We have a scalability problem in our IT department. Help!

We have a scalability problem in our IT department. When the GFC hit us, we scaled back. Now we're growing again, we need an extra half a person before we break our IT guy. But, we can't cost justify a FTE. Should we get a part-time IT guy?

Getting the right-size IT department is a problem for every company in the world – so rest assured, you're not alone. Even IT companies have issues around peak capacity, and balancing projects and support in their organisations.

IT by its nature is what I call a 'lumpy job', in that you have lumps caused by a project or lumps caused by problems. The potential of having both kinds of lump at the same time is quite high, and is a risk every business needs to manage.

As a rule, the larger the IT department the easier it is to pull resources from one area to cover another. But if there is only one person looking after your IT in a small business, you have an issue right there. If he or she is already working on a problem, there is not much that can be done when a new problem crops up. If you share that one person with another business, you are at an even greater risk.

Even if you have that one person to yourself, if that person is sick and a problem crops up, that problem is not going away any time soon.

If your internal IT resources become stretched as you grow, chances are the first thing they'll overlook is proactive management. The impact of this failure is many unforeseen problems, instead of working on prevention, your IT resources will quickly become reactive firefighters, with a huge negative impact on company-wide productivity.

Poorly implemented projects (large or small) are another culprit – leading to more calls to your helpdesk and less efficiency.

A prime example – I have learned that we must build every PC and server we roll out from a script to reduce calls to our helpdesk. If we make a minor mistake that requires post-build rectification, each one is a 15 minute job by the time we log into the computer, fix the fault and log the job in our system. We could easily add one hour for every PC we deliver with an application not installed, or a configuration not right for the site. Over hundreds of computers a year this adds up to many hundreds of wasted hours. Building a script is a proactive, ongoing job that requires foresight and resources.

So getting the right-size IT department is important. But what can you do to make it easier?

• Build a clear strategy that outlines what your company wants and needs from its IT department.
• Ensure you have the right people with the right skills working on the right problems.
• Outsource where you lack the right skills in-house, or lack the tools to do the job well. For example, level one helpdesk can easily be outsourced allowing in-house IT to work on projects and higher-level problems.
• Ensure you've made the right investment in your infrastructure to keep the work demands on the IT department down. Often, updating creaking infrastructure can cost less on a month-to-month basis than the staff required to manage failing, older equipment.
• Ensure someone is accountable, and keep score of your IT resources to ensure they're doing the right work and providing the right value.

Finally, good luck getting that part-time IT guy. In my experience, if you can find one, part-time IT guys are never there when you need them most. And, inevitably, they'll enjoy their time off more than you will when you're left to tear your hair out over a problem that inevitably springs up on their day off.

David Markus is the founder of Combo - the IT services company that ensures IT is never an impediment to growth.