Posted by: TAZ Networks on July 21, 2017 at 2:00 pm
Having an accidental IT manager is often a bad idea — for the employee and for your business.
“And you may ask yourself, ‘Well, how did I get here?’”
This existential question from The Talking Heads may well be the complaint of many bookkeepers, administrative assistants, and other non-IT professionals pressed into service as their employer’s IT manager.
In small businesses, computer maintenance often falls to the most tech-savvy employee – no matter their official job role.
However, using a nontechnical employee as your IT manager has drawbacks.
A recent survey showed that the average “accidental IT manager” loses about 6 hours per week in productivity while managing IT. That’s 300 hours per year! The study findings also state, “While some IITMs (involuntary IT managers) are confident in their technical skills, most find their general work productivity suffers when their work time is diverted to managing IT issues.”
How do these employees feel about doing IT work?
- 30 percent of those surveyed feel that IT management is a nuisance.
- 26 percent do not feel qualified to manage IT.
- 60 percent want to simplify their company’s technology solutions to alleviate the difficulty of managing IT day-to-day.
Too small for dedicated IT staff? Outsource!
TAZ Networks serves as the “outsourced IT manager” for small-to-medium businesses in southeast Michigan, so your staff can concentrate on doing their jobs. When you choose outsourced IT or a managed cloud solution, you don’t have to leave your computer network to an accidental IT manager.
This article originally appeared in our August 2013 TAZ Technology Report, print edition. It has been slightly modified and updated.