To outsource your IT department or to not outsource your IT department—the outsourcing vs insourcing debate is a popular and never-ending discussion. when it comes to outsourcing IT, there are a lot of benefits that businesses – especially SMEs – won’t want to ignore. In this article we talk about what businesses can gain when they work with an IT partner.
9 reasons to outsource your IT department:
- Gain a deeper level of expertise
- Plug IT gaps
- Stay up to date with technology
- Proactive support
- Direct your focus
- Better cyber security
- Easier recruiting
- Increased flexibility
- Be more cost effective
Reason 1: You’ll receive a wide and deep level of expertise
When you outsource your IT department, you gain access to a range of IT experts that cover every technology discipline you could ever need, for one monthly payment. This is especially useful for the business that is unsure of the type of IT expertise they’ll be requiring. It’s also a way to access deep-level knowledge on tap, without having to shop around or pay large sums (more on that later).
Reason 2: Easily plug IT gaps
With in-house IT, if you don’t have the expertise you need in-house, it’s much harder to immediately fill any gap in your business’s IT knowledge. Imagine you realise you need to perform a cloud migration soon. Without a cloud migration expert on staff, finding an expert would be another hurdle to clear if you want the project to be a success. However if you outsource your IT department, your IT provider has a roster of experts constantly at the ready.
Reason 3: You’ll stay up to date with technology and innovation trends
If you choose to outsource your IT department, you’ll work with a group of technology obsessives, constantly living and breathing the latest in IT hardware and software. What they don’t know about the industry isn’t worth knowing. Whether you’re looking to stay well ahead of the technology curve or you’re just keen to make sure you have the latest version of Windows, one of the benefits of managed IT services is that having the best technology for the job goes without saying.
Reason 4: Outsourced IT is typically more proactive
Generally speaking, when you outsource your IT department, there is a better chance of catching issues in your systems before they become problematic. Unlike many an in-house team, an outsourced IT team usually has the resources to monitor problems and fix them without them negatively impacting your business.
Reason 5: It helps you direct your focus
When your IT is outsourced, you can direct your in-house resources towards more important tasks – namely those that produce a greater ROI. A typical example is letting an outsourced IT department handle day-to-day IT challenges – support tickets, firefighting, etc. – whilst in-house, you focus on, say, improving the network, seeing how IT can support business strategy, etc.
Reason 6: Better cyber security
Hiring full-time, good-quality cyber security is expensive. It’s also hard; the best cyber security minds are usually already snapped up by the larger enterprises with the resources for recruitment. Whilst many business operations are more secure than many businesses might think – every business needs good cyber security. When you outsource your cyber security, you can easily access advanced security features like data monitoring or a SOC (security operations centre).
Reason 7: Recruiting is a lot easier
Since any quality outsourced IT team has already filled their roster full of top IT talent, they have essentially done all the recruitment for you. If you’re short on time or you don’t want to spend the money on recruitment, this can be one of the most powerful benefits of IT outsourcing.
Reason 8: Increased flexibility
Concerning the point about easily plugging IT gaps, an outsourced IT team can easily accommodate any changes in your business. You may be growing rapidly, or you might be experimenting with various business processes. Finding the right in-house staff to meet rapidly changing needs can be an uphill struggle. But with outsourced IT you can easily flex your technology in any direction you require.
Reason 9: It’s typically more cost effective
This is often the biggest win for most businesses that outsource their IT. When you outsource, there’s less capital investment needed, no money wasted on recruitment fees or making the mistake of hiring the wrong person for the job. Plus, you’ll get better rates on premium technology and services like cyber security or hardware upgrades. If you only need to outsource IT on a per-project basis, that too can be accommodated. So, on top of all the other benefits of outsourcing IT services, you’ll also be able to save money.
Outsource your IT department to BITS
As you can see, there are many benefits if you choose to outsource your IT department. And in the 20+ years we’ve been operating, we’ve come across pretty much every challenge a business might face. So, if you’re unsure why you should outsource your IT department or would like a little clarity on the benefits of IT outsourcing in relation to your business, one of our experts will be able to guide you accordingly.
Click here to book a meeting with an IT outsourcing expert.