Business operations have evolved over the years, and the number one driving force of change is adaptive technology. Organizations that hope to future-proof their business and compete in a rapidly changing market must adopt the right technologies before they get left behind. There are few other ways of ensuring a competitive advantage other than a viable IT infrastructure and support. However, investments in an on-premise data center and hiring a full-time IT staff is cost-prohibitive for many companies, which is one reason why many organizations use outsourced IT solutions. Below are several others.

What outsourced IT services?

A professional IT support provider helps manage the network, users, services, and devices integral to its operations. It helps guarantee that the organization’s network is current and that its technology provides seamless functions across all departments, hierarchies, and roles within the company.

A managed services provider helps manage services, end-users, the network, and IT infrastructure vital to an organization’s operations. It ensures that the business network is current and that deployed technologies offer seamless operations throughout every department. Every managed service provider is unique in terms of its offerings, but demand for outsourced IT services includes the following:

• Network monitoring, management, and cyber security
• Process execution and enforcement
• Systems operation and support services
• Data backup and disaster recovery
• Authentication
• Cloud computing and management

There are also many other reasons why companies turn to outsourced IT services, such as:

1. Manageable labor costs

It’s expensive to hire, train, and maintain a large in-house IT team. On average, a primary tech support specialist in the United States earns around $47,000 annually. Further, Systems Analysts command $85,000 annually. Yet, hiring temporary IT tech specialists may also be disappointing because they are not everywhere long enough to understand the infrastructure. On the other hand, using dedicated outsourced IT solutions offers companies access to highly-skilled specialists without breaking the budget.

2. Mitigate upfront IT costs

Purchasing IT hardware is expensive. You have to get servers, storage, networks, cables, software licenses, and so much more. However, when companies outsource IT services, they can mitigate upfront IT costs and only deal with a monthly subscription where they pay for what they use without worrying about maintenance, backups, or updates.

3. Ensure business continuity

Invariably, businesses must remain uptime in the always-on world. Technology is becoming increasingly complex. Many companies are overwhelmed with adding new tools to their legacy tech stacks without disrupting the entire flow. Nonetheless, as markets become more saturated, businesses need to embrace innovative software and hardware solutions. As a result, outsourcing IT services can ensure business continuity without worrying about all the technical jargon.

4. Relieve stress

When companies know their systems can withstand natural and human-made disasters, they experience more calm and less anxiety. There isn’t anything more stressful to a business than when the Internet crashes or a server goes down. In such cases, companies worry about lost productivity, disappearing data, and cyber security. The excellent news is outsourced IT services can relieve all of these stressful experiences.

5. Focus on what you do best

Every executive, and even employees, feels there aren’t enough hours in the day to manage their workloads. Having to divide attention between IT concerns and core business functions add to meeting company objectives. But, outsourced IT solutions give more time back to company leaders and employees to focus on what they do best and what they were hired to do.

6. Enjoy access to better resources

Many smaller organizations and startups do not have the resources to purchase and maintain cutting-edge technologies. And, key technologies are the differentiator for whether a business remains competitive or not. Outsourcing IT services helps to even out the playing field between small and enterprise companies.

7. Improve risk management

Starting a business always involves risk. Economic conditions, government regulations, and competition change frequently. However, technologies can increase resiliency and risk management.

8. Enhance cyber security and compliance

As data breaches escalate daily, there is no such thing as being too safe. Every day, you can find headlines about the latest massive breach affecting millions of users. Every company we’ve heard of has been hacked. Further, cyber criminals love to target the low-hanging fruit, for instance, businesses that can’t afford adequate cyber security. And, it’s also essential to comply with industry-based regulations.

9. Future-proof the business

Companies that try to install and maintain their entire IT infrastructure also have to work on research, development, and deployment. It takes more money and more time. These costs are then probably passed on to the customer, which makes the business less competitive. Moreover, the product cycle time may take longer and impact competitiveness negatively. In contrast, outsourced IT solutions future-proof the company and implement technologies that improve business processes’ speed and efficiency.

10. Disaster recovery

If a business is around long enough, they will experience a disaster, whether it’s a cyber-attack, an earthquake, a fire, or something else. Still, the business can’t afford to shut down despite structural damage. Unfortunately, many companies are ill-equipped in terms of disaster recovery. Yet, the damage will multiply if downtime is extended. As a result, it’s crucial to have outsourced IT services on hand to recover rapidly.

Final thought

When a company uses outsourced IT solutions, they focus on what matters most: Revenue generation. They can do so by working on enhancing the customer experience, marketing, and product development. The business journey comes with challenges; it’s good to know outsourced IT services can provide the necessary help and support.