Six Signs You’ve Outgrown your IT Team
Companies have become so reliant on their IT teams that it’s crucial to have the right people on the team. However, every organization reaches a point where it becomes necessary to update and expand the internal team. Here are six signs that indicate whether a business has outgrown its IT team.
Training team members takes too much time
Onboarding new employees is an investment for every team. New hires typically require a large demand of initial training time without producing significant results or contributions for several weeks or months, depending on the position.
Training and retaining existing team members also involve several challenges and costs. Training on management platforms, completing employee certifications and workshops, and providing tuition reimbursement are all expensive options to help employees grow their skills in a constantly evolving technological landscape.
However, the risk of an employee leaving the team cannot be overlooked. Training all employees becomes a sunk cost when they cannot commit to the organization long term. Especially for organizations with high IT turnover, it might be worthwhile to consider additional options.
IT expenses are blowing the budget
Maintaining an internal IT team can be cheaper than outsourcing for some organizations. For many others, some degree of outsourcing will usually be more cost effective. External service management providers deliver similar professional experience at a fraction of the cost, in many circumstances.
IT expenses can generally be broken down into development costs, maintenance and support costs, and additional costs such as software licensing. Other than changing software providers, there is little cost control over software licensing and overhead costs. Therefore, IT teams should focus on costs they can control, which are development and support expenses.
Recruitment is unsustainable
There are time and monetary costs to hiring new employees. Identifying needs, assessing applicant skills and sifting through resumes is a challenge of itself. Often, this is compounded as organizations grow and IT teams take on new roles and responsibilities.
One common case is a major IT project with a fixed timeline that requires highly specialized skills, such as a legacy software transition or new platform development. There may not be a need for a permanent position once the project is completed.
In this example, hiring contract workers for a temporary position is one alternative. However, an organization may not have the experience or desire to recruit for such specialty contract positions.
Risks and liabilities are unmanageable
At a certain point in the growth of every organization, internal and external risks begin to skyrocket. At its core, IT is a support function for the entirety of all other business units, and the IT organizations must take special care when dealing with securing sensitive data.
Organizations are taking these risks and liabilities very seriously. For example, cyber liability insurance is rapidly growing as a safeguard against extreme financial losses resulting from cyber-attacks and data breaches. Direct investment in cyber security experts and software systems is another solution. IT consultants at Think Tech Advisors can provide specialized network consulting advice to improve security.
An IT department might consist of a single employee or small team of talented IT generalists. While these employees are valuable team members, they are not always equipped with the experience or resources to fully manage all technological risks and threats. Employing a single IT generalist could be a sign that a company’s IT needs might have outpaced its ability to meet such needs.
Ability to scale is being hindered
As previously discussed, IT is responsible for supporting the data and technology needs of all other business units. Therefore, as other departments continue to develop and expand and as the entire organization grows, IT must be able to scale in order to deliver critical technical support throughout the organization.
There are several factors that can hinder an IT department’s ability to scale. Rigid contracts with external providers, being tied down to legacy software systems that lag behind the latest industry trends, and exceeding network bandwidth limits are some of these scenarios. Having a strategic plan in place that considers the long-term technological needs will help to mitigate the inability to scale IT.
Employee performance and collaboration is deteriorating
There is a dangerous tendency to forget that IT ultimately is driven by people. When individual employees are not performing or collaborating to their fullest capabilities, the entire IT department can suffer.
Some signs of a suffering IT team include more mistakes being made, team members experiencing constant stress and anxiety, and employees competing with each other for standing rather than focusing on collaborating to produce better solutions and services.
Most IT teams will experience some of the scenarios outlined above at some point in their growth. However, if an organization is constantly falling behind competitors due to limited IT growth, they need to maximize the contribution of industry-experienced IT staff. Contact Think Tech Advisors today to learn more about how professional IT consulting and IT support can help build your business for the future.
