You’ve just launched your startup. How do you ensure your IT support is top-notch?

Embark on startup success by treating IT support as a bespoke suit tailored to your unique needs. Imagine your IT requirements not as checkboxes but as the personalized threads weaving the fabric of your tech infrastructure. Assess your needs not just as a routine but as a dynamic dialogue, envisioning each tech component as a character in your startup narrative. Picture your IT support not just as a service but as the guardian of your digital realm. Dive into this assessment not as a task, but as a conversation, where your role is not just identifying needs but orchestrating a symphony of technology that resonates with the rhythm of your entrepreneurial journey.

Any modern Startup being built today has to be built on a technology first model. So assessing IT needs as either an after thought or as an independent exercise will be detrimental to the Startup's success. It will be more strategic to integrate the technology/IT discussion as you put together the core business value proposition and design your product or service offering from start to end. It is highly likely that the Technological advancement will help shape your offering giving you a late starter advantage giving you a boost in the market by making you faster, cheaper and more innovative than your competitors.

According to me, one should follow these steps: Goals: Know your vision and how tech fuels it. Inventory: Check what you have (computers, software) and how it works. Gaps: Find pain points and explore new tech that helps. Budget: Decide how much you can spend and prioritize needs. Support: Choose in-house, managed, or a mix. All these will help you align with your business strategy.

Keep It Simple! As you start out you may be tempted to create complicated workflows, build your own tools and focus far too much on reinventing the wheel. Somebody else has almost certainly already made what you need to set up a workable team. Using SaaS products will get you started quickly, and free up your time to focus on what makes your company/product/service unique

Understanding your organisation's strategic direction would definitely provide you with boundaries for ensuring the organisational technical capabilities are aligned to support growth for the business.

Each model has its pros and cons. But analyze your budget, expertise, and growth projections to determine which option offers the best balance of control, flexibility, and affordability for your startup. Ultimately, the most important factor is choosing an IT model that supports your business goals and empowers your team to focus on what they do best.

Is IT what delivers the core value of your business? Does it directly contribute to your revenue? Yes: This aspect is likely crucial to figure out early. No: Delegate it to others! Embrace cloud solutions and strive for simplicity. As you launch your business, your primary focus should be on delivering core business value and expanding your operations. In this context, IT should be viewed as a supportive tool rather than the main focus. Avoid overcomplicating things that don't directly contribute to your core business value.

Deciding between in-house IT, outsourced IT, or a hybrid approach is a strategic decision. In-house IT provides direct control and can be tailored closely to your business needs, but it comes with higher costs and resource investment. Outsourcing, on the other hand, can be more cost-effective and allows you to leverage external expertise, but it might offer less control over your IT operations. The hybrid model is often a middle ground, offering a balance of control, cost, and expertise.

Selecting an IT model is a pivotal decision, hinging on the build-versus-outsource dilemma. Building in-house offers control and customization but demands significant investment and maintenance. Alternatively, outsourcing provides flexibility and scalability, albeit requiring trust and effective communication. The choice rests on budget, expertise, and preferences. Striking the right balance aligns the IT model with organizational needs, ensuring optimal efficiency and strategic alignment with business objectives.

En mi experiencia la elección entre un modelo de TI interno o subcontratado depende del presupuesto, la experiencia interna en TI y la necesidad de control y personalización. Un modelo interno requiere mayor inversión y mantenimiento, pero ofrece control total y personalización. La subcontratación reduce costos operativos y es flexible, ideal para empresas que buscan enfocarse en su núcleo de negocio y adaptarse rápidamente a cambios. La decisión también se ve influenciada por la seguridad de los datos, el cumplimiento normativo y la disposición a establecer relaciones a largo plazo con proveedores externos.

In many cases, startups today lean towards cloud-based platforms due to their flexibility, cost-effectiveness, and ease of scalability. However, the decision should align with the specific requirements, priorities, and long-term goals of the startup. Some startups also adopt a hybrid approach, combining on-premises servers with cloud services for optimal performance and flexibility.

The right mix of software and hardware is critical. For startups, cloud-based solutions are often advantageous due to their scalability and lower upfront costs. However, the choice of tools should align with your specific business needs, whether it's data analytics, customer relationship management, or project management. Cybersecurity tools are non-negotiable, given the increasing threats to digital assets.

Today, if you are starting from scratch, there are few compelling reasons to build it yourself. There is an abundance of pre-built tools readily available. In the early stages, it would be much easier to adapt your business process to fit these cloud tools and maintain standardization.

In the rapidly evolving business landscape, the strategic choice of tools is crucial for a startup's success. Incorporating artificial intelligence (AI) and embracing cloud-based solutions is essential in this era. AI tools automate processes and provide valuable insights, enhancing efficiency. Cloud solutions ensure scalability and accessibility, fostering seamless collaboration. Startups not adopting these technologies risk lagging behind, as competitors leverage AI and cloud computing for innovation and efficiency gains.

3 things: Alignment with Business Needs: Choose tools that directly support your startup's core business functions and objectives, as identified through Wardley Maps. Prioritize tools that enhance key activities & processes. Scalability and Adaptability: Opt for IT tools that are scalable and adaptable to your startup’s growth and evolving needs. The tools should be able to expand functionality as your business progresses through different stages of evolution. Cost-Effectiveness and Integration: Select cost-effective tools offering easy integration with existing systems. For startups, maintaining budget discipline while ensuring seamless interoperability is crucial for operational efficiency.

From policy compliance to legal aid facilitation, startups should leave no stone unturned. In an era where data breaches make headlines, startups' proactive approach toward data privacy should not just be a policy; it should be a promise to every stakeholder involved.

