In your business, you have several departments that are all held to a degree of accountability.
Your accounting department provides data to show how profitable your company is. The sales team is assigned quotas and revenue goals as they are held accountable for achieving these targets. The production department is given fulfillment goals as they provide metrics to show how they’ve done.
IT should not be any different. What reports do they provide you? How transparent are they?
Here are 6 ways to improve the transparency and accountability of your IT department.
- Is your data backed up?
As the owner or manager of a company, you should have some guarantee that all your data is being backed up. For example, if you currently have managed business continuity services, meaning a backup and disaster recovery plan, your IT manager should be regularly reviewing your backup reports with you.
- Are your systems up to date?
Patches and anti-viruses help to ensure your data is not held for ransom. How do you know your system is up to date? Your IT manager should be doing technical business reviews with you, with clear reports about the current state of your operating system and anti-virus updates.
- What’s the state of your network hardware?
Your IT team or provider should regularly present technical reports on the age, usage and storage space, data, memory and, CPUs of your hardware. They should also include key recommendations on when and how to upgrade hardware.
- How secure is your network?
Your IT manager should monitor your systems at all times and alert you when there are issues that compromise security or network operability. If your firewall is out of date or if your networks go down overnight, you need to know about it. Your IT department should also provide recommendations on how to address these concerns.
- What will you pay for your IT next year?
Your other departments have budgets and you have a reasonable idea of what to expect your expenses to be each year. Considering how much you likely spend on technology, your IT team should work with you to develop a plan that helps you budget for your IT needs.
- Does your IT make your company more profitable?
Your IT team should be able to identify ways new technology can make your company more profitable. If you get mixed messages when you ask about new technology, you might not have enough experts or experience working for you.
Transparency is important whether you’re using a managed IT service provider or relying on your own IT department to maintain your technology environment. If you’re not sure what they’re doing back there, BlackPoint IT can help you find out.
Is your IT operating transparently? Contact BlackPoint IT Services today at 866.575.9512 or let us know, and we’ll call you.
