As a small business, why you should consider outsourcing your IT? Well, in today’s world; thousands of companies do it to some degree. It comes with many benefits, also; with some disadvantages. Anyway, when considering its positive side; we can call it a must-do by every small business owner. In this article, we talk about IT Solutions, outsourcing IT, and its advantages and disadvantages. Every small business owner will benefit from reading this article. Let’s get started!

OK, let’s get started with what is IT Outsourcing? As mentioned, thousands of companies including world-leading businesses do it now. It involves sub-contracting some IT Solutions and functions to external third-party companies/individuals other than your in-house IT team. What is wrong with your in-house IT team? Can’t they manage IT Solutions and other functions properly? Well, many business owners consider Outsourcing IT not because their in-house IT team isn’t good enough for the job. But, the in-house IT team can focus on other important areas of the business. It is a well-known fact that without IT Solutions no business can survive today. These solutions are there to increase the speed and productivity of business-related tasks.

Types of IT Outsourcing:

According to the nature of outsourcing, we can categorize Outsourcing IT into three main categories:

1. Handing it over to overseas companies (some countries provide quality IT Solutions and services at affordable rates than other countries.)
2. Handing it over to countries nearby (often happen within the Europe and in the Asian region.)
3. Some companies allow workers to work from homes.

Which option do you prefer? Well, it depends on your capacity and the scale of your business. Small business owners should choose the third option as Outsourcing IT with local companies is more practical at this stage. Hundreds of quality IT Solutions providers are there in your city to consider.

What IT Solutions and services can you outsource?:

As mentioned, depending on the scale of your business; you can outsource following areas:

• Software and application development.
• Infrastructure.
• Application support and management.
• Telecommunications.
• Web hosting and development.
• Database management and development.
• Helpdesk and technical support.’

 

So, many areas are there within your business that you can outsource to external companies and service providers. Anyway, make sure you hire genuine and reputable IT Solutions providers and individuals as it can go 100% wrong. We live in the 21st century, and we have enough resources to find genuine service providers today. OK, why should you Outsource IT? What are the advantages of doing it? Let’s get to know about it a bit better now. As mentioned, hundreds of affordable IT Solutions and services providers are there in your city/region who can do it better than your in-house team. The benefits of doing it are listed below:

1) Expertise:

Well, I am not underestimating your in-house IT team, but overseas vendors and IT Solutions providers may have special talents and equipment to provide you a better service. These service providers are specialized groups of individuals who can do more than your in-house team. You can’t force your in-house team to do what they can’t do. Every employee in your business has limitations. Also, you may not have money to employ 5-6 IT experts within your small business. Training your in-house team is not a piece of cake either. Well, when expert IT Solutions providers are there to hire, why would you spend more money to employ them within your business?

You can reduce labor costs by Outsourcing IT through Managed Services. Your small business may not need all the IT Solutions and services available in the world. So, when you outsource it; you can pay for what you need (only.) External IT companies that are specialized in providing IT services employ well-trained, certified, qualified, and experienced staff (your business will be handled by a team of experts.)

2) Up-to-date IT Solutions and services:

Not like your in-house IT team, an outsourced IT service organization update their IT knowledge daily. As a small business owner, you may not have necessary knowledge and time to train your staff every day to keep up with all the changes taking place within the IT world. On the other hand, your staff may not keep up with the rapidly-changing IT world. Well, you can’t expect them to know everything as they already have enough tasks to complete. An external IT Solutions provider will have the resources to take over your new project right away. So, you can rely on them to a greater extent than you can on your in-house team.

3) Focus on your core business:

Running a business in today’s world is not a piece of cake. You should keep on focusing on the core of it to running it smoothly. When you don’t have enough resources to cope with IT-related tasks, you will lose focus on your core business. In other words, you will get distracted by failures and complex IT decisions. Outsourcing IT lets you focus on your business, so you can take it to the next level without failing.

Are there any disadvantages of Outsourcing IT? Yes, some disadvantages are there, but you can minimize them by doing it in the right way.

1. Some IT Solutions and services are there that you can’t easily outsource. So, you will have to get them done by your in-house team (out of choice.) Good news: you can outsource most of the IT Solutions and services today. And, let’s hope that everything would be possible in the future.
2. Loss of control: Outsourcing IT means you are handing over your business’s critical tasks to an external team. Can you control them like your in-house team? Some business owners fear losing control to outside vendors, and which is why you should only hire reputable service providers who you can rely on. If you don’t know much about IT; you will need an IT experts to supervise what the external vendors are doing for your business. Are they taking your business to the next level, or ruining it?
3. Some business owners get a feeling of being controlled by external vendors (which happens to some extent.) Anyway, if you hire top-class IT Solutions providers; you can be confident of what they do for your business. So, it is OK to be controlled by that external company to some extent (they can’t control your business anyway.)

Outsourcing IT is a thing to consider by every small business owner. Have you made your decision?