Why Every IT Department Head Needs a Trusted Technology Advisor

On any given day, your company’s IT department is answering support calls, troubleshooting network issues, updating software, and fixing bugs. They’re busy. They’re ensuring that your business, computers, phones, and website are running smoothly.

As the head of IT, you’re even busier than the members of your team are. You’re ensuring they stay on top of business-critical tasks while also ensuring you stay on top of your business’ long-term tech strategy.

Unfortunately, the busier you are at your job, the less time you can dedicate to learning about and implementing the new trends in technology. IT department heads, in addition to running day-to-day operations, are supposed to be aware of upcoming trends. It’s a tough balancing act.

What does that mean for you? Over time, your task-oriented focus could potentially put you out of a job. You need help—and trusted, well-informed advice—from an industry-leading technology consultant.

Here’s how they can assist you and your company.

Technology Advisors Give Your Company a Competitive Advantage

Let’s imagine your business is trying to court new, talented professionals. As each candidate passes from interviews with human resources to higher level meetings with management, they’re interested in seeing which platforms and devices your company is using.

Nothing will turn away these prospective recruits like archaic technology. If your company is using 10-year-old laptops and running patched-up, buggy software, then it can’t expect to successfully attract up-and-coming professionals.

Nor should your company expect to retain qualified employees. Good employees like to be invested, and in turn, they want to feel the company is invested in their professional development. If you’re forcing hard-working, intelligent employees to waste time using antiquated technology, then they will eventually grow frustrated, feel unsupported, or seek an employer far more progressive and technologically savvy.

With an extensive product knowledge and general product agnosticism, a third-party technology consultant will give you objective advice about which relevant, cost-effective technology solutions could replace your existing options.

They’ll also teach you and your staff how to keep up with technology trends, namely presenting you with research and giving you resources to review. Perhaps even more important than the advice they offer, technology consultants empower both heads of IT and their businesses to be competitive in their respective fields.

Technology Advisors Help Your Company Meet Its Tech Goals

Like every ambitious IT department head, you create annual tech goals for your company. This long-term strategy, due to the hustle and bustle of day-to-day operations, can be difficult to monitor, let alone execute. It’s nearly impossible to maintain focus on fixing current problems, preventing future problems, and deploying new technologies.

Consultants bring a fresh pair of eyes to your long-term strategy and your day-to-day operations. You can outsource large-scale project management to a trusted advisor; or conversely, they can manage your IT department as you focus on big-picture projects.

Either way, a technology consultant will likely introduce new, more efficient ways of approaching IT issues. For example, they might:

• Challenge your existing processes, helping you to think differently about which problems you’re solving and when.
• Automate tasks to prevent redundancies.
• Connect disparate technologies, streamlining and integrating your business operations.

Ultimately, a technology advisor will understand your business’ needs, starting with processes. Their goal will be to support you and to improve those processes.

For more complex IT problems, your technology advisor might suggest you contract outside staff to work projects that your team doesn’t have the time or the expertise to finish. Typically they are well-connected to a network of highly specialized staff. Access to your technology advisor’s staffing connections, in addition to their know-how, are a huge part of what your company is paying for.

In conclusion, don’t let your full plate prevent you from staying abreast of new technology trends. Hire an experienced technology consultant, and get the help you need from an industry expert.

Just like you’d outsource tasks that are outside your team’s specialty, you can outsource IT strategy and other big-picture decisions to a qualified consultant.