Business owners understand intuitively that to remain competitive, they need to invest in new technologies. Leveraging new technologies to improve efficiency and outcomes is a solid goal, but getting there isn’t easy. Given the preponderance of solutions available, most business owners barely know where to start. The process of upgrading office technologies ends up stalling out in the “research” phase since justifying investments appears to be more of an art than science. Even internal IT experts aren’t up to the task. Outsourced IT support services have become mandatory.
Benefits of Outsourced IT
Outsourced IT companies offer several competitive advantages over internal IT departments, such as:
- The ability to scale up and down according to business needs quickly and easily.
- Expertise across a wide range of industries and deep technical knowledge.
- High levels of customer support and training.
- Defined processes for procuring, maintaining, and upgrading networks over time.
In short, outsourced IT providers make sure businesses will attain and maintain their goals. And they do this by making sure that businesses use the right technology at the right rates. With the help of an outsourced IT company, businesses will speed through potential roadblocks, such as:
- Assessing technical requirements
- Consulting on the best solutions
- Purchasing all the necessary hardware and software
- Designing, testing and implementing new technology, and finally
- Training users and providing support
The goal of outsourced IT providers is to make technology blend into the rest of the business so that businesses can focus their efforts on making customers happy.
When to Outsource
When people in a business are more concerned with technical considerations rather than making customers happy, they need to hire outside help. Here’s what we often see in businesses leading up to the point that we receive a call asking for help:
- The person in charge of IT wasn’t originally an IT person
- IT problems are accumulating and no one is addressing them
- A project is stalled out after it exceeds an expert’s experience and ability
- Hiring another employee for IT doesn’t make sense
- There’s a lack of support when problems arise, so they linger
- IT budgets are spiraling out of control
The best outsourced IT providers will address all of those issues and more. Often, the benefits of outsourcing IT exceed expectations, which is why so many businesses rely purely on their providers rather than internal resources.
Common Outsourcing Outcomes
To the surprise of many business owners, hiring outsourced IT providers is much more affordable than staffing employees internally. Businesses only pay for the resources they use so outsourced IT is like having an employee on demand who’s only paid for the hours they work. Since the costs are associated directly with productivity, businesses get much better bang for their buck.
Productivity in IT is associated with overall productivity in business. Outsourcing IT takes a common hurdle off of everyone’s plates since the services and solutions will fit right and work as intended. When employees aren’t impeded by technological pitfalls and worry, they get more time to focus on their expertise. Thus, freeing up time for higher level tasks that keep clients and customers happy. Further, executives regain time to focus on strategy and long-term planning.
Affordable Experience
Businesses often find that they have a partnership with their IT vendors. Since outsourced IT companies have experts across several specialties, businesses get better feedback which is invaluable to decision-making processes. For businesses that are looking to innovate in their industry, outside experts can provide guidance. Instead of wasting money on solutions that aren’t viable, businesses will know what technologies can be leveraged for increasing margins or driving revenue growth. Then when appropriate solutions are identified, they can be implemented swiftly, with minimal friction.
Beyond the services that outsourced IT vendors provide, the experience and expertise that they bring to the table is invaluable. Businesses will make smarter investments, improve productivity and rollout new technologies with ease when they outsource their IT. If you want to learn what that’s like, give us a call today.
