If you run a business, chances are you only hear about IT when something breaks. A laptop won’t turn on. The internet’s crawling. Someone can’t access the shared drive…again.
Your IT department exists to keep your business running, connected, and secure. That means making sure people have the tools they need, those tools work, and that everything behind the scenes is stable and protected, including your network, files, and systems.
However, people still think of IT as just the people you call when something breaks. And yes, IT support is part of it. But the modern IT department is so much more than that.
It includes the infrastructure that keeps your team communicating, the systems that protect your data and customer info, and the team that sets up your new hires, manages your cloud tools, handles vendors, and keeps an eye out for risks before they become real problems.
Today, IT must be strategic and proactive, built to grow with your business, not just a band-aid for your tech problems.
Here are some of the various departments in an IT company:
This is the front line. When someone’s locked out, their laptop won’t connect to Wi-Fi, or a new hire needs access to tools, the help desk is there to solve day-to-day problems and keep work moving with minimal disruption.
Your internet, Wi-Fi, internal servers (if you have them), device inventory, and remote access fall under infrastructure. When your infrastructure works, no one notices it. When it’s not working, it grinds work to a halt, which hurts your business; the average cost of downtime at $5,600 per minute, making even small disruptions a major business risk.
Security isn’t just about antivirus software anymore. It’s phishing defense, multi-factor authentication, regular updates, employee training, and data protection. If your business needs to meet compliance standards (HIPAA, SOC 2, etc.), this is where it lives.
If your business has security gaps, it can be potentially harmful to your business. The average cost of a data breach in 2024 is $4.9M, according to IBM.
From your email provider to your file sharing platform to your project management tools, someone has to manage licenses, logins, data storage, and updates. This part of IT department keeps your digital toolkit organized and optimized.
Most companies rely on third parties for the internet, software, phones, and more. Your IT department coordinates with those vendors by resolving issues, negotiating renewals, and making sure tools play nicely together.
Beyond just keeping things working, a strong IT department helps you plan what’s next, including new tool evaluation, preparing for growth, setting budgets, and scaling with intention.
These areas don’t all need to be handled in-house. Many growing teams rely on a managed IT partner to cover these bases and fill gaps, reduce risk, or take the pressure off their internal team. In addition, 46% of companies say they were able to reduce their IT costs by 25% or more with managed IT.
Here’s a look at the typical roles that make up a well-rounded IT department:
Most small to mid-sized businesses don’t have a fully in-house IT department.
Where do these companies fall short? Trying to force all these roles onto one person.
As your business grows, it becomes harder (and riskier) for a single IT generalist to cover every base.
That’s why many companies turn to a partner to support or extend their internal team to help them scale IT without overloading their people.
Even with the best intentions, internal IT at small and mid-sized businesses tends to run into the same roadblocks. Not because people aren’t working hard, but because they’re spread too thin or expected to cover too much ground. Here are some of the biggest problems an internal IT department can face:
You don’t have to choose between hiring in-house or outsourcing everything. For a lot of growing companies, the smartest move is somewhere in between.
Co-managed IT is a model where your internal team handles what they do best. This doesn’t replace your people. It gives them backup, breathing room, and support where it counts.
Here are a few ways hybrid setups typically work:
With co-managed IT for your IT department, you get the best of both worlds: the familiarity of an internal IT presence and the deep bench of a full-service partner.
You don’t need a dozen full-time IT roles to run a strong operation. But you do need the right functions covered so your team can work without friction and your business can grow with confidence.
If you’re missing coverage in a few areas or if your current setup feels more reactive than strategic, that’s where Ripple comes in.
Ripple can help your IT department have full peace of mind when it comes to tech. Our helpful and friendly IT keeps your people up and running so teams stay productive and work gets done. If you don’t have the capacity to handle day-to-day support, onboarding, security, cloud tools, vendor management, and long-term planning, Ripple is there to help.