How Managed Services Keeps Your Tech Roadmap on Track

Using technology roadmaps organizes corporate goals, resources, and efforts within the information technology department. The roadmap process outlines a project plan for technology initiates. Why is this important? Keeping pace with technology is a challenge regardless of the size of your organization, however, if your company is small to mid-sized, there is an entirely different set of challenges. Resources dedicated to IT projects, beyond keeping everyone functioning day-to-day, can be the biggest hurdle. Your organization may have a strategy in place for technology, but does it have the expertise to map out a short and long-term project plan? A tech roadmap is much like any other roadmap: use it to formulate goals, establish timelines for achievement, and map the steps necessary to meet it, including budget and manpower. When developing a roadmap, often obstacles are not accounted for, such as a pandemic, staff turnover, etc. Whether there is turnover within the IT department or even a new company acquisition, a good tech roadmap should anticipate and plan for issues that may arise. Many times, roadmaps are primarily special projects, and often can be moved forward by calling a special projects team, such as a contracted managed services team. Here are the ways that managed services keeps your tech roadmap timeline on track. Turnover in the IT Department In large companies, losing an employee or two may not make as much of an impact as it does in small or medium-sized businesses. In smaller businesses, one employee may be taking on entire projects on their own, so the loss of just one employee can set back your timeline by months while you hire and onboard a new employee. Managed services alleviates this pressure. When using a managed services team, there are no gaps in your IT department. The managed services team is ready, available, and skilled. Technology Deployment Sometimes, new technology needs to be implemented throughout the tech roadmap. If your IT department is already swamped with assignments, even simple deployment tasks can seem daunting. Additionally, everyday tasks dealing with network issues, troubleshooting, and tech support can steal time away from your IT department’s focus on projects, resulting in roadmap project delays. Managed services, depending on the scope of the project and support, can also provide relief for the day-to-day tasks. Because the range of IT responsibilities is broad, managed services can supplement your internal IT team with a breadth and depth of capabilities. 24/7 Monitoring Walking into the office on a Monday to discover your company’s network is down is not a great way to start the day. Not only does this impact your IT department, but it can be detrimental to your entire company. IT department resources that are critical to the tech roadmap timeline are diverted with every large issue like this, or small, yet important, diversions along the way. One of the many components offered by managed services is constant monitoring. Problems are addressed and resolved immediately, saving your IT department time and resources. Locating and vetting a managed services provider that fulfills your company’s needs is a step in the right direction on your roadmap to technology success. By doing so, you also lower the organization’s risk for fines due to data breaches and/or noncompliance, because this is another responsibility your managed services provider takes on. LightWork Software is a leading provider of Managed Services for small- to mid-sized businesses by supporting the technologies that run your business. To learn more, contact LightWork Software.LightWorkSoftware