In modern business, your IT infrastructure is absolutely essential. Data and connectivity are the lifeblood of any organization. If you can't keep the data flowing and your workers connected, you'll almost certainly struggle to get anything done.
Despite the critical importance of IT, many companies don't give this area of business much attention until things start going wrong. This is a poor approach because it means you won't be able to come up with solutions when issues arise.
A very effective way to deal with these kinds of problems is by outsourcing IT. While outsourcing has a bad reputation in many areas, did you know that it's actually common practice to outsource IT?
This article will explain some of the key benefits of outsourcing IT, allowing you to come to a better decision about whether outsourcing is right for your company.
What Does it Mean to Outsource IT?
The notion of outsourcing IT is quite simple. Instead of hiring workers within your organization to handle your IT infrastructure, you work with an external company.
There are no explicit rules on what exactly is meant by outsourcing. In some cases, you might hire one company to handle everything related to your digital systems. In other cases, you might hire multiple companies to deal with different things.
For example, you might have one company responsible for keeping your workstations up and running and another company responsible for looking after your network infrastructure.
You might even manage some of your IT infrastructure in-house and only outsource certain parts of it. The great thing about outsourcing is that you're in the driver's seat, and you can control how much outsourcing you do, based on your organizational needs and budget.
Great for Small Businesses
If you're running a small startup company, you simply don't have the resources to handle every aspect of your business. If you're not a tech company, you probably can't afford full-time workers to handle your IT systems.
For small businesses, it makes sense to focus on your core competencies. When you work with a good IT outsourcing company, you can rest assured that your IT systems will run properly. This leaves you and your staff free to focus on your company's primary goals.
It Works for Larger Companies, Too
This doesn't mean that IT outsourcing is only worthwhile for smaller companies. Larger companies can also benefit from outsourced services as well. For larger companies, it makes sense to keep the critical operations in-house and then outsource the things that are less important.
For example, if you're a company that values data, you might do all of your data backups in-house. You might then delegate less important tasks, such as workstation repairs and maintenance, to another company.
Save Money
One of the biggest reasons why you might outsource to an MSP is to save money. Hiring full-time workers is very expensive. Not only do you need to pay people a salary, but there are also a lot of other costs.
For example, if you want to hire an IT worker, you'll need to post a job advertisement. You'll then need to select appropriate candidates by looking through their resumes. You might need to chase down references to make sure the candidates are not misrepresenting themselves.
Once you've narrowed the list down, you'll then need to have job interviews. Assuming you manage to find a suitable candidate, you'll then need to hire and train your new worker.
Not only is this process extremely time-consuming, but it also costs a lot of money. At every step of the process, you'll need your existing workers to handle it. This means that they're taking time off working on other projects.
On the other hand, when you work with an outsourced IT company, you simply pay them for the work they do, and that's it. The IT company is responsible for hiring competent workers, so you don't have to worry about assessing their competence.
You also don't necessarily need to worry about paying them a salary. If you have a project that you need to be completed, you can simply pay them to complete that project.
Global Workforce
Another great advantage of working with an outsourced IT company is that it gives you access to a global workforce. Thanks to the internet, you can easily work with companies in another location.
This means you can work with people with specific skillsets that are not available in your local area. Conventionally hiring someone with these kinds of skillsets can get very expensive, but it's much more viable through outsourcing.
Deal With the Job Market
The job market is very difficult for companies right now. There are a lot of vacant positions going unfilled. Even if you want to hire an in-house IT worker, it's possible that you won't be able to find anyone to hire.
This means that hiring an outsourced worker might be essential if you want to get the work done. It makes a lot of sense to hire outsourced workers to complete critical tasks while you work on hiring the right person for an in-house position.
Improve Efficiency
Another great thing about hiring an outsourced IT company is that it helps you get the job done much more efficiently. Outsourcing means you don't need to go through the complex process of hiring and training workers. It's much quicker to simply pick up the phone and hire a company to deal with your IT task.
With an outsourced IT company, you could identify a problem that needs fixing in the morning and have a company working on that problem by the afternoon. This is simply impossible if you try to hire someone to work in-house.
Another advantage is that outsourced managed IT services are not necessarily paid by the hour. If you chose to pay them for the whole project, you don't need to worry about them wasting time.
In this situation, if the company you've hired takes their time in completing the task, they're only hurting themselves. It makes sense for an IT company being paid by the project to complete the job as quickly as possible.
Flexibility
Generally, your IT needs are never going to be consistent. When everything is running well, you might have no need for any IT workers at all. On the other hand, if you have an IT-related crisis, you might need all the help you can get.
This is where outsourced IT companies really shine. In the event of an IT emergency such as a ransomware attack or a network outage, the outsourcing company can provide more workers and hours.
However, when things are going smoothly, you might just have them on standby. Not only can this save your company a lot of money, but it also gives you the labor power that you need to fix things when something goes wrong.
One of the biggest advantages of working with an external company for your IT needs is the flexibility that it offers.
Stay on the Cutting Edge
The world of IT is incredibly complicated. Advances in technology mean that every way of doing things has a shelf life. These days, that shelf life is getting shorter and shorter.
If you want your company to work at peak efficiency, you need to take advantage of the latest hardware and software. Not only that, but you also need to know how to use all of the features of this technology to your advantage.
An outsourced IT company works with a wide range of companies on a daily basis. This means they're exposed to all of the latest digital technology.
They can help you to implement cutting-edge solutions that will help you get ahead of the competition.
Outsource IT and Stay Competitive
So now you know how to decide if you should outsource IT. In a world increasingly dominated by digital technology, your IT infrastructure is vital if you want to stay competitive.
Almost any kind of business can find some use for outsourcing some IT tasks. Hiring an in-house team is expensive and time-consuming, so it isn't always viable, no matter the size of your company.
If you want to learn more about the benefits and logistics of hiring an outsourced IT company, check out our whitepaper on the subject. If you want to work with one of the best managed IT service companies in the business, contact us, and we can get the ball rolling.
