These days, digital tools underpin almost all of an association’s activities: internal communication, membership management, event planning, accounting, and more.
You’ll need dependable, affordable, and well-managed technology to avoid overburdening your resources and prevent disruptions impacting your ability to serve your members well.
Spending a lot of time troubleshooting IT issues or workflow moving slower due to inadequate tools can prevent your team from doing their jobs effectively – with some workers spending almost four hours a month of their own time making up for hours lost due to completing unnecessary tasks.
If you find maintaining a thriving IT ecosystem challenging, outsourcing to a managed IT services provider can be an excellent solution. Below, we outline ten signs that indicate it’s time to bring in professionals!
- 1. Frequent IT Issues and Downtime Are Impacting Productivity
For every minute your IT infrastructure doesn’t function properly, you can spend a significant amount of money that eats into your budget.
It’s expensive if your employees regularly face common technological hurdles that delay their work, whether it’s lagging computers, slow network speeds, unreliable communication tools, software glitches or system failures. Not only do these situations disrupt your productivity and delay your ability to meet deadlines and achieve your long-term objectives, but they can also lead to diminished morale and even employee attrition.
If this is your reality, you may need a managed IT services provider to ensure your team can consistently access essential tools so that your key activities run smoothly. When a global education-focused association partnered with designDATA, they experienced a seamless transition to remote work at the start of the pandemic and continue to benefit from proactive maintenance and monitoring that minimizes downtime on an ongoing basis.
- Inadequate IT Support and Slow Response Times
Sometimes, an association might rely on a complex technological infrastructure that outpaces the capacity of its limited in-house IT team or its current external service provider. You may be in that situation if you experience delays in addressing technical issues, making it harder for your team to stay on track with important tasks and projects.
If you don’t currently receive timely and reliable IT support, it’s time for something new!
Look for a high-quality managed IT services provider who specializes in association technology management. With a team of skilled specialists on call, you’ll always be able to access the required knowledge to tackle your problem promptly. You’ll want to find someone who outlines their guaranteed response times in their service level agreements so you can be rest assured that any IT issues will be addressed quickly and your operations can keep running smoothly.
- High IT Maintenance and Repair Costs
Without an adequately skilled team that consistently and proactively maintains its technology infrastructure, associations often deal with problems that divert financial resources from more important initiatives.
Has your association experienced minor issues with your technology that escalated into a critical situation? You may have had to spend a lot of unplanned money on expensive emergency interventions and replacements, which prevented you from investing in strategic growth or member services.
To avoid these expenses, you should work with a managed IT services provider who can implement effective IT cost management strategies and provide a more stable environment.
- Outdated Technology and Lack of Modernization
Your association’s operational efficiency is likely diminished if you rely on outdated hardware and software, conduct infrequent technology evaluations and upgrades, and don’t educate your team on safely incorporating innovations like artificial intelligence.
Are your staff struggling to leverage newer technologies or encountering compatibility issues when trying to integrate advanced cloud-based IT solutions into your infrastructure? A managed IT service provider can guide them in modernizing your environment.
- Data Security Vulnerabilities and Rising Cyber Threats
Relying on outdated technologies goes beyond simply impacting productivity. It also increases your association’s cybersecurity risks by creating vulnerabilities that bad actors can exploit.
Many organizations struggle to ensure sufficient data protection and implement tactics like patch management, threat detection, security audits, strong passwords, and staff training.
Yet by adopting data security best practices with the support of a managed IT services provider who understands the necessary cybersecurity solutions for associations, you’ll be better equipped to protect your organization.
- Difficulty in Scaling IT Infrastructure
The needs of your members are constantly changing: how you support them should, too.
Are your existing technology systems having trouble keeping up with your growing operations? Perhaps you struggle with the necessary strategic planning for expanding your IT infrastructure cohesively, or you might be dealing with disjointed systems from years of ad-hoc solutions.
Partnering with a managed IT services provider can help you build a well-integrated IT environment that adequately supports member needs as they evolve.
- Poor Member Experience Due to IT Problems
Your team might feel discouraged if they’re always dealing with frustrated members who can’t log in, sign up for events, or contact your organization. These technical issues can make it more challenging to keep members engaged and involved in your initiatives, and therefore, harder for your team to reach your goals and drive long-term success.
If this situation sounds familiar, it may be time to seek assistance in maintaining a user-friendly IT infrastructure that empowers good communications with your members.
- Non-Compliance with Industry Regulations
Depending on your specific focus and location, many federal and state data privacy laws in the U.S. could influence your association’s operations. Non-compliance can lead to serious consequences, including legal penalties and fines.
If your organization struggles to adhere to the relevant standards governing your technology use, you may benefit from support from a provider who understands association and nonprofit IT solutions. They will have extensive expertise in conducting regular audits, infrastructure updates, and risk assessments, and can make it easier to ensure compliance.
- Lack of Strategic IT Management and Direction
Are your current technology practices and policies yielding optimal outcomes? Consider whether your association frequently makes reactive technology decisions, resulting in investments that don’t align with your operational goals.
You can partner with a managed IT services provider to guide you toward achieving operational sustainability with your technology. Look for experts with experience in overseeing digital transformation for associations and IT infrastructure optimization.
- Overwhelmed In-House IT Staff
Your internal IT team likely handles many responsibilities, from managing system updates and user requests to troubleshooting technical issues and implementing security measures.
With so much on their plate, it’s hard to go beyond focusing on immediate problems to tackling strategic IT projects. That reactive firefighting prevents them from successfully maintaining a well-functioning IT infrastructure that boosts organizational productivity.
Partnering with a managed IT services provider skilled in IT support for nonprofits and associations can free up your team to concentrate on more mission-critical initiatives.
Partner with designDATA to Streamline Your Association’s IT
While there are many barriers that you might face, your association doesn’t have to struggle with an inadequate IT environment that fails to meet their needs and maintain efficiency.
By partnering with designDATA for our strategic IT consulting and managed IT services for associations, you’ll tap into expert support to ensure your technology empowers your work instead of hindering it. We’re here to streamline your operations, minimize disruptive downtime, and implement cost-effective solutions that let you allocate resources to projects that directly impact your members.
Optimize your association’s IT with expert-backed managed IT services – contact designDATA today!
