Get the Benefits of an In-House IT Team without the Costs

September 25, 2015

Businesses face many challenges when trying to grow. Finding the right level of IT support at the right price can be one of the hardest.

It’s no secret that the overall health and profitability of your business is directly affected by the performance, reliability and security of its technology systems. Because your network and the reliability of it play such a huge role in the day to day operations of your company, you need proper IT support.

Having a large enough IT team can be difficult however, because the operational costs of having a full-fledged IT team can often times be prohibitive. And as small business owners continue to slash overhead and reduce costs, the concept of a dedicated in-house IT team becomes even less feasible. This leads most businesses to operate with either a limited staff of IT technicians or simply one dedicated IT employee.

Neither scenario makes for an ideal business environment, where the demands on network uptime and technology are increasing every day. Equipped with smaller staffs or even just one IT person for your business can lead an overworked employee and less than ideal network operations.  The burden on your infrastructure and your IT staff could lead to increasingly dangerous conditions where your network simply cannot function.

When your business has such limitations when it comes to IT coverage, it can be tough to cover vacations or sick days. Network outages and problems are rarely scheduled, so what happens to your business when one or all of your IT members are out?

This is why a limited in-house IT staff often fails when it comes to a total IT solution, because even the most seasoned IT technician can lack expertise in certain areas.

Many businesses are turning to overseas providers or outsourced IT service staffs to handle their day to day needs. However, there are many hurdles in this operating model, from language barriers to time zone differences and lack of on call support. Further entrusting network implementation and migrations to an outsourced company can often lead to disaster and problems. This can cause many business owners to look for alternatives to outsourced IT services, to make the right business choice for their company such as a local service provider.

Trying to choose between developing an in-house IT staff and outsourced services can be a tough choice. Whereas the investment in your in-house staff can pay off in highly specialized skillsets that can help your business advance, the cost can be incredibly difficult for many businesses to take on.

According to experts over 80% of all network outages come from lack of maintenance and poorly planned implementations. Businesses with decreased IT coverage are playing with fire in other words, and are facing network outages daily. Other business owners simply decide to forego having an in-house IT staff, which is almost certainly a recipe for disaster. This kind of approach to your business IT needs is purely reactive; fixing the problem after it’s broken and is definitely the most expensive model.

Managed Service Providers (MSP) can give your business a truly cost-efficient method to resolve any network issue, and provide proper IT coverage.
 

Having the right MSP allows you to enjoy the luxury of total IT support, without the overhead and training required in the traditional in-house model. Many small businesses are turning to local managed service providers to reduce their operating costs and their dependency on in-house IT solutions.

Further, Managed Service Providers will often have the flexibility in their staff to cover your issue no matter what it may be. Because they have the range of skills that will most often be missing from an in-house solution, there’s a better chance your network problems will be solved quickly and efficiently. The right MSP should always be able to find someone to help, no matter what your requirements or needs.

When looking for the right IT Service Provider make sure to set an initial SLA to ensure that you have all your needs covered and that the scope of work on any given day is manageable. Because most MSP’s operate on a low monthly fee, this makes managing your network and business much easier than the in-house model. Being able to develop a relationship with your Managed Service Provider also means that they have an increased knowledge of your network and operating systems, giving you more value for you hard earned dollar.

The better service providers utilize advanced remote monitoring and maintenance software (also known as RMM) to track and analyze logs from all of their client's computers to resolve issues before they become real problems.

This not only helps your business operate more smoothly, but frees your tech-savvy employees from having to perform IT related jobs. Getting your staff back to work in the positions you hired them for can increase your office efficiency and drive up your revenue.