Why “IT Support” Is No Longer Enough, & What Modern Businesses Actually Need
For many organisations, IT support is still viewed as a reactive function; something you call when systems break, emails stop flowing, or users can’t log in. That model may have worked a decade ago, and in some legacy environment it probably still does. For businesses of today, it is actively holding them back.
Modern organisations rely on technology not just to operate, but to comply, scale, protect data, and enable flexible working. That shift demands a very different approach to IT.
At KnightShift IT, we see this challenge repeatedly when engaging with startups, growing SMEs, and organisations transitioning into more regulated or security-sensitive environments.
They assume, decide, and move without much attention to what needs to change from the legacy way of thinking, and more importantly, what should stay.
The Problem With “Fix-It” IT
Traditional break-fix IT focuses on symptoms, not causes. While it may appear cheaper on the surface, it introduces long-term risks:
No clear visibility of infrastructure health
Inconsistent security controls
Poor documentation and single points of failure
Reactive spending instead of planned investment
Increased exposure during audits, incidents, or staff changes
In short, it keeps organisations operationally fragile and always on the backfoot.
The Cloud Myth: Why “All-Cloud” and “All On-Prem” Thinking Both Miss the Point
Many non-IT folk (and even some IT folk), believe you have to jump on the “cloud” to maximise benefits. We’re here to tell you that the story isn’t so straightforward.
Common ideas and misconceptions we have to address:
Misconception #1
“We need (or want) to be fully cloud based”. - There’s a place for organisations to be in the cloud, and operate with zero on premises structures. That place is fantasy land.
There’s a reason best practice suggests having a Domain Controller within your network; because if your cloud provider has an issue, which the fragilities of these providers have been demonstrated in recent months, your users can’t:
Logon
Authenticate
Access Resources
Be Secure
Controlled
Misconception #2:
“We need to save money by keeping our servers local”
This is a misconception because it forgets value. Cost and money do not equal to value. Some organisations will benefit from a premises only environment, but these are becoming far and few between.
Misconception #3
“Cloud working is only for remote working”
Cloud working offers businesses, resiliency, a backup plan, accessibility, uptime and many many more benefits. It’s not limited to remote working, nor does it only benefit remote working. It can be used by businesses of all sizes.
What we say is, the reality is much more varied than those. Most businesses we’ve come across will only operate and benefit in a hybrid model; particularly those running a Microsoft environment.
What you’d typically have is, an on premises network, that contains your Domain Controller for your business, this is the heart of your Microsoft domain and contains your log book for who is and isn’t authorised for access to your network and it’s resources. This is based in your premises/office and authenticates anyone connected to the network inside the building and sits neatly behind a firewall.
The firewall then does an important job and directs/links the traffic across a tunnel to another firewall sat within a cloud providers’ network, (the large enterprise examples include AWS & Azure).
The cloud provider would then host another domain controller. These domain controllers work in conjunction with one another, allowing users to authenticate, and communicate with the domain.
This is what you call a hybrid environment and follows best practice from industry standards as 2 Domain Controllers minimum are recommended.
What Businesses Actually Need Today
Modern IT is not about servers and cables alone. It is about resilience, governance, and alignment with business objectives.
That means:
Security by design, not bolt-ons
Standardised environments that scale predictably
Clear ownership and accountability for systems
Audit-ready configurations, even if you are not yet regulated
Commercial clarity — knowing what IT costs and why
This is particularly important for organisations operating across multiple sites, supporting remote staff, or handling sensitive data.
From Support to Strategy
A modern IT partner should function as an extension of your leadership team, not just your helpdesk.
That involves:
Designing infrastructure with growth and exit in mind
Translating technical risk into business language
Planning lifecycle upgrades instead of firefighting failures
Aligning IT decisions with compliance, insurance, and governance requirements
This is the difference between having IT and using IT effectively.
The KnightShift Approach
KnightShift IT was built specifically to address this gap.
Our service model is structured, transparent, and outcome-driven. Whether supporting a single-site startup or a multi-location organisation with regulatory obligations. We focus on:
Predictable, well-documented environments
Security-first architecture
Clear service tiers that scale with your business
Long-term partnerships, not transactional fixes
IT should enable confidence, not uncertainty.
Final Thought
If your organisation only thinks about IT when something breaks, the risk is already accumulating quietly in the background.
The question is no longer “Who fixes our IT?”
It is “Who is accountable for ensuring it won’t fail us when it matters most?”