Manage IT resources better by outsourcing

When we look at how much technology has streamlined processes and reduced paperwork, how it has created a mobile workforce and it is connecting businesses throughout the world, we can see how much improvements in hardware and software have helped businesses to become more productive. We could, in fact, be forgiven for thinking that it has made everyone’s working lives so much easier.

Well, it has - for everyone except the IT department that is.

The introduction of do-it-yourself technologies such as data storage solutions, security management products and application development programs meant that managing your IT infrastructure was marketed as being far easier and more cost efficient.

But the problem with these DIY options is that the amount of time invested in managing them completely counterbalances any financial gain. IT managers are expected to be experts in a million different fields, with no time to focus on any of them.

Better technology brings a greater number of management requirements. IT managers are completely overloaded by the demands of their working day, and by the expectations that are set upon their departments. And, in fact, these expectations are only increasing.

According to the 2013 Gartner CEO survey, 50% of CEOs expect to get more strategic value from IT. This means that in most cases, the IT manager doesn’t have the time or capacity to manage the IT department while simultaneously meeting the CEO’s objectives and expectations.

So something has to give.

By outsourcing at least some sectors of the IT department to a service provider that will not only supply the solution but will also manage and provide customer service, the department can turn its focus back to its core business. When the IT manager is no longer juggling many different issues, he or she can start thinking strategically.

In handing over the management of key IT functions such as cloud, business processes or disaster recovery to an expert in that field, someone who lives and breathes their specialty day in, day out, the IT department can feel pretty confident knowing that their data is secure, that issues will be managed for them and that they will be given real-time advice on areas such as infrastructure, data management or networking.

Better management will mean better performance, and better performance means there is more time to contribute to the bigger picture. By removing the low-hanging technical issues of the organisation, the IT manager will have the time to invest in strategy, and to meet the overall expectations of the business and the CEO.

*Angus Dorney is Director and General Manager of Rackspace for Australia and New Zealand. He has worked in a variety of different management, operational, strategy, sales and marketing roles in Australia and overseas.