Welcome to our 4-part series on the Benefits of Outsourcing Your IT. In this four-part series we will look at:
In part two of our series Benefits of Outsourcing my IT we look at when to begin the process of outsourcing your IT.
As a first step, it is worth considering an IT health check (or IT audit) by a professional IT company as a way to determine what state your IT current system is in.
The right time on whether to outsource varies depending on the size of your company. Let’s look at the different circumstances.
Small or medium size companies without an IT specialist
If you are experiencing any of above problems, ask yourself ‘is it economically viable to hire a full-time dedicated IT specialist and is there enough work to fill a full-time role?’.
Take into account the cost of providing this specialist with the constant training needed to keep up-to-date with the latest changes in the industry.
Remember the IT space is constantly changing so you will need an IT person that is always a step ahead of these changes.
Keeping up with the latest technologies required to meet marketplace demands can require a significant time and financial investment.
Also do you think it’s too risky that all your business operations rely on just one or two employees, particularly in a time when more recent generations change jobs frequently?
The primary disadvantage of hiring IT staff is that you'll be paying for their benefits, their training and a variety of other costs associated with hiring a new employee.
If you don’t have in-house IT staff, the chances are you or your employees are wasting time trying to tackle IT issues when the time would be much better directed in areas that provide greater benefit to the company.
As a general rule, non-IT staff spending time trying to fix IT issues only detracts from productivity.
Often a short-term solution to an IT issue that has been resolved by a staff member can in the end cause more problems down the track.
Remember - one of the most important issues for small businesses is having network security solutions designed to give your business confidence that your data and websites are secure.
Medium size companies with an IT specialist/team
For some medium sized companies, IT departments can cost the company more than they save through productivity increases.
You should consider whether or not your IT technician or department can keep up with your current IT requirements in this fast moving environment.
You may have a dedicated IT person in-house or a designated employee looking after your IT in addition to their normal job.
If you rely heavily on them for the continuity of your IT systems consider what happens if there is critical failure and they are on holiday, off sick or at an external event or meeting.
Or if there is a serious issue and they try everything they can think of, but it is beyond their capabilities?
The IT landscape is a constantly changing environment and technology is transforming at a rapid rate. How do you find out if there are new products, software upgrades or applications that may be able to benefit your current operations?
Large companies with an IT Department
A recent survey by KPMG found that 72% of big businesses plan to increase outsourcing spending.
Many large businesses believe it simply isn’t good enough in today’s competitive business environment to leave their business IT to chance.
Outsourcing providers often come up with solutions to complement and support internal IT staff.
Often it helps if a large business looks outside their company to get independent advice on their current network/IT platforms.
In some worst case scenarios, the in-house IT specialists can be parochial when it comes to change and introducing new technology to ensure they protect their existing empire.
Many large businesses that have in-house staff to handle daily IT activities could benefit from outside help to undertake new projects that may not warrant another full-time employee.
Even if you are satisfied with your existing IT team, using an outsourced partner to work with your current IT team is a viable option.
The benefit is that your current IT team is left to focus on key projects and allow the partner to worry about the maintenance, management and support of your IT infrastructure.
Or you could use an outsourced partner to perform all the strategic work, leaving the internal IT team to look after the support side of things.
Next in this series: Advantages of outsourcing your IT to a company that specialises in IT Services.