There is a shift of support.
I've always find it weird how much 'less' of a good chair you get now and how much 'more' they costs.
15 years ago most support was centered on HARDWARE. Today (2013) hardware has become significantly better. So hardware related support has gone way down. In this way modern support has definitely been reduced.
However, with the adoption of more technology in everyday lives, more use of software for business process, the use of SOFTWARE has gone up tremendously. With hardware, usually it's either fixed or not, there was not much room for middle ground. With software, you have literally thousands of developers creating software for the needs of their target audience. While many of them pay serious attention to compatibility, there are so many software related:
- bugs
- flaws
- security holes
- crashes
- data to protect
- backup and then update.
Although vendors rave this is ‘automatic’, anyone who tells you it’s ‘set it and forget it’ is either lying to you or ignorant.
Modern systems here require more support for sure.
The more software is used as a strategic advantage, the more complex your IT becomes. This should mean your company is able to do more with existing or even less staff. This also means you need more IT control & management. Rule of thumb, for every 10% more efficiency you get with staff, you will have 20% more IT management.
Simple Example:
Company Revenue: 25 M
Employees: 100
Revenue Per Employee: $250,000
IT Dept: $50,000
Improve IT = +10% company efficiency:
Revenue Per Employee: $275,000
Employees: 100
Company Revenue: $27.5 M
IT Dept: $60,000
Gain: $240,000
The 20% of IT costs should be far outweighed by the 10% increased efficiency and related profit.
With such a gain - now you need smarter decisions being made in IT - better protection and prevention methods. How do you think the big players above drive so much revenue per employee?
Post 2010 - this is industry agnostic. Software solutions are out there for every type of company.
Do Modern systems require less support? No. Expect to pay more in IT as your company gains many fold back on the bottom line.
Happy Clicking!
Nathan DeSutter
IT Consultant
Compnology.com
Contact me:
559-674-1301
nathan(at)compnology.com
