The Benefits of Hiring an IT Consultant in Long Island

Throughout New York and Long Island, there are so many small business owners trying to wear all of the hats that keep their doors open — a business owner may also be the head of HR, in charge of payroll, or in many cases, their own IT specialist. The result of this over-extension is that many small businesses suffer as their leaders are spread too thin, and the company’s cybersecurity and tech infrastructure become vulnerable because of a lack of expertise. 

As a business owner in Long Island, you should only have to focus on leading a company and overseeing the general day-to-day activities of which that role entails. While bringing on a full-time, in-house IT team may not be feasible for most small businesses, what is feasible is delegating some of those other hats to other teams. That’s where Five Nines Consulting comes in! We specialize in helping small and medium-sized businesses throughout New York City and Long Island, offering comprehensive IT services on a budget that makes sense and is affordable. Today, we’d like to explore 10 reasons why it’s a great idea to hire an IT consulting firm to help manage your small business’ needs.

You’re Free to Focus On Your Business

No matter what type of small business is being run, that business’s employees will always function better when they are allowed to focus on their core competencies. Whether you’re talking about educators, physicians, lawyers, offices, etc. — all of those employees live up to their full potential when they can focus on doing what they do best. Very few small business owners also happen to be fluent in IT services. Because of that, it can be incredibly frustrating for business owners to navigate modern information technology, or to even bother with the cost of such a safeguard. By hiring an IT consultant to take on that role, you and your employees can narrow their focus to their core job and increase your bottom line.

Take Advantage of a Specialist On Your Side

Five Nines Consulting is comprised entirely of IT specialists. Many tech-minded people can be helpful when a printer starts acting up, but they may not know their way around cloud-based services that can help reduce unnecessary on-site infrastructure. An experienced team of IT consultants can and has handled several advanced projects like this, and can offer their expertise where it falls short on your existing team. When you know that your company’s IT services are being taken care of by a team of specialists, you can enjoy the peace of mind that comes with it, and drastically increase your business’s likelihood of success.

Gain an Outside Perspective On Your Operations

It’s possible that your existing IT structures worked fantastically… 10 years ago. As technology advances, it certainly has the potential to be disruptive in both businesses and society in general. Processes that may have been effective a decade ago just won’t cut it today. Hiring an outside consultant can help your small business gain a new perspective that allows you to take advantage of their expertise in supporting a variety of projects. Let a company like Five Nines help your business grow and improve your overall efficiency. 

Achieve Maximum Cost-Effectiveness

The cost of maintaining an in-house IT team can rule out that option for many small businesses, as it includes paying salary, providing benefits, a workspace, and a laundry list of other expenses. Consultants, however, can maintain your IT framework off-site and are often hired to manage particular tasks, allowing for more cost-effective and efficient use of your time and money.

Optimize Your Security

Small businesses are the targets for well over 60% of all cyberattacks in the United States and of those businesses affected by a cyberattack, nearly two-thirds of them go out of business within six months. When you have an IT consultant who specializes in cybersecurity in charge of assessing and maintaining your network by identifying vulnerabilities, establishing security protocols, and developing recovery plans, you give yourself a major competitive edge. Our specialists can also train and educate your employees to identify security risks to help prevent attacks or accidental data loss. 

Improve Company Productivity and Efficiency

Finding technology solutions to increase company productivity is part of our job! As IT specialists, we can provide file server services, cloud solutions, email protection, disaster recovery protocols, virtualization, and so much more. We can provide and manage the tools your company needs to increase efficiency and productivity.

Insight from Experience and Expertise

With combined decades of experience on our side, Five Nines can assess your company’s practices and help you determine what technologies are working and which ones need to be updated or eliminated. We can confidently recommend an IT solution that fits your business the best, as well as have the clout to implement all of those solutions. 

Gain Access to a Wider Breadth of Tech Knowledge

As a small business owner, when you hire an IT consultant you gain access to all of their expertise without committing to the expenses of hiring a full-time, in-house IT staff. With this dynamic, even small businesses can take advantage of the level of expertise that usually is only afforded to large businesses. We can handle just about everything in the world of IT, whether it’s cybersecurity, cloud migration, mobile platforms, disaster recovery, or managing remote working conditions.

Attract and Retain Employees

Most employees appreciate doing the job they were hired to do. Many small businesses make the mistake of trying to delegate IT responsibilities to employees that have little or no knowledge of the required tasks. Your accountant was hired as your bookkeeper, not your networking specialist. IT consultants like Five Nines can solve these efficiency problems and implement the right solutions, which in turn will help you retain employees who may otherwise become frustrated when tasks not suited to them are thrust upon them. 

Total IT Management

In-house IT teams are just another team for you to manage as a business owner, and that includes accommodating them for paid time off, benefits, bonuses, and more. Those types of costs and time commitments don’t come into play when you hire an IT consulting firm in Long Island. We manage our own team, whose singular mission is helping your small business succeed. 

Five Nines IT Solutions in Long Island

If you’re ready to change the way your small business handles its IT responsibilities, and if you’re ready to take off your IT specialist hat and hand it to a professional, contact Five Nines Consulting. We can assess your Long Island business’s needs and construct a plan that works for you and your budget. Contact us today to get started!