Managing IT projects can be overwhelming for businesses. That’s because your in-house IT team is already juggling daily tasks and tight deadlines. This makes it hard to focus on major projects. Sometimes, this also causes problems like delays, higher costs, and even security risks. But there’s a solution that can save you time and resources: outsourcing IT project management.
You can improve security, expedite processes, and guarantee on-time project completion by enlisting outside specialists. With this strategy, administrative duties are lessened, and your IT staff can concentrate more on their primary duties.
This article will show you how external project management for IT can change your company and increase productivity in seven significant ways. Continue reading to gain more knowledge on this.
What Is IT Project Management?
Information technology (IT) project management is the process of planning, creating, overseeing, and managing IT projects. This usually needs a mix of people, resources, skills, and knowledge to be completed successfully.
At its core, project management in IT is the same as any other kind of project management. Planning, controlling, working as a team, and being a leader are still important parts of IT projects. To maximize their success, companies use project management frameworks to manage IT projects.
We have already mentioned the term ‘project’ quite a few times. But what do these projects actually entail? By IT projects, we mean
- Moving IT equipment to new servers
- Putting together websites or new software
- Making apps for phones, tablets, or the web
- Setting up new hardware and networks for IT infrastructure
- Changing or updating database systems
- Putting new IT methodologies in place, like disaster recovery
For sure, this is not the whole list. Typically, an IT project will be necessary if any portion of your infrastructure needs to be changed.
7 Ways of Managing IT Projects Externally That Can Significantly Help Your Business
Usually, the IT department of a business takes on the responsibility of managing IT projects. However, in many situations, hiring a third-party project management professional brings about tremendous success. Let’s look at seven such aspects of your business that, if managed externally, can significantly reduce administrative burdens:
1. Security
Cybersecurity is always a big deal in senior suites, no matter the industry. Online purchases are very common, and they can put private customer data at risk. Malware is another major threat that can flood your business email and website comment lines.
It’s true that your IT department can protect your company from everyday threats. However, having a third party do an IT audit of your network security can save your team time and enhance risk management. An IT audit can help you identify potential vulnerabilities and risks, as well as identify areas for improvement. This can help you create a more secure network and provide better protection for your data. Additionally, it can help your team save money on troubleshooting and repairs.
2. Help Desk Operations
Your IT staff probably has a lot on their plates during the day and is not always available to run the help desk. Thankfully, it is possible to have a small but dedicated external help desk department.
You can assign an outside project team with a project manager to handle all of your help desk tasks, giving your own IT department more time and resources. This can help your IT staff focus on more important tasks and reduce the risk of errors. Additionally, it can help reduce overhead costs since you won’t need to hire and train additional staff.
3. Equipment Refreshes and Software Upgrades
Getting new hardware and major software updates takes a lot of time. Besides, this task is difficult for most small IT departments to finish on time. Updating all of your hardware and software can take up all of your IT team’s time and force them to change their priorities. Additionally, if your IT team tried to replace a lot of equipment, like that in a whole department or business unit, the time it would take might be too much for your company.
An outside IT project management team can help you keep your operations and staff as busy as possible. They can assist you in determining which updates and upgrades are most crucial. At the same time, they can offer the technical know-how to guarantee that the updates are completed efficiently and promptly. The IT project manager and the team can also provide advice on how to best use your existing hardware and software.
4. Office Relocations
Relocating an office is a big job, just like updating software or changing equipment. An outside company can move your business’s equipment from one place to another more agilely and easily than your own IT department could. This will help your team members get back to work quickly and easily in their new space. One piece of advice is to guarantee that the partner you choose will disconnect, move, reconnect, and test all of your equipment.
5. IT Compliance (Internal and External)
Compliance is something that no one likes to think about, but it is necessary. On the outside, you want your business to follow product licenses and avoid fines and violations of licenses. On the inside, you must have a system in place to safeguard your employees’ networks and computers.
Entrusting compliance to a non-specialist is a bad idea. That’s because the task is too important and takes too long to handle in-house. Besides, non-specialists may overlook crucial details.
Outsourcing compliance is a pretty good solution to this. It ensures proper handling. External experts manage product and software licenses to prevent fines. They also protect employee computers by keeping internal networks safe.
6. Network Planning and Management
Every step of planning a network, from designing servers to keeping them running, needs close cooperation and careful attention to detail. You must select a committed group of IT experts with prior knowledge of network design and administration. If you fail to do so, your business could be irreparably damaged.
If you don’t have a reliable team of networking experts in-house, external resources can do the job. The use of an external resource can also aid in the discovery of hidden infrastructure vulnerabilities. This can save you both time and trouble in the long run.
7. Vendor Selection and Management
Being objective is important when choosing the right tech products from the right sellers. Antagonism toward certain systems is common among CIOs, CTOs, and IT managers. That inherent bias makes it hard for them to consider new innovative systems. Thankfully, an independent third party with experience in technology can give you unbiased advice about certain products and vendors.
Besides, even after you have chosen your vendors, it’s a good idea to hire someone to help you keep track of the fine print in your contracts. This includes things like software updates, warranties, and other terms that are written in. Having someone review the contracts can help identify any potential issues or discrepancies. They can also help you negotiate the terms of the contract to ensure that you’re getting the best deal.
Conclusion
IT project management involves assets, expertise, understanding, and people to ensure success. Just like managing any other project, it involves planning, teamwork, leadership, and control. The projects can range from moving equipment to new servers and creating websites to setting up networks. In-house employees can do some of these management tasks. However, hiring an outside expert project manager and a team cuts down on paperwork and boosts productivity. This, in turn, keeps the business running smoothly.
If you are looking for an ideal project management service for your IT department in San Diego, Crown Computers can help. Our company culture in IT is not all suits and ties, which gives us a lot of freedom to meet our clients’ needs. Contact us today to learn more about our services.