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How, Why and When to Outsource Your IT Support

This may be the age of technology but it doesn’t mean that everyone is a technology expert does it? Think about it. Every modern day office will now be utilising some form of IT infrastructure but it’s unlikely that everyone, or sometimes even anyone, in that office has in depth working knowledge of all that IT, how it works and more importantly how to fix it if it goes wrong. Perhaps it’s prudent to outsource your IT?

White Keyboard with Outsourcing Button.

Of course this ultimately depends on the size of your business and the nature of what your organisation does. If you’re a multi-site operation with hundreds of staff you’re probably going to be better served by your own in house IT bods and similarly if the nature of your business is fixing other people’s networks then bringing in other people to fix your own would seem somewhat unnecessary, maybe even foolish!

However, for the small to medium sized business the opportunities afforded by outsourced IT support far outweigh the cost involved. Your time is precious so don’t waste it meddling with technologies you’re not 100% comfortable with. When things go wrong, cut your losses there and then and minimise your downtime by calling in the professionals. It’s almost always going to save you bother in the long run.

Could You Cope if Things Went Seriously Wrong?

Don’t forget that a serious systems failure won’t just impact on your company’s productivity but it can seriously affect your reputation too. If you can’t deliver your work to the standards required then telling your customers and clients “sorry but the server went down” just isn’t going to cut it.

When considering going down the outsourcing route it is worth bearing a few things in mind. First of all you’ll want to draw up a list of all the areas you want the company to look after for you and what exactly you expect from them as your contractors. This will very much aid you in the research process and help you locate the right company to serve your needs. The way we work today means that remote access to onsite systems and servers for the purposes of identifying and fixing faults is commonplace, giving you licence to select your chosen IT support company from as far and wide as you desire. However, at the same time sometimes there’s just no substitute for getting a man (or woman) in, and if that’s the preferred option for you then you’re going to want to opt for a local firm who’ll do onsite visits.

Where to Turn for Help

Your average SME need only perform a quick search online for IT support companies and from there you’ll be able to shortlist your preferred candidates for the job based on whether you consider they’ll suit your needs, provide the services you require and charge you what you can afford!

However for businesses that operate in the space between being a smaller scale operation and a full blown enterprise level organisation with its own IT teams, a great way in which to pick your IT support contractors is to go through the eSourcing route. The process of eSourcing relies on modern software systems that once given your requirements can pre-qualify potential suppliers and manage the entire tender process for you. This gives you total control over identifying the best company for the job at the very best rate available. Having the suppliers come to you to compete for your hard earned cash takes a great deal of time and stress out of the equation on your side, and who can argue with that?

There are no black and white rules on what level of support is right for what type and size of business you’re running so ultimately you’ll need to make your choices based on assessing your specific circumstances, but one thing’s for sure: you don’t want to want to wait until it’s too late!

Written By

I am a young tech-obsessed Brit living in the UK (Brighton), interested in sport, travel, gadgets & software

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