Outsourcing IT – a Smart Move
You cannot get away from IT. It is in just about every part of our daily lives. You have to deal with it whether you like it or not.
When it comes to business, IT can help you tremendously with things like improving internal and external communications, automating and monitoring processes, and reporting progress and statuses. It’s all about freeing up your time to do the things that make you money.
The down side is that, while you know your business intimately, IT can be a mysterious and bewildering beast. There’s getting your head around IT concepts, and also keeping up with advances in IT. This is particularly difficult with small to medium enterprises, where your resources are often limited. On the other hand, you may have an internal IT person who is stretched to their limit in capacity or ability.
Outsourcing IT needs for your business can be the answer. You can supplement your internal team or hand the management over to a specialist.
Outsourcing IT v. internal hire
If the decision to go with an outsourced IT solution is on your mind, consider these points:
Greater knowledge pool
Outsourcing IT needs gives you access to a pool of people with a greater range of skills, and a team who will have much experience in many aspects of IT. They will have exposure to more solutions and can advise on what is going to work best in your business.
Always available
Let’s say your IT support is an internal function, and it’s provided by one employee. That person is not always available. Consider after hours, weekends, their vacations, public holiday periods. Outsourced IT support, monitoring and project solutions can deliver, when needed, 24 hours a day, 7 days a week and 365 days a year.
Reliability
Outsourcing to a team of experts where the knowledge is shared and logged means you never have a gap in your support. An internal hire could leave, meaning you have to train a new person up again. Continuity in your support is important, and less costly.
Focus on your business
Having an outsourced team supporting you and your business means that you can focus on what actually makes the money for you. You can be confident that the peripherals of your IT infrastructure are being maintained, monitored and protected from threats.
IT budget
Using an outsourced IT team means that you can budget better, knowing to a much greater extent what your monthly IT spend will be. Predicatabilty is important. Plus, you don’t have the other expenses of an internal hire, such as payroll tax, holiday pay, superannuation and other employee benefits.
What does having an IT partner look like?
When you outsource your IT needs, you can expect a thorough investigation into your current setup and a plan for moving forward. You can expect some new software that will help the team protect, monitor and maintain your systems. You can expect to access a single point of contact for all your IT needs. You can expect access to a knowledge base of best solutions and innovations. You can expect more security of your intellectual property and data. You can expect support with meeting compliance requirements. It all helps to make your business more efficient and competitive.
Download our infographic “The Difference Between Reliable and Risky IT Services“.
Read our eBook entitled “How to Choose Reliable IT Managed Services for Small Businesses” that explains more about IT managed services and what businesses need to look for when partnering with an IT managed service provider. You can download it by here.
