these points, then they should. Don’t let your reputation lie in the hands of someone who’s not going to care for it.