You can’t afford to pay for services your business doesn’t need. But you aren’t the only one who thinks that way. It is a challenge for any business, but IT departments are particularly susceptible due to their unique expertise and the variety of people they work with on a daily basis. Fortunately, there are some red flags that let you know when you aren’t getting everything you should out of your IT department or vendors. Avoiding these pitfalls helps keep your IT costs under control while ensuring that you are paying only for services that directly impact the success of your organization.
Neglecting Security
IT departments or service providers are responsible for the security of your network, data, and employees. Unfortunately, many IT departments neglect security because security is difficult and time consuming. In particular, you should watch out for the following:
- Unencrypted data - This is one of the most common security issues, especially with file sharing. It is critical that your data be encrypted to protect both your data and your employees’ information.
- Lack of network segmentation - This is another common problem with large networks. Network segmentation is the process of dividing a network into segments based on the needs of each segment.
- Ineffective employee training - Employee training is a critical component of any security plan. Employees must know how to identify and avoid potential threats, as well as report any issues they encounter.
- No data attack plan - This is one of those critical but overly complicated and boring topics. The short version is that your organization must have a plan in case of a ransomware attack or critical event.
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Excessive Infrastructure Costs
Businesses today have a large variety of options for hosting their data, applications, and other services. Unfortunately, many have become accustomed to hosting all of their organization’s services internally and have a hard time facing the fact that they no longer need to do that. Excessive hosting costs are one of the most common issues businesses face with their IT. You should keep an eye out for the following:
- Excess hardware - For example, the idea that every employee needs a high-end desktop computer is an IT myth.
- Excessive or unnecessary software licenses - Another example of the “that’s how it’s always been done” mentality.
- Overstaffing - This is especially common in larger organizations.
- Using and paying for cloud services that aren’t actually cloud services - This is one of the biggest issues with hosting. Many businesses are hosting services that they don’t need to.
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Poor Communication
Poor communication is a common problem with IT teams and Outsourced services. It can be a byproduct of the fact that most IT companies have a variety of people working on different aspects of the organization’s technology. For example, you may have an IT person responsible for network maintenance and another person responsible for software implementation. Each person may have a different view of what is happening within your business and its technology because they aren’t talking to each other.
Cloud Services That Aren’t Actually Cloud Services
One of the biggest issues with the cloud is that there are a lot of different services that often get mislabeled as “cloud”.
- You may have an IT provider working on something for you and think you are paying for a cloud service when in reality you are paying for an on-premises solution.
- Excessive server/hosting utilization - You may be hosting too much of your data on servers or using too many servers. This can lead to unnecessary costs if your organization is overutilizing your servers.
Bottom line: You’re paying too much for IT services. #More Communication Is Always Good
A good service partner will have a solid plan for how they will support your organization’s technology. That same company will periodically review that plan to make sure it still accurately reflects your needs. This periodic review should include a communication between members of your organization and your IT service provider. You should be able to ask questions and get feedback from them on how they are supporting your organization.
accelerateIT includes annual technology roadmap consultation with all of our fixed cost packages #Managedservices
Excessive Software Licensing Costs
Software licensing can be a tricky thing. It is likely that your organization is using more software than it really needs. This is
especially true with large organizations. Large organizations are often required to use software licensing that allows them to install software on multiple computers. Such licensing is often overpriced and not necessary for the organization. You should be on the lookout for the following red flags:
- Installing licenses on more computers than necessary
- For example, your organization may need the software installed on five computers. But the software licensing allows for an unlimited number of computers to be installed.
- Choosing software that requires licensing that is not necessary - This is another example of large organizations. Some organizations may require you to install software on each computer that is used to enter data into a database. But there are other options for working with that database.
Summing up
These are just a few of the ways that IT service providers may be overcharging you or over-committing to your organization. The best way to avoid these issues is to be active in your technology. That includes asking questions, pulling reports that show how your organization is using technology, and engaging with your IT company to make sure they are meeting your technology needs. If something seems off, then it probably is. And you should be willing to speak up and make changes when necessary. After all, no one knows your business better than you do.
accelerateIT is a Managed services provider with fixed priced support packages. Our solutions and services include managed services, technical support, cloud services, cyber security solutions, server management and IT infrastructure.