The technology that helps run a company has become one of the most important parts of an effective business operation.
Companies do everything from invoicing and payment processing to marketing and customer service using software and cloud-based applications. If any of those IT services or systems goes down, it means being closed for business or at the very least, significantly hampered in what you can do.
As soon as technology started to become an important part of an organization’s operations, back in the early 1990’s, a new title was created. The Chief Information Officer (CIO) is the designation of the person responsible for overseeing a company’s information technology, including both its operation and its design to support business goals.
99% of small businesses use at least one digital tool and 70% say they plan to increase their use of technology in the future.
While large enterprise corporations are typically ones that designate a person on staff as CIO, there is no reason that small businesses can’t also take advantage of having a dedicated party handling their IT and helping them plan their technology growth strategically to be cost efficient and drive productivity. This is what virtual CIO services are all about.
A virtual CIO is someone that’s not an employee, but that can handle the same functions as a CIO and can do them on an “as needed” basis. For example, Pro Tech Guy offers virtual CIO services to help businesses plan an effective IT strategy, improve their cybersecurity, and adopt systems that will work together to support their business mission.
Cost Saving Benefits of Using Virtual CIO Services
Studies show that small businesses that make good use of technology excel and do better in general than those that don’t. This is because using the right digital tools can streamline workflows, lower costs, and improve service.
Here are some of the advantages of using a virtual CIO service.
Reducing Downtime
Downtime can cost small businesses as much as $427 every minute. Anytime your technology is down, whether it’s due to a large outage or a small one, it’s costing you money.
A virtual CIO can put strategies and monitoring in place to reduce unexpected downtime and proactively address any issues before they result in costs due to an IT failure.
Improving Productivity
Sometimes one piece of software or the right automation can make all the difference in your office productivity. A virtual CIO has experience working with multiple businesses and can often immediately spot bottlenecks in your workflows that are holding you back.
Virtual CIOs streamline your processes so you’re eliminating the need to key the same data into two different systems and help you take advantage of program automations to reduce manual repetitive tasks.
Business Continuity/Disaster Recovery
It’s important to plan for the worst, but often putting together a business continuity and disaster recovery plan can be an onerous task, which causes small business owners to put it off.
But then when a disaster strikes, they’re unprepared to bounce back quickly and mitigate damage.
A virtual CIO can put together a thorough business continuity and disaster recovery plan for your company and create training that will ensure your users know what to do should a major disaster occur.
Reducing Your IT Costs
When you have a virtual CIO taking a look at your technology infrastructure from a fresh perspective, they can spot ways for you to reduce costs while improving your overall efficiency.
For example, something as simple as switching from a landline to VoIP can save you up to 75% on the operational costs of your phone system.
They can also see where you have redundant features in the applications you use and help you identify the ones to keep and the ones to drop, saving you money on your monthly cloud subscription costs.
Keeping You Digitally Advanced
Most small business owners are busy running their company and they don’t have time to study all the new technologies coming out and how they might benefit their business.
When you work with a virtual CIO, you don’t have to know what’s coming, they’ll keep an eye on any new technologies for you that can help you get a leg up on the competition.
If you have a question about something new, such as Windows Virtual Desktops, your CIO can do the cost/benefit research for you and let you know whether or not upgrading is a positive move that will make sense for your business.
Call Pro Tech Guy for Expert Virtual CIO Services
Pro Tech Guy offers virtual CIO services to help you get a handle on your technology and ensure it’s serving you well. We can work with you on an ongoing basis or just when you need us for a project.
Contact us today to learn more. Call 508-364-8189 or reach us online.