With the growing trend of outsourcing IT support, many small to medium businesses are shifting their priorities to consider this option. On the other hand, some organizations still prefer to handle their IT in-house, to ensure that experts address all of the problems at hand.
The debate on whether it is best for SMB to hire an in-house IT staff or outsource their IT support is quite controversial. The truth is that both in-house IT and outsourcing IT have their pros and cons.
Let’s examine some of the points which will help you decide whether outsourcing your IT is better for your small business than in-house solutions.
Deciding Between In-House or Outsourced IT Support
Let’s approach this blog with questions. Instead of comparing the pros and cons directly, we’ll go through a set of questions to compare and decide the best-case scenario for you.
1. Which is Cheaper?
Entrepreneurs are often tempted to cut costs by handling IT support in-house. After all, computers and software can be expensive, so why not avoid paying for help? But, unfortunately, the cost of doing so is often much higher than you may think.
When your in-house IT department is working for you, you’re paying for a whole day of their time along with medical insurance and other additional support. But when you bring on a managed services provider for IT services, they’re taking care of your network 24/7 for a fixed cost that’s just a fraction of the total price you pay for your IT team.
2. Which has Minimal Responsibilities?
Let’s imagine having an in-house team with no external help. You’ll be in charge of supervising the team apart from managing your core business responsibilities — which means too much burden for you.
If you outsource your IT services, you do not need to worry about managing the team or any other duties associated with it. Instead, your outsourced partner will handle all the responsibilities of maintaining and upkeeping your computers and network infrastructure. This takes a lot of stress off your shoulders, leaving you enough time to focus on other important things like improving productivity or growing sales.
Your business can stay focused on its core competencies while an outsourced provider takes care of the technology piece.
3. Which is Best in the Fast-Moving World?
As a small business owner, there are many things you should be focusing on to ensure your company’s success. The last thing you need to be concerned about is maintaining and supporting your technology infrastructure. Keeping up with the latest technological trends and developments can be incredibly time-consuming, especially when you’re focused on running your business.
Outsourced providers exist to make sure technology doesn’t become a distraction or a detriment to your business’ success. They’ll help you stay updated on the latest technologies to ease your IT burden, so you don’t lose valuable time or money while trying to figure it out yourself.
4. Which Can Help in Complex Situations?
Whether it’s an in-house IT expert or an outsourced IT support specialist, you need a reliable team to help you in terms of crisis.
Hiring an expert IT team member would be of immense help since you’ll have their expertise throughout the day. But such an expert would cost you a lot to hire on a full-time basis.
On the other hand, you can still access such experts at a low cost by outsourcing to a reliable, experienced team. Moreover, utilizing an outsourced provider, you can tap into their knowledge and expertise without recruiting and managing internal staff members who have these strengths in-house.
5. Which is Best When You have Plans to Scale Your Business?
If you think you will be growing in the next few years, outsourcing is the way to go. An outsourced IT team would be able to provide you with the kind of support that would fit the needs of your business – no matter how much or how soon your business is scaling.
If you outsource your IT services to a reputable company, they can provide you with the resources you need to keep your business expanding. Whether you’re just starting and don’t have many employees, you can outsource technology infrastructure, hardware and software support, and even employee training.
6. Which Helps in the Long Run?
With an in-house IT team, you need to select the right team members and train them thoroughly before they start working with your data and devices. For example, if someone is handling a technical issue but does not know how to use the software program relevant to the issue, all your efforts might go in vain.
Also, if the employee leaves the organization halfway through the training period, new employees need additional time and effort to get trained fully.
But by outsourcing IT support, you don’t have to worry about anyone leaving as the outsourced company will be responsible for replacing an equally skilled team member to carry on the work without a glitch.
Wrapping Up
Whether you’re running a small or medium-scale business on the verge of expansion, the problems you face with technology are the same. You want your IT to run as smoothly and efficiently as possible.
When it comes down to it, though, you’re going to have to decide whether you can do this on your own or need outside help in the form of IT support. Of course, both options have their benefits and drawbacks, but which one is right for you?
Based on these questions, you can choose from one of the experienced IT consulting firms around you or hire IT experts to keep your systems running smoothly.