On face value, outsourcing your company’s IT team may seem like a logistical nightmare.
But business owners that dig a little deeper will find a multitude of benefits, ranging from financial to the company immediately having more IT scope than it has had before.
Many small businesses may operate on a shoestring IT budget, with one or two full or part-time team members. In some cases, having an in-house IT department can even be prohibitive, particularly in workplaces with limited resources and space.
By outsourcing the operations, the business can have instant access to a team of specialists with a range of expertise and experience that exceeds what was on offer previously – not to mention around-the-clock support to help resolve any issues.
Along with this comes the freedom to increase and decrease the company’s IT needs when required. Where full-time staff will be paid a salary and benefits regardless of the tasks in front of them, an outsourced team can easily adapt in size and output in line with the projects to be completed.
In a time when many small and medium businesses are looking to draw the purse strings wherever they can, the financial advantages involved with outsourcing can be a huge advantage.
A 2010 report by US research and analysis firm Forrester concluded that companies saved, on average, between 12 and 17 per cent of its overall IT expenditure by outsourcing. Some businesses have discovered their savings are closer to 30 per cent – big figures, whichever way you look at it.
An outsourced IT team can visit a client and quickly review its current technology, processes and procedures; using its collective expertise to identify changes and modifications that can have short and long-term benefits. Whether the company has specific objectives to achieve or is looking for a skilled everyday IT team, appropriate solutions can be mapped out ensuring all parties are on the same page.
Despite the IT team not being physically on site, companies will still work closely with their outsourced professionals to ensure their needs and requirements are met. This can have the flow-on effect of saving time in the workplace – reducing those day-to-day IT-related issues that can slow down productivity and impact on busy schedules.
Abandon those ideas of logistical nightmares and join the rapidly increasing number of businesses outsourcing their information technology operations – instead of wondering whether you can afford to do it, wonder whether you can afford not to?
