Outsourcing your IT operations can help your business unlock new levels of efficiency whilst also cutting costs. Indeed, 24% of small businesses that outsource their IT cite increased efficiency as their main driver of adoption.
Why are so many businesses turning to IT outsourcing? What are the main benefits of letting an IT support company – better known as a Managed Service Provider (MSP) handle everything tech? Why should your business consider outsourcing your IT?
From freeing up internal resources to being able to access IT technicians with a wider variety of experience than possible with an in-house team, managed IT support solutions are incredibly flexible.
In this article, we’ll briefly cover the top benefits of outsourcing your IT requirements and how that’s relevant for your small-to-medium business (SMB).
Access as much or as little support as you need
Part of the beauty of a managed IT solution is that you can make as much or as little use of one as you need.
Transitioning to an outsourced team means you can scale your IT support resources for when you anticipate a heavier IT workload – for example, during system refreshes or hiring sprees.
Perhaps you already have a dedicated IT team, and just need to lighten their workload so they can focus on essential tasks? Or maybe you’re starting a new business and need to build your IT infrastructure from the ground up, and want to outsource the entire operation?
For either of those or any scenario in between, IT outsourcing solutions can be built around your business and its needs. MSPs can scale your support dynamically based on your current level of demand.
Reduce operating costs
According to Deloitte, the top reason (70%) for outsourcing is cost reduction. By outsourcing your IT solutions, you ensure that you are only paying for the services you need when you need them.
Instead of hiring a dedicated IT team on full-time salaries, you pay your external IT provider to maintain your systems and carry out required tasks with a plan tailored to you and your business. This allows for effective and cost-effective budgeting.
Outsourced IT can also save you lots of upfront costs – especially when starting a new business or project. IT professionals can advise on the most cost-effective systems and configure your IT architecture to better suit your needs.
Moreover, you can reduce the cost of buying new hardware by leveraging the purchasing power of your MSP. By outsourcing, you’re also avoiding the hiring and training costs of building an in-house team from scratch.
Free up internal IT resources
If your business does require an internal IT team, outsourcing a portion of their workload will ensure that your team can focus on the most important tasks. By freeing up time and resources, you make sure that you can get the best out of your staff.
Indeed, many small businesses don’t have an IT department at all – and delegate IT tasks to tech-savvy employees. By working with an MSP, you’re freeing up these people – so you and your team can focus on growing your company, not fixing computers.
Benefit from a wide variety of expertise
By outsourcing your IT needs, you get a lot more variety of expertise for your money. By working with an MSP, you can get the experience, skills, and knowledge of an entire team of dedicated IT professionals for a fraction of the price.
No matter the size of your business, or your IT requirements, an MSP will have the ability to support you in ways that a small in-house team may not be able to.
Remember, managed IT firms work with hundreds of businesses like yours and know exactly what strategies will help improve your business operations.
Keep up to date with advances in technology
When outsourcing IT, you are often not just outsourcing labour, but resources. By working with a Managed Service Provider, it is much less of an investment to keep up to date on developments in the fast-paced world of technology.
IT Support technicians can advise you on emerging technology and new ways for your business to improve your digital deployment. They can help you better take advantage of new software products from Microsoft and can guide you through your digital transformation.
Maintain Consistency
By working with an MSP, you can ensure that you will maintain a consistent standard of service with your IT. With a strictly internal IT team, your service may be affected by staff changes, skill shortages and other factors beyond your control. The risk of this is massively offset by using a managed IT solution, as the provider will ensure that they are providing a consistent standard of service.
24 Hour Support
While it is often easy to forget, even after you leave the office for the day, your IT systems need to keep running.
Having the large-scale IT infrastructure an MSP can provide ensures that there is round-the-clock monitoring and support for your systems, which is a level of service often unachievable by a smaller team.
Additionally, if your business has staff working across time zones, it ensures that your staff will have access to IT support whenever they need it.
Reduce strain on hiring and management structure
Put simply, working with an MSP makes your life easier. By cutting out the need for advertising for a role, holding interviews, and training new hires, you save time, money, and energy.
In a similar vein, by outsourcing your IT, you reduce the strain on your management structure. The quality control and management of your IT infrastructure is handled by someone else. This reduces workloads for your business’s management, allowing them to focus on the aspects of your business that are essential for growth and development
Security
One of the biggest concerns for any business with IT is security. While a small team of IT staff can secure your information and handle minor breaches, they are often unequipped to handle more major security issues.
An MSP, however, will have access to much larger security teams with a wealth of expertise in data security and knowledge about current threats & vulnerabilities. Experienced IT professionals from MSP are the best people to keep your business safe from data breaches and cyber-attacks.
Is Outsourcing Right For You?
The IT outsourcing market has grown by 348% in 2022. With this level of popularity and the current drive for efficiency and security above all else, the answer now more than ever seems to be an emphatic yes!
The flexibility, consistency, security, and cost-effectiveness provided by a managed IT solution cement it as a convenient and intelligent solution for businesses of all sizes.
Indeed, if you’re a larger business and want more control over your IT infrastructure, you may benefit from an in-house solution. However, managed IT is perfect for SMBs that want an IT solution that scales along with them!
Ready to take the leap and join forces with a Managed Service Provider (MSP) to handle your IT requirements? Get in touch with us today to explore how our team can guide you through your business’s digital transformation.
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