It’s always interesting to see young companies shoehorn IT into a department that doesn’t have much to do with it. Some examples from my journeys in MSP land:
HR/People Ops Teams: This group tends to get the brunt of the shoehorning. Understandably, the technology role gets lumped in with the team that on and offboards employees but tasking someone to own the complexities surrounding business IT is like asking someone to do 2-3 jobs beyond their own. In addition to their jobs, they end up purchasing machines, getting employees set up in the various SaaS apps, managing vendors, and helping troubleshoot IT problems as best as possible. Business IT should never be a best-effort task.
Engineering Teams: You work with computers? You should handle the computers. There are abundant examples of the kind of engineer who grudgingly accepts the responsibility of running IT because of the misplaced idea that someone who is an excellent dev is also an excellent business IT solutions expert. This person becomes the catch-all for all questions, and they have to layer on end-user support on top of the demands of their job. Most engineers prefer to keep their heads down and focus on completing a task or a sprint. Helping someone reset their password does not play nicely with that.
None of the above scenarios contribute to a good employee experience. Companies need to take IT and IT security seriously. Lumping those responsibilities in with another department makes IT an afterthought. Without a strategic vision and a solid foundation, pivoting from a bad IT strategy gets exponentially more expensive and disruptive.
A growing company has employees who wear many hats. But there is plenty of talent out there that can help you build a foundation correctly without overburdening your teams. MSPs slot in as subject matter experts to help companies navigate the complex terrain without building an internal team. They tend to be in it for the long term, and that’s not such a bad thing to have in your pocket.
