If you are like most businesses in Atlanta, then you utilize technology in almost every aspect of your operations. However, you may now be at the point where your next digital transformation moves beyond the expertise or knowledge of anyone in your company. It may be time to seek the help of an outsourced IT consultant.
But how do you sift through all the Atlanta technology companies to find a provider who can best meet your needs? What criteria do you establish for the right technology company? Last, who can trust to protect your business from cyber threats?
Below, we take a closer look at what you should look for in Atlanta technology companies. If you have any further questions, then feel free to visit Centerpoint IT today for more information about this topic.
Establishing Your Criteria for Atlanta Technology Companies
The best way to sort through the technology riff-raff, as it were, is to create a technology needs assessment. What is an assessment?
Technology needs assessment is a systematic analysis of your technology needs based on your current requirements and projected future requirements.
Whether you are a startup or an established enterprise in Atlanta, you may find that your needs fall into these categories:
Cybersecurity
With the onslaught of cyber threats that loiter around your network every day, you need a multi-layered, end-to-end cybersecurity model that will fully protect your digital assets, employees, business partners, and customers.
Communication
Is your phone system outdated and costing you too much money? If so, you can simplify your system, reduce your equipment usage and costs, and take advantage of a broader range of features.
Scalability
You may be eating up your budget in endless hardware and software upgrades. You may also discover that all the equipment and software you’ve purchased through the years doesn’t give you a healthy ROI. Is it possible to find a platform that is flexible enough to handle your business growth so that you don’t have to keep spending money on upgrades?
Business Continuity
A common frustration in businesses that you may be feeling right now is when the network, hardware, or software constantly goes down — often for no apparent reason. This slows down productivity and costs you money. In addition, you may be wondering if you are prepared to handle any disaster or massive network security breach. In other words, what is the worst thing that could happen right now that would disrupt your business continuity?
Centralization
As departmentalization continues to erode within organizations, companies are looking for infrastructure that allows individuals, teams, or departments to communicate, collaborate, and work together from a single platform. How can you create a more centralized collaborative environment while eliminating certain steps to completing a project?
Sustainability & Growth
Last (and possibly most important), is your current technology moving your company forward or holding your organization back? Are you able to compete, or do you find that your competitors have already moved way ahead of you simply because they have better equipment, hardware, and software?
Now that you have your criteria established and have a clearer picture of your needs, it is time to find a technology company that aligns with your needs by providing the right products and services. Let’s take a closer look.
Narrowing Your Search for the Right Technology Company in Atlanta
So now the question is, Which Atlanta Technology Companies match your technology needs?
Considering the criteria you established above, here is the short answer: Find a company that offers these specific services:
- Managed IT: The company must have the capability to act as your CIO (chief information officer) and manage your entire network infrastructure. This includes all equipment, hardware, and software. Think about it this way: If you never have to think about IT, then your outsourced technology company is doing its job.
- Cybersecurity: Under the umbrella of managed IT is cybersecurity, your company’s top priority. Look for a technology company in Atlanta that invests an insane amount of energy and resources into proactive preventative measures that combat cyberattacks before they happen. Also, look for an IT company that provides a multi-layered, end-to-end approach to cybersecurity.
- Cloud services: Cloud services have now taken center stage as the most important element in business growth and development. Why? Because they offer a centralized platform where everyone can work together online. The cloud platform allows employees, business partners, or customers to upload/download files, utilize software (SaaS), communicate, store data, collaborate on projects, and so much more. Atlanta technology companies can save you thousands of dollars by eliminating needles equipment, hardware, or software and moving everything to a cloud platform.
- VoIP: Imagine removing all of your phone equipment from your office. Now imagine bringing in a small fraction of that equipment, adding some software, placing your phone system on a cloud platform, and piling on dozens of more features. Now imagine doing all that but paying less than half for your phone service. One more thing: imagine how easy it suddenly becomes to train your staff on how to use the new phone system. That is VoIP in a nutshell.
- Business continuity: A dependable IT company should be able to set effective business continuity contingencies in place that allow your business to keep operating regardless of any disaster or emergencies that arise. Your IT provider should help you prepare for worst case scenarios by preventing data loss, establishing remote communication strategies, mitigating hardware and software failures, and identifying potential risks to your infrastructure.
- Business growth investment: Last, a technology company should use technology as a foundation for your business growth and development. They should be fully vested in the sustainability of your business and find solutions for fostering growth on every level of your organization.
Kim Marks 
Nicola Holder