Biz/Tech

7 Compelling Reasons for Outsourcing Your IT Department

Nov 11, 2019 03:59 PM EST | By Ernest Hamilton

7 Compelling Reasons for Outsourcing Your IT Department

(Photo : 7 Compelling Reasons for Outsourcing Your IT Department)

Many businesses outsource for their IT needs to save on time and money. Check out more compelling reasons for outsourcing your IT department.

The global IT outsourcing market is currently worth a staggering $86.5 billion. Clearly, lots of businesses from all of the world are benefiting from outsourcing their IT services elsewhere. 

Have you been interested in this approach for your business? Are you unsure of why there's so much hype surrounding IT outsourcing?

If you're still on the fence, keep reading.

Explained below are seven great reasons for outsourcing your business's IT department. You'll also learn more about what IT outsourcing is and how to implement it into your business plan.

What Is IT Outsourcing?

In simplest terms, outsourcing is all about hiring another individual or company to handle activities that were once handled on an internal level. In the case of IT outsourcing, you're hiring a separate individual or separate business to manage your company's IT needs from a remote location.

Instead of paying one team member or a group of team members to take care of all IT-related work, you'll pay a flat fee to a contractor or third-party company to address those matters for your business and your customers.

Top 7 Reasons for Outsourcing

There are lots of reasons to outsource, and, especially, to outsource your IT department. The following are some of the greatest benefits IT outsourcing has to offer:

1. Manage Costs 

One of the primary benefits of outsourcing (of any kind) is the fact that it can help to save your business money. When you pay a flat fee for managed IT services rather than paying a salary and benefits to an employee, you can enjoy a significant boost to your bottom line.

This also helps to give you more flexibility within your budget. Without spending money on a salary and benefits each month, you can put more money back into your company or even give your other employees a bit of a raise.

2. Work with Trained Professionals

Unless you, yourself, are an IT expert, it's not always easy to tell whether you're bringing on true professionals to help you with your business. You could accidentally hire someone who claims to be an IT expert but who doesn't actually have the training required.

When you outsource to an agency, though, you can rest easy knowing that all of their employees are thoroughly screened before being hired. 

3. Improve Efficiency 

Outsourcing often helps to improve the efficiency with which a business runs, too. This is especially true when it comes to small businesses.

If you have employees who are pulling double-duty and handling IT issues while also trying to stay on top of their other responsibilities, it's easy for them to fall behind or have to work long hours to try and stay caught up.

4. Gain a Competitive Edge

When your business saves money, works with trained professionals, and runs in the most efficient way possible, you're setting yourself up to gain quite the competitive edge over your opponents. This is especially true if your competitors have a history of struggling in the IT department.

If you start outsourcing your IT needs now, it'll be easier for you to dedicate more time to growing your business and becoming profitable. 

5. Use the Latest Technology

If you have one individual handling all your IT needs, it may be difficult for them to stay informed about the latest tools and technologies.

With individual IT contractors and agencies, all the workers have to worry about is IT-related matters. As a result, they're much more motivated to keep up with the latest trends so they can continue offering the very best services to their clients

When you outsource to an IT professional or managed IT service agency, they'll be aware of these tools and will know how to start using them to help your business grow and thrive. 

6. Focus on What Matters Most

When you're not busy trying to put out IT fires or manage your team's IT expert, you have more time to focus on the core aspects of your business. Outsourcing can free you up to work on the things that you're truly good at. This, in turn, will help your company grow faster.

It also saves you from burnout and allows you to continue doing the things that you love and focusing on why you started your business in the first place. Remember, a happy business owner means happier employees, which often leads to a more profitable and more successful business. It's a win-win for everyone!

7. Reduce Business Risk

Outsourcing IT can help to mitigate business risks, too. When you outsource your IT needs, someone else is in charge of keeping up with the ever-changing IT landscape.

They'll ensure that your business is up to speed with security and compliance issues and will know how to avoid risks that have the potential to end up costing you a lot of money.

Tips for Outsourcing Your IT Needs

At this point, you might be more interested in looking into outsourcing for your business. If you want to outsource IT and also want to ensure you do things correctly the first time around, keep these seven tips in mind:

1. Set Clear Goals

When you're looking to outsource your IT needs, start by getting clear about the specific aspects that you want someone to help you with. If you have clear goals regarding what you want to accomplish, it'll be easier to find an IT professional (or managed IT service) that can help you accomplish them.

2. Vet Candidates Carefully

Use extreme care when you screen each individual or agency you're considering hiring. Look into their experience, the type of people they hire, and the type of work they've done in the past. Treat the research process the same way you'd treat it if you were bringing on a brand new full-time employee to your company.

3. Pay Attention to Experience

Pay special attention to the type of experience an IT professional (or the professionals hired by an agency) has to offer. What kind of businesses have they worked for before? What kind of projects did they handle?

Try to find someone who knows how your industry works and knows what kinds of IT issues you're most likely to run into.  

4. Focus on More Than Price

It may be tempting to work with the person or agency that offers the lowest rates. In reality, though, cheaper isn't always better. Pay attention to price and your budget, of course, but don't get so caught up in saving money that you ignore potential red flags.

As with anything in life, you get what you pay for when it comes to IT outsourcing. If you skimp on your spending now, you could end up paying more lately in the form of hiring new employees, fixing problems that they ignored or didn't notice, and winning back customers who are unhappy with the direction your business took.

5. Look at Reviews and Testimonials

Be sure to look at reviews and testimonials during your research process as well. Consider what past clients have to say about a person or agency before you outsource your IT-related work to them.

Looking at the reviews an individual or agency has posted on their website is a good starting point. Be sure to look at third-party sites as well, though. This will help you get a more objective, well-rounded view of how the company works and how well they take care of those who hire them.

6. Always Review Contracts

When it comes to IT outsourcing and hiring outside help, it's always important to review contracts with a careful eye before signing anything.

Make sure you and your business partners know exactly what you're getting yourself into before you make any agreements. It's a good idea to have your lawyer review the contracts, too. That way, you won't have to worry about missing anything important.

7. Start with a Small Project

Let's say you're interested in outsourcing IT but have concerns about totally offloading your work on to a third-party. Perhaps a good starting point would be to outsource one specific aspect of your IT needs to them.

This way, you get to see how they work, but the stakes are lower than if you give them total control right out of the gate. It's a good option if you prefer to dip your toe into the water rather than diving in headfirst.

Start Outsourcing Today

There are definitely a lot of reasons for outsourcing your business's IT department. Now that you know more about outsourcing and its benefits, as well as how to start outsourcing at your company, are you ready to give it a try?

If you want to educate yourself further before making any big business decisions, we've got plenty of additional resources for you to peruse. Check out the Biz/Tech section of our site today to learn more.

© 2024 Franchise Herald. All rights reserved.
* This is a contributed article and this content does not necessarily represent the views of franchiseherald.com

Biz/Tech

Real Time Analytics