6 Reasons for Outsourcing Your IT Support

More and more businesses are deciding to outsource their IT support instead of maintaining an in-house IT support team. There are quite a few advantages to doing this, including the six listed here.

 

Outsourcing your IT support will save you a lot of money

On average, an IT support manager commands a salary of £35,000 to £40,000 a year, every year. Then there’s the costs of finding a new manager if and when your current one leaves, then finding and hiring other team members, as well as keeping their training current.

For small or medium-sized businesses, a salary of such a size is too much, but the costs of having a part-time IT manager, or of relying on untrained or less-experienced staff can far outweigh this once things go wrong.

If you decide to outsource, you need to look at getting your IT support from Probrand.co.uk or a similar company. This means you’ll be paying a fixed monthly fee, which is easy to control and budget for.

An outsourced service can act as a back-up for your existing team

If you do rely on a small or part-time team, then using an outsourced support service can help them – and ultimately you. If you have a small team, or just one guy, then what do you do in a serious situation or when he or she’s on holiday? Having a widely-experienced crew on the end of the phone adds an extra layer of security to you; plus, the outsourced team can spot problems brewing.

You’ll save money on recruitment fees

We all know how expensive recruitment can be. It’s also very time-consuming and stressful, especially if you have no idea about IT and your main question is “…so, you know all about computers, then?”

Outsourcing bypasses all of this – you’ll be guaranteed an experienced team who don’t need to show you their CVs and tell you about their hobbies.

 

It frees you up to concentrate on your business

Every business knows how much time is lost to IT problems – very often trivial problems, too – and these glitches mean you miss phone calls, meetings, your accountant and, of course, your customers. Constant small hassles cost time and money, and that’s before the big ones hit!

Outsourcing your IT support makes you more productive

You may think that asking your staff members to look after their own IT hygiene and after each other’s saves money, but it really doesn’t. Everyone will lose a few minutes a day sorting out error messages, showing new hires how to handle that printer and saying “…turn it off and on again…”

Once you outsource, you’ll just have to make a call and someone will be there to make it all go away (as it were). This means that only one person is held up, rather than two!

Outsourcing means your IT support always has the latest training

IT teams need to keep their training current and up-to-date and this costs money. If you’re bearing these costs year after year, it racks up and it never ends. IT support services benefit from training partnerships with big developers, as well as better economies of scale, so you’ll feel these benefits as well.

 

Source: noobpreneur.com-6 Reasons for Outsourcing Your IT Support

Keeping your business competitive with IT support

As any business grows, technological change occurs at an exponential rate which makes it harder for businesses to adapt. In a recent survey by the Department for Business Innovation and Skills, only 21 per cent of SMEs have ever received support in their digital capabilities.

The rise of new and emerging technologies has made it even more important for businesses to future-proof themselves which is why more and more are outsourcing their IT system to stay competitive. An IT system is crucial to the successful operation of any business. While it can be daunting relying on an external company to manage your firm’s IT processes, when you do seek out an IT provider with the experience and know-how to mitigate those risks, it will ensure that nothing will be left to chance.

While fear of surrendering control will hold some businesses back from outsourcing their IT, those that do will see some immediate and long-term benefits:

Costs: Businesses know that it takes time and money to find, hire and train a team of IT specialists. And even a temporary employee may not live up to expectations. When you outsource, it’s much easier to free-up staff, saving the high costs of training IT staff and running an expensive in-house IT department.

Experience: Qualified IT professionals have worked across many companies and customers bringing with them a breadth of experience. They make sure their level of expertise is maintained and their technical knowledge is up-to-date. And you don’t just benefit from the expertise of one person, you profit from a team of IT professionals who have proper industry training and certifications

Increasing efficiency: Maintaining IT and keeping up-to-date with technology through an IT provider means that your business can streamline processes and focus on its core competencies. Through being able to predict, prevent and act quickly to avert serious issues, they will ensure that catastrophic failures, cyber-attacks and extended downtimes are a thing of the past.

The outsource becomes the insource: Particularly for smaller businesses, the IT provider becomes an addendum to the business, working in partnership with your business to ensure that IT is delivering value to a business. The IT provider therefore acts as a conduit between the business and IT.

