IT Services For Small Business: What You Actually Need in 2025

If you've been running your small business IT department with passwords stuck on post-it notes and admin access granted to all users, it's probably time for a rethink. 67% of organizations report an increase in the number of times they were hit by a cyber threat in the past 12 months — prompting 47% to experience great difficulty in attracting new customers and 43% to lose them.

Glossing over IT security is a serious mistake for businesses of any size. But cyber defense is only one element of a successful IT strategy. This guide explores the broader array of IT services for small businesses in more detail so you can execute your work with the right tech in place.

What IT services for small businesses really mean in 2025

Traditionally, IT services involved a dedicated support engineer waiting for the phone to ring so they could go and fix a laptop or change a printer cartridge. Today, that kind of support barely scratches the surface of what’s required.

In 2025, small businesses need their IT professionals to:

• Secure their global operations even with a lean team
• Enable productivity through automation and always-available hardware
• Minimize admin overhead by integrating IT with HR and operations workflows
• Onboard employees in hours, not weeks
• Be proactive in preventing downtime rather than just reacting to it

The 7 essential IT services for scaling small teams

Many IT services are modular, enabling small businesses to pick and mix specific solutions to support their technical needs. In most cases, the following seven services will provide the building blocks for a scalable, secure, and productive IT function.

• Global device procurement: The process of sourcing and delivering laptops, phones, or other hardware to employees, no matter where they’re located.
• Device health and lifecycle tracking: A system for monitoring each device's usage, age, warranty status, and condition from when it's issued to when it's retired or reused.
• Pre-configuration and zero-touch setup: Preparing devices in advance with the right software, settings, and security so they’re ready to use out of the box, without manual setup by IT or the employee.
• Endpoint protection and data erasure: Security measures that protect data on company-issued devices and tools to securely wipe them when employees leave, or hardware is decommissioned.
• 24/7 global repair and loaner support: Round-the-clock access to tech support, including hardware repairs and temporary replacement devices to avoid work interruptions.
• Integration with your tech stack: Connecting IT systems with HR software and identity tools to streamline onboarding, offboarding, and access control.
• One dashboard to manage it all: A centralized platform where IT, operations, or HR teams can see, track, and manage all devices, users, and support actions in one place.

5 biggest IT challenges for small businesses

In smaller companies, the tech team is often a single-person IT department that faces challenges ranging from inefficiencies to serious compliance management risks. Here are the biggest roadblocks to overcome.

1. Device delays and missing equipment

Without a storeroom full of replacement devices, small businesses are often caught in a cycle of reordering and chasing equipment to distribute to new hires or offer as replacement hardware. But when late laptops are caught in customs, or suppliers don't meet your shipping needs, your IT team members spend too much time on logistics rather than driving operations forward.

Businesses can overcome this challenge by equipping employees with reliable, high-quality technology that works when they need it. The payoff? Samsung reports productivity gains of up to 40% and improved morale.

2. Poor visibility into inventory and location

IT teams can struggle to manage their hardware inventory, especially if they're keeping a manual register. For example, a laptop might be marked "in use," but the employee actually left three months ago and no one knows where the device is. Multiply that across a distributed team, and it’s easy to lose track of what’s active, missing, or due for replacement.

3. Security gaps at endpoints

Every device used for work, whether a company-issued laptop or a personal phone, is a potential doorway into your systems. When those BYOD devices aren’t secured properly, they become one of the easiest ways for attackers to get in.

According to Verizon’s Mobile Security Index, 70% of data breaches now originate from mobile devices. That includes phones, tablets, and laptops used to access corporate accounts, often outside the office and without the same protections you'd expect in a managed environment.

Small businesses are especially exposed here. They often allow a mix of personal and company-owned devices and rarely have the time or tooling to enforce strong security settings across the board. Without centralized visibility or control, it's easy for devices to slip out of compliance, leaving sensitive data vulnerable to theft, loss, or attack.

4. Manual offboarding exposes data risks

When someone leaves your company, the IT checklist should be immediate and airtight: revoke access, wipe the device, recover or dispose of the asset, and confirm no sensitive data is left behind.

But in many small businesses, this process is handled manually, spread across Slack messages, spreadsheets, and someone’s to-do list.

As a result, accounts often stay active longer than they should. In terms of hardware, devices aren't returned, and sensitive client or internal data isn't erased properly. And in some cases, former employees still have access to systems they shouldn't. It's unsurprising then, that
67% of companies saw an increase in cyberattacks in the past year.

5. Admin burden on IT and HR

In small businesses, IT and HR often wear multiple hats. The same person managing employee onboarding might also be responsible for ordering laptops, setting up accounts, tracking down lost equipment, and troubleshooting logins. Often, it’s not even someone with formal IT training.

What small businesses get wrong about IT (and how to fix it)

When IT systems fall short, employees feel it first, and the business feels it soon after. These gaps often stem from outdated assumptions about what IT should cover or how much support a small team really needs. Here are three common myths that quietly hold SMBs back.

Myth 1: “We’re too small to need automation”

Manual workflows may work in the short term, especially for startups who don’t have the time or budget to invest in automation from the outset. They feel they can’t justify using an outsourced IT provider, or an automated service to handle their daily tasks.

