Three service game-changers for tribal IT
Today’s IT professionals are overburdened. And finding adequately skilled workers is harder than ever. This is happening across the country, in most industries and sectors. In fact, 81% of IT leaders are overwhelmed by the functional aspects of their job.1
But tribal communities have even more acute challenges around staff shortages, skills gaps, and tight resources — compounded by remote locations and widely dispersed populations. There are too few tribal IT professionals, and they all have too many hats to wear.
This comes at a time when tribal nations are looking to revitalize cultural traditions, governments, community programs, and businesses. Technology is essential to these initiatives. But adding technology, modernizing infrastructure, and scaling for growth requires strategic focus from IT and adds to their operational workloads.
In the same vein, the $2 billion earmarked by the US government for tribal broadband infrastructure improvements2,3 will help close the digital divide and open the door to increased access, which in turn will create opportunities to innovate. But IT capacity is needed to capitalize on those opportunities.
The evolution and availability of purchased IT services is good news for tribal governments and businesses. A technology services partner can help overcome time, budget, and staffing limitations and create a cost-effective path to new IT capability and efficiency.
The beauty of the handoff
Contracting for services isn’t a new idea. But it’s a newly growing trend across organizational functions from marketing to human resources to customer service — and increasingly, to IT.
Managed services are a priority for 79% of SMBs and 97% of upper midmarket firms.4 And adoption is widespread, with nearly 88% of small and medium enterprises using or planning to use a managed service provider.5
By handing off day-to-day operational tasks through a services provider, you can add and scale technology without increasing the already heavy IT load or hiring new staff. You can augment your existing skill set. And you can serve a large geographic tribal area efficiently.
A services package does not have to be one size fits all. Many providers have a range of offerings with the flexibility to start small and add services that have the most value for your specific needs. Options can include an ongoing subscription model or a pay-per-project arrangement.
A trio of transformations
Here are three ways IT services can change the game for tribal IT, setting the stage for innovation and growth.
1. Speed up deployment
Digital transformation is not just about purchasing technology. Technology must be provisioned, configured, deployed, and responsibly disposed of at end of life.
Offloading basic tasks with preconfiguration and remote deployment frees tribal IT from time-consuming hands-on setups. New technology gets into play faster so organizations can quickly capitalize on the investment. With lighter workloads, IT teams can be more responsive to other demands. Asset recovery programs handle responsible, secure device disposition when useful life ends and can help you recoup your assets’ remaining value.
2. Extend lifecycles
In the digital age, employee productivity relies on technology that performs as intended with maximum uptime. This, in turn, depends on detailed attention to day-to-day IT management tasks.
The handoff of routine maintenance functions can include ongoing administration, updates, patching, software deployment, and network maintenance. Some devices include built-in management features, which streamline these services — including the Lenovo ThinkPad® T14 powered by Intel vPro®, An Intel® Evo™ Design.
Leaning on managed services teams and the integrated management features at their disposal ensures systems are monitored, updated, and remediated in a timely way, which prolongs device life and reduces security risks while providing relief from IT operational workloads.
Services can also include security monitoring to stay ahead of evolving threats. Tribal organizations have not been free of security breaches, which range from healthcare providers to casinos to government systems.
3. Improve experience
Just as important as delivering the right technology and keeping it at peak performance is having responsive support in place should issues arise. Support services typically include a help desk to ensure quick resolution of user issues, reduce downtime, and increase user productivity. IT teams can focus on escalated issues, maximizing their expertise on more challenging needs. Onsite repair is another component to enable dispatching a technician when necessary. All this keeps employees more productive and happier.
The rise of Everything as a Service
For organizations that want an end-to-end service solution, as-a-service models are a perfect choice. Device as a Service (DaaS) vendors can take care of everything throughout the device lifecycle — hardware, software, and services — for one predictable monthly fee. This solution is flexible, cost-effective, scalable, and sustainable.
Infrastructure as a Service solutions reduce upfront costs and deliver new infrastructure solutions that remove operational burdens while providing flexible back-end technology that scales as the organization’s needs scale.
Lenovo IT services for tribal organizations
Lenovo is a trusted partner for hundreds of tribal-owned and operated organizations. Our approach includes tightly integrated hardware, software, and service solutions tailored to customers’ needs. Lenovo Managed Services delivers a comprehensive, scalable suite of flexible options to outsource day-to-day IT management. And our entire portfolio is available as a service.
Learn more about Lenovo’s complete portfolio for tribal businesses and organizations at www.lenovo.com/Tribal or contact your Lenovo Tribal Organizations representative today.
