Are You Ready For an IT Consultant? Here’s 4 Ways to Tell If You’re In Over Your Head!

IT is an increasingly complex business function, but many businesses still hesitate to bring in outside help. They’re willing to tackle IT projects themselves, to the detriment of themselves and their businesses.

If you’re considering bringing in an IT consultant, here are four simple ways to tell whether or not you’re in over your head:

Your IT Budget is Spiraling Out of Control

Most businesses don’t considering paying for a consultant when the budget is tight, but it actually makes a lot of sense. An IT consultant will be able to help you organize and analyze your IT department. They’ll quickly find any inefficiencies or problems that are costing your organization money.

Beyond that, they’ll be able to help you plan your carefully controlled budget. Unless you’re an IT expert, you’ll have problems knowing exactly where you can cut costs and where you can’t. An expert IT consultant will find ways to save money without sacrificing performance. The upfront fee might stretch your budget, but it’s well worth it in the long-term.

There’s No Disaster Recovery Plan

Business continuity is one of the most important parts of an IT department’s strategy. You need to make sure that your systems are running and that your employees always have access to the information they need. Despite this, only 54% of companies with less than 500 employees surveyed have a DR plan.

Disaster recovery is vital to ensure that your business is completely protected. Networks and systems are more complicated than ever. They’re vulnerable to cyber threats, employee mistakes, and natural disasters. These disasters are expensive and timely to recover from, and without a proper recovery plan in place they’re even tougher to manage.

When a catastrophe strikes, you need to be ready to react. An IT consultant will be able to help you develop your disaster recovery plan and make sure your employees are properly trained to handle emergencies.

IT Has Become Stale

Technology can provide many competitive advantages to an organization willing to implement the right solutions. You can improve the efficiency of your employees, start using metrics to better serve your clients, and help bridge the gap between employees working remotely or in different offices.

Sadly, many businesses allow their IT to become stale. They only look for new equipment or processes when something is no longer functioning. IT is viewed as more of a cost of doing business than a potential competitive advantage.

If that sounds like your business, it’s time to get a fresh perspective. Your IT consultant will help you review and analyze your existing processes, finding ways that IT can improve them and make them more efficient. Their objective opinion will be the key to transforming your IT infrastructure and improving your entire organization.

Your Security Plan Isn’t Written Down or Doesn’t Exist

As more businesses experience breaches, security has become a focus for many companies. Considering that the average cost of an enterprise security breach is almost $4 million, it isn’t surprising that many of the largest organizations in the world are taking their security plans very seriously.

Even if you aren’t an international behemoth, security still needs to be a top priority. Small and medium-sized businesses are easy targets for threats and the costs can still be significant. You have to spend time and money fixing the breach, resolving the issue, and placating affected customers. The loss in goodwill alone could leave your business in jeopardy.

Unfortunately, you can’t ensure your business is secure unless you actually have a detailed security plan in place. That means that it’s written down and your employees are carefully trained on it. An IT consultant will be able to help you strategize your security plan, write it down, and then implement it throughout your organization. The money you save on future security issues will be well worth the effort.

If your company is considering bringing in an IT consultant, make sure to reach out to us here at Envision Consulting. We’ll be able to work alongside you to improve your IT department, saving your company time and money.