Sports can teach us a lot about how we manage our technology.
A winning team relies on a coach. All players perform their best at their positions, but they’re following plays that a coach has given them. The coach’s role is to substitute, manage the game and make sure the right people are on the field at the correct time.
Why should technology be any different? For your business to thrive (or win), your technology should be led by a team of experts who know how to leverage technology to accomplish your desired business outcomes.
Today’s technology threats and options require a team. And a team needs a coach. Are you partnered with a #WorldClassIT firm that understands your business goals and leverages their expertise to be your technology coach?
This month’s feature focuses on the many options you have when choosing your IT partner. Should you choose the largest? How about a smaller, “hungrier” one? Our belief is that you need one that aligns the best with your desired objectives and leverages a team, technology stack and approach that measures success on how best you meet those goals.
Some critical questions you must be able to answer about your technology are:
- Can I restore quickly from a crisis? Am I SURE?
- Do I fully recognize every risk that I have in my environment? If not, how do I start?
- How am I automating my processes and am I focusing on driving my business’s efficiency through technology?
- Am I wasting resources in any way?
- How secure am I?
- Am I using the best of the best technology?
These are questions that your technology coach should be able to answer with ease. They should be focused proactively on managing these items and working with your team to accomplish goals and objectives while removing obstacles that technology (or lack of it) may present.
A coach knows their role is to win, but to make the players look great. Their entire purpose is to setup their players to excel. #YourITCoach should be the same way – their entire focus should be for your business to thrive and win while being behind the scenes providing you with the tools to accomplish those goals.
Here are some of the most compelling reasons to outsource all or some of your IT operations:
- Reduced Labor Costs
- Enhanced Security
- Freedom to focus on where you need to the most
- Scalability
- Expertise
- Automation and Efficiency in a 24x7x365 approach
Prior to us living in an “ever connected world”, it was a much simpler, closed environment where a single IT person could oversee it all. Alas, that is no longer the case so it’s essential that all businesses – regardless of size – have a technology coach working closely with them to manage their needs and risks.
It’s hard to pinpoint the number, but there are likely around 50,000 Managed Service Providers (MSPs) in the US. How can you possibly choose from that list to find the one that will accomplish all your goals? I’d start with those that have “added the second S” (Managed Security Service Providers – MSSPs) as part of their DNA. Cybersecurity is simply a non-negotiable today.
Partnering with the best technology firm sets you up to accomplish your goals and keeps you on the winning path.
