Mythbusting: Why you shouldn’t leave your IT to a ‘one-man band’ – but who is responsible for managing your IT? Depending on the size of your business, you may currently rely on a single person for all of your IT needs.

Whether they’re in-house or hired on a consultancy basis, a one-man band is an appealing idea at an initial glance. One person means simplicity and cheaper running costs, right?

Not quite.

There are some significant shortcomings when it comes to relying on a single person for such an essential business function. It increases risk and leaves you increasingly reliant on that person.

“But I trust my one-man band IT guy”

It isn’t really a question of trust. Unless you’re a very small business with less than 10 members of staff, relying on a one-man band to make sure the technology within your business is sustainable and efficient is not a recommended option.

Your IT operations must expand in line with your overall business growth. Failing to do this not only limits the scope of your future growth but also puts your business’s security at risk.

One person, regardless of their skills, cannot do everything and expecting them to is not a realistic expectation.

Here are a few of the stumbling blocks you’ll come up against if you continue to ask a single person to be responsible for your entire IT functionality and security:

• Who will manage your backup and business continuity measures if your IT consultant or manager is unavailable? What if you have a critical technical issue and the person you rely on isn’t on hand to help?
• You could have the best IT person available, but at some point, they’re going to take time off for a break – what if they’re away for two or three weeks? And what if they’re off sick? You could face an indefinite amount of time without essential support or protection.
• You’re gambling on nothing going wrong, and in the meantime, you’re not receiving critical update that could protect you from a cyber attack.

Limited scope for development

If your IT provision comes from a third party consultant, then they are probably serving other businesses too. This limits the amount of time they have available to dedicate to learning new skills and keeping up-to-date with the latest developments in technology.
This is in neither yours, nor your business’s best interests.

Little to no flexibility

Not dissimilar to the above point – if your IT manager or consultant is snowed under, it means that you cannot rely on them to allocate extra resources during a turbulent period.

This has to be a major consideration, should you be currently using a one-man band for your IT provision. What happens if you suffer a disaster and your IT consultant is already dealing with another critical situation?

It can get expensive

This might not seem apparent at first. After all, one person must be cheaper than the alternatives…right? Not necessarily.

Hiring internally means investing in your staff member’s salary, potential raises, benefits, training, and other associated costs. With a well-documented skills shortage in the IT sector, it is going to cost you significantly to recruit them initially, and you’re going to need to pay your IT team exceptionally well in order to keep them.

It isn’t a sustainable option. Especially because the other choices out there, including managed services, give you a much better value proposition. Instead of one person, you’re getting an entire team with a combined experience that far outstrips that of a single person – all of this, typically for a better price.

More is always better

One person, regardless of their ability, is inherently less useful than an experienced, fully equipped team of experts.

Aside from the numbers, your one-man band will not have the number of contacts available that a team based within a managed service provider (MSP) will.

MSPs work in direct partnership with industry leaders (Neuways, for example, is a Microsoft Gold partner), meaning they have a direct line to even more expertise. MSPs also benefit from significant discounts, which can be passed on to you.
An IT consultant cannot offer this.

As the cliché goes – don’t put all of your eggs in one basket. Investing everything into one person leaves your business at their mercy, no matter how talented and dedicated they are.

So, what are the alternatives to a one-man band?

You could hire a full team internally and allow regular opportunities for training and growth. This frees up resources for your IT team, keeps them motivated, and allows them to operate far more effectively, which is great for your business.

On the other hand, these benefits come with a significant cost.

Another option is to outsource your IT to a managed service provider (MSP). A MSP gives your business total protection and around-the-clock support for a far more affordable price.

This is the option we would recommend – not just because Neuways is a MSP but because the benefits support that conclusion. In short, relying on a single person is reckless whilst having an entire internal IT team on the payroll is unaffordable for many businesses.

Weigh up the differences for yourself:

In short, managed services offer the optimal balance between price and performance for your business’s IT.

But what’s the catch?

There isn’t a catch, but it can take time to find the right managed service provider (MSP).

Not all MSPs are created equal. Some present themselves as managed service providers but only work on a break/fix model that simply fixes your IT issues as and when they occur. Their support ends there and little effort is made to be proactive with support or security.

As a long-term partner, you need to make the right decision for your business. This requires speaking to multiple MSPs and doing your due diligence. Look for a MSP that will treat your business as they would their own. Also look at case studies and the partners that they work with.

Neuways is a security-first MSP. This means that every solution we implement for our customers is designed with cyber security in mind. It also means that when we work with you, our experts will get to know your business prior to any arrangement.

This is to ensure that we can tailor our service exclusively to your business needs – and to do the necessary groundwork to keep you secure.

To find out more about managed services from Neuways, speak to us today
on 01283 753 333 or at hello@neuways.com.