Like most business, you want to keep IT costs down. Calling an IT guy is an expensive. The truth is having a good relationship with your IT guy is good for your business.  Taking the time to have a conversation with him/her can reveal so many new ideas that can help in almost every aspect of business.

IT guys see a lot of different business models, they tackle a multitude of issues and see the good and bad side of technology. Most people call the IT guy only when something goes wrong but what they should be doing is calling when it’s going right.  Sitting down for a 30-minute conversation can reveal hidden treasures of best practice, innovative ideas, new technology and proven methods to help with your business.

Your IT guys is usually an untapped resource, business partner just waiting to leap out and add to your success. Most of us just love to chat and open up about ideas and opinions on the latest technology and we all love to punch the air when we succeed for you.

A good IT guy can:

1. Show you new ways of doing tasks on computers that save time through automation, scheduling and shortcuts
2. Impart knowledge of how other companies achieve their goals and give new options
3. Reveal emerging technologies in the market place which can save you money
4. Compliment your goals with ideas learned from a wealth of knowledge from hundreds of other companies and businesses
5. Open dialog can revel additional items you may have forgotten such as testing backups or added value to existing applications
6. Recommend best practices such as disaster recovery and data loss mitigation, government regulations, legislation and laws pertaining to technology, company policies pertaining to technology and it’s use

I recently took on a new client who hasn’t embraced technology and their previous IT guy was obviously a little poor.  Their entire technology infrastructure was run down, old and on the verge of falling over. Their data was not backed up and their main application was served from an old 2003 server that crashed almost daily due to major errors.

To make a long story short, several weeks later and the company had tested, full automated backups. The entire network, computers and servers were faster, cleaner and easier to access data. Staff were more efficient in the way they worked with their technology. A clear plan was set up to transition new technology and this will actually save the company money. They were paying for subscriptions they did not need and no one has ever checked.

The client was very grateful for my expertise and I was equally grateful for the opportunity to help. We not only made the technology work for the business, but I feel we also made new friends and business partners.

IT and IT professionals are not some dark cloud over a business, they can be a white knight riding into a future success with you.  I would recommend maintaining a simple open dialog with this untapped resource that can measurably add to the success of your business.