Establishing clear IT policies is essential for maintaining security, data integrity, and efficient resource use. This includes robust security policies to safeguard sensitive information and usage policies to ensure responsible use of IT resources. Additionally, disaster recovery and data backup policies are critical to minimize risks of data loss.

Perhaps an unpopular opinion, but i cannot imagine why this would possibly be at the top of the priority list for an early phase startup.

Align Policies with Business Strategy: Develop IT policies that align with your startup's overall business strategy and objectives. Ensure these policies support and facilitate key business processes. Focus on Security and Compliance: Implement robust security policies to protect sensitive data and ensure compliance with relevant regulations. As startups grow, the importance of data security and regulatory adherence becomes critical. Regular Policy Review and Adaptation: Continuously review and update IT policies to adapt to changing business needs, technological advancements, and new threats. Use insights from Wardley Maps to anticipate changes in the technological landscape and adjust policies accordingly.

From startup perspective when service is purchased some policies are already proposed. On top I would apply general data and communication policies as well as I would agree business continuity. Deep-dive to backups, monitoring etc. Quality assurance for IE chemistry startup might use IT as tool but will be rather regulated and supported completely different ways than e-shop.

Train IT support staff in a startup by assessing skill gaps, and implementing a comprehensive plan covering technical tools, IT policies, and customer service. Offer hands-on troubleshooting sessions, emphasizing continuous learning and cross-training. Ensure a customer-centric approach with effective communication skills etc. This proactive and multifaceted training approach ensures a competent and adaptable IT support team.

In the dynamic field of IT, continuous learning is vital. For a startup, having an IT team that's not only technically proficient but also adaptable and equipped with good problem-solving and communication skills is invaluable. Cross-training can be particularly beneficial in a startup, where IT roles may need to be more fluid and versatile.

Using your devs for tech and customer support seem to be a cheap option, but your engineering team will be constantly distracted from their main responsibilities. Always consider a dedicated support team formed from dedicated team of relatively cheap support engineers. It's very important for startups where founders always are trying to save money. But there is thing more that is more important than money. it's time. Founders should not steel time from engineering tech which is creating main value for customers.

Top tip number one: Install a versatile ticketing system. Do not manage tasks in a team mailbox or thelike. A ticketing system will allow you to organize, trace and document our IT tasks (and actually all of your companies' tasks). Start simple, learn the taxonomy of your organization and adapt. Depending on the maturity, the level of knowledge of your IT staff will change over time. When hiring, think already about the future, because the profile of a person that manages external service providers is different from the one that actually can fix things herself. Make sure that your IT people not only understand what the mission and value of your company is, but listen to them as well - they know a lot about how you run.

Align Training with Business Goals: Ensure IT staff training aligns with your startup’s strategic objectives and current position on the Wardley Map, focusing on skills that directly support business needs and growth. Emphasize Agility and Adaptability: Train IT staff to be agile and adaptable, capable of responding to the evolving technological landscape and business requirements as depicted in Wardley Maps. Continuous Learning and Development: Encourage continuous learning and upskilling in emerging technologies and best practices. This not only aligns with the shifting elements on Wardley Maps but also prepares your team for future challenges and opportunities.

Reviewing IT support metrics and KPIs plays a vital role in the growth of the support organization. The key indicators like Volume, MTR, Number of Incidents will help identify trends and patterns that could help reduce recurring issues and overall operational costs. Without a proper feedback loop, the support teams will have no room to grow and improve.

And the feedback loop should be in a timely manner to encourage ongoing improvement. A simple process will bring up your IT support team can provide timely support and receive instant feedbacks from users. There should be a reward system in place to inspire best practices to be shared among the team

Motivate customers with rewards to enhance engagement and refine your support system, fostering a dynamic and customer-centric approach. This strategy not only boosts satisfaction but also propels your startup into a realm of continuous improvement and customer loyalty.

In my experience, the first thing to pursue is the right balance between cost optimisation and alignment with business strategy. It is also important to realise that the goals of the first period of a start-up will not be the same as those of the full-scale company. The choices of technologies, applications, architecture and people must constantly answer the question "How can IT contribute concretely to the success of my company?"

Having the luxury to build IT structure along with growing start up is a luxury in today's world, breaking the legacy walls of IT and blending to a fusion team along with core functions is key to scale and contain the divide of internal vs external services. With Cloud and SaaS solutions available in all forms and shapes, key to be in synch with your own org's growth plan, ability to switch plans when business dynamics changes, ability to have dual strategy to have both cost containment and scale will be a winner.

Plan Do Check Act with short feedback loops are even more critical with Start ups. Staying updated on emerging technology trends is important to address any issues that may need to be resolved.

Ensure top-notch IT support in your startup by assembling a skilled team, establishing clear processes, providing user training, and implementing a robust ticketing system. Set up proactive monitoring, maintain comprehensive documentation, offer multiple communication channels, and define clear SLAs. Keep the team updated through regular training, establish a feedback mechanism, plan for scalability, prioritize cybersecurity, and communicate an emergency response plan. Implement collaboration tools, conduct regular audits, and enhance performance for overall success.

If you are IT working for a Startup...RUN! RUN! RUN AWAY! Seriously... If you are IT supporting a Startup - you need to Google what "Startup" accually means. Then set bounderies and set expectations with Management. ... Then you have to decide how much you are willing to deviate with IT once it becomes clear that IT under a Startup is 1000% unpredictable Its rough. But if you can stick it out and dig in and get through tough periods while pushing IT nest growing... you might have a lot of fun. And learn things you CANNOT learn a ny other way than in the Startup frying pan.