IT Untangled: Time Audit - How Long Should IT Services Take?

Things are moving-and-shaking around your office, and it’s time for a big IT project. Whether it’s due to a new expansion or a new system, you are locked and loaded for some IT time.

This new project comes along with the age-old question – how long will it take? No matter how big or small the project is, it’s hard to predict a concrete timeline. Unfortunately, this isn’t a batch of cookies, and times will vary based on the type of project and any number of things along the way.

Before you call it quits on your project, let’s talk about expectations and reasonable ways to keep your business and IT department on track.

What to Expect

Even something that sounds simple will have many moving parts. Let’s build a scenario, let’s say you want to back up your computers.  We have this drag-and-drop mindset that things should take, what, like an hour?  In theory, it is a drag-and-drop set up, but there is more to the story.

How many computers are involved? Where is the data being stored? What tools are used to “drag and drop” the information to where it's being stored? Is anything automated? How long does the automation process take, does it need to be set up?

There is no way to answer definitively how long these things will take. Ballparks come in handy, but they need to be flexible. Snafus happen. Ask your IT professional what a reasonable timeline looks like.

How to Keep on Time and Budget

In a word, proactive. Proactive management is the key to keeping your time on track and your budget right in that sweet spot. Its whole purpose is to ID issues before it becomes a problem. By resolving issues before any significant impact, your managed IT service is ensuring that any new services, upgrades, integrations, etc., will run smoothly. Proactive management IDs snafu possibilities and helps get you closer to the estimated service time.  

This doesn’t mean that surprises won’t happen, but it helps limit them and the downtime it takes to fix them. Have a plan that defines everything in the project. Make sure the following has been documented before starting the project:

1. Deadlines and objectives
2. Data Security and backup plan
3. Budget
4. Communication plan

What to Avoid

Beware of IT professionals who can do it cheaper and faster. You should stop and ask yourself why that is. What makes their time and material worth less? Usually, these are false promises that will only leave you frustrated and with less than what you started with.

While we can’t tell you what works best for your business, pay-as-you-go isn’t ideal for this kind of scenario. With these types of contracts, there is no motivation to plan for the future. Think of it this way; issues will come up, no matter how good the IT team, there will be hiccups. In a pay-as-you-go scenario, the managed service provider won’t have proactive monitoring. When there are issues, they won’t resolve them before the new service is done. This leaves you vulnerable to increased overall cost and downtime, as they backtrack to address issues. If time is money, you’d be losing on both ends.

While not being able to answer “how long will it take” can be frustrating, working with your managed IT provider to find a real timeline of events can alleviate most if not all of that frustration. The right IT company will know ahead of time that they shouldn’t make empty promises and instead offer to work closely with you to make the transition as smooth as possible.

Related: Why IT Projects Fail

IT Untangled

IT can be complicated. We're here to help "untangle" it for you.

IT Untangled aims to provide clarity on IT topics for business people. This weekly blog series will explain and discuss the complex world of IT, in words you understand.