Keeping up to speed with new technology: The speed with which technology is evolving has meant many businesses do not have the budget to train their IT staff, who inevitably become isolated from the fast pace of change. Using specialists who adapt to these rapid changes and stay-up-to-date, will mean you have the right technology to solve your current and future business challenges.

Renew your focus on your core business: Do you service your car or repair your boiler when it breaks? Most of us don’t have that expertise, which is why IT outsourcing allows you to focus on what you do best and not get distracted by the complexities of IT. Companies need to serve their clients and generate revenue.

Risk reduction: While it’s a given that every investment carried out by a business presents a risk, an IT provider can take on and manage the risk. Furthermore, the infrastructure and service level agreements of an IT provider will allow smaller businesses to have a resiliency that is only normally experienced by larger businesses.

Security and compliance: The rapid pace of technology has meant that businesses cannot afford to fall behind the competition when it comes to addressing the increasing sophistication of security threats. Faster network speeds, data being shared and migrated to clouds, and employees bringing their devices to work all present a host of new security challenges. By working with an IT specialist, businesses will then have a clearer picture of the biggest threats and weakest points, so they can prioritise and focus on those areas of information security that need attention and which are the highest risks to your business.

Expertise goes a long way: Ultimately, firms need a technology partner that understands all aspects of their business. They should be able to provide support in all areas including: Business and user applications, wired and wireless connectivity, physical and digital security and backup and data management.

In an intellitrends survey of Fortune 500 companies, 48 per cent of them reported tech-performance issues daily. With this worrying statistic in mind, the more solutions you have in place to resolve these issues, the quicker your staff get back to work and the less money your business loses.

When outsourcing is done well, it can bring specialist expertise and efficiency to your business challenges both now and in the future.

Source: itproportal.com-Keeping your business competitive with IT support

10 Things to Consider When Outsourcing Your IT Support

Finding the right IT support is one of the most important parts of running a successful business. For smaller companies, it generally pays to outsource IT provision rather than employ someone in-house – it’s cheaper for a start and you also get access to a wider range of expertise that is more in tune with the latest technology developments.

Whilst small businesses can benefit hugely from an outsourced IT partner, the challenge of finding the right one is an altogether different matter. Choosing the best partner cannot only help keep your systems running smoothly but also differentiate your business from others in your industry.

Here are our 10 areas to consider when looking for the right IT partner:

1. Create an outline of what you need before approaching potential suppliers – If you are a growing business looking to outsource your IT, create a summary of the support you need. Most IT providers will offer a bespoke service so having a clear plan will help shape this. If you already have an IT supplier in place and are looking for alternative quotes, your current arrangement will form a basis for the new discussions. Highlight areas for improvement or further development.
2. Location – The location of your IT partner has become less important over recent years. The majority of account managers will be more than happy to visit you at your offices and once set up, over 95% of all IT issues can be resolved remotely.
3. Business longevity – New IT businesses are popping up all the time, especially with the latest developments in cloud based technologies. Whilst a new venture may offer all the service and support you could ever want, it is advisable to consider a company that has been operating for a while and has a good track record.
4. Accreditations – If you are looking for a particular service or software, it is important to talk to potential partners regarding the technology suppliers they work with and industry accreditations, for example Microsoft Cloud accreditation.
5. Management System – IT Support providers will use a technical management system to work with clients remotely. Some providers will develop their own, however we would recommend going with a partner who uses a reliable third party solution such as Kaseya.
6. Going the extra mile – Look at what other services they offer beyond just IT support and whether they have the expertise to recommend new products to help reduce costs and improve the performance of your business systems.
7. Reporting – If you have a number of teams in your business structure you will probably expect regular reports from them. Your IT support should be no different and it can help make sure that you are notified of any potential problems and their appropriate solutions.
8. Is there a minimum contract? – To reduce the risk when signing up with a new supplier, some companies are now offering services without tying clients into a lengthy contract. This means if you are unhappy with the service provided, it would be easier to walk away and choose an alternative supplier.
9. Case Studies – Most IT support companies will have put together case studies of the types of clients they deal with which means you should be able to take a look at a reasonably detailed breakdown of what to expect from the business. It is always preferable to review a business from another clients’ perspective.
10. References – Once you are happy with the contract an IT supplier has to offer, they should be able to provide you with a list of recent clients for you to contact for a personal reference.

Source: talkbusinessmagazine-10 Things to Consider When Outsourcing Your IT Support by Mitch Finlay