With growth, the decision of which position to open up can be difficult. Do you hire a new sales person, a new account manager, or an IT person? The priorities of the business can become muddled and growth, consequently, shifts down a gear.
Here are some signs it may be time to outsource your IT.
1. The Staff Budget Is Limited
Small business owners find it very difficult to invest huge capital in hiring, training and interviewing people for IT positions. All these processes increase insurance costs, taxes, HR costs, benefits, regulations and many other expenses that may affect the investment in core business activities. In order to save the capital, more and more businesses are deciding not to higher in internal IT person but outsource their IT services by hiring a responsible company to manage their computer networks.
2. Expertise Is Sorely Needed
Every business technology aspect - including networking technologies, computer hardware or software - is rapidly changing and advancing at an incredible pace. When upgrades are needed or vendors change their requirements, having someone with the technical expertise to execute the changes saves a great amount of time, money and effort. When Managed IT service providers have the personnel, resources and expertise that keep them a step ahead in the industry mainly because IT is their core business function.
3. The Resources Are Strained
When technology issues start to get out of hand, the staff’s time can be consumed with trying to resolve or work around them. Once a business decides to outsource their IT support, it can utilize saved resources (time, money and efforts) to improve core business activities and their overall productivity. Customer services, marketing and sales are examples of areas where more resources can be allocated.
4. IT Spending is Increasing
As a business grows it typically ends up with computers and network equipment from a variety of dealers, so getting the support you need is more complicated because you have to keep track of multiple warranties and support contracts, and deal with finger pointing between vendors. Outsourcing to a Managed Service Provider gives you one point of contact for all IT vendors. Additionally, managed service providers will be able to offer sometimes deep discounts on the technology brands you use.
5. Productivity Needs Improving
As much as you depend on technology, though, it isn’t always dependable. Internet connections are irregular. Power supplies die. Hard drives crash. The harsh reality is that the computers, routers, switches, servers, and other technologies you rely on will eventually fail. The bottom line, though, is that a computer crash or network outage can cripple your company and bring productivity to a halt. When an issue arises, time is money and it’s imperative that you resolve the problem and resume normal business operations as soon as possible.
Leave the dirty work to the experts. The cost of outsourcing IT support will pay for itself because your tech issues will be addressed quickly and correctly so you can continue to focus on meeting your customers’ needs and growing your business.
