Business owners and executives tend to think of outsourced IT as an all-or-nothing proposition: you either have tech employees who help you internally or work with a vendor who takes care of your hardware and software. While those are common choices, it’s also true that you can get the best of both worlds by combining your existing staff with an outside team of experts.
In other words, an outsourced IT team can definitely work with your employees and on-site IT staff. The resulting arrangement can help you save money and make it easier for them to do their jobs. To see why, consider some of the benefits you get from letting an outside technology firm help your internal employees…
Round-the-Clock Coverage
Unless you have a very large IT staff, they’re probably going to be times of the day or year – especially during the holidays, summer vacations, etc. – when you don’t have the manpower you need to effectively look after all of your systems. That can lead to big problems, especially if you lose access to things like email, your website, or company databases.
By using an outsourced IT team, you can add 24/365 troubleshooting and help desk capabilities to your technology department for a lot less than it would cost you to hire more full-time employees.
Specific Expertise
In the average in-house IT department of a small or medium-sized company, you are going to have a few employees who are familiar with the hardware and software the company already uses. They may not have the time to keep up with additional certifications, and the company might not want to spend money training them on tasks or systems that wouldn’t be used very often.
An outsourced IT vendor can keep a large staff with many different skills and areas of expertise. They can step in and help out with specific challenges that existing staff aren’t familiar with.
Help With Big IT Projects
There are some technology projects that are simply too much work for a small team to handle. For example, moving your business to a new location, implementing a backup and disaster recovery plan, or switching to cloud-based computing platforms and remote workstations can all be huge challenges.
In these instances, an outsourced IT vendor can provide additional manpower and project-specific experience that can be invaluable. The bigger the job, the more important it is to have the right hands and focused minds working to cover the details and prevent mistakes.
Temporary Technology Assistance
Sometimes, an in-house IT team can be overwhelmed because of scheduling, training needs, or even routine issues like illness or turnover. When that happens, it’s better to work with an outsourced IT partner than it is to let things like maintenance and monitoring slide.
A small technology team can only cover so much ground. Eventually, most businesses find themselves needing a team of outside consultants, at least once in a while.
Do You Need Some Extra IT Help?
No two companies are the same, so why should there only be two ways to staff an IT department or take care of critical needs? Whether you need someone to come in and manage your technology completely, or just want a bit of help for your employees for a specific project, contact the Fantastic IT team today and see what we can do for you!