Why Are Small IT Companies Not Well-Equipped?

If there's one thing we've learned about IT in our 13 years of serving Chicagoland businesses—IT is the most crucial investment for any modern-day organization. A single cyber incident can bring your company to its knees in a matter of days. Therefore, every business must strive to have the best IT services possible.

Many IT companies are ill-equipped to provide the best services possible. So, are you sure your IT support company gives you the best services possible? Can they mitigate today's complex cyber threats? Can they meet your support needs? This article tries to unravel these and several other related questions.

Some IT Companies Are Ill-Equipped | LeadingIT Episode 068?

Why Some Small IT Companies May Not Be Well-Equipped

Setting up a managed IT services company can be expensive. Small IT shops may not have the financial muscle to fund such an undertaking. Here's why several are ill-equipped:

IT Support Can Be Expensive

Most people opt for outsourced IT support services because of the cost factor. Outsourcing is often cheaper than handling everything internally. What you may not understand is that you're simply transferring the hefty expenditures to the external service provider. While the assumption is that the cybersecurity companies get some relief from an economy of scale, you cannot overlook the financial burden they have to shoulder:

• Hiring salaried IT staff: According to statistics from Indeed, IT specialists and managers take home approximately $56,630 and $86 632 per year, respectively. Typical small IT companies have a couple of managers and three specialists. The salaries alone are enough to stifle any startup service provider by any standard. That explains why most small IT shops prefer having just a couple of specialists and one manager, to the detriment of your company.
• Acquiring the specialized tools: Cybersecurity companies must buy and deploy various software and hardware. These tools may become obsolete with time, requiring continuous updates and replacements. A small IT company may not have enough capital to acquire all the necessary software and hardware, let alone update them.

IT is Continually Changing

IT support is all about managing technology. And as you know, technology is dynamic; it continually evolves, and new updates emerge by the day. Therefore, an IT solution that may have been perfect yesterday might just be useless today.

With each change comes the need to acquire new equipment or update existing ones. And as we've repeatedly said, these tools can be pretty expensive. Small IT companies may not afford them, let alone retain their staff to stay abreast with emerging trends. Therefore, they may sometimes use old techniques to respond to new threats, a perfect recipe for catastrophe. Or, worse still, they may adopt a reactive approach where they only respond to glitches after they happen.

IT Support Companies Need to Do More to Protect Against Growing Cyber Threats?

Some years ago, all one needed to start an IT support company was a telephone system, a proper microphone, and a couple of IT specialists. Service providers were primarily consultants who only came in to solve glitches or advise businesses on implementing new technologies. It was that simple. That's why we saw several IT shops mushrooming almost everywhere.

Fast-forward to today; a managed IT services provider is more than a consultant. With cybercrime becoming more complex and severe each day, the break-fix approach is no longer applicable. Cybersecurity companies must now implement more proactive, security-focused layers for their customers. They must deploy intrusion detection and prevention technologies, monitor systems 24/7, develop response protocols, provide round-the-clock customer support, and the list is endless.

This may require heavy investment. Typical small IT companies may not have that much money. Therefore, we're seeing a positive trend of mergers and acquisitions where small IT shops come together or work with bigger establishments to pool resources. Mergers and acquisitions are good news for you (the client) as well as the service providers themselves. The IT companies will have enough resources to deliver high-quality solutions. And the better the services they provide, the safer you are from breaches and hacks.

Tips to Help You Identify a Well-Equipped IT Support Company

Here are a few tips for identifying a well-equipped IT services provider:

• Enough, experienced personnel: There's no standard guideline on the number of IT staff a cybersecurity company should have. However, anything below ten is not enough. A well-equipped service provider should have between 15 to 40 employees depending on their client base.
• Timely response to your support tickets on time: If the service provider does not resolve your issues on time, the chances are that they're short of personnel. The delay could also be because they do not have the expertise. So, they must buy time as they seek answers.
• Offer proactive solutions: A well-equipped service provider does not wait for breakdowns to occur. They use their resources to proactively project and avert potential glitches.
• Keep up with emerging trends: You might also want to ask the IT company how often they update their software and hardware. Having the right equipment is not enough; you should also ensure they’re up-to-date.

LeadingIT offers 24/7, all-inclusive, fast, and friendly technology and cybersecurity support for nonprofits, manufacturers, schools, accounting firms, religious organizations, government, and law offices with 10-200 employees across the Chicagoland area.