Many businesses today deal with IT providers on a patchwork basis. This means instead of having a long-term IT partner that handles most of the technology work, a business contacts an IT provider only when technology fails and needs patchwork. Hiring IT companies for patchwork may seem like a way to save on the costs of having a regular IT provider, but there are several underlying dangers of approaching this method to IT. Instead of cost savings, using IT only for patchwork can lead to system failures, lack of technology integration and large hidden costs.
Dangers of IT patchwork:
Cost: When you only contact technology providers when your systems crash, you will likely have to pay large upfront costs just to get back to normal operations. This is vastly different than having an IT provider because an IT provider will do regular maintenance work to prevent big system failures from occurring.
Lack of technology integration: One of the drawbacks of using IT only for patchwork is the lack of technology integration within a company. This means that your company will only deal with IT providers when there’s a technological failure in the business. An IT provider can help audit your business systems and help recommend and install technology that will improve your operations. Instead of having disparate systems, an IT provider can help you have seamless technology that integrates core business processes like sales, marketing and customer support.
Future patchwork: IT patchwork rarely ever results in a permanent solution. Since the IT patchwork is a response to several underlying issues, your company will have to keep contacting an IT provider for future patchwork unless the core issues are resolved. This cannot be done generally unless you’ve been working with an IT provider that’s familiar with your business’ systems.
Benefits of having an IT partner instead of IT patchwork:
Proactiveness: The largest benefit of having an IT partner for your business is the proactive approach to technology. Instead of waiting for large system failures to occur, a competent IT provider will build and maintain a solid IT infrastructure for the business. This will help prevent major issues in the future and any IT downtime that can result from that.
Cost savings: As counterintuitive as it may sound, you will save significantly more money by working with an IT provider regularly instead of contacting them for patchwork only. This is because when patchwork issues arise, it will cost the company much more to fix in comparison to having minor issues resolved earlier on. Having a routine IT provider can cost a fraction of IT patchwork in the long run.
24/7 expert support: Working with an IT provider means you will have access to 24/7 expert tech support for your business. A managed IT provider in particular will help manage all of your technology needs, so you can focus on your main revenue-generating aspects of your business. You can get the following services for your business by working with a managed service provider:
- Live technicians
- Monitoring and management
- CIO services
- On-site support
To learn more on how you can ditch IT patchwork and get a reliable IT partner, take a free assessment here.
