What Is An IT Manager, And Why Do I Need One?

When you say the word ‘manager’, most people will imagine a supervisor-type person – someone who keeps an eye on the people working within a department. By that logic, an IT manager is someone who supervises the IT department.

But here’s the thing. There’s another meaning to the title ‘IT manager’, and it has almost nothing to do with staff, and more to do with technology. But what does that mean? What is an IT manager, and why would you want one for your business?

 What Is An IT Manager?

A good IT manager does much more than just oversee the technologies in your business and make sure it’s all still working the way it should. A good IT manager will also:

Work With You To Understand Your Business Goals And Drivers: Every business is unique, so you can’t just apply one IT strategy to every business.

An IT manager will work closely with management in your business to understand where you started, where you are now and where you want to be in the future. By doing this they can design IT systems for you that future proof and will support you in your growth instead of holding you back.

Review Your Existing Systems And Gain An Understanding Of Your Business Processes: Understanding what your business does and how it does it is key to a good IT strategy. Technology should be working to support and augment your activities. By understanding what daily tasks you are performing, IT managers can suggest tools to save you time and make your life easier.

Develop A Bespoke IT Strategy For Your Business: Once an IT manager has got a deep understanding of what makes your business tick, their job is to create a unique IT strategy that aligns with your company’s goals and strategy.

In an ideal world, this will involve redeploying the resources you already have for a more cost-effective solution. In addition, an IT manager may also suggest new technologies to purchase if needed.

Act As A Conduit Between Your Business And The IT Support Provider: I fully understand that a lot of people don’t talk ‘tech’. Frankly, if it’s not what you do for a living, you don’t need to.

An IT manager is there to essentially act as a go-between and a translator, helping you and your IT support providers communicate better.

Manage IT Change Across The Board: Change management is a big subject.

Essentially an IT manager can help you understand what changes will happen and overcome your fear of them – before anything is put into place. They oversee every element of the project and ongoing management, so you know that everything is being taken care of by a professional.

Implement IT Policies And Procedures: One of the most important jobs an IT manager will do is oversee the safe use, security and storage of electronic data. This part of the role includes making sure that network data and security systems are up to date, and that everyone in the company follows the correct security procedures around data. If training needs to be given, they will often do this as well.

Drive Efficiency With Technology: In business you want everything to run as efficiently as possible, and not be weighed down by slow or clunky IT systems.

An IT manager will design and monitor your IT systems so that they are as streamlined as possible, and help you and your employees work more efficiently.

Why Is An IT Manager Important For Your Business?

For most businesses in our hyper-connected world, technology is no longer optional. Whether it’s the way I communicate with clients to the tools I use to do our work, most business owners will use or interact with over a dozen IT solutions a day.

Getting all of those separate elements to integrate together can sometimes be a challenge, especially if you are not a particularly ‘techy’ person. In the beginning, this won’t be too much of a problem, but as your business grows and expands, you will need a unified IT system that can work for you, supporting you in the background and helping you run the best business you can.

Internal Or External?

Then we come to the final question – do you hire an IT manager internally, or do you outsource it to a professional IT manager? The honest answer is – it depends. If you are a very large business with thousands of employees, then having a full-time in-house IT manager probably makes a lot of sense.

But if you’re a smaller business, then you might not need someone there all the time. In fact, a lot of companies need some intense work at the beginning, and then ongoing support and maintenance, which is exactly what an outsourced IT manager can offer. Simple, flexible and affordable support that helps even the smallest business run like a big one.

With over 20 years of IT experience, I love helping business owners use technology more effectively, rather than just buying more and more new things. I work with you from the very start, helping you work out what your goals are, researching all the options and creating a bespoke IT solution that will improve your existing IT systems and help keep you on top of your technology strategies.

As an experienced IT manager, I can help you stay ahead of the competition this year. For more information, just get in touch today.

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