But when does this become a mistake? The tipping point usually arrives quietly when your remote contractor connects to your systems using a personal laptop without antivirus installed. Or when someone's password expires while traveling, and they're locked out of their account during a client meeting with no clear reset process. These are the moments when manual systems start to cost more than they save.

Automation removes the repeatable tasks that distract from the work only your team can do. For small businesses, it's a way to make lean teams work smarter, without burning out or dropping the ball.

Myth 2: “It’s cheaper to buy and ship devices ourselves”

Any external IT support comes at a cost, and small business owners will find themselves weighing up the potential return on investment. To avoid paying a monthly fee or signing an annual contract, they may be tempted to offload device procurement to their already-burdened IT team members.

But instead of making cost savings, the opposite happens. Buying devices ad hoc leads to inconsistent pricing, delayed deliveries, and limited availability, especially when stock runs low or you’re shipping internationally. Costs creep up through expedited shipping, customs issues, and the hours spent tracking packages or fixing configuration errors after the fact.

There’s also the longer-term waste. Devices purchased without a lifecycle plan are harder to track and recover. Some never come back while others sit unused because they’re not set up properly for reuse. In practice, this reactive approach costs more in time and money than working with a structured provider ever would.

Myth 3: “We’ll fix it when it breaks”

It’s common for small businesses to scrutinize every expense to keep operational costs low. If the Wi-Fi works and the laptop powers on, there’s no rush to overhaul systems or upgrade hardware. The thinking is simple: deal with problems when they happen.

But that approach creates more risk than most teams realize. According to recent data, UK small businesses lose nearly £300,000 a year to downtime tied directly to IT problems. Two-thirds have canceled meetings because of tech failures, and over half have missed deadlines.

These incidents reflect how fragile reactive systems can be. By the time something breaks, the cost is already sunk in repairs, but also in lost trust, momentum, and hours you won't get back. By taking a more proactive approach, your IT department can better protect your business.

What to look for in an IT services provider

A managed IT services provider can be the lifeline that small businesses need to concentrate on running and growing their operations. As with any technical support partnership, you’ll want to make sure your provider of choice pairs well with your business. As Darren Mead, Construction Director for Claygro Ltd. puts it, “Not all businesses have an IT department that understands all the jargon. Having a service provider that keeps it all understandable is a breath of fresh air.”

Here’s what to look for:

• Global reach with local logistics: Make sure the provider can deliver and support devices in the regions where your employees work, not just where your HQ is. This includes navigating customs, handling returns, and offering timely support in-country.
• Built-in automation: Onboarding, offboarding, and device provisioning shouldn’t require extra configuration or third-party tools. These automated workflows should be native to the platform, not a patchwork of plugins.
• Integration with your existing HR and IT systems: Your provider should also work seamlessly with the tools you already use, like your HRIS, identity provider, or asset management system, so you don’t create new silos in the name of streamlining.
• Simple pricing, no nickel-and-diming: Look for clear, predictable pricing. Beware of hidden costs for returns, support tickets, software installs, or international delivery.
• Proactive management: The best providers are more than help desk support. They monitor device health, flag potential issues, and guide your team before something breaks rather than after.
• Built specifically for small businesses: Some IT platforms are stripped-down versions of tools built for huge companies. Others are designed from the ground up with small teams in mind. You’ll feel the difference in the first week.

How Deel IT supports small businesses globally

For small teams hiring across borders, IT logistics can feel like a constant tradeoff between speed, cost, and control. Deel IT removes that friction as a full-service platform designed specifically to help lean teams manage their devices without needing a large internal IT department or juggling vendors in every country.

Here’s what sets Deel IT apart.

Global reach without the overhead

• Procurement and delivery in 130+ countries
• Access to harder-to-serve locations like Azerbaijan, Bahrain, Canary Islands, and Puerto Rico
• 99% delivery success rate with average times under 10 days

Features tailored for SMBs

• Always-in-stock inventory and 200+ equipment items from trusted brands like Apple, Dell, Lenovo, Logitech, and Jabra
• Leasing or buying options depending on your budget and growth model
• Role-based device provisioning, so new hires get the right hardware every time
• Automated lifecycle management, including provisioning, tracking, reconditioning, recovery, and certified data erasure

Automation that saves time

• Automated onboarding and offboarding linked to your HRIS
• Pre-configured devices with MDM enrollment, shipped directly to employees
• 24/7 global support to keep your team online, wherever they’re based
• Secure, policy-driven offboarding with device retrieval from high-volume regions like the US, UK, Brazil, and India

Predictable pricing and real savings

• Transparent per-user or per-device pricing
• No hidden fees or surprise charges
• $1,190 average savings per device compared to traditional in-house management
• Flexible to scale with your team, whether you're hiring in one country or ten

Today, Deel IT supports 800+ organizations worldwide and continues to expand into new regions where distributed work is gaining traction; Sweden and Poland are among the fastest climbers. Deel IT is ISO 27001 and SOC2 Type II certified and trusted by teams that value speed and robust security.

Ready to equip your small business IT team with less hassle and more control? Book a free Deel demo today to support your strategic planning.