How to move your IT function in-house
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It’s hard to think of a business that doesn’t need some form of IT resource, whether that’s through a managed service contract, cloud based, or with an internal IT team in place. There are pros and cons to both set-ups and many companies go with a hybrid approach of having some in-house resource backed up by support contracts.
If you’ve made the decision to bring your IT in-house and manage your IT needs yourself you need to consider the following to ensure that you’re setting up the team from the ground up.
Decide the remit of the department
What tasks and projects do you need the IT team to take point on? Are you looking for troubleshooting and break-fix support for onsite users? Software development? Telephony?
By deciding this in advance you can start to plan the resources and personnel needed to achieve it.
To be able to do this efficiently, you will need to consult a specialist who can help you create a plan of action for your IT department. Trying to do this without having the right expertise can lead to a mismatch of expectations and resources which could cost you a lot of money. Someone with IT expertise should always be involved at this stage.
Dedicate resources
Once you know that scope of responsibility for your IT department, you can begin allocating budgets to it. Sound financial planning is the key to avoiding pitfalls later. You’ll have to budget for recruitment, salaries, benefits and training, IT hardware and software. If you’re planning to host data on-site, then you’ll also need to consider allocating space for racks, server room ups systems and cooling systems.
Hire your team
Its crucial that your team is experienced and qualified for the job required. After all, as a specialist role, there will not be anyone else to help them.
There are many recruitment agencies that specialise in IT recruitment. They will be knowledgable about the roles you are recruiting for and will be able to find the right candidates for the job. You can advertise the job widely or have a recruitment consultant headhunt good candidates for you.
Most IT departments contain a mixture of experienced and junior team members who can cover all responsibilities within the department.
Choose your IT partners carefully
Even with an IT department, you’ll still have support contracts with various IT suppliers. Your telephony, hardware and business continuity plans will all need to have Service Level Agreements in place.
Involve IT in business planning
Whatever your plans for the future of your business, IT should play a role in these. If you have plans to expand the business, shift business focus or open new offices all need to be planned for in advance for them to be successful.
Conclusion
Building an in-house IT department is a major step in a company’s growth. Taking the time to plan and not rush things will mean that you are in a much better position to grow and develop as a business in the future. Though the most common arrangement today is to have IT managed services in-house support is the best option for some businesses.
