A lot of companies try to save money by having someone do both the job they were hired to do and take care of their companies computers needs. Sometimes it's even a relative of an employee, even someone still in high school that is the companies I.T. person. This is a very bad practice.

First and foremost the person was hired to do a specific job function. Giving them additional responsibilities as the go to computer person can take away from that. Sometimes office politics play a huge role in having someone do someone a favor computer wise that is not in the best interest of the company. There are many times when the conflict of interest gets in the way of getting certain things done. Not only that but the person can leave the company (Quit) or worse yet get fired. Now the company has lost both an employee and their I.T. person. Once that person is gone, who has all the passwords to the companies email? Who has passwords to the computers or worse yet the server, where all the company information is stored? If the separation between employee and company wasn't on good terms chances are you won't have any of that information that is critical to your computers or network.

Having an employee do double duty might at first seem like a great way to save money but can turn into a huge liability when something goes wrong. And besides, Do you really want to do business with someone that has a 17 year old as their I.T. person? Someone that can only work after school or on weekends? Things break at the most inconvenient times. You need someone that has the experience. Someone that doesn't have a

By hiring a professional outside consultant, You get services that are backed by 24 hour support year round. You get professionals that do this for a living and don't have a conflict of interest. You get dedication to your I.T. needs while letting you focus on running your business.

If you already have an outside consultant, your ahead of the game! Your next step is getting a second opinion from another consulting firm. It is always a good idea to have your network evaluated at least once by a second company. Sometimes one company will specialize in desktop support while another might specialize in networking while both companies do a little of everything. It makes sense to take advantage of the knowledge of both companies.

Back to the FAQ!