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Handling IT-related tasks can be complex and challenging, especially if you don’t have the right resources or expertise. Streamlined IT operations are vital to avoiding issues like reduced productivity, loss of capital and less trust in your business.
Small- to medium-sized businesses can benefit from hiring IT consultancy services if they don’t have the right team in-house. If you’re unsure whether it's time to invest in these solutions, consider these telltale signs and how the right partner can enhance your operations.
Does Your Business Need IT Consultancy?
Assessing your current issues and your long-term goals will help you determine if your business needs an IT consultant. The following are indications that your company will benefit from these services.
1. Recurring IT Issues Are Impacting Productivity
The technology you use is essential to the productivity of your company. This, in turn, affects customer satisfaction and your business reputation, depending on how efficient and reliable your services are. If you consistently encounter problems with your hardware, software or IT-related operations, then it may be time to hire experts who can help you find the root causes and implement new and updated solutions.
These hiccups can also affect your long-term goals. If you’re failing to meet your quarterly, annual or five-year goals, there is likely something amiss with your systems. Watch out for a growing number of unresolved IT tickets, project delays due to inefficiency and staff constantly trying to put out fires on the back end. With an IT consultant, you can get 24/7 support, perform regular and proactive maintenance, and allow your team to smoothly perform their work.
What’s more, business continuity plans allow your business to continue performing critical operations even when incidents occur. For instance, you could experience a power outage, a natural disaster or a cyberattack incident. The ISO 22301 is the international standard regarding Business Continuity Management Systems (BCMS). Hiring an IT consultant can help you navigate these standards, successfully implement them, and avoid further disruptions to your team’s productivity.
2. You’re Handling Sensitive Data From Clients and Customers
Cybercrime incidents, like online fraud, have increased over the past few years, especially in the United States. From 467,000 cases in 2019 to 880,000 in 2023, it’s only getting more vital to protect the sensitive data your company handles.
Whether it’s the data of your own company, your clients or customers, these can be susceptible to cyber attacks if you don’t take proper precautions. Data breaches are the most obvious signs you need the service. However, it’s also best to be proactive in protecting your data even before a cyberattack occurs.
Robust IT security strategies will help prevent these problems. An IT consultant can assess your current security levels and offer recommendations to improve them. With an external team, you may also get 24/7 threat monitoring services and regular security updates.
3. IT Issues Are Affecting Your Bottom Line
Whether it’s through the loss of productivity, cyberattacks or too much time allotted to patching up IT problems, negative impacts to your bottom line can be a sign that you need an updated IT solution. From 2019 to 2023, financial losses due to cyberattacks have risen from $3.5 billion to $12.5 billion. Meanwhile, a loss of productivity due to IT issues was estimated to have cost $2.5 billion in 2023.
Network downtime and system failures also contribute to the problem. Instead of your employees performing fulfilling tasks, they end up stalled due to issues that could have been prevented with a solid IT infrastructure. To avoid having these unexpected hiccups, you can opt for IT consulting services.
IT services can offer a more predictable monthly budget, as they can prevent issues with the regular maintenance and monitoring they provide. IT consultants can also offer suitable suggestions for any software or hardware changes you might need to prevent the recurrence of certain issues.
4. Your Business Is Outgrowing Your IT Systems
Your business might be outgrowing its original infrastructure. If your small or midsized business is scaling, IT-related changes can accommodate your growing needs.
Experienced IT consultants can design a strategy based on your business goals, whether you’re aiming to improve your customer experience, increase your revenue or integrate new systems.
You may also be dealing with outdated infrastructure, which can be slow and frustrating to handle. If your employees are constantly dealing with system crashes, are worried about backups or often fail to sync data across your systems, then it may be time to try IT consulting services. Consultants can recommend the ideal setup based on your system’s weak points. They can also unify your data management across different platforms and offer regular backups.
If you want to transition from a legacy system to a more modern cloud solution, IT services can help with that, too. This data migration would need careful planning and consideration to ensure your data does not become fragmented, corrupted or inaccessible.
5. Your IT Systems Are Currently Not Compliant With Relevant Regulations
Your specific industry and work location may have IT-related regulations and standards. Failure to comply can result in fines or lawsuits, in addition to the reputational damage your business can suffer. IT consultants will have sufficient knowledge of these standards to help you ensure compliance.
For instance, if you’re a business in the e-commerce industry, you may need to meet the regulations for storing, processing and transmitting your customers’ payment information. In the health care industry, you’ll be expected to follow the legal guidelines that protect the confidentiality of your patients’ information.
6. You Want to Be on Top of the Latest Technology
You might not always need the latest and greatest technology. However, you may also understand the benefits of keeping your company up to date and its effect on your efficiency.
Because technology is always evolving, an IT consultant can help you understand what new opportunities are available. You may look into artificial intelligence, cloud computing or data analytics. An IT consultant can explain how you can leverage these technologies for your business.
7. You Need the Right Staff With Specialized Skills
If you’re a small- or medium-sized business, you might not have sufficient resources to hire, train or retain qualified IT personnel. IT consultants can fill that gap and ensure that you still get the support and proactive approach you need to maintain and improve your company’s systems. For instance, IT consultants can assist in the deployment of new cloud solutions, automate and optimize your workflow through API integrations or implement AI solutions like Microsoft Copilot to improve your processes.
Instead of having to train your team in-house for every new technology you plan to adopt, it can be more cost-effective to hire an IT consulting service that already has the expertise.
Take the Next Step With iuvo
When your business needs IT consultancy, you can rely on iuvo to help you implement the right services. Whether you’re looking to reduce IT-related costs, increase your security or accelerate your business's growth, our experienced consultants can develop a plan that delivers specific, measurable results.
Additionally, you might be looking to migrate your data, strategize for business continuity or adopt new cloud or SaaS solutions. We have over two decades of experience under our belt, and you can count on our dedicated team to help you achieve your business goals. Get a free IT assessment today to get started!
