Budgeting for IT in the Pandemic Aftermath

Before the pandemic, you probably had an annual budget. Perhaps, you also had some growth and revenue projections, and maybe even plans to hire more staff and invest in your IT infrastructure. It hasn’t been that long since March but, as it turned out, it doesn’t take long at all for a global pandemic to disrupt all our plans. In the past months, the planning horizon has shrunk dramatically from twelve months or longer to the upcoming quarter as the best-case scenario.   

What does all of this mean for your IT budget? First of all, this means that it needs to be reassessed, now. 

If your business is among the 88% of organizations that have encouraged or required their employees to telecommute, your IT will need to follow suit. Having an in-house IT specialist still going into the office just to maintain the servers increases risks and provides an unreasonably low ROI. 

An alternative, then, is a solution that is remote work-friendly by design. Coincidentally, this solution will also help you maximize your budget during the upcoming months and possibly years of financial uncertainty by reducing staffing and infrastructure costs. 

This solution is outsourcing your IT with an experienced and committed Managed Service Provider (MSP). 

Let’s take a look at how working with an MSP is different from managing IT in-house, and how it can benefit your budget.

Lower Costs and Price Predictability

Having an IT specialist or team in-house comes with all the accompanying costs of a full-time employee. The value these specialists bring is immense — if they can do their work. But we now live in a world where providing technical support in-person is quickly becoming obsolete, and the outcome from having an in-house IT specialist working from home no longer matches the cost. 

The same stands for owning the servers and other hardware tied to a single location. The maintenance of geographically concentrated systems becomes more of a liability when any one of us may be permanently bound to our quarters at a moment’s notice. 

Fortunately, an MSP offers the entire IT infrastructure, including full-service IT support and maintenance, at a fraction of the cost of a full-time employee. Not only that but the subscription model guarantees confident planning in uncertain times. While trying to keep up with evolving IT needs in-house may feel like sending money down the drain, your IT support bill with an MSP won’t spike uncontrollably in case of ever-increasing cyber-attacks or an urgent need for an equipment upgrade.      

Round-the-Clock Support

With people working from home and many taking on extra work caregiving, the definition of a “workday” has evolved. Instead of the standard 9-5, the working hours now look more like 10-7 or even 6-10 plus 4-8. Does this mean you need to hire extra IT support to work the second and third shifts? Not when you outsource your IT to an MSP. As a part of your contract, you get an IT support team comprised of experts that is available 24/7 to support your and your team’s best work.  

Latest Innovations

AI antivirus? Remote office solution? Proactive security monitoring? When you partner with an MSP, you get instant access to the latest in IT innovations. Experienced IT providers like 3nom don’t rely on cookie-cutter solutions but instead design unique innovative systems to match your business current size and workflow, as well as to adapt to any potential scaling plans.  

Focus on Core Business

During the pandemic, many businesses are playing catch-up. Perhaps you are spending most of your time on business operations and balancing the books against the ever-fluctuating revenue than your actual business. Perhaps, you are confused and frustrated with the mixed signals from the market and not sure where to stir your ship. 

Working with an IT provider like 3nom can take IT headaches off your plate and allow you to focus more on making money and running your business, and less on infrastructure costs. Add to that leveraging the data, improving efficiency through business process automation, and tightening security, and you are ready to welcome more opportunities for your business to scale up and grow.

So, what does budgeting for IT look like in the pandemic aftermath? The smartest business owners will reevaluate their investment in the in-house IT infrastructure and staff, and leverage the opportunity for savings and increased efficiency with a long-term outsourced IT partner. Get in touch with 3nom today to see how much you can save on IT by working with an MSP!