IT Support for Manufacturers: Six recommendations for manufacturers in need of tech support.

Every modern business uses information technology (IT), but when it comes to manufacturing, IT plays an outsized role in a company’s success. Though every business might leverage IT for administrative and customer-service roles, manufacturers also rely on IT to manage their critical operations: from production processes to tracking inventory to order fulfillment.

Despite its significance to their business’s existence, many manufacturing companies continue to operate with limited (or nonexistent) expert support, which can have significant consequences on the overall efficiency, security, and competitiveness of the manufacturer.

What are the unique reasons that a manufacturer should consider outsourcing their IT support?

1. High cost of downtime. Inefficient computers, network failures, or buggy software are a hassle in any industry, but in the breakneck world of manufacturing deadlines, downtime can quickly sink a struggling company.
2. High risk of ransomware attack. Precisely due to the high cost of downtime in the sector, cybercriminals are targeting manufacturers with ransomware designed to hold production hostage until their demands are met. IBM’s 2023 Security X-Force Threat report highlights this current trend; manufacturers accounted for 30% of all recent cyber extortion incidents.
3. Complexity of interfacing the digital and physical world. Manufacturing technology must often interface directly with IT systems—creating an unusual bond between the digital and physical world. This relationship can be quite sensitive to changing parameters and vulnerable to unique types of cyberattacks that can compromise the quality and integrity of a manufacturer’s product.
4. Access to qualified labor. Manufacturers often struggle to employ and maintain a high-quality administrative and manufacturing workforce. The burden of attracting and retaining capable technical talent in an often decidedly un-techy environment adds another layer to the complicated HR cake.
5. Compliance. Whether it’s OSHA, NIST, CMMC, or ISO, the constantly-changing expectations for privacy, security, safety, and quality compliance can quickly overwhelm a manufacturer trying to stay in bounds without outside support.

What should manufacturers prioritize in an IT partner?

Although outsourced IT support cannot solve all of a manufacturer’s problems, a competent managed service provider (MSP) can unload the significant burden of IT from a management team. MSPs like NOC Technology can provide as much or as little support as a manufacturer needs through full-managed or co-managed IT arrangements.

1. Industry experience. From an IT-needs perspective, the manufacturing industry is not the same as a doctor’s office, a call center, or a day care. The crucial role of tech in manufacturing means that the system is either running smoothly or disrupting everyone. A manufacturer’s IT provider should have significant and demonstrable experience in manufacturing. Period. They should ask for industry references and check them out before moving forward.
2. Compliance support. Since manufacturers are already dealing with a pile of changing regulations, they should prioritize an IT partner that can manage emerging national and state regulations that dictate compliance for privacy, data management, and cybersecurity concerns.
3. Cybersecurity expertise. Although cybersecurity is a concern for every modern business, manufacturers are currently right in the crosshairs of cybercriminals. Manufacturers should prioritize an MSP that provides multilayered cybersecurity model that includes employee training, anti-phishing measures, proactive ransomware monitoring, and access to cyber insurance.
4. Scalability. If a manufacturer goes through a period of intense growth, they do not want to be held back by an outside service provider. Since market demand can fluctuate widely for many products, manufacturers should identify MSPs that have the technical and staffing capacity necessary to grow with them as quickly as needed.
5. Downtime prevention. Even the limitless IT budgets of Amazon and Microsoft cannot completely prevent downtime, but a quality MSP should be able to limit it to an absolute minimum through careful and strategic maintenance. Manufacturers should prioritize MSPs that have a proven track record in providing maximum uptime through private servers, cloud servers, or a hybrid model.
6. Strategic efficiency consulting. Even though it might not feel like an urgent need to most manufacturers, the right MSP can provide guidance on the strategic use of technology to catalyze future business growth. By keeping a pulse on industry trends and emerging opportunities, a strategically-focused IT support company can keep a manufacturer one step ahead of the competition by helping them prioritize the emerging technologies that make the most sense for their unique system.

About NOC Technology

Our expert team currently serves manufacturers across a wide cross-section of the industry. We understand the importance of practical, comprehensive, cost-effective solutions for manufacturers and can work with you to find a solution that works for your specific business model and needs. We have experience providing as much or as little as you need and can even bundle all of your IT needs into a single line item if you want.



Whether you need VoIP phone service, hardware leasing, server management, cloud migration, secure data storage, proactive cybersecurity, internet, tech consulting, compliance, or something else, we can help.

If you want to find out more about how outsourced IT support can take a load off of your manufacturing business in Missouri or beyond, get in touch with us through the buttons below.