IT OUTSOURCING HAS A LOT OF BENEFITS FOR SMALL AND MID-SIZE COMPANIES. SEE THE MOST IMPORTANT 10 OF THEM HERE, AS WELL AS SOME RISKS YOU NEED TO TAKE.
If you’re an executive of a small or mid-size company, this information is for to you. Why? Because it can help you make better decisions regarding your business and it can also help you realize that IT outsourcing is the fresh air your company needs.
In this day and age, there are just a handful of companies that manage to survive without an IT department. None comes to mind, although I’m sure they exist. The truth is that almost every company in almost every work field has IT needs. The only difference may be the complexity of those needs.
So if your company also needs IT support, what are you going to do? Hire IT professionals and invest in equipment and labor?
Or choose the better solution?
1. Keep your money in your pocket
If you’re concern with your company’s finances (and I know you are), you should know that this is the best option on the table for your budget.
By choosing to outsource your IT needs you will save money by paying just one bill every month, instead of taking care of salaries, equipment, licenses, employment costs and other expenses.
2. Keep your focus on developing your business
I’ll go out on a limb here and say that maybe you are not perfectly skilled in every single aspect of your business. So why waste your time and money by trying to be a jack of all trades?
Instead, use that time and money to improve your business with tasks and activities you know how to complete better than others and let others deal with stuff they know how to do better than you.
3. Get access to latest technology
Sure, we do live in the technology era, but that does not mean that technology is cheap. Not by a long shot. In fact, the budget of a small or mid-size company might just be too small to manage the costs of acquiring the latest technology.
While we’re on the subject of budget, this also might mean that there are not enough resources for an internal IT department, either. So let these expenses to be handled by another vendor and you can just use their technology for what you need.
4. Benefit from professional expertise
Technology is expensive and so are the IT professionals you’re thinking of hiring. You need someone who will have the necessary expertise to offer you top-notch IT support, but you might not have the budget to employ them.
So find a vendor that will provide that IT support you need, because they already have great professionals specialized on solving your specific problems.
5. Never worry about a system break-down
I mean, sure, you should worry about it, but it’s not your job to fix it if such circumstances occur. After all, this is why you chose IT outsourcing, right?
Your partner will monitor your system non-stop and will intervene fast and efficient whenever you experience malfunctions. Ideally, they will be the ones who set it up for you in the first place, so they will know exactly where to look and what to fix.
6. Never make a bad technology-related decision
Afraid of hitting the wrong button and have Armageddon unleashed in your system? If you don’t have the necessary expertise then yes, this is a real possibility.
Fortunately, specialized help is just a phone call or email away, so you will never find yourself in this situation.
7. Get help planning your future IT requirements
Hopefully, your business goes well and evolves over time. Beside more revenue, this also means that you will need to expand your company in the future. If that takes place, you will need to plan your IT roadmap, so you will know up-front what kind of technologies should you invest in.
This kind of helpful information is another thing a specialized IT partner can help you with. By evaluating your company’s growth and the development of your IT needs, a specialized partner can make predictions regarding your future IT investments.
8. Save time and reduce distractions
An internal IT department, even if you’re not the person in charge of it, can be a really distraction for an executive. This means that you might be wasting important time which you could instead use to develop other areas of your business.
Let a third party company handle this aspect and you can use that time to improve your company’s productivity and make a difference in areas you’re specialized in.
9. Enjoy better data security
Security is one of the most important aspects for a company, because we’re talking about valuable information that’s being stored or exchanged electronically. You need to make sure that sensitive information does not fall into the wrong hands, and investing in your own IT security it’s an impossible thing to do for most small businesses.
Leave this task in professional hands by choosing IT outsourcing and make sure that your electronic information is safe. After all, that’s their job.
10. Benefit from long-run cost savings
You might think that hiring a couple people and buying a few computers should do the trick and should be cheaper than hiring a third-party company, but don’t be fooled. Think on the long term and make sure you’re factoring in all future costs.
If you take under consideration the costs of hiring and paying people, the costs of acquiring and maintaining up-to-date technology, you might see that the cheaper solution is IT outsourcing.
You might think that I am not fair by only presenting you the benefits and leaving aside the risks you need to assume when choosing to outsource your IT needs. Of course, there are some challenges you need to consider.
See them below.
1. Finding the right partner
You worked a lot on your business and you need to know that everyone involved is doing their job accordingly. This means that you also need to make sure that your IT vendor is the right choice. They need to take certain responsibilities and make sure they won’t negatively impact your business by doing sloppy work.
2. Controlling all aspects of your business
If you’re a manager or a CEO you would want to have a clear control of your business, which can sometimes be a little bit harder to accomplish when you outsource parts of it. But that’s ok. Given that you chose the right people to work with, all you’ll need in some cases is a general oversight.
3. Keep the confidentiality of information
You should make sure to know what type of information your IT provider handles for you and have an explicit contractual agreement that prevents them from divulging any sensible information that could harm your company.
4. Keeping your employees’ morale high
If you already have employees with certain IT responsibilities within your company and decide to choose a third-party vendor for these services, you might need to fire those employees or give them other tasks. This might have an impact on your other employees, as they will be asking themselves if their job is also at risk.
But the benefits outweigh the risks.
Ultimately, the decision to choose IT outsourcing it’s definitely yours to make and you should make it according to your business model and needs.
One thing is sure, though.
IT outsourcing is not a trend. It’s a necessity for all small and mid-sized companies looking to expand quickly while managing a strict budget.
While we’re on the topic of outsourcing, check out this article speaking about the difference between outsourcing, offshoring, nearshoring and remote teams. I’m sure you’ll find some useful information that will help you obtain a broader view of the concept.
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