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An important decision small business leaders have to make to ensure that their IT runs smoothly is whether to use outsourced IT support or in-house staff. In this article, we will examine the benefits of using outsourced IT support in comparison to having dedicated IT staff.
Using an IT Managed Service Provider (MSP) for Outsourced IT
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Small business managers want to focus on their core tasks such as sales, marketing, and customer service, and they want IT to be a useful tool to help their efforts, not a costly distraction. An IT MSP is an external partner who remotely monitors, maintains, and supports your company’s entire IT network. Unlike expensive break-fix IT companies that you call when you need services, an IT MSP charges a flat monthly fee for comprehensive IT support.
Benefits of an IT MSP Compared to In-house Staff
Elite IT at a reasonable cost
The cost of maintaining in-house staff dedicated to IT is considerable. Any IT employee will require a competitive salary, benefits, payroll taxes, software licenses, and ongoing training to stay comfortable with the latest technology.
In contrast, for a reasonable monthly fee, an IT MSP offers a highly skilled team of specialists using the latest enterprise-level tools who will be on-call 24/7 for any IT needs. They will also use proactive monitoring tools to keep operations running smoothly and reduce all IT issues and accompanying downtime. An IT partner will also pay for the latest tools and training to keep their employees operating at the highest level.
Your IT MSP will manage everything from email and cloud backups to elite cybersecurity and software updates at a moderate cost. The set monthly fee makes it easy for your company to budget its IT expenses without having to worry about any unexpected fees for overtime, recruiting, software licensing, etc.
Recent industry studies revealed that MSPs deliver better IT services at an estimated 30-50% lower cost than in-house IT staff after factoring in downtime, overtime, and other expenses.
Broad and deep expertise
Although an in-house staff person has the advantage of experience working at their company, they can’t possibly master all the important IT areas such as cybersecurity, cloud migration, AI tools, compliance regulations, and network architecture. An IT MSP provides a well-balanced team that can offer this comprehensive IT expertise.
In addition, a proven IT MSP has years of experience resolving a multitude of IT issues while working with many different types of companies. These technology experts have seen the IT issues your company is having or will have, and they have the expertise to prevent them or limit their negative impact. Your outsourced IT team will also serve as a useful advisor for strategic IT planning and other business issues related to IT.
This high level of expertise is particularly important to have on your side in rapidly changing areas such as AI and cybersecurity, which will shape the future of IT and business operations.
Scalability and flexibility
Another benefit of an IT MSP is that they can easily scale their efforts to match your organization’s changes in size and focus. With an outsourced IT partner, there is no need to spend the time and cost to recruit a new IT employee as your company evolves; you simply update your monthly service plan to meet your new IT needs. In addition, if your company requires new cloud collaboration tools or assistance complying with new regulations, your IT partner will quickly adjust your service plan.
An IT MSP can also adapt to working with an internal service manager, which some companies prefer. Having a part-time or limited internal staff person to work directly with your outsourced IT partner will allow your company to capture the cultural benefits of an internal IT staff while also realizing the benefits described in this article.
Peace of mind
One of the most important benefits of an IT MSP for small businesses is the peace of mind they provide. One small business manager summed up the perfect IT business scenario when he noted, “I don’t want to manage IT, I want my IT to work for me.”
Importantly, with outsourced IT, company leaders no longer have to worry about IT staff quitting abruptly or leaving them unprotected during an extended sickness or vacation. Your organization would also no longer have to worry that your IT staff is trained in the latest technology or other concerns, and you would be able to focus your efforts solely on business matters. With a proven IT MSP overseeing your IT needs, you can rest easy knowing that elite professionals, whose only concern is high-functioning IT and robust IT security, are effectively serving and protecting your company.
An outsourced IT support partner will give your organization IT peace of mind and will allow your team to focus on fulfilling your unique business objectives.
