These 4 Signs of IT Dysfunction Are Costing You
Is your IT department thriving on dysfunction? Find out the common signs of problems in your IT infrastructure and how you can fix them to enhance org success.
Much has changed in the IT department in just the past few years. Instead of in-house servers, much of what IT manages is on the cloud. Protecting data is longer so much about your internal security measures; it’s comprehensive, involving remote access and collaborative solutions between your business and third party technology suppliers.
On top of this, technologies are changing fast, and businesses need to keep up to thrive. Technology evolutions create efficiency across your business, but it can also create confusion and disorganization at the core responsibility for managing it all, your IT department. That leads to significant IT dysfunction that spreads throughout an organization if not corrected. Below we explore the signs of this dysfunction and how to address it.
1. Projects Are Stalling
Each time you need to start a new project, you already have 10 in the queue. They’re at various levels of completion.
Some have run into hiccups that required personnel to shift focus for a time and re-approach the problems with new eyes.
For yet others, someone in C-suite requested a new project, but the time and humanpower needed to complete was never clearly communicated. So proper human resources were never allocated to get it moving.
As a result, squeaky wheels are setting your business priorities instead of business needs.
At this rate, by the time these projects stuck in the gears of your organization come out on the other side, they’re no longer needed. What a tremendous waste!
2. Amateurs Compensating for Slow IT Response
Chances are you know a few of them. They’re hiding just behind the cube divider in Accounting. They lurk in Customer Service and Contracts. Just about every department has them. These are well-meaning employees who are very knowledgeable about technology.
When technology isn’t working, or something needs to be set up, people in the department, even management, ask these employees to help. In their minds, it’s faster than trying to get IT support. This person is already here and may even consider helping others with the tech part of their job.
But the reality is, these well-meaning individuals are often being paid to do other things that go undone. They’re not held to any IT standards, and that can cause problems.
We understand why they exist. These tech enthusiasts typically pop up when a department has lost faith in their IT department’s ability to respond timely.
3. Equipment Keeps Failing
The average company loses $5600 per minute to downtime. A typical employee loses five percent of their daily productivity to technology issues.
A sign of troubles in IT come to light when computers, servers, software, and systems seem to be constantly encountering problems.
“Fix the problem and move on,” becomes the motto in many of these dysfunctional IT departments. But we’re not addressing why the problems happen in the first place.
4. The IT Department Has a “Super Hero Complex”
A dysfunctional IT department often thinks its primary role is to save people from themselves and malfunctioning technology. They may find joy in feeling needed. And everyone is no doubt very appreciative.
But this exacerbates an image problem.
The job of a healthy IT department is to design, implement, integrate, and monitor in such a way that intervention is rarely needed. They should be there and ready to jump into action, but the goal should be having the quality controls and 2020 technology standards that allow them to stay in the background.
This streamlined approach increases productivity, cuts costs, and maintains employee as well as customer satisfaction.
How to Fix IT Dysfunction
IT dysfunction must be addressed at its core through better leadership, enhanced technology, quality controls, and proper allocation of human resources with the right skills to get the job done faster, but also correct.
Integris is a Top Ranked Baltimore IT Support & IT Services Company dedicated to helping companies facing these common signs of IT chaos and eliminating the IT dysfunction with our consulting and managed IT services. If your company is experiencing IT dysfunction, contact us to set up a consultation.
