At Express Computers, we believe the most important part of your business is the people. They are the ones who get up every day and spend 160 hours+ a month working away to sell your product or service and doing the administration. So hiring the best of the best candidate is crucial for the success of any business. How efficiently this person can do their job, is a close second. This is where you and your internal network come in a close second. The vast majority of companies cannot afford to maintain their business IT in-house. The basic cost of a very small IT team is still about $50,000 a year in salary (1 skilled employee salary). Does that get your attention?… Here are 5 reasons why outsourcing your business IT services to a well-established company, is a no-brainer.
1. Cost Savings
Cost is the obvious reason and the most important for almost every business ever established. In general when outsourcing, although rates may appear to be “high”, looking at the cost it would take to hire a full-time IT person, this cost is only a mere fraction. Turnover, training, managing – whether it be a separate manager (add that salaries) or yourself doing the managing, takes your valuable time away from what you do best. It’s probably safe to assume, managing IT personal isn’t your forte? This also limits the technical skillset to just one person. So there are additional costs to keep their technical skills upgraded along with the proposed employee’s desire to do so. Essentially cost trickles down through this entire list, but there are other very important aspects that can be utilized through outsourcing your business IT services.
2. Wide Variety of Shared Knowledge
As stated with cost, you are limited to the knowledge of just that one employee. They may be the smartest person you have ever come across; however it is naïve to believe that in this industry, one person knows it all. There are so many aspects to networks and the vast power of them, a team of professionals is the only way to get the most out of your network and to find the best solution for your specific business needs.
2. Staying Current On Technology
One thing we all can agree on about computer technology, is it is constantly changing. By the time you are done reading this article there is an update waiting for you on your phone, tablet, PC, server or favourite accounting software. If you plan on having an in-house employee, be aware, if they don’t have time dedicated to train themselves on the latest movements in technology, your information technology will only be as current as they are. If you plan on training them to keep up, you may as well be running a school instead of a business.
3. 24/7 Tech Support
Any reputable company will offer this. If they don’t – move on immediately. What does 24 hour support actually mean? Sure an in-house employee can be accessible 24 hours of the day, but is there a back-up technician in place? Is there a schedule in place? After hours availability? Will you need to be paying overtime for reboots done at 4am on a Sunday morning? Vacation? Sickness? Leave for another job?! Companies who specialize in business IT services have all of this already in place usually at a fixed or pre-determined price.
4. A Professional IT Partner
This, in my opinion is the most overlooked aspect of outsourcing your business IT services. You get a partner, an unbiased opinion to get your system running like a Ferrari, instead of a Kia. If you only need a kia-like system, that’s ok too. But as your company grows, having a proper partner in place can help your system grow with you to fit your needs. A rule of thumb is your system should always exceed your needs, never under. So having a Kia can be great, but as the family grows and expands suddenly the little two-door you loved so much, is only causing you more grief than good.
5. Backup & Data Security
As the industry evolves, so do the threats. Microsoft Internet Security Reports says in 2014, more than 28% of Canadian computers are infected with some sort of malware. Are you backing up your Data? Keeping up with this is a full-time job on its own. In today’s day and age, we rely heavily on the data we collect and store. Our clients depend on us to keep the info they provide us safe, just as we expect them to keep our personal info safe. One breach can be detrimental to the future of a business.
Now ask yourself, in all honesty.
Can you really expect all of this out of one employee?
