Yep, You Can Save on IT Consulting and Support – Here’s How

The first step in getting cost-effective, expert IT consulting and support services for your business starts with a conversation about cable.

Not cables, I won’t bore you with wires and equipment. I mean cable TV.

How Cable Relates to IT Consulting

People loved cable when it debuted because they could pay one price for everything. Movies, sports, sitcoms, games – you name it, it was there. Then new players emerged (HBO, Netflix, etc.). Cable suddenly didn’t have it all and the prices increased fostering general dissatisfaction. People canceled their traditional TV packages for streaming services.

Only cord-cutting hasn’t turned out to be the end-all-be-all. People juggle multiple subscriptions to view the hottest new releases. Prices are again increasing, and people wish there was a way to bundle and save.

Which brings us back to shopping for IT services

The cost of switching your TV subscription is low. A few clicks and you’ve canceled Hulu and signed up for YouTube TV.

Getting out of a pricey IT contract is more time-consuming

It’s better to not overpay in the first place.

5 Ways Businesses Overpay for IT Consulting and Services

You’ll keep your IT budget in check if you avoid these 5 mistakes.

1. A single person manages all your IT

The skillset of a person who fixes your printer is not the same as the cyber expert evaluating the alerts your advanced threat detection solution flags.

To have a fully functioning IT department, you need both, and a host of other specialists who are on hand for every other technology need you have, like cloud computing or IT compliance services.

When you try to rely on 1 person, there are 2 possible outcomes

1. You overpay a cyber professional. This highly skilled expert is used to hunting down threats and analyzing risk. When they’re the only IT person on the team, they’re forced to spend most of their day fielding level 1 help desk tech questions like, “why isn’t my computer connecting to the network?”

2. You have an IT generalist who imposes hidden costs on your organization. Knowing a little bit about everything is good for making small talk. It’s a drawback in the tech world and for your business. Specialists find ways to give you a competitive edge. When a general IT tech tries to do everything, they end up in over their head and can’t:

• Quickly resolve complex IT issues
• Train your team to efficiently use technology
• Provide strategic business advice
• Secure your organization
• Conduct assessments and implement recommendations
• Simplify technology-related compliance requirements with turnkey solutions

itSynergy is uniquely positioned to support financial services companies

See why RIAs trust itSynergy

2. You insist on keeping everything in-house

That fully functioning IT department is an expensive undertaking. Salaries and overhead are obvious costs, but so is the time it takes to find, hire and train tech employees. If you don’t have highly skilled IT staff to evaluate candidates, you’ll need a recruiter or other third party to help you build out your team – adding yet another cost.

Even enterprise-level organizations frequently outsource IT projects or support.

3. Multiple firms are on call for IT support

One company manages your cloud environment. You work with a cybersecurity expert to fend off attacks. When people have an IT support question, they call the outsourced help desk. You have an IT consultant on-call to advise on the intersection of IT and compliance.

It’s the exact same scenario as having Netflix, Hulu, and Amazon, but without the binge-watching. You’re racking up fees and complicating what could be a bundled, comprehensive IT solution.

4. Hidden fees slip into your contract, unnoticed

You think you’ve found a managed IT services provider who does it all. You sign up for managed services. A few weeks later, you experience connectivity issues. Your provider comes out to investigate and fix the issue. Your next monthly invoice includes a bill for the visit.

Turns out, that “all-inclusive” contract was riddled with exceptions, like on-site visits.

At itSynergy, there are no “gotchas” in our contracts.

5. Your provider doesn’t understand your industry

Regulated industries, like financial services, can’t make snap decisions. Take email encryption as an example. Encryption is a security measure we recommend because it secures sensitive data. But we don’t just automatically add it for RIA clients. Yes, it solves the problem of snooping cybercriminals. It could also cause you to fail an audit if it prevents compliance officers from searching, reading and indexing emails.

RIAs should “bundle” more than IT consulting services

You’ve seen how the right outsourced IT partner saves businesses money. RIAs can take it a step further. When you work with us, you “bundle” cyber, IT, and technology-related compliance experts in one neat package. Every IT recommendation is made through the lens of compliance. This ultimately saves our clients money in 2 ways:

1. Basic mistakes (like these MFA missteps) and costly associated fines are avoided

2. They don’t need to work with another third party to tackle your technology-related compliance to-do list

Discover IT Consulting and Support From itSynergy

There isn’t a number to call when you’re weighing options for streaming services. You can call us about IT consulting and support. We’ll have an honest conversation with you and if you aren’t a fit for our bundled services, we’ll tell you.

Have a no-obligation call with one of our experts

Let’s talk.