By Erika Chitty | Submitted On July 18, 2014
It’s not just large businesses that need to develop an effective and comprehensive IT strategy. For SMEs, having the right software and support in place can improve operations and provide a distinct edge in today’s competitive markets.
Calculating the cost of new technology and working out IT budgets can often be difficult when there is no specialist IT advisor on the payroll. Start-ups may not have IT provision at the top of their list while they try to make their core business work and more mature organisations might have ingrained habits that mean the they don’t explore new avenues of IT management and support.
Planning Your IT Budget over the Next 5 Years
It pays to think ahead particularly when you are developing your IT strategy. Skimping on the costs and downgrading your budget in the short term may seem like a good idea but it could be doing more harm than good to your business in the long run.
Particularly if you are now looking to grow your business, you need to align your IT provision with your future goals and, without a qualified professional to lean on, that can often be a daunting process.
You will need to develop a strategy for systems maintenance and support as well as decide what new technology you are going to introduce to help with your expansion strategy.
Cloud Vs Server Technology
Many businesses are starting to move away from expensive and labour intensive in-house hardware to cloud based servers. Particularly for small to medium size businesses it has a number of advantages:
- It incorporates more flexibility with lower running costs.
- It can grow as your business grows.
- Contracts are often shorter.
- You can access your data on the move on laptops, mobiles and PCs.
- It comes with inbuilt security that you can be confident will protect you.
Buying a new server or replacing an old one might seem like a more cost effective way of updating your IT infrastructure but, particularly in the long run, cloud technology will offer you a greater degree of flexibility.
More Businesses are Outsourcing
It’s all very well to employ an IT planning specialist in-house and have your server on site, but it is a costly way of running this aspect of your business. Outsourcing has a number of advantages for small businesses, the main one being that you can access affordable high level expertise that is tailor-made to your needs.
A virtual IT director can help you manage your IT infrastructure more effectively, developing a coherent and meaningful long term plan that takes into account how you want to grow your business whilst also providing a secure environment to operate in.
With M2 Computing’s Virtual IT Director you will have access to a range of experts who can identify the right solutions for your business and help you develop for the future. For further information please visit http://www.m2computing.co.uk/
I am Erika Chitty. I work for M2Computing in Operations & Sales support. M2 Computing is the best IT support service provider in South East, United Kingdom. For further information please visit http://www.m2computing.co.uk/