5 Reasons Why Information Technology Outsourcing is the Right Move for Most Businesses

Information technology outsourcing is something that IT managers shouldn’t take lightly.

Yet, many are moving in that direction. Many people believe that they don’t have the time or resources to manage their IT programs. For them, outsourcing is the answer. One survey showed that as many as 60% of managers are outsourcing some of their IT needs.

Whether you’re a large or small organization, you can outsource IT services. Many businesses turn to outside IT services to help with projects ranging from development to managing day to day operations.

If you’re thinking about how to manage IT in your business, here’s why you should outsource information technology.

1. You Know Your Budget

When you’re trying to manage information technology you know your budget can fluctuate. Some months it’s way up, other months it’s way down.

When you’re trying to create a budget for your department, you can only use previous years to guess what your budget will be. Information technology outsourcing takes the guesswork out of budgeting.

When you keep everything in-house, your costs can increase when software needs updating or there are server issues. Outsourced IT services handle these things for you at a price you agree upon.

2. You Don’t Have to Worry About Compliance and Security

Over the last few years, the Sabarnes-Oxley and HIPPA acts have made technology compliance high priorities. Over the last several months, GDPR has gained a lot of attention from IT departments worldwide.

E-commerce businesses have to worry about being PCI compliant if you accept payments online.

With regulations and requirements changing all the time, it’s hard for anyone to keep up.

Even having a secure system can be a challenge for all business types. Outsourcing IT to a firm that handles security and software updates helps you sleep at night. You don’t have to worry about compliance because you know that someone is taking care of it for you.

IT companies are well-versed in the regulations and requirements for compliance with privacy laws. They know how to keep you legally safe.

3. You Don’t Have to Go Through the Hiring Process

What does your day to day look like? Do you have the time to hire IT staff?

If you’re like most managers, you have a hard time with everything on your plate. You don’t have the time to sort through a stack of resumes and applications, sit through interviews, and contact references.

You only want to be sure that you have people who are capable to take care of your IT needs.

That’s why information technology outsourcing is a huge advantage. You don’t have to hire. That’s already done for you and you can be sure that the firm you work with hires quality employees to work on your systems.

4. IT Systems Are Costly

IT systems are not inexpensive investments. As a business owner, you have to assess whether those investments are worth the risk. They’re big investments, and if you’re concerned about the long-term health about your business, you’re likely to put these expenses off.

That can put your business at risk, especially if you have to perform costly updates and upgrades. Not performing them is a security risk.

With IT outsourced to another company, you have a partner that takes on that risk. They make the expensive infrastructure investments. They pay for upgrades. You pay for the services.

That makes it a smart investment for you and your business.

5. You Look Like a Big Company

Does your company have a big IT budget? When you hire IT services, you can look like a big company with a massive IT budget.

That can be a smart move if you have to compete with larger companies every single day. Those companies have big IT budgets and it can be difficult for a smaller company to stack up against them.

When you work with an IT services company, you’re working with a company that allows you to compete with the big boys, because they have the infrastructure in place.

The best part is that you can function as a huge company without the expense.

Do What You Do Best

When you’re running a small to mid-sized business, you have a lot of employees who wear different hats.

One might have the title of customer service rep, but they also run your advertising campaigns.

Your office manager might have to learn how to take a server apart. You have to take the time to learn different systems.

That’s the situation for about one-third of small businesses. Do you want your CFO fixing a SIM issue on a company phone, or would you rather him focus on making money?

Why have people who aren’t IT specialists working on IT tasks? To save money? That’s going to cost more money in the long run. You increase the chances of breaking at least one of your systems and spending more money to fix it.

When you hire managed IT services, your team can focus on what they do best, you have IT specialists doing what they do best, and you save money in the long run.

Information Technology Outsourcing Done Right

Now that you understand the reasons why you want to outsource IT services, how do you go about finding the right IT partner?

You want to have a list of questions handy to ask prospective IT companies, and you want to be clear as to what you want them to do. There’s a big difference between managing day to day IT operations, computer repair, and software development projects.

A few questions you want to ask are:

• Do you have experience working in my industry?
• Are there particular vendors that you work with?
• Do you have examples or case studies of your work?
• How do you measure success?
• What kind of certifications do you have?
• Can you work with my current hardware and software set up?
• What kind of experience do you have with the hardware and software that’s already in place?

These questions will help you narrow down the companies to find the right fit for your company.

Information Technology Outsourcing is Necessary

If you want your company to stay nimble and competitive, information technology outsourcing is a great way to do so.

You can save time, money, and make smart investments with the resources you have.

Want more great tips on building a better business? Check out these articles to help you be more productive and keep you company secure.