This is where an IT department comes into play. The team is responsible for establishing, monitoring and maintaining technology systems and solutions across the entire organisation, which can be a huge undertaking depending on the size of the company. There are three main benefits of having an IT department, including providing support for business continuity, improved security for company and customer data and helping companies stay up to date with the latest technology.

Maintaining Business Continuity

The industry has been faced with a series of unprecedented challenges that have threatened to derail business operations. With an IT department in place, organisations can remain confident that their business functions will continue to operate sufficiently. This has become increasingly important as many companies have relied on their IT teams to make working from home possible in the wake of COVID-19, in addition to data security measures and hybrid working challenges.

Looking to the future, businesses may have plans to expand which means their IT infrastructures need to grow to keep processes and workflows streamlined. Their IT department will be responsible for helping make these strategic growth decisions and guiding what technologies are worth the investment, such as Cloud computing or remote data centres.

Managing Data Security

Whether a business operates in the healthcare, retail or manufacturing sectors, data security is a top priority. IT departments are critical in making sure that a company’s data is safe from potential threats, in the form of malware, viruses or hackers. They are also responsible for ensuring that the wider team are well-versed in data security and understands the risks and measures they can take to help bolster cybersecurity.

This links to creating a culture of awareness surrounding cybersecurity, which can be developed by the IT department and supported from the top down. This framework can be applied to all departments across the business, to ensure that every individual member of the team is playing a part in the first line of defence. Once all employees have an improved awareness, a culture, led by the organisation’s IT department, will begin to strengthen over time.

Staying up to date with technology

Technology is progressing at an exponential rate, meaning business leaders can often struggle to keep up with the latest advancements and know where the next big disruption will emerge from. IT departments, however, are continually on the lookout for new technologies or solutions that can help advance the business’ operations and give them a competitive edge in today’s crowded market.

In addition to this, the IT team will have an overall understanding of which technology tools are best suited for the business, its needs and its plans for the future. They will first consider what technologies the company has and assess what is working and what’s not. By identifying these pain points, IT departments can specify what needs to change in order to drive a real difference. They will also consider the scalability of the potential solutions, and plan ahead in terms of what the business will do next in six to 12 months.

Final Thoughts

In this technologically driven age, an IT department is just as important to an organisation’s success as finance, HR or sales and marketing. This team is responsible for the company’s technology infrastructure which can drastically affect how it runs on a day-to-day basis. With responsibilities across data security, business continuity and technology adoption, an IT department plays an important role in driving company growth and boosting the bottom line. Therefore, if you’re not already leveraging the capabilities and benefits that they can offer, now is the time to do so.