Up until now, you may have been under the impression that keeping your IT department in-house is the most secure and efficient way of managing the technology within your business.
However, it is no secret that the IT space is advancing faster than ever, and for the vast majority of businesses, having an up-to-date and highly skilled in-house IT team with the right range of expertise and within a reasonable budget is simply not achievable, often impacting growth.
As a result of the ever-advancing technology, an increasing number of companies are opting to outsource their IT support. Outsourcing IT can help businesses keep a step ahead of the game within the technology industry without incurring significant costs.
Some of the main challenges companies face that lead them to consider outsourcing their IT department to a Technology Success Partner (TSP) include:
A shrinking IT budget
Training and retaining IT skills
Lack of internal expertise
Constraints on internal IT resources
Incomplete IT projects
Difficulties in the recruitment of certified specialists
Outsourcing your IT services to a TSP, sometimes called a Managed Services Provider (MSP), can help in overcoming these hurdles without expending precious time and resources. It can be a perfect solution for a company to keep their finger on the pulse within the world of technology as well as modernising solutions.
Benefits of outsourcing IT services
There are numerous benefits to outsourcing your business IT to a Technology Success Partner (TSP) including significantly improving the productivity of your company alongside reducing costs.
Below are our top 5 reasons why you should consider making the switch to outsourcing your IT services to a TSP:
1. Budget optimisation
The most costly issues of in-housing IT commonly arise due to inflexible solutions, where IT investments and skills quickly become outdated and need updating and retraining. Smaller businesses typically have a basic local infrastructure which doesn’t require enough maintenance to warrant a full-time post and in these situations, the cost of in-housing IT support often exceeds product output.
With outsourced IT Support, less capital investment is required and no time or money is wasted on recruitment fees or additional training for current staff. It can help them to level the playing field with larger competitors as they gain access to expert advice and skills whilst keeping within budgets.
Furthermore, you often get better rates on high-end technology such as hardware upgrades and cyber security as well as the expertise to help optimise your current technologies. Rather than unnecessarily investing in new costly upgrades, your TSP will ensure you only ever pay for what you need. With outsourced IT support, you are free to dictate the expectations and extent of the service they provide and economise on these accordingly.
2. Company efficiency and productivity
Running and growing a business comes with enough daily tasks and challenges without having to address issues with IT. The task of your technology is to make your life easier and help make your business run more efficiently, yet due to the complexity of the continuously changing IT world, it can actually have the opposite effect and slow down growth.
Outsourcing your IT department can help you to focus on your business by taking the burden of technology off your shoulders and placing it into the hands of experts. You no longer need to go on time-consuming, stressful and expensive recruitment searches to find employees in a specialist field.
This allows you and your employees to focus on big-picture outcomes and benefit from your business IT rather than managing it knowing your MSP will keep their finger on the technology pulse for you. Furthermore, you will be able to consult with your MSP to discuss your wider business strategy and goals and exploit technology to your particular needs.
3. Security
Protecting your business’s security from ever-changing malware, hackers and viruses etc, is a huge part of the role of IT support. If your in-house IT department isn’t large or skilled enough to take on these threats, then big mistakes could be made which could be financially and reputationally detrimental to your business.
By outsourcing your IT support, your business will have constant protection from experts who will be continuously updating their knowledge on the current cyber threats and ensure your business is as safe as possible.
Moreover, your TSP can give you easy access to premier cyber security which can then be monitored and updated by your outsourced IT team.
5. Resilience and reliability
All employees, including in-house IT staff, require time off work, whether it be due to illness or holiday, and this can be hugely disruptive to a business, particularly those with an IT department made up of one or two people.
By switching to an outsourced IT support team, this problem can be completely negated. You will have the help of experts with the latest qualifications and most updated technical knowledge on call to resolve any technical issues that may arise as well as following through with projects to completion without time delays due to staff shortages.
5. Scaling your business
All employees, including in-house IT staff, require time off work, whether it be due to illness or holiday, and this can be hugely disruptive to a business, particularly those with an IT department made up of one or two people.
By switching to an outsourced IT support team, this problem can be completely negated. You will have the help of experts with the latest qualifications and most updated technical knowledge on call to resolve any technical issues that may arise as well as following through with projects to completion without time delays due to staff shortages.
What Counterpoint can offer
At Counterpoint, our passion is helping our clients grow their businesses through Apple Mac IT services, support and consultancy. If you are exploring the idea of outsourcing your IT department or would like to identify how you can leverage IT to supercharge your business growth - don’t hesitate to contact us.