Managing an IT department can be daunting work, especially for a small business with limited resources. Further, dealing with tech issues can be stressful and certainly time-consuming. Yet, the practice of utilizing outsourced IT support helps small businesses to spend their time focusing on strategic work instead of burdening their employees with resolving technology problems.
As a small business owner, you know there are revolving tasks to manage. From products and services to sales, operations, marketing, finances, and customer service, IT can quickly become an afterthought. As a result, outsourced IT support with a Managed Services Provider (MSP) has risen in popularity with small businesses since it gives small business owners and their employees more freedom to focus on their core responsibilities.
The MSP ensures that the small business’ systems and apps are current, secure, compliant, and follow best practices. In our experience, here are key reasons why a small business would use outsourced IT support.
Access to always-available resources
For the most part, enterprise businesses usually have the resources to implement and maintain the latest technologies. In contrast, small businesses often contend with legacy systems and apps. Nonetheless, with outsourced IT support you can access cutting-edge technologies and an expert pool of technical talent who are well-versed in cloud servers, desktops, applications, and mobile tech.
Instant cost reduction
Think of what it may cost just to pay the annual salary of one IT employee. The average tech salary starts at around $57,000 annually – at a minimum. It can go way up depending on the metro market, level of experience, and specialty. Then, there are the costs associated with keeping an IT infrastructure up and running, software licensing, security software, network monitoring, and more. Next are the costs of purchasing and implementing computers, storage, and the list can go on.
With an MSP, you can access a wide range of products and services that will meet all the needs of a small business from cloud servers to virtualized desktops to VoIP, maintenance, email hosting, and more for a fraction of the cost of attempting to deploy all of these types of systems by yourself. So then, you free up more of your capital resources so that you can increase your company’s cash flow. You see, an MSP often will also have the benefit of access to wholesale prices which they can pass on to their customers.
Also, you can have your technology managed more efficiently with outsourced IT support so that you improve operational costs. You no longer have to budget for expensive software purchases and worry about outdated applications due to cost.
Over the long-run, you no longer have to spend money on training for your staff. Instead, you can divert your additional capital to the areas where your business needs it the most.
Guaranteed technical support
Technical issues are bad for business. A data breach can shut a small business down for good. IT interruptions can waste time and cost a lot of money. It can also prevent your company from providing products and services to your customers. Things can go wrong at any time. With outsourced IT support, you can rely on a team that will have the processes and employees in place to mitigate any potential IT issues and breaches 24/7.
You can have peace of mind around the clock. There is no need to replace aging systems out of pocket. Even the smallest of interruptions can derail productivity. Why would you want to spend more time worrying? Give your business the undivided attention it deserves.
Knowledgeable and experienced resources
Let’s say you’ve just spent the last six months searching for, interviewing, hiring, and training your new IT employee. They’re now on board, and you find out their specializations aren’t a match for your complicated mix of legacy and newer IT systems. So then, they spend another six months tinkering and getting up to speed. You only hope they will stick around long enough to offer the return on your investment. Unfortunately, long-term employees are not the norm in IT. On average, the tenure is two years. They can update their skills almost as rapidly as technologies evolve. What happens when they get a better offer?
You can solve this issue with outsourced IT where you will have a team by your side, and no one holds the keys to your entire system. But, they will be trained on your business and provide an environment that works for your business. When you partner with an MSP, you get more time to deal with any critical component of your business and concentrate more on client acquisition or marketing. Additionally, you gain a competitive advantage when you can access the latest technologies. It seems the safest call to make is to use outsourced IT support.
Freedom to focus on your core business
It just doesn’t make sense for any business owner to try to be a jack-of-all-trades, all the time. There must be a point where responsibilities are delegated to the most capable professionals. The last thing you want is for Dan in Accounting to spend his time researching the best ways to prevent a data breach when he should really be focusing on accounts receivables. Trista, your new marketing director should be focused on acquiring new customers and not on how to sync your apps to cloud servers. But, with outsourced IT support you can improve both employee productivity and your bottom line.
Mitigate risk
Invariably, every business comes with a certain level of risk – especially if you have transitioned many of your operations online. Not to mention, there is the ever-evolving mix of economic conditions, government regulations, competitors, and technologies that ensure increased complexity. On the other hand, you can transfer much of the risk to outsourced IT support since an MSP will have industry-related knowledge on compliance and cyber security.
Final thought
There are just too many benefits to ignore outsourced IT support, especially for small businesses who are already stretched thin. When considering your total IT budget, don’t forget to incorporate the soft costs such as data loss, cyber security risks, and the impact to employee productivity. Connect with SSI today to learn more about our skilled IT teams and forward-thinking technology solutions customized to align with your unique business needs.
