When most business owners and managers think about IT investment, two words come to mind: cost and time. If you don’t have an internal information technology department, you might worry about technical issues that could stop your business dead in its tracks until you can find a quick fix. If you have one, you might be inundated with service requests for small issues that don’t leave much time to create operational efficiency.

No matter how you look at it, IT maintenance just seems to be a cost that eats away at your business’s bottom line. According to research, small and mid-sized businesses outspent large businesses when it comes to IT expenditures, costing them 6.9% of their total revenue on average.

In reality, information technology isn’t just a cost; it’s an investment that can actually benefit your business. Here’s the REAL return on your IT investment and the best way to maximize it.

First Thing’s First: IT is an Investment

IT expenditure is an investment, not a cost. If it was a straightforward cost, businesses that spent the most would be the best performers, right?

However, in the same study from above, those that spent the most weren’t always the best performers. Research found that if a company made smart IT investments, instead of just deep investments, they were more efficient and increased overall performance with a lower IT cost.

Just like any form of investing, you can’t just throw money at your IT infrastructure and hope it gets better. You need to make strategic decisions to optimize efficiency and get the most return on your investment with a managed services provider (MSP). If you do it right, there are countless benefits for your business.

The Benefits of Streamlining Operations

When you make the effort to actually invest, there are several tangible ROI benefits you’ll see almost immediately:

• Decrease downtime – Downtime is expensive. According to research, the average cost of downtime for small businesses is $427 per minute. When you work with a managed IT provider, they can proactively manage your system to prevent issues before they impact your business. Less downtime means less wasted money.
• Increase productivity – Modern business runs on IT systems. If your infrastructure doesn’t operate efficiently, neither will your business. Not only will an IT investment in a managed services provider reduce your downtime, but it’ll also make your uptime even more productive. Your systems will always be optimized to support your team’s unique needs, meaning they can work more efficiently to grow your business.
• Reduce capital expenditures – Many businesses avoid IT improvements because they have a high upfront cost, or capital expenditure. After you spend the money, there’s still maintenance, repairs, and management that just adds to the cost. With a managed IT provider, you can forego the high capital expenditure for a regular monthly operating expense. It helps you budget more efficiently and saves you money in the long run.
• Ensure scalability – There’s nothing worse than spending lots of money on technological improvements just to have them become obsolete as technology advances or your business needs change. When you invest in a managed IT provider, you ensure scalability. You won’t have to hire new IT employees to manage your larger systems as you grow; your MSP will keep up with demand and support your users, no matter how fast your business grows.
• Unmatched security – According to industry data, the average cost of a cyberattack is $1.1 million—a price that many small businesses can’t afford. Investing in your cybersecurity protects you from online threats and prevents massive losses due to inaccessible data, downtime, and system restoration efforts. It’s easy to see the ROI of IT investments when they can protect you from potentially million-dollar cyberattacks.

No matter how you look at it, IT investments are investments. They’re not a straightforward “cost of business;” investing in your IT management and infrastructure can help your company succeed.

Maximize Your IT Investment with a Managed Services Provider

The best way to maximize your IT investment is with a managed services provider. By working with an MSP, you won’t have to worry about things like IT capital expenditures, system management and optimization, and system scalability. You can leave your IT management and optimization in the hands of experienced professionals, while you and your team do what you do best: grow your business.

If you’re ready to maximize your IT investment, contact the experts at BIZFORCE. We understand that no two businesses are alike, so we offer customized IT management services to support your unique infrastructure from top to bottom and ensure you maximize your IT ROI.