While IT continues to gain seats at the boardroom table, so does the complexity of the IT plan needed to keep the lights on in the organization. As the demand for IT professionals increases, the pool of qualified candidates for hire will decrease. Creating a team of individuals that can self-manage, and think critically about aligning IT goals with the company's future plans, can be something that most organizations aren't willing to take on.
So, what are the benefits of outsourced IT solutions?
1. Control IT Costs
Managed IT Services companies will provide 1 - 3 - 5 year budgets, and the days of unexpected costs can become a thing of the past.
You can also count on reduced labor costs - Hiring and training an IT staff can be very expensive, and temporary employees don't always live up to your expectations. Outsourcing lets you focus your human resources where you need them most.
2. 24/7/365
Go from an IT staff of 1 - 2 to an IT TEAM of 80+. Taking vacation time, an employee leaving, developing careers paths, and IT management can become a worry of the past.
3. Trained, Experienced, Qualified, Certified.
If you’re not IT trained, how do you assure an employee is qualified? Certifications like Microsoft Certified Systems Engineer (MCSE) are important, but so is experience.
4. Qualified doesn’t Equal Experienced
Few issues are new for leading IT service companies, which see related problems multiple times. An in-house IT employee leads an isolated existence no matter how much they train. We'd all rather have an experienced doctor, wouldn’t we? The same is true for IT.
5. Increase Efficiency and Competitiveness
Organizations that try to do all IT Services in-house themselves can have much higher research, development, and implementation time, all of which increase costs that are ultimately passed on to customers.
What gets measured gets managed. You should expect constant visibility into the performance of your outsourced IT department via: SLA's, measuring tickets, monitoring alerts, reporting on compliance of patching, and most importantly, your employees satisfaction with IT support.
6. Quickly Implement New Technology
A quality outsourced IT service organization will have the resources to start new projects right away. Handling the same project in-house might take weeks or months to hire the right people, train them, and provide the support they need. For most implementations, quality IT companies will bring years of experience in the beginning, saving time and money.
7. Stay Focused on Your Core Business
Businesses have limited resources, and every manager has limited time and attention. Outsourcing can help your business stay focused on your core business and not get distracted by complex IT decisions.
8. Reduce risk
Every business investment carries a certain amount of risk. Markets, competition, government regulations, financial conditions and technologies all change very quickly. Outsourcing providers assume and manage much of this risk for you, with specific industry knowledge, especially security and compliance issues. They generally are much better at deciding how to avoid risk in their areas of expertise.
You should rest easy knowing that your outsourced IT provider has your data backed up and a disaster recovery plan in place to assure constant uptime.
9. Level the Playing Field
Most small businesses can't afford to match the in-house support services that larger companies maintain. Outsourcing can help small companies act "big" by giving them access to the similar technology, and expertise, that large companies enjoy. Making IT a part of your business strategy is not as hard as you may think. Outsourced IT companies can now provide virtual CIO's who have the experience and skills to ensure IT is a leveraged asset, and not just a cost center. By working with your executive team, vCIO's will create a plan to ensure IT is ready to support and drive forward strategic initiatives. Enjoy the benefits of your own CIO without the salary on your payroll!
10. Compliance and Security
Is your firewall up to date? Are you HIPAA compliant? Do you audit your Workstations and Servers? Has your company implemented PCI security standards and work to maintain those standards? For example, businesses have more ways than ever to prosper by taking many forms of payments such as Credit and Debit Cards, Gift Certificates, E-Checks, Wire Transfers to name a few, but with these forms of transaction also comes the need for due diligence. By outsourcing a qualified Managed IT Services company, who is familiar with PCI Compliance standards, you can rest assured that your company is minimizing the risks associated with maintaining client data, credit card numbers, sensitive competitive information and more.
