Things Your Mother Never Told You About It

By Author: Morris Kim
Total Articles: 105
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So, your business is successful. You are making deals. Your IT infrastructure needs are beginning to blossom. You have hired your first sales rep, and they are going to town. Office space is necessary, so you lease a small office, and business continues to boom. Your customer relationship management is relegated to an Access Database you manage after the day is done.
Suddenly, you hire two more sales reps, and you have to consider adding networking equipment to link your computers together and connect them to the CRM so you can track sales and continue to grow. You tell yourself, "How hard can this networking PC's thing be? I have done it at home." Yet, your focus is growing your business, so you consider your IT management options: (1) hire a Full-Time Equivalent (FTE), which fully laden (health care, dental, etc.) in the tech world comes out to about $120,000 annually; (2) Surf Craigslist hoping to find a contract IT person; or (3) continue to do it yourself as you figure no one knows your business IT needs like you do. These are things your mother never told you about IT!
Business continues to grow, so you succumb ...
... to hiring a full-time IT manager, and they know this computer stuff right? Hmmm, pretty soon you see requisitions for new servers, routers, switches, HP parts, networking equipment, firewalls - and oh BTW, that doesn't include software or the training required to install and manage these new toys that will make your business faster, stronger, and more connected.
Business dips a little, while your hardware and software spending seems to increase, but you do not perceive the value for your IT dollar spend.
Subsequently you deny requests for additional hardware, and software much to the consternation of your IT manager. Coincidentally, your CRM begins to falter, and you get the "I told you so" from your IT manager. You think back to the good 'ol days when you did all the IT yourself, how it worked, and you only had yourself to ask if something didn't work.
During ensuing application maelstrom, your IT manager is hired away by a larger company, and you find yourself in a dilemma. Do you run your business or manage your robust IT infrastructure? You revisit your IT management options above; and again, none of these seem viable. You need to focus on your business. What do you do? These are things your mother never told you about IT!
You recall hearing about managed IT services at a conference in Las Vegas, but you don't know how it will help. Perhaps you should consider the notion of letting an experienced managed IT services company help you through your short duration IT problems.
So, how does this work?
Many reputable server, storage, and networking equipment companies offer a free network infrastructure assessment that includes a comprehensive look at both the business needs and the interface, interrelationship with Information Technology within your organization. They can make recommendations on enhancing existing infrastructure without significant hardware or software investments for a fraction of the cost of doing it yourself or hiring a full-time staff member.
Companies like this can help you with those things - things your mother never told you about IT!




Brandon Kasper is the author of this article and an expert on networking equipment and HP parts.