5 Things Your IT Expert Needs to Do

Your IT expert might be costing you money, and not in the way you think. If you’re only thinking about IT as an expense, you’re missing the bigger picture. A great IT team should be saving you money, optimizing your operations, and helping your business grow.

Here are five critical things your IT team should be doing to ensure your business is running efficiently and not leaking money.

1. Proactive Maintenance: Stop Playing IT Whack-a-Mole

If your IT team only swoops in when something breaks, you're stuck in an expensive and disruptive cycle of emergency repairs. This reactive approach costs you in both emergency support fees and lost productivity during downtime.

What should be happening instead:

• Regular system health checks that catch issues before they cause downtime
• Scheduled maintenance during off-hours to minimize disruption
• Systematic updates and patches that keep your systems secure and efficient
• Lifecycle management that plans for hardware replacement before catastrophic failure

When IT problems are prevented rather than fixed, your team maintains productivity without interruption, and you avoid the premium costs of emergency support. One of our manufacturing clients reduced their downtime by 78% after implementing a proactive maintenance strategy, saving them an estimated $150,000 annually in lost production time.

2. Providing Your Team with the Right Tools

One of the most expensive phrases in business is "that's just how we've always done it." If your employees are wrestling with outdated software, slow systems, or creating elaborate workarounds to accomplish basic tasks, you're burning money through lost productivity.

What should be happening instead:

• Regular assessment of your team's workflow and technology needs
• Strategic technology recommendations that match your business objectives
• Training that ensures your team can fully leverage their tools
• Standardization that reduces complexity and support needs

When your employees have the right tools at their fingertips, they spend less time fighting with technology and more time driving your business forward. According to research, employees lose an average of 22 minutes per day dealing with IT-related issues, that's over two weeks of productivity per employee each year.

3. Monitoring System Health—Beyond Just Security

Cybersecurity is important, but IT should be monitoring all aspects of your system’s health. That includes:

• Detecting hardware failures before they happen
• Managing storage space to prevent slowdowns
• Monitoring network speeds to ensure consistent performance

Waiting until something breaks means unnecessary downtime and lost revenue. A proactive IT team will spot the warning signs before they turn into major problems.

4. Data-Driven Decision Making

Your IT systems generate mountains of valuable business intelligence. If your IT provider isn't helping you harness this data, you're making business decisions with one eye closed.

What should be happening instead:

• Regular reporting on key performance indicators
• Analysis of usage patterns to identify efficiencies and bottlenecks
• Data visualization that makes complex information accessible
• Strategic recommendations based on objective system data

When IT insights inform your business decisions, you eliminate guesswork and can allocate resources where they'll generate the greatest returns. A retail client of ours used system data to identify that 30% of their software licenses were unused or underutilized, saving them $45,000 annually by optimizing their software investments.

5. Optimizing Software and Automation

Manual processes aren't just inefficient, they're profit killers. If your IT team isn't actively looking for automation opportunities, you're paying for human time that could be better spent on high-value activities.

What should be happening instead:

• Identification of repetitive tasks that can be automated
• Implementation of workflow tools that reduce manual steps
• Integration between systems to eliminate duplicate data entry
• Creation of self-service options for common needs

Automation multiplies your team's effectiveness, letting them focus on creative problem-solving and customer relationships rather than routine tasks. A professional services firm we work with automated their client onboarding process, reducing administrative time by 75% and improving client satisfaction scores by 40%.

The IT Champion Approach: IT That Delivers Value

At Notics, we've pioneered the IT Champion model precisely because traditional IT approaches fall short on these five critical functions. Our embedded IT Champions work on-site with your team, supported by 18 specialized departments, ensuring you receive comprehensive IT support that actively contributes to your bottom line.

Our IT Champions don't just fix problems, they understand your business intimately and proactively identify opportunities to leverage technology for growth. They're not just service providers; they're strategic partners invested in your success.

If your current IT solution isn't delivering on all five of these value-generating functions, it might be time to consider a different approach. The right IT partnership doesn't just prevent technology problems, it propels your business forward.