Six Reasons to Outsource IT

 

Managing an IT service organization is a daunting task for even the most seasoned business professional or business owner. Information Technology is generally regarded as just requiring technical skills although the use of technology in a business requires management, and the associated disciplines, like any other business function does. In addition, effective management of technology is possible with clear definition of goals, objectives and guidelines that are established through the establishment of IT Strategy by qualified professionals.

 

An often overlooked effort is the establishment of a well crafted company policy that addresses regulatory compliance requirements.

 

Outsourcing / time-sharing enables firms to focus on their main operations while forwarding their technological issues to the expertise of qualified engineers. According to Meta Group’s Desk Reference, companies who rely on in-house technological support often find that their problems exceed the expertise and training of their in-house staff.

 

An outsourced IT provider absorbs the costs associated to the management of the very human aspects of “Human Resources”. Specifically, vacation, illness, leaves, training, R&D, benefits and incentives that provide a focused employee. By absorbing these functions, the business can enjoy uninterrupted service from qualified, trained and motivated engineers.

 

A well-qualified IT provider can create a tailored package of services for its customers. Such services include, but are not limited to, assessments, governance, strategy, projects, support and preventative maintenance.

 

The Companies that endeavor to manage their IT themselves almost always have much greater expenditures because of the items indicated in “Service Continuity”. These costs are often placed upon your own customers, but the ability to offer more competitive prices as a result of a decrease in expenditures can help you to attract new and maintain existing clients.

 

As a result of the ease and lowered expense of outsourcing, streamlined technology also serves to level the playing field between growing companies and their larger competitors. Smaller companies with outsourced IT have access to the same world-class capabilities as larger businesses, which is usually unaffordable with the extra costs of an in-house IT department. Such capabilities enable your business to reach a greater number and variety of clients while maintaining a high level of production and quality. Today, one of the greatest incongruities between large and small companies is the ability to assemble manpower.

 

Large companies are able to employ a great number of staff to focus on highly specialized and narrow tasks which need to be addressed in their businesses. However, smaller firms encounter a very similar number of responsibilities, but most always lack the funding to employ specific people to address each obligation individually.

 

It is becoming increasingly popular for small- and mid- sized corporations to make up the difference by deciding that it is best to keep their main staff from concentrating on non-strategic work, such as information technology. Outsourcing is a good option for these firms, enabling them to make a profit by placing such responsibilities in the hands of experts while freeing-up human capital to generate greater funds for the core business.