Oil well firefighter Paul “Red” Adair said, “If you think it’s expensive to hire a professional to do the job, wait until you hire an amateur.”
The reasoning behind this statement—the idea that a novice will take longer and make more mistakes than someone with more experience—is particularly applicable when it comes to your business technology and its management. Let’s explore a few reasons why this is.
First Off, a Lack of Experience Comes With its Own Costs
There are certainly pros and cons to hiring on either side of the experience spectrum. A seasoned veteran will bring hands-on expertise at a higher cost than an eager novice, but the eager novice won’t have the same insights that the veteran has accumulated.
When it comes to your business, which is highly reliant on uptime and IT availability, the price of these insights is generally well worth the cost.
A lack of experience directly ties to numerous potential costs, such as:
- Setup issues
- Troubleshooting errors
- Security vulnerabilities
- Process inefficiencies
- Tech unreliability
So, even if the salary of an inexperienced tech is x and a seasoned hire would cost about 2x, your other variables might make up for that difference.
Secondly, More Experience Can Boost the ROI of Your Tech Hires
On a related note, the more experience someone has, the more strategic they can be with their time and effort.
In business, your return on investment is everything… and it can make certain decisions surprising to the casual onlooker.
An experienced approach can make your business perceive its technology in a far different light than it might otherwise.
- When issues are prevented through thoughtful maintenance and active monitoring, your IT itself provides more value.
- A strategy that your IT implementation follows makes it easier to keep it in lockstep with your greater objectives.
- Experience with troubleshooting issues means they can be identified and resolved faster.
- More involvement in security matters makes issues, obstacles, and pitfalls easier to spot.
- The more information someone has the chance to collect, the more they have to draw from to make even better decisions in the future.
Speaking of the future…
Third, Consider the Difference Between “Cost” and “Investment”
Yes, both are ways for you to spend money—a sensitive topic, for certain—but the fundamental deviation between the two is the whole point.
One removes money from your business in exchange for a product or service, while the other is the contribution of capital in exchange for increasing value over time. This value can take many different forms, like…
- Saved time
- Simplified processes
- Security and peace of mind
- Skills available to your business
- Strategic guidance
- Swift returns
Now, consider what we call it when you hire a new employee: an investment. Similar to an investment portfolio, there are times and circumstances when it makes sense to invest in new, uncharted waters, and times when you want a safe bet—something that has proven reliable over time.
There are times to hire a fresh face, just like there are times to hire someone who has been around the block before.
Proactive IT Support and Services Provide the Best of Both Worlds
Our services are designed to bring you a team of collaborative professionals ready to ensure your Houston and Surrounding Areas business' IT gets exactly the attention it needs, when (if not before) it needs it. We’d love to chat with you about what this would entail, so give us a call at (281) 916-1101.
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