When choosing IT solutions for your business, cost is certainly an important consideration. But in addition to comparing pricing of various IT products and services, it’s crucial to weigh the costs associated with having bad IT. An unreliable, inefficient, and insecure system that is ill-suited to the functionality of your business can send your bottom line into a downward spiral. Below are four ways that bad IT can be costly to your company.
Lack of Accessibility
Modern technology is required to support the seismic shift toward flexible work environments. For your company to function optimally and keep pace with competitors in today’s world, your staff must have immediate access to all of their applications, files, and data whether they are working in the office, at home, or on the go, and no matter what device they are using. If your team cannot access the information they need to perform the various tasks of their jobs, collaborate with their colleagues, and service your clients, your company will suffer a distinct disadvantage in terms of efficiency and customer service versus your more tech-savvy competitors.
Loss of Productivity
Nothing hampers productivity like slow, unreliable technology. The time workers spend waiting for applications to load or logging back in after getting thrown out of the system is time away from performing productive tasks and servicing clients – and that time quickly adds up. To function optimally, technology must be up-to-date and properly maintained. Too many companies operate on a break-and-fix model, only fixing something when it becomes a problem rather than proactively monitoring systems to prevent costly outages and downtime. To maximize productivity, technology must be strategically designed with the right tools and functionality in place to support your company’s operations and goals. Good IT can be bad IT if it’s the wrong IT for your company.
Security Breaches
Each year, cyberattacks grow increasingly common and more sophisticated. Given the high cost of an attack – in 2022, the average price tag swelled to $4.35 million globally, according to IBM’s Cost of a Data Breach Report – failure to adequately secure your IT system can put your company’s future at risk. Because cybercriminals have become increasingly adept at identifying and exploiting vulnerabilities, your firm must take a comprehensive, multi-faceted approach to cybersecurity.
Outdated hardware and software, which are no longer supported with updates from manufacturers, lack many of the security features of their state-of-the-art counterparts. Software must be updated with security patches as soon as they become available to shore up gaps in protection. Companies must monitor their systems 24x7x365 to pinpoint suspicious activity, and most importantly, they must be able to mount an immediate response to thwart threats. All devices that staff use for work must be configured correctly with anti-virus software, firewalls, encryption tools, and security patches, and they must utilize secure methods to access the network. Companies must enforce a strong password policy and use multi-factor authentication (MFA), in addition to providing ongoing security education and training for their staff. Because cybersecurity is resource-intensive and requires deep expertise in multiple competencies, many companies lack the manpower to effectively handle cybersecurity in-house.
Talent Retention/Attraction Challenges
Across all industries, the best and the brightest individuals want to work for a company where they can succeed and get ahead. When slow, clunky IT impedes their ability to perform at a high level, ambitious employees become frustrated and may look elsewhere. Young professionals, in particular, gravitate to employers that offer flexibility to work from anywhere – and they expect their employers to provide them with the tools they need to be productive no matter where they are working. In the war for top talent, technology-forward companies who can show they are leveraging the latest technologies will have a leg up versus employers who rely on aging IT infrastructure.
Tabush Group is a leading provider of Cloud and Managed IT Services. To learn more about how our state-of-the-art IT solutions can make your firm’s operations more efficient and secure, contact us.