Cost of IT Support for Small Business
Many small and medium sized businesses can benefit from
outsourcing tasks, which can help to increase efficiency and economies of scale
while keeping an entrepreneur’s energy focused on activities that are a
profitable use of their time. After all, in business, time is money, and
outsourcing can have a powerful impact on potential growth, productivity and the
bottom line of your venture. One of the main tasks that small and medium sized
businesses often decide to outsource is the management of their IT
infrastructure. The cost of IT support for a small business can be drastically
reduced through outsourcing these operations to a company that specializes in
handling information technology. These
cost savings come primarily from the freedom of not having to operate, employ
and manage an IT department.
IT Solutions
In today’s current working environment, there is a matrix of cables, computers,
phones, printers, networks, security protocols and other IT processes that are
critical to the success of a business. Small and medium sized enterprises can
have networks ranging from 10–500 users. For most companies, managing this
delicate network is not one of their core activities. For these businesses,
outsourcing IT operations is a viable solution that can help provide access to
the latest industry processes and techniques. Outsourcing is often less costly
and time consuming than hosting these processes in-house and employing the
technical staff to manage them. When handled properly, this seamless flow of
information can bring about a number of operational efficiencies and also
improve a company’s speed to market for new products and services.
Additionally, outsourcing can help take some of the hassle out of running an
office, allowing entrepreneurs to remain focused on their relative strengths
and the competitive advantage of their business venture.
Outsourcing Offshore vs. Locally
In today’s global marketplace, once a business owner decides
to outsource some or all of their IT processes, they are faced with a few
options. Some companies decide to use offshore service providers, while others prefer
to go with a local IT firm. While offshore providers can often provide
competitive rates, they also come with their fair share of drawbacks.
Outsourcing offshore can generate all types of concerns regarding data
protection, auditing and customer service. Often times, outsourcing offshore
can create a communication gap for consumers, which can severely hinder
customer relations and end-user support.
Locally, there are IT Firms that help to eliminate
these deficiencies, giving companies a reliable locally-sourced IT department
that can provide support and become trusted advisors for all types of IT
solutions. Outsourcing locally can actually help customer care and billing as
companies can rest assured that their data will remain protected and that the
firms involved will be able to communicate effectively with your consumers. Furthermore,
it is important to maintain a strong relationship with your IT service
provider. Outsourcing locally makes it is much easier to schedule regular
meetings with a local firm to set, measure and evaluate the performance of the
IT systems.
The cost of IT support for a small business often leads
entrepreneurs to seek full-service third-party solutions from a reputable
provider. IT outsourcing can help small businesses reduce costs as well as improve
operational efficiency and economies of scale, while providing unlimited
support and on-staff technicians to help troubleshoot or fix any issues that
may arise, making it a viable solution for nearly any small or medium sized
enterprise.