Blogs

By Bo Barker, Vice President of Services –

An InformationWeek survey that looked at 2015 trends found that while 74 percent of companies expect to see increased IT demand, only 56 percent plan to increase spending. These numbers come as no surprise to those who work in the technology realm, as minimal IT spending during the last decade of recession forced teams to do more with less, even as companies’ reliance on technology increased.

Because of these sparse budgets, human resources in IT departments have been stretched thin, making it difficult for professionals to act as advisers rather than as a help desk. In December, our Chief Information Officer Mike Moore argued that with the implementation of infrastructure performance management (IPM) technology, companies can free their IT professionals from troubleshooting and problem-solving and promote more strategic, proactive operations. So, maybe you’ve convinced your company to invest in an IPM platform, and you’re starting to see the benefits; unfortunately, your team is probably still spending a lot of time monitoring outputs from the IPM system. What can you do?

One alternative to in-house monitoring is to outsource this function, a move that delivers value and benefits your team in a variety of ways:

• More time to spend on mission-critical functions: Rather than your talented IT team wasting its time assessing issues within its infrastructure, your professionals can focus on important tasks that matter to your business’s bottom line.
• Applied knowledge from IPM professionals: The external team that monitors your infrastructure on your behalf brings a collective knowledge and best practices to your environment, reducing risk and establishing performance measurements based on what it has seen and experienced in the past.
• Expert recommendations and proactive alignment: By outsourcing the monitoring function, your IPM professional can recommend ways to optimize your system, as well as continue to help move your IT infrastructure to be better aligned with your business functions.
• Administrative costs and activities can be reallocated: Without a need to focus on administration, your team can focus on business results and providing value to the organization, reinforcing IT’s position as a business adviser – not just a help desk.

If you haven’t invested in an IPM platform, look for a provider that can offer monitoring and administrative managed services that align with your business requirements and desired outcomes. The expertise and subject matter knowledge your monitoring team will bring to the table will allow you to seamlessly integrate IPM into your existing IT staff, so you can maintain the focus of your internal team on your business operations and support.

VirtualWisdom4 is supported by Virtual Instruments Managed Services (VIMS); find out how this program can support your IPM.