How IT Specialists Can Benefit Your Business
What is an IT specialist? What skills do they have? Do you need one? How can one really benefit your business?
Whether you’re looking to hire an IT specialist on your team or wondering if your managed service provider already has one, we’ll answer these questions and more.
What is an IT Specialist?
According to Indeed, “An IT specialist, or information technology specialist, is someone who establishes, maintains and repairs computers and digital networks.” They can also work with phones, copiers, fax machines, and other hardware, as well as software.
IT Specialist Skills
First and foremost, IT specialists need to understand the technologies they service, including software and hardware. This includes understanding a variety of operating systems (OS), including Windows, Linux, and Mac – or they specialize in one OS.
They need to have excellent customer service skills because they will be working with people, not just their technology. IT specialists also need to understand security and compliance as it relates to the IT industry as a whole as well as the industries they serve.
Depending on their specialization, they may also have these skills:
- Programming languages
- Risk mitigation
- Threat analysis
- Data encryption
- Ethical hacking
- Penetration testing
- Data analysis
- Cloud computing
- Machine learning
What Roles can an IT Specialist Have?
Whether you hire one directly or outsource to a third party, you won’t always work directly with someone who has the title “IT Specialist.” So, here are a few roles that are considered under the IT Specialist umbrella:
- Service Technician
- Hardware Repair Technician
- Software Developer
- Tester
- Network Administrator
- Product Support Specialist
- Desktop Support Analyst
- Systems Analyst or Administrator
- Database Administrator
- Helpdesk Technician
- Cloud Computing Analyst
- Systems Engineer
- Network Engineer
- Solutions Analyst
- DevOps Engineer
- Computer Security Technician
- Network Security Engineer
- Security Architect
- Information Systems Security Manager
- Big Data Engineer
How can an IT Specialist Benefit My Business?
Hiring IT specialists directly or by choosing an IT service provider provides a lot of benefits.
Increase Uptime
By hiring the right IT pro, you can increase your business’s uptime, which helps keep your other employees on task. Downtime only wastes your business’s money and your employees’ (and sometimes even your customers’) time.
Secure Your Data
When you choose the right IT specialist, you can keep your confidential data safe. It’s no secret that cybersecurity and data protection are paramount for businesses – 43% of attacks are aimed at SMBs alone and the median cost of a single attack is just under $17,000. Not only do cyber-attacks present data risks and high costs, but they can also cost you customers.
Go Remote with Confidence
With more businesses looking to work remotely or in a hybrid model long-term, the right IT experts will help you develop and maintain the architecture you need to work remotely, as well as keep your data safe on different devices.
Increase Efficiency
Someone who specializes in a specific area of IT is better equipped to meet unique business goals quickly compared to delegating a task to someone with limited experience in that area. Simply working with a specialist can give you the peace of mind that that task will be tackled effectively and correctly.
Quickly Resolve Problems
When a problem or threat occurs, the right specialist will be able to resolve it quickly – either in person or remotely. This can help your business save money and data.
This is why many IT service providers offer 24/7/365 services – because cyber threats don’t take evenings, weekends, or holidays off.
Are you interested in delegating your IT problems? Meet our team of IT specialists.