The decision and the right time to outsource your IT services will vary greatly for every business and organisation. However, if technology is not your core business, then regardless of size, there are often many benefits to hiring external IT support providers. Welcome to our 4-part series on the Benefits of Outsourcing Your IT. In this four-part series we will look at:
- What to ask yourself before making any decisions
- When is the right timing for outsourcing your IT?
- What are the advantages of outsourcing to an IT services company?
- How to choose the right IT Outsource provider.
In Part one of this series we look at where to start. The best place to begin determining whether to outsource your IT is to review your current situation.
What to ask yourself
First and most importantly, question whether your IT system is performing as well as it should.
Next, ask yourself these questions:
- Is your computer running slow, hindering productivity?
- Do you incur regular down-time?
- What support do you have if you experience network or hardware failure?
- Are you taking advantage of the cost benefits of Cloud computing?
- Are your backups secure and easily accessible?
- Do your in-house servers take up valuable floor space, drive up air-conditioning costs and capital outlay?
- Is your business mobile friendly so your staff have secure, reliable access to corporate data and applications to almost any device anywhere in the world?
- Have you kept pace with all the different versions, upgrades, licences and compliance for today’s business software?
- Would a centralised IT department be the best way to manage your technology?
- Are you concerned emails may contain a virus when an attachment is opened?
- Do you need one standard set of applications, forms, software versions and data at each site delivered in the same way?
- Do you have 24/7 technical support?
If you have an in-house IT specialist or team you should reflect on these questions:
- Do you know how much you will need to invest in your IT systems over the next two years?
- Does your IT specialist/team suggest new applications and solutions?
- Does your IT specialist/team provide you with a full audit of your IT along with recommendations on how to fix any issues discovered?
- Do you know when your licensing and software applications expire or when the vendor no longer offers full-time support for the product?
- Does your IT specialist/team keep up to date on the latest technology by attending regular vendor training sessions?
If you’re concerned about any of these issues the answer may be to outsource your IT.
Next in this series: When is the right time to begin the process of outsourcing your in-house IT?