When you are looking to improve the way your business does things, you may be considering whether you can outsource some of the day to day running. If you have IT systems at the core of your business, this can be a great place to outsource, as the IT equipment in your office requires specialist training to maintain it and get the best out of it. You may still be reluctant to make the leap, however, which is why in the following post we want to look at some of the pros and cons of outsourcing your IT. This will help to give you a full and realistic picture of the potential drawbacks and advantages.
The Pros
First, we will look at the positives.
More Cost-Effective
When you outsource some of your IT to a reputable and experienced IT support company, it is a more cost-effective way to do things rather than paying the salaries of a full team of IT specialists or even an individual,
Easier Scalability
Obviously, your company may not have the same IT needs forever. As it expands or streamlines, you need an affordable and easy way to increase or reduce the level of IT support you require as necessary. With most outsourcing companies, you have the option to do this very easily. Just by simply switching to a more expensive and expansive plan, you can have more in-depth support or by switching to a lower tariff, less support.
Minimized and Shared Risk
By outsourcing your IT monitoring and support, you are not taking the responsibility solely for data breaches, system outages, and downtime. It becomes a shared problem with the outsourcing company. As many professional IT companies have a robust disaster recovery plan and access to numerous backup servers, it means your company has a better chance of staying afloat and having its systems up and running in quicker time than if you have to make an emergency call for an IT specialist to solve the issues.
Around the Clock Monitoring and Support
Following on nicely from the above point, when you outsource IT to another company you get the benefit of their expert support and monitoring around the clock. This means you and other members of your team can focus on what you do best – growing your business without worrying about data breaches, failures, and system errors. Those kinds of things can be dealt with as soon as they occur.
Cons of Outsourcing IT
Now for the downsides.
Less in Control
Despite the many advantages that come from outsourcing your IT, to do it, it means you are giving up a little bit of the control you have over your entire business operations. This can be frustrating and may leave you feeling nervous because even though you can make requests and they will be responded to quickly, it could feel you are not as in control as you would be with an in-house team or someone you hired on a per-job basis.
Potential Data Security Risks
While we are not suggesting that you should not trust a reputable IT support firm and immediately think that they are going to use their position to rip you off. When you give more people access to your systems and data, it immediately increases the risks. Rather than putting you completely off the idea, this is one aspect of outsourcing that should motivate you to treat it as a serious decision and not something you should rush into.
Service Received does Not Meet Your Expectations
Often, the reality fails to live up to the expectations you had for it. This can be true when you outsource IT. You may think you are going to get a service that is not exactly what the company offers. You can manage your expectations by having a Service Level Agreement in place, that ensures both you and the company you’re outsourcing to, know what is expected.
