What Should Your Long-Term Goals Be For IT Playing A Role In Your Business Growth?

What Should Your Long-Term Goals Be For IT Playing A Role In Your Business Growth?

Royal Network IT Solutions

In the past, IT played a supporting role in the business world. Many companies considered their IT department as the folks who kept the cables plugged in and the internet connected. They were called when someone couldn’t log in to their email, when their computer got a virus, or when the conference room projector wasn’t behaving with someone’s laptop for a presentation. The IT “guys” would head down the hall to fix the problem. 

Now, as business technology has become much more complicated, an IT department handles more than simple support. Not only is an IT staff essential to keep all aspects of a company’s tech up and running, but this same staff is also fundamental to the operational and growth goals for many businesses. Whether you’re a SMB or multinational corporation, having your IT where it needs to be can determine your success as a business. 

When you consider long term goals for your IT department (or any IT partners such as managed IT services or IT consultants), there are several areas of business operations that are directly impacted. In order to be successful in these areas, businesses should center their long-term IT goals around these major areas of business. 

Communication 

In a digital world, a company’s network has become invaluable for all types of communication. While it might seem like a fundamental piece of a company’s technology, it’s something that is often overlooked in the big picture. A business should aim for cutting edge, flawless communication and collaboration tools to speed up internal and external business processes. 

Whether it’s communicating with important stakeholders in the company, meeting virtually via essential software,  team collaborating using collaboration software, or customers reaching customer service in call centers across the world, each company stakeholder’s experience is important. Each should feel connected and satisfied by the company’s network and software. Successful communication is vital to a company’s reputation and success. 

If you don’t have the personnel to manage flawless communication, managed IT support helps with 24/7 support and by monitoring high traffic or “problem areas.” You can also ask your managed IT services provider to monitor and find ways to make sure communication and collaboration is as effective as possible. 

Time to market & business processes

Regardless of the industry, effectiveness and efficiency in product development and business processes are critical parts of business operations in which IT plays a big part. Team leaders go through key metrics– demand, raw materials, production formulas, quality assurance– searching for areas to improve. IT experts can speed up this process and make it more efficient. In addition to the team collaboration software mentioned above, enterprise resource planning (ERP) software, design software, market intelligence software, manufacturing software, each have revolutionized efficiency, creating time to market and business processes. 

Your IT department should consistently be determining the best technology to push your business objectives forward, of course. However, this kind of analysis can be tough for in-house IT staff. Taking the time to manage the day-to-day issues while also looking for areas to innovate and move the company forward can be overwhelming for a small in-house IT staff. Managed IT services can recommend, implement, and integrate software that will change your business’ time to market and business processes drastically. 

Cutting costs 

Having the best IT in the game leads to more efficiency and lower costs. Physical on-site servers and expensive monitors as well as all the physical hardware might not be necessary for your business. Often migrating to cloud-based services or smarter IT device management practices can cut costs and even increase capabilities for employees. IT can also help find areas to cut operational costs. By using software or correctly monitoring data that’s already available, you can:

  • find where unnecessary spending is occurring, 
  • discover which applications deliver the most and least business value, 
  • figure out the cost of staff throughout the company and each department to let go or hire efficiently, and
  • ensure that you’re getting the most out of any vendor or business partner by reviewing the services offered by each.

In areas of reviewing and cutting costs, IT plays a significant role. Employing full-service managed IT services or à la carte managed IT support to handle these tasks is the most effective way to do so, as a third-party software expert will deliver objective ways to reduce costs and improve efficiency. Having managed IT services results in more predictable IT budgets without the costs of unsupported IT drama and downtime. 

Honorable mentions 

There are so many ways that IT makes business growth possible. In general, a long-term goal for your IT should be that it is playing a role in every major business growth objective, and that its role is tangible and identifiable. Some of the long-term IT goals you might also include are: 

  • to place foolproof, extensive risk mitigation teams and plans, 
  • to create confidence that leads to autonomy for employees and any other stakeholder in troubleshooting IT problems, and 
  • to build the ability for extensive outsourcing and telecommuting.

For many companies, the only way to make many of these long-term goals a reality is by enlisting the help of managed IT services. Having managed IT support allows for managing the day-to-day issues such as 24/7 support, security, and monitoring while also leaving room to innovate. Managed IT services can either allow your in-house IT team to take on new projects or take on some of the business efficiency boosting or cost-cutting measures discussed above, or to take on all technology management at once. Having the most competitive technology in your industry is important for businesses that want to continue to grow. 

Call us 

Our professionals at Royal Network IT Solutions, Inc. have over 50 years of experience providing technical support to businesses in the Tustin and Eastvale areas of California. As technology has evolved and challenged a company’s need for technology support, we have expanded our ability to provide a range of managed IT services to our clients. We can turn your IT status quo into a real driver for business growth.

If you’re considering hiring a managed service provider, we can discuss what services might work the best for you. Call or email us today for a consultation at (949) 236-7700 or services@rnitsolutions.com.

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