Internal IT teams are working behind the scenes to ensure business operations remain efficient, seamless, and protected. They support every area of the business – from setting up new users or decommissioning outgoing employees, to installing software patches, managing backups, training employees, troubleshooting issues, and so much more. It’s a role these professionals are highly trained to manage, but the pressure to remain “always on” in support of the business can take its toll.
Time or resource constraints
Perhaps the most obvious impact of the pressure or burden placed on IT teams in growth-stage companies is their reduced bandwidth over time – especially if the organization has inadvertently underinvested in their IT support.
Daniel Leslie of Bennie Health recently echoed this sentiment with Forbes, stating “Due to their limited resources and fast growth, early-stage tech startups typically underinvest in IT support and operations, which has a negative impact on employee satisfaction, security and sales. Hiring experienced, forward-thinking IT leadership early on can reduce your security and privacy risk, help you continuously improve internal workflows and tech, and increase investors’ and customers’ confidence.”
Ensuring your team has the right level of IT support is essential to your business success and reputation. But it’s not just about investing in additional headcount, which could be cost prohibitive for some organizations; expanding your IT support team with an MSP like GainSide is another great option. With external IT support, you’ll not only multiply your support resources to meet the evolving and scaling needs of the organization, you’ll have the added bonus of an IT support team that is never sick or in need of a vacation.
Increased complexity with hybrid or remote work environments
In 2020, IT teams were faced with a big task – convert their in-office infrastructures to support a remote workforce, and fast. Since then, many organizations have remained remote or have adopted a hybrid approach. In fact, recent research suggests that 91% of companies embrace a hybrid working environment with 30% of employees work from home for at least three days a week.
Although remote and hybrid working environments are beneficial for many working adults, there are undoubted challenges as well. “Protecting the end point (laptop, phone, etc.) has never been more critical. This means that IT teams have an elevated role to play in a hybrid/remote environment,” shared Adrian Dunne, VP of IT and workplace operations at NextRoll. As IT teams work toward a more secure environment that extends well beyond the four walls of a traditional office environment, they are often met with new challenges and vulnerabilities, particularly around security. New vulnerabilities may be introduced as employees connect to business systems and networks via public or personal networks. These vulnerabilities may include:
- Weak or reused passwords
- Outdated software or systems
- Insufficient access controls
- Phishing or social engineering attempts
- Security issues with virtual private networks (VPNs)
- Third-party vendor access
From a purely operational perspective, remote and hybrid work environments can pose difficulties for IT teams to troubleshoot computer or system issues – both from a technical and collaborative perspective. In an office environment, IT support is able to personally visit an employee’s desk to discuss and address any impending issues. When working remotely, those visits require additional system technology and heightened customer service attention to calm any frustrations and resolve the issue quickly.
Hybrid and remote environments are likely here to stay, which means their added complexity and time/resource requirements are here to stay as well.
Expand your IT team without adding headcount or overhead
Whether in-person, hybrid, or remote, many IT teams are feeling the pressure and experiencing increased burden to support the technology and IT support needs of their growing companies. If spread too thin, these teams may experience:
- Increased stress or burnout
- Decreased productivity
- Lower job satisfaction
- Decreased quality outputs
- Missed security vulnerabilities, leading to increased risk
- Higher turnover
Adding another IT professional to the internal team is not the only option to resolve this issue. By engaging with an MSP – like GainSide – for IT support, you’ll gain a valuable extension to your team without the costly overhead, recruitment, or headcount expenses you’d find by adding an FTE. The result is a more effective internal AND external IT support that your employees and customers can count on.
Whether in-person, hybrid, or remote, the demands on IT teams today have steadily increased. To ensure your business systems remain not only available, but also secure and easily accessible, it’s important to consider the support you give to your own IT support. GainSide can help. Let us be the extension of your IT support team. Reach out to one of our team members today to learn